Emily: Welcome To Immerse: The Daily Bible Reading Experience.
Day 300 and 39
It took Solomon 20 years to build the Lord's temple and his own royal palace.
At the end of that time, Solomon turned his attention to rebuilding the
towns that King Hiram had given him, and he settled Israelites in them.
Solomon also fought against the town of Hamoth Zoba and conquered it.
He rebuilt Tad Moore in the wilderness and built towns in the
region of Hamoth as supply centers.
He fortified the towns of Upper Beth Horen and lower Beth Horen rebuilding
their walls and installing Bard Gates.
He also rebuilt Bay Lath and other supply centers and constructed towns where his
chariots and horses could be stationed.
He built everything he desired in Jerusalem and Lebanon, and
throughout his entire realm there were still some people living in
the land who were not Israelites.
Including the Hittites, Amorites, parasites, hives, and cytes.
These were descendants of the nations whom the people of Israel had not destroyed.
So Solomon conscripted them for his labor force, and they serve
as forced laborers to this day.
But Solomon did not conscript any of the Israelites for his labor force.
Instead, he assigned them to serve as fighting men.
Officers in his army, commanders of his chariots and chariot tears,
king Solomon appointed 250 of them to supervise the people.
Solomon moved his wife, Pharaoh's daughter from the city of David to
the new palace he had built for her.
He said, my wife must not live in King David's palace for the ark of the Lord
has been there and it is holy ground.
Then Solomon presented burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar he had built for him
in front of the entry room of the temple.
He offered the sacrifices for the Sabbaths, the new Moon festivals
and the three annual festivals, the Passover celebration, the Festival of
Harvest, and the Festival of Shelters.
As Moses had commanded in assigning the priests to their duties, Solomon
followed the regulations of his father.
David.
He also assigned the Levites to lead the people in praise and to assist
the priests in their daily duties.
And he assigned the gatekeepers to their gates by their divisions following
the commands of David, the man of God.
Solomon did not deviate in any way from David's commands concerning the
priests and Levites and the treasuries.
So Solomon made sure that all the work related to building the
temple of the Lord was carried out.
From the day its foundation was laid to the day of its completion.
Later, Solomon went to EA Easy in Giber and El Lath ports
along the shore of the Red Sea.
In the land of Edam, Hiram sent him ships commanded by his own officers and
manned by experienced crews of sailors.
These ships sailed to er with Solomon's men and brought back to
Solomon, almost 17 tons of gold.
When the Queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's fame, she came to Jerusalem
to test him with hard questions.
She arrived with a large group of attendants and a great caravan of
camels loaded with spices, large quantities of gold and precious jewels.
When she met with Solomon, she talked with him about everything she had on her mind.
Solomon had answers for all her questions.
Nothing was too hard for him to explain to her.
When the Queen of Sheba realized how wise Solomon was and when she saw the
palace he had built, she was overwhelmed.
She was also amazed at the food on his tables, the organization of his officials
and their splendid clothing, the cup bearers and their robes, and the burnt
offerings Solomon made At the temple of the Lord, she exclaimed to the king.
Everything I heard in my country about your achievements and wisdom is true.
I didn't believe what was said until I arrived here and saw it with my own eyes.
In fact, I had not heard the half of your great wisdom.
It is far beyond what I was told, how happy your people must be.
What a privilege for your officials to stand here day after
day, listening to your wisdom.
Praise the Lord your God who delights in you and has placed you on the
throne as king to rule for him.
Because God loves Israel and desires this kingdom to last forever, he has
made you king over them so you can rule with justice and righteousness.
Then she gave the king a gift of 9,000 pounds of gold, great quantities
of spices and precious jewels.
Never before had there been spices as fine as those the Queen
of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
In addition, the cruise of Hiram and Solomon brought gold from
er, and they also brought red sandalwood and precious jewels.
The king used the sandalwood to make steps for the temple of the Lord and
the royal palace, and to construct liars and harps for the musicians.
Never before had such beautiful things been seen in Judah.
King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba whatever she asked for gifts of greater
value than the gifts she had given him.
Then she and all her attendance returned to their own land each year.
Solomon received about 25 tons of gold.
This did not include the additional revenue he received
from merchants and traders.
All the kings of Arabia and the governors of the provinces also
brought gold and silver to Solomon.
King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold each
weighing more than 15 pounds.
He also made 300 smaller shields of hammered gold, each weighing
more than seven and a half pounds.
The king placed these shields in the palace of the forest of Lebanon.
Then the king made a huge throne decorated with ivory and overlaid with pure gold.
The throne had six steps with a footstool of gold.
There were armrests on both sides of the seat and the figure of a lion
stood on each side of the throne.
There were also 12 other lions, one standing on each end of the six steps.
No other throne in all the world could be compared with it.
All of King Solomon's drinking cups were solid gold as were all the utensils in
the palace of the forest of Lebanon.
They were not made of silver, for silver was considered worthless.
In Solomon's day, the king had a fleet of trading ships of ta Tarshish,
manned by the sailors sent by Hiram.
Once every three years, the ships returned loaded with gold,
silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
So King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king on earth.
Kings from every nation came to consult him and to hear
the wisdom God had given him.
Year after year, everyone who visited brought him gifts
of silver and gold clothing, weapons, spices, horses and mules.
Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his horses and chariots, and he had 12,000 horses.
He stationed some of them in the chariot cities and some near him in Jerusalem.
He ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates River in the north
to the land of the Philistines and the border of Egypt in the south.
The king made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stone and valuable cedar
timber was as common as the Sycamore fig trees that grow in the foothills of Judah.
Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt and many other countries.
The rest of the events of Solomon's reign from beginning to end are
recorded in the record of Nathan, the Prophet, and the prophecy of a Hijah
from Shiloh, and also in the visions of Ido, the Sr concerning Jeroboam.
Son of Neba, Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for 40 years when he died.
He was buried in the city of David, named for his father.
Then his son Rehoboam, became the next king.