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Under three things the earth doth tremble,

And under four it cannot stand?

337

Answer. Under a slave, when he is made king,
And a godless man, when he is fed full;
Under an odious woman, when she marrieth,
And an handmaid that is heir to her mistress.

There are four small things of earth,
Which are exceeding wise?

Answer. The ants are a people not strong,
Yet they provide their food in summer.
The conies are a feeble folk,

But they make their homes in the rock.
The locusts have no king,

Yet they go forth in troops.

The lizard thou canst seize in the hand,
But it is in kings' palaces.

Three are stately in their march,
And four stately in their going?

Answer. The lion, hero of the beasts,

That turneth aside for nought;

The greyhound, and the he-goat,

And the king at the head of his troops.

And the Queen of Sheba came to Jerusalem with a very great train, camels bearing spices, and very much gold, and precious stones. And when she was come to Solomon, she spake with him of all that was in her mind. And Solomon answered her all her questions; there was not any thing hid from the king which he could not tell her. And the Queen of Sheba saw all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built, and the meat of his table, and the housing of his slaves, and the at

tendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his burnt-offering which he offered in the house of Jehovah; and there was no more spirit in her. And she said to the king: It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the reports until I came, and mine eyes had seen it. And, behold, the half was not told me; thy wisdom and prosperity exceed the report which I heard. Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, who stand continually before thee, hearing thy wisdom. Blessed be Jehovah thy God, who delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel. Because Jehovah loved Israel, to establish it forever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice. And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and very great store of spices and precious stones. There came no more such abundance of spices as the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. And King Solomon gave to the Queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which he gave her of his royal bounty. So she returned, and went unto her own country, she and her

servants.

I. KINGS, V.,

CHAPTER XVII.

vi., viii., ix. II. CHRONICLES, ii.-viii.

THE TEMPLE.

Treaty with Hirom-Building the Temple-The Temple ProperThe Chambers-The Oracle-The Cherubim-Jachin and Boaz-The Brazen Sea--The Ten Lavers-Vessels of Brass and GoldBringing in the Ark-The Temple Given to God-Solomon's Prayer-Will God Dwell on Earth-Prayer towards the TempleBenediction-The Feast of Tabernacles.

Now when Hirom king of Tyre heard that they had anointed Solomon king in the room of his father, he sent his servants unto Solomon to wish him success; for Hirom was ever a friend of David. And Solomon sent to Hirom, saying: Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of Jehovah his God, because of the enemies that were about him on every side, until Jehovah put them under the soles of his feet. But now Jehovah my God hath given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary, nor disturbance. And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of Jehovah my God, as Jehovah spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build the house unto my name. Now therefore command that they hew me trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants; and I will give thee hire for thy servants according as thou shalt appoint. For thou knowest that

there are none among us skilled to hew timber like the Zidonians. And it came to pass, when Hirom heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said: Blessed be Jehovah this day, who hath given unto David a wise son over this great people. And Hirom sent to Solomon, saying: I have heard the message which thou hast sent unto me. I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of cypress. My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea; and I will make them into rafts to go by sea unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be broken up there, and thou shalt receive them. And thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household.

So Hirom gave Solomon timber of cedar and timber of fir according to all his desire, and sixty talents of gold. And Solomon gave Hirom twenty thousand cor of wheat for food to his household, and twenty thousand baths of pure oil; thus gave Solomon to Hirom year by year. And at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the two houses, the house of Jehovah and the king's house, King Solomon gave Hirom twenty cities in the land of Galilee.

And it came to pass in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month (April-May), that Solomon began to build the house of Jehovah. In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of Jehovah laid, in the month Ziv; and in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts and all its appointments. So he was seven years in building it. And the house was built of stone made ready at the quarry; and there was neither hammer nor

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axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.

And the temple of the house-that is, the Holy Place, -which King Solomon built for Jehovah was sixty cubits in length, and its breadth twenty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. And the porch before the temple of the house was twenty cubits in length, extending the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was its depth before the house. And against the wall of the house he built chambers in three stories round about, both around the Holy Place, and the oracle-that is, the Holy of Holies. The lowest story was five cubits broad, the middle six cubits, and the third seven cubits; for in the wall of the temple without he made rebatements all around, that the beams should not be fastened into the walls of the house.

The door for on the south

the lowest story of the chambers was side of the house; and they went up by winding stairs into the middle story, and out of the middle into the third. And for the house he made windows of fixed lattice-work round about above the chambers. And Solomon built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house unto the beams of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood. And the cedar of the house within was carved with gourds and garlands of flowers. All was cedar; there was no stone seen. And he covered the floor of the house with planks of cypress.

And he built twenty cubits on the hinder part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor unto the ceiling, that he might make an oracle within, even the Holy of Holies, to set there the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah. And within the oracle was a space of twenty

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