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A House for God
When Solomon first became king, he wasn't excited or happy, he was scared. He prayed to God.
'Dear God, you have made me king of all these people. There are too many of them to count. So I ask that you give me wisdom. Then I can rule the people in the right way.'
God was so pleased that Solomon hadn't asked for riches and gold, that He gave him wisdom right away.
Solomon became famous as the wisest king in the whole world. Other kings and queens from other countries came to listen to his wise words. Everyone who came to visit Solomon brought him a gift. Even the Queen of Sheba, the richest and most beautiful queen in the world visited him. After she had spoken to Solomon, she told him that he was twice as wise as she had heard. To reward his wisdom, she gave him gold, spices and jewels.
Solomon used all the riches he had been given, to build a city for his people, so that everyone had a stone house to live in. No-one had to live in a tent anymore. No-one except God, because the holy place the priests went to pray to God was still a tent. So Solomon decided to build a house where the priest could worship God.
Solomon's friend, King Hiram, sent him the finest wood from Lebanon and his most skilled craftsman to build the Temple. When it was finished, it wasn't the biggest temple in the world, but it was beautiful. Everything inside it; the walls, the floor, the table, was covered in pure gold and jewels.
Solomon invited all the priests into the temple and made a big speech. He said, 'I have built a great temple for you, God. It is a place for you to live in forever.'
Just then fire came from the sky and made the temple shine. The priests and the people all cheered and danced and sang songs. Then Solomon said a prayer, 'Lord God, there is not enough room in all of Heaven for You. How could you possibly live in this temple I have built? Please watch over it day and night and whenever any of us look towards this temple and pray, listen and forgive us.'
