Through the Bible – Day 119

_1-6Here is a list of Solomon's highest officials while he was king of Israel:

₇Solomon chose twelve regional officers, who took turns bringing food for him and his household. Each officer provided food from his region for one month of the year. ₈These were the twelve officers:

The son of Hur was in charge of the hill country of Ephraim.

₉The son of Deker was in charge of the towns of Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-Shemesh, and Elon-Beth-Hanan.

₁₀The son of Hesed was in charge of the towns of Arubboth and Socoh, and the region of Hepher.

₁₁The son of Abinadab was in charge of Naphath-Dor and was married to Solomon's daughter Taphath.

₁₂Baana son of Ahilud was in charge of the towns of Taanach and Megiddo. He was also in charge of the whole region of Beth-Shan near the town of Zarethan, south of Jezreel from Beth-Shan to Abel-Meholah to the other side of Jokmeam.

₁₃The son of Geber was in charge of the town of Ramoth in Gilead and the villages in Gilead belonging to the family of Jair, a descendant of Manasseh. He was also in charge of the region of Argob in Bashan, which had sixty walled towns with bronze bars on their gates.

₁₄Ahinadab son of Iddo was in charge of the territory of Mahanaim.

₁₅Ahimaaz was in charge of the territory of Naphtali and was married to Solomon's daughter Basemath.

₁₆Baana son of Hushai was in charge of the territory of Asher and the town of Bealoth.

₁₇Jehoshaphat son of Paruah was in charge of the territory of Issachar.

₁₈Shimei son of Ela was in charge of the territory of Benjamin.

₁₉Geber son of Uri was in charge of Gilead, where King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan had lived.

And one officer was in charge of the territory of Judah.

₂₀There were so many people living in Judah and Israel while Solomon was king that they seemed like grains of sand on a beach. Everyone had enough to eat and drink, and they were happy.

₂₁Solomon ruled every kingdom between the River Euphrates and the land of the Philistines down to Egypt. These kingdoms paid him taxes as long as he lived.

₂₂Every day, Solomon needed five thousand litres of fine flour, ten thousand litres of coarsely-ground flour, ₂₃ten grain-fed cattle, twenty pasture-fed cattle, one hundred sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, and geese.

₂₄Solomon ruled the whole region west of the River Euphrates, from Tiphsah to Gaza, and he was at peace with all the countries around him. ₂₅Everyone living in Israel, from the town of Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, was safe as long as Solomon lived. Each family sat undisturbed beneath its own grapevines and fig trees.

₂₆Solomon had forty thousand stalls of chariot horses and twelve thousand chariot soldiers.

₂₇Each of the twelve regional officers brought food to Solomon and his household for one month of the year. They provided everything he needed, ₂₈as well as barley and straw for the horses.

₂₉Solomon was brilliant. God had blessed him with insight and understanding. _30-31He was wiser than anyone else in the world, including the wisest people of the east and of Egypt. He was even wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Mahol's three sons, Heman, Calcol, and Darda. Solomon became famous in every country around Judah and Israel. ₃₂Solomon wrote three thousand wise sayings and composed more than a thousand songs. ₃₃He could talk about all kinds of plants, from large trees to small bushes, and he taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. ₃₄Kings all over the world heard about Solomon's wisdom and sent people to listen to him teach.

₁King Hiram of Tyre had always been friends with Solomon's father David. When Hiram learnt that Solomon was king, he sent some of his officials to meet with Solomon.

₂Solomon sent a message back to Hiram:

₇Hiram was so happy when he heard Solomon's request that he said, “I am grateful that the Lord gave David such a wise son to be king of that great nation!” ₈Then he sent back his answer:

₁₀Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and pine logs he needed. ₁₁In return, Solomon gave Hiram two thousand tonnes of wheat and four hundred thousand litres of pure olive oil each year.

₁₂The LORD kept his promise and made Solomon wise. Hiram and Solomon signed a treaty and never went to war against each other.

₁₃Solomon ordered thirty thousand people from all over Israel to cut logs for the temple, ₁₄and he put Adoniram in charge of these workers. Solomon divided them into three groups of ten thousand. Each group worked one month in Lebanon and had two months off at home.

₁₅He also had eighty thousand workers to cut stone in the hill country of Israel, seventy thousand workers to carry the stones, ₁₆and over three thousand assistants to keep track of the work and to supervise the workers. ₁₇He ordered the workers to cut and shape large blocks of good stone for the foundation of the temple.

₁₈Solomon's and Hiram's men worked with men from the city of Gebal, and together they got the stones and logs ready for the temple.

₁Solomon's workers started building the temple during Ziv, the second month of the year. It had been four years since Solomon became king of Israel, and four hundred and eighty years since the people of Israel left Egypt.

₂The inside of the LORD's temple was twenty-seven metres long, nine metres wide, and thirteen and a half metres high. ₃A four and a half metre porch went all the way across the front of the temple. ₄The windows were narrow on the outside but wide on the inside.

_5-6Along the sides and back of the temple, there were three levels of storage rooms. The rooms on the bottom level were just over two metres wide, the rooms on the middle level were over two and a half metres wide, and those on the top level were just over three metres wide. There were ledges on the outside of the temple that supported the beams of the storage rooms, so that nothing was built into the temple walls.

₇Solomon did not want the noise of hammers and axes to be heard at the place where the temple was being built. So he made the workers shape the blocks of stone at the quarry.

₈The entrance to the bottom storage rooms was on the south side of the building, and stairs to the other rooms were also there. ₉The roof of the temple was made out of beams and cedar boards.

The workers finished building the outside of the temple. ₁₀Storage rooms just over two metres high were all around the temple, and they were attached to the temple by cedar beams.

₁₁The LORD told Solomon:

₁₄So Solomon's workers finished building the temple.

₁₅The floor of the temple was made out of pine, and the walls were lined with cedar from floor to ceiling.

₁₆The most holy place was in the back of the temple, and it was nine metres square. Cedar boards standing from floor to ceiling separated it from the rest of the temple. ₁₇The temple's main room was eighteen metres long, and it was in front of the most holy place.

₁₈The inside walls were lined with cedar to hide the stones, and the cedar was decorated with carvings of gourds and flowers.

₁₉The sacred chest was kept in the most holy place. _20-22This room was nine metres long, nine metres wide, and nine metres high, and it was lined with pure gold. There were also gold chains across the front of the most holy place. The inside of the temple, as well as the cedar altar in the most holy place, was covered with gold.

₂₃Solomon had two statues of winged creatures made from olive wood to put in the most holy place. Each creature was four and a half metres tall _24-26and four and a half metres across. They had two wings, and the wings were just over two metres long. ₂₇Solomon put them next to each other in the most holy place. Their wings were spread out and reached across the room. ₂₈The creatures were also covered with gold.

₂₉The walls of the two rooms were decorated with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures. ₃₀Even the floor was covered with gold.

_31-32The two doors to the most holy place were made out of olive wood and were decorated with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures. The doors and the carvings were covered with gold. The door frame came to a point at the top.

_33-34The two doors to the main room of the temple were made out of pine, and each one had two sections so they could fold open. The door frame was shaped like a rectangle and was made out of olive wood. ₃₅The doors were covered with gold and were decorated with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures.

₃₆The inner courtyard of the temple had walls made out of three layers of cut stones with one layer of cedar beams.

₃₇Work began on the temple during Ziv, the second month of the year, four years after Solomon became king of Israel. ₃₈Seven years later the workers finished building it during Bul, the eighth month of the year. It was built exactly as it had been planned.

₂₈When Jesus had finished saying all this, he went on towards Jerusalem. ₂₉As he was getting near Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples on ahead. ₃₀He told them, “Go into the next village, where you will find a young donkey that has never been ridden. Untie the donkey and bring it here. ₃₁If anyone asks why you are doing that, just say, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ”

₃₂They went off and found everything just as Jesus had said. ₃₃While they were untying the donkey, its owners asked, “Why are you doing that?”

₃₄They answered, “The Lord needs it.”

₃₅Then they led the donkey to Jesus. They put some of their clothes on its back and helped Jesus get on. ₃₆And as he rode along, the people spread clothes on the road in front of him. ₃₇When Jesus was setting off down the Mount of Olives, his large crowd of disciples were happy and praised God because of all the miracles they had seen. ₃₈They shouted,

₃₉Some Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, make your disciples stop shouting!”

₄₀But Jesus answered, “If they keep quiet, these stones will start shouting.”

₄₁When Jesus came closer and could see Jerusalem, he cried ₄₂and said:

₄₅When Jesus entered the temple, he started chasing out the people who were selling things. ₄₆He told them, “The Scriptures say, ‘My house should be a place of worship.’ But you have made it a place where robbers hide!”

₄₇Each day, Jesus kept on teaching in the temple. So the chief priests, the teachers of the Law of Moses, and some other important people tried to have him killed. ₄₈But they could not find a way to do it, because everyone else was eager to listen to him.