The Bible, Douay-Rheims Part 252

29:24. And all the princes, and men of power, and all the sons of king David gave their hand, and were subject to Solomon the king.

29:25. And the Lord magnified Solomon over all Israel: and gave him the glory of a reign, such as no king of Israel had before him.

29:26. So David the son of Isai reigned over all Israel.

29:27. And the days that he reigned over Israel, were forty years: in Hebron he reigned seven years, and in Jerusalem three and thirty years.

29:28. And he died in a good age, full of days, and riches, and glory.

And Solomon his son reigned in his stead.

29:29. Now the acts of king David first and last are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer:

29:30. And of all his reign, and his valour, and of the times that pa.s.sed under him, either in Israel, or in all the kingdoms of the countries.

THE SECOND BOOK OF PARALIPOMENON

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 1

Solomon offereth sacrifices at Gabaon. His choice of wisdom which G.o.d giveth him.

1:1. And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the Lord his G.o.d was with him, and magnified him to a high degree.

1:2. And Solomon gave orders to all Israel, to the captains of thousands, and of hundreds, and to the rulers, and to the judges of all Israel, and the heads of the families:

1:3. And he went with all the mult.i.tude to the high place of Gabaon, where was the tabernacle of the covenant of the Lord, which Moses the servant of G.o.d made, in the wilderness.

1:4. For David had brought the ark of G.o.d from Cariathiarim to the place, which he had prepared for it, and where he had pitched a tabernacle for it, that is, in Jerusalem.

1:5. And the altar of bra.s.s, which Beseleel the son of Uri the son of Hur had made, was there before the tabernacle of the Lord: and Solomon and all the a.s.sembly sought it:

1:6. And Solomon went up thither to the brazen altar, before the tabernacle of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up on it a thousand victims.

1:7. And behold that night G.o.d appeared to him, saying: Ask what thou wilt that I should give thee.

1:8. And Solomon said to G.o.d: Thou hast shewn great kindness to my father David: and hast made me king in his stead.

1:9. Now therefore, O Lord G.o.d, let thy word be fulfilled, which thou hast promised to David my father: for thou hast made me king over thy great people, which is as innumerable as the dust of the earth.

1:10. Give me wisdom and knowledge that I may come in and go out before thy people: for who can worthily judge this thy people, which is so great?

1:11. And G.o.d said to Solomon: Because this choice hath pleased thy heart, and thou hast not asked riches, and wealth, and glory, nor the lives of them that hate thee, nor many days of life: but hast asked wisdom and knowledge, to be able to judge my people, over which I have made thee king,

1:12. Wisdom and knowledge are granted to thee: and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and glory, so that none of the kings before thee, nor after thee, shall be like thee.

1:13. Then Solomon came from the high place of Gabaon to Jerusalem before the tabernacle of the covenant, and reigned over Israel.

1:14. And he gathered to himself chariots and hors.e.m.e.n, and he had a thousand four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand hors.e.m.e.n: and he placed them in the cities of the chariots, and with the king in Jerusalem.

1:15. And the king made silver and gold to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees as sycamores, which grow in the plains in great mult.i.tude.

1:16. And there were horses brought him from Egypt, and from Coa by the king's merchants, who went, and bought at a price,

1:17. A chariot of four horses for six hundred pieces of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty: in like manner market was made in all the kingdoms of the Hethites, and of the kings of Syria.

2 Paralipomenon Chapter 2

Solomon's emba.s.sy to Hiram, who sends him a skilful workman and timber.

2:1. And Solomon determined to build a house to the name of the Lord, and a palace for himself.

2:2. And he numbered out seventy thousand men to bear burdens, and eighty thousand to hew stones in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them.

2:3. He sent also to Hiram king of Tyre, saying: As thou didst with David my father, and didst send him cedars, to build him a house, in which he dwelt:

2:4. So do with me that I may build a house to the name of the Lord my G.o.d, to dedicate it to burn incense before him, and to perfume with aromatical spices, and for the continual setting forth of bread, and for the holocausts, morning and evening, and on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and the solemnities of the Lord our G.o.d for ever, which are commanded for Israel.

2:5. For the house which I desire to build, is great: for our G.o.d is great above all G.o.ds.

2:6. Who then can be able to build him a worthy house? if heaven, and the heavens of heavens cannot contain him: who am I that I should be able to build him a house? but to this end only, that incense may be burnt before him.

2:7. Send me therefore a skilful man, that knoweth how to work in gold, and in silver, in bra.s.s, and in iron, in purple, in scarlet and in blue, and that hath skill in engraving, with the artificers, which I have with me in Judea and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided.

2:8. Send me also cedars, and fir trees, and pine trees from Liba.n.u.s: for I know that thy servants are skilful in cutting timber in Liba.n.u.s, and my servants shall be with thy servants,

2:9. To provide me timber in abundance. For the house which I desire to build, is to be exceeding great, and glorious.

2:10. And I will give thy servants the workmen that are to cut down the trees, for their food twenty thousand cores of wheat, and as many cores of barley, and twenty thousand measures of wine, and twenty thousand measures of oil.

2:11. And Hiram king of Tyre sent a letter to Solomon, saying: Because the Lord hath loved his people, therefore he hath made thee king over them.

2:12. And he added, saying: Blessed be the Lord the G.o.d of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who hath given to king David a wise and knowing son, endued with understanding and prudence, to build a house to the Lord, and a palace for himself.

2:13. I therefore have sent thee my father Hiram, a wise and most skilful man,

2:14. The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, whose father was a Tyrian, who knoweth how to work in gold, and in silver, in bra.s.s, and in iron, and in marble, and in timber, in purple also, and violet, and silk and scarlet: and who knoweth to grave all sort of graving, and to devise ingeniously all that there may be need of in the work with thy artificers, and with the artificers of my lord David thy father.

2:15. The wheat therefore, and the barley and the oil, and the wine, which thou, my lord, hast promised, send to thy servants.

2:16. And we will cut down as many trees out of Liba.n.u.s, as thou shalt want, and will convey them in floats by sea to Joppe: and it will be thy part to bring them thence to Jerusalem.

2:17. And Solomon numbered all the proselytes in the land of Israel, after the numbering which David his father had made, and they were found a hundred and fifty-three thousand and six hundred.

2:18. And he set seventy thousand of them to carry burdens on their shoulders, and eighty thousand to hew stones in the mountains: and three thousand and six hundred to be overseers of the work of the people.