unto his servants; and we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need: and we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa, and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem.”

These interchanges of friendly regard between two powerful monarchs, are among the oldest and most striking of the kind which are on record. How delightful are they to the benevolent heart. Oh, when will the governments of the earth be ready to do good, to each other, and to aid the cause of piety, and the worship of the true God, and the best interests of the whole human family? Nothing but the power of the gospel- can bring about this happy state of things. Let us pray more earnestly, and labor more strenuously, that the kingdom of God may come, and his will be done in earth as it is in heaven.

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CHAPTER XLV.

PREPARATIONS FOR BUILDING THE TEMPLESOLOMON MARRIES A DAUGHTER OF THE KING OF EGYPT-THE TEMPLE IS FINISHED AND DEDICATED.

In addition to the ample provision which Solomon made for the workmen of Hiram, he also sent the latter twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil; and these supplies were furnished annually for the space of three years, during which period the Tyrians were engaged in procuring materials for the temple.

In this commencement of the work we are told that "the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him;" while his kind providence made all things propitious for its execution, as "there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together," thus cementing their friendly alliance by the sanctions of a formal engagement. When the Lord has a great thing to be done and such was the erection of the magnificent temple at Jerusalem for his worship-the most favorable time and circumstances for doing it, the suitable agents, and the necessary means are at his disposal; and ordering them all so as to bring

about the end he has in view, that end is wisely and surely accomplished.

That the work might proceed with efficiency and dispatch, Solomon raised a levy, from among the various tribes, of thirty thousand Israelites, ten thousand of whom were sent each successive month to Lebanon, to assist in the labor there. In this way, the different divisions were absent one month, and at home two months successively during the year, while the whole movement was under the direction of Adoniram, the receiver-general of the king's tributes.

The remnant of the Canaanites also, together probably with those foreigners, or their sons, who had been brought into the country as prisoners during the wars of David, and whom the latter had numbered for this very purpose, were required by Solomon to engage in this great enterprise. Such among them as were fitted to do this amounted to one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred. These performed the more irksome and laborious part of the service. They were the bearers of the heavy burdens, and the hewers in the mountains, and transported the great costly hewed stones which were used for the foundation of the building. Three thousand and six hundred of their number were placed over the rest as officers of the king, to direct their operations.

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So carefully was every thing arranged, and so much of the work, especially the hewing of the timber and the hewing and squaring of the stones, was prepared beforehand by the laborers and skilful artisans, that "there was neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was building."

About this time—or it may have been earlier, as some suppose-Solomon formed an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, the principal object of which was to take his daughter in marriage. He hoped, too, in this way to secure the friendship of a powerful neighboring monarch, and guard against any collision between the two kingdoms. He had already been married, during the last years of David's life, to Naamah, an Ammonitess, the mother of his son Rehoboam, who was yet an infant when Solomon ascended the throne.

He brought his new wife to Jerusalem, providing accommodations for her suited to her elevated rank, until the magnificent palace which he had already begun for his own residence, should be finished. At this time also he was engaged in strengthening the walls of the city, and in erecting such additional fortifications as were necessary.

But the work which Solomon deemed of more consequence than all others, was the erection of the temple. Three years had now been spent in

making preparations for it, and in the fourth year of his reign the foundation was laid "in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David; in the place that David had prepared in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite." A general idea may be formed of the immense labor that must have been bestowed upon it, not only from the numbers employed in its erection, but from the fact that the building of this splendid structure occupied a space of seven years and a half. Various and elaborate descriptions of it have been attempted, some of which conflict with others. To form, however, any thing like accurate conceptions of its sublime grandeur, of its majestic proportions, of its costly and exquisite finish, of its gorgeous utensils and embellishments, of its ample apartments and courts, and of its beautiful fitness for its great design, requires an extent and minuteness of delineation which would occupy much too large a space in the present work. The writer, therefore, must refer his readers to such authors on this interesting subject as are within their reach. Days and weeks of study may be given to it without exhausting it; while the simple description in the sacred Scriptures will of itself fill the mind with an admiring and solemn wonder.

At some period of the time when Solomon was engaged in the erection of the temple, he had a