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CXXIX.] A FEW VERSES OF THE SONG OF SONGS.

My heart is inditing* a good matter:

I speak of the things which I have made touching the king:
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
Thou art fairer than the children of men :

Grace is poured into thy lips :

Therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.

Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty,

With thy glory and thy majesty.

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And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness

and righteousness;

And thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.

Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies;

Whereby the people fall under thee.

Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever :

The sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.

Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness:

Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness
above thy fellows.

All thy garments smell of myrrh,† and aloes, and cassia,‡
Out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.
Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women:
Upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.
Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear;
Forget also thine own people, and thy father's house;
So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty:

For he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.

And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift;

Even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour.

The king's daughter is all glorious within :

Her clothing is of wrought gold.

She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework : §

The virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.

With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought :

They shall enter into the king's palace.

Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children,

Whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.

I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations:
Therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever.

*The word properly means "swelling over with." + Pure aromatic perfume. Slips of the bark of the cassia. § Or, over carpets of embroidery.

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LESSON CXXX.

THE CHOICE OF SOLOMON.

B.C. 1014.-2 CHRON. i. 1-6; 1 KINGS iii. 5-15.

And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly.

Then Solomon spake unto all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every governor in all Israel, the chief of the fathers.

So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the tabernacle of the congregation of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness.

But the ark of God had David brought up from Kirjath-jearim to the place which David had prepared for it: for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem.

Moreover the brazen altar, that Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, he put before the tabernacle of the LORD: and Solomon and the congregation sought unto it.

And Solomon went up thither to the brazen altar before the LORD, which was at the tabernacle of the congregation, and offered a thousand burnt offerings upon

it.

*

In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.

And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.

And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.

And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.

Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

And the speech pleased the LORD, that Solomon had asked this thing.

And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;

Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise

CXXXI.7

THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON.

179

and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.

And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and honour so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.

And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.

And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt-offerings, and offered peace-offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.

LESSON CXXXI.

THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON.

I KINGS iii. 19—28; iv. 20--34.

B.C. 1014.-Soon after Solomon's accession, an incident occurred that greatly spread the fame of his sagacity. Two women, each with a young infant, one only three days older than the other, were sleeping in the same house. They came before the king, one of them making her complaint.

This woman's child died in the night, because she overlaid it.

And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.

And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.

And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king.

Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.

And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.

And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.

Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise * slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.

By no means.

*

Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it she is the mother thereof.

And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.

*

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Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.

And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river* unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life.

And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal,

Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep beside harts, and roebucks, and fallowdeer, and fatted fowl.

For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azza,+ over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him.

And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.

And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.

And those officers provided victual for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon's table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing.

Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge.

And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.

And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.

For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about.

And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.

And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.

And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.

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CXXXII.] PREPARATIONS FOR THE TEMPLE.

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LESSON CXXXII.

THE PREPARATIONS FOR THE TEMPLE.

B.C. 1014.-1 KINGS V. I-18.

And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father for Hiram was ever a lover of David.

And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying,

Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the LORD his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet.

But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent.

*

And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my

name.

Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians.

And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the LORD this day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great people.

And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which thou sentest to me for: and I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir.†

My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household.

So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to all his desire.

And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.

:

And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together.

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