2 Chronicles 1

Solomon Gets Wisdom & Builds Up His Kingdom

1 Solomon son of David got his rule solidified, and the Lord his God was with him, making him super great.

2 Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and hundreds, to the judges, and to all the leaders in all Israel, the heads of the families.

3 Then Solomon and the whole assembly with him rolled up to the high place at Gibeon, because God’s Tent of Meeting, which Moses the Lord’s servant had made in the desert, was there.

4 (But David had brought the Ark of God from Kiriath-Jearim to the place David had set aside for it, because he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.)

5 Now, the bronze altar that Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, had made, it was there in front of the Lord’s tabernacle. So Solomon and the assembly went there to consult Him.

6 Solomon went up to the bronze altar before the Lord, which was at the Tent of Meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.

7 That night, God showed up to Solomon and told him, "Ask for whatever you want Me to give you."

8 Solomon told God, "You showed massive kindness to my daddy David, and You made me king in his place."

9 "Now, Lord God, let Your promise to my daddy David come true, because You made me king over a people as many as the dust of the earth."

10 "So now, give me wisdom and knowledge so I can lead these people, because who can govern this huge people of Yours without it?"

11 God told Solomon, "Because this was in your heart, and you did not ask for riches, wealth, or honor, or the death of your enemies, or even for a long life, but you asked for wisdom and knowledge to govern My people, over whom I made you king?"

12 "Wisdom and knowledge are given to you. And I am also going to give you riches, wealth, and honor, such as no king before you had, and no king after you are going to have."

13 So Solomon came back from the high place at Gibeon, from the Tent of Meeting, to Jerusalem, and he ruled over Israel.

14 Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen. He had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

15 The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar wood as plentiful as sycamore trees in the foothills.

16 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue; the king’s traders would buy them from Kue at a set price.

17 A chariot imported from Egypt cost about fifteen pounds of silver, and a horse about four pounds. And they would export them through their traders to all the Hittite and Aramean kings.