Portions: I Kings 5-7

When Hiram king of Tyre
heard that Solomon had been anointed king
to succeed his father David,
he sent his envoys to Solomon,
because he had always been on friendly terms with David.
Solomon sent back this message to Hiram:
"You know that because of the wars waged
against my father David from all sides,
he could not build a temple
for the Name of the Lord his God
until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.
But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side,
and there is not adversary or disaster.
I intend, therefore, to build a temple
for the Name of the Lord my God,
as the Lord told my father David, when He said,
'Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place
will build the temple for My Name."
(I Kings 5:1-5)

In the four hundred and eightieth year
after the Israelites had come out of Egypt,
in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel,
in the month of Ziv, the second month,
he began to build the temple of the Lord.
In building the temple,
only blocks dressed at the quarry were used,
and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool
was heard at the temple site while it was being built.
The word of the Lord came to Solomon:
"As for this temple you are building,
if you follow My decrees,
carry out My regulations
and keep all My commands and obey them,
I will fulfill through you
the promise I gave to David your father.
And I will live among the Israelites
and will not abandon my people Israel."
In the eleventh year
in the month of Bul, the eighth month,
the temple was finished in all its details
according to its specifications.
He had spent seven years building it.
(II Kings 6:1,7,11-13,38)

It took Solomon thirteen years, however,
to complete the construction of his palace.
When all the work King Solomon had done
for the temple of the Lord was finished,
he brought the things his father David had dedicated
 - the silver and gold and the furnishings -
and he placed them in the treasuries of the Lord's temple.
(I Kings 7:1,51)