nacle. The first of these was about sixty feet long, thirty wide, and forty-five high, and was called the sanctuary. Beyond this was the holy of holies, divided from the sanctuary by a partition, and about thirty feet long, and the same height and width as the sanctuary. The walls and roof of the building were all covered with cedar, and the flooring was of fir; and the whole was covered with plates of gold. Neither axe nor hammer, nor any iron tool, was used in the construction, for the stones and all the materials were hewn and prepared before they were brought to the spot.

Within were placed the ark, the altars, the candlestick, and the other furniture for divine service, as in the tabernacle; with a vast number of golden vessels for every purpose that they could be needed. An immense brass laver, or sea (so called from its great size), was placed in the court of the temple, for washing, supported by twelve brazen oxen; another proof, in addition to various others, that the commandment that the Jews should make no images meant only that they should not make them for the purpose of turning them into idols.

Seven years passed in the building and completion of the whole; and when all was prepared, a vast assemblage of the people, with their chiefs, and elders, and priests, came together to the dedication, and to bring the ark into its new resting-place. And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the sanctuary, that a cloud filled the house of the Lord. And the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord. Then Solomon said: The Lord said that He would dwell in a cloud. Building I have built a house for Thy dwelling, to be Thy most firm throne for ever. And the king turned his face, and blessed all the assembly of Israel: for all the assembly of Israel stood. And Solomon said: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to David my father, and with His own hands hath accomplished it, saying: Since the day that I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel, for a

house to be built, that My name might be there: but I chose David to be over My people Israel. And David my father would have built a house to the name of the Lord the God of Israel: and the Lord said to David my father: Whereas thou hast thought in thy heart to build a house to My name, thou hast done well in having this same thing in thy mind. Nevertheless thou shalt not build Me a house: but thy son, that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build a house to My name. The Lord hath performed His word which He spoke : and I stand in the room of David my father, and sit upon the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised; and have built a house to the name of the Lord the God of Israel. And I have set there a place for the ark wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which He made with our fathers, when they came out of the land of Egypt. And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, in the sight of the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands towards heaven; and said: Lord God of Israel, there is no God like Thee in heaven above, or on earth beneath : who keepest covenant and mercy with Thy servants that have walked before Thee with all their heart: who hast kept with Thy servant David my father, what Thou hast promised him: with Thy mouth Thou didst speak, and with Thy hands Thou hast performed, as this day proveth. Now, therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep with Thy servant David my father what Thou hast spoken to him, saying: There shall not be taken away of thee a man in My sight, to sit on the throne of Israel yet so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before Me as thou hast walked in My sight. And now, Lord God of Israel, let Thy words be established, which Thou hast spoken to Thy servant David my father. Is it then to be thought that God should indeed dwell upon earth? for if heaven, and the heavens of heavens cannot contain Thee, how much less this house which I have built? But have regard to the prayer of Thy servant, and to his supplications, O Lord my God hear the hymn and the prayer, which Thy servant prayeth before Thee this day that Thy eyes

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may be open upon this house night and day; upon the house of which Thou hast said: My name shall be there that Thou mayst hearken to the prayer, which Thy servant prayeth in this place to Thee. That Thou mayst hearken to the supplication of Thy servant, and of Thy people Israel, whatsoever they shall pray for in this place; and hear them in the place of Thy dwelling in heaven; and when Thou hearest, shew them mercy. For they are Thy people and Thy inheritance, whom Thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron. That Thy eyes may be open to the supplication of Thy servant, and of Thy people Israel, to hear them in all things for which they shall call upon Thee. For Thou hast separated them to Thyself for an inheritance from among all the people of the earth, as Thou hast spoken by Moses Thy servant, when Thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God. And it came to pass, when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, that he rose from before the altar of the Lord for he had fixed both knees on the ground, and had spread his hands toward heaven. And he stood, and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying: Blessed be the Lord, who hath given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised: there hath not failed so much as one word of all the good things that He promised by His servant Moses. The Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers, and not leave us, nor cast us off: but may He incline our hearts to Himself, that we may walk in all His ways, and keep His commandments, and His ceremonies, and all Ilis judgments which He commanded our fathers. And let these my words, wherewith I have prayed before the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that He may do judgment for His servant, and for His people Israel day by day that all the people of the earth may know, that the Lord He is God, and there is no other besides Him. Let our hearts also be perfect with the Lord our God, that we may walk in His statutes, and keep His commandments, as at this

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day. And the king, and all Israel with him, offered victims before the Lord. And Solomon slew victims of peace-offerings, which he sacrificed to the Lord, two-andtwenty thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep so the king and the children of Israel dedicated the temple of the Lord.

For seven days the sacrifices and feastings continued; and on the eighth day the people separated, and went to their dwellings rejoicing.

CHAP. XIII. The Queen of Saba. Solomon's Fall and Death.

AGAIN God vouchsafed to appear to Solomon, and said to him: I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, which thou hast made before Me: I have sanctified this house, which thou hast built, to put My name there for ever: and My eyes and My heart shall be there always. And if thou wilt walk before Me, as thy father walked, in simplicity of heart, and in uprightness; and will do all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep My ordinances, and My judgments: I will establish the throne of thy kingdom over Israel for ever, as I promised David thy father, saying: There shall not fail a man of thy race upon the throne of Israel. But if you and your children revolting shall turn away from following Me; and will not keep My commandments, and My ceremonies, which I have set before you; but will go and worship strange gods, and adore them: I will take away Israel from the face of the land which I have given them and the temple which I have sanctified to My name, I will cast out of My sight: and Israel shall be a proverb, and a by-word among all people. And this house shall be made an example of: every one that shall pass by it, shall be astonished, and shall hiss, and say: Why hath the Lord done thus to this land, and to this house? And they shall answer: Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and followed strange gods, and

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adored them, and worshipped them therefore hath the Lord brought upon them all this evil.

For many years Solomon continued faithful to his almighty Benefactor, and prospered far beyond the ordinary lot of human life. He built himself a superb palace; his subjects grew more and more wealthy; his fleets imported gold and precious woods from distant countries; and his reputation for wisdom spread through the neighbouring nations. One foreign princess, the Queen of Saba, visited him in person, for the purpose of ascertaining whether his learning and wisdom were as great as fame reported them. She put to him every difficult question she could devise, and his answers convinced her that his reputation was even less than he deserved.

But in his old age Solomon fell into grievous sin. His wives, of whom he was vehemently fond, and some of whom came from idolatrous nations, persuaded him to offer worship to their false gods; and he who had been the wisest of men bowed down in worship before the abominations of the heathen. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against him; and He determined to divide the kingdom after Solomon's death, rending away ten of the tribes of Israel, and giving them to be governed by Jeroboam, one of Solomon's ablest officers, instead of preserving the whole kingdom to Solomon's son and successor upon his throne. It was only for the sake of David that the entire kingdom was not rent away from Solomon's family.

Having reigned forty years, Solomon died. The Bible does not tell us whether or not he repented of his idolatries before his death, but we may hope that it was so; and it has been thought that in the book of Ecclesiastes the penitent monarch gives utterance to his final conviction of the vanity of all earthly blessings apart from God, who bestows them.