He removed the city’s residents and made them do hard labor with saws, iron picks, and axes. ¹  This was his policy ²  with all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem.

Now the Lord’s tabernacle (which Moses had made in the wilderness) and the altar for burnt sacrifices were at that time at the worship center ¹  in Gibeon.

He told them, ¹  “The Lord your God is with you! ²  He has made you secure on every side, ³  for he handed over to me the inhabitants of the region ⁴  and the region ⁵  is subdued before the Lord and his people.

The next day they made sacrifices and offered burnt sacrifices to the Lord (1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams, 1,000 lambs), along with their accompanying drink offerings and many other sacrifices for all Israel.

Solomon and the entire assembly went to the worship center ¹  in Gibeon, for the tent where they met God ²  was located there, which Moses the Lord’s servant had made in the wilderness.

But the bronze altar made by Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, was in front of the Lord’s tabernacle. ¹  Solomon and the entire assembly prayed to him ²  there.)

Now, Lord God, may your promise ¹  to my father David be realized, ²  for you have made me king over a great nation as numerous as the dust of the earth.

He made the most holy place; ¹  its length was 30 feet, ²  corresponding to the width of the temple, and its width 30 feet. ³  He plated it with 600 talents ⁴  of fine gold.

In front of the temple he made two pillars which had a combined length ¹  of 52½ feet, ²  with each having a plated capital seven and one-half feet high. ³ 

He also made the big bronze basin called “The Sea.” ¹  It measured 15 feet ²  from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood seven and one-half feet ³  high. Its circumference was 45 feet. ⁴ 

He made ten washing basins; he put five on the south side and five on the north side. In them they rinsed the items used for burnt sacrifices; the priests washed in “The Sea.”

There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb. ¹  (It was there that ²  the Lord made an agreement with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt.)

the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him: “I have answered ¹  your prayer and chosen this place to be my temple where sacrifices are to be made. ² 

With the timber the king made steps ¹  for the Lord’s temple and royal palace as well as stringed instruments ²  for the musicians. No one had seen anything like them in the land of Judah prior to that. ³ )

He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; 300 measures ¹  of gold were used for each of those shields. The king placed them in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest. ² 

The king refused to listen to the people, because God was instigating this turn of events ¹  so that he might bring to pass the prophetic announcement he had made ²  through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and took away the treasures of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace; he took everything, including the gold shields that Solomon had made.

Now you are declaring that you will resist the Lord’s rule through the Davidic dynasty. ¹  You have a huge army, ²  and bring with you the gold calves that Jeroboam made for you as gods.

King Asa also removed Maacah his grandmother ¹  from her position as queen mother ²  because she had made a loathsome Asherah pole. Asa cut down her Asherah pole and crushed and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

“I want to make a treaty with you, like the one our fathers made. ¹  See, I have sent you silver and gold. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he will retreat from my land.” ²