I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself and by planting beautiful vineyards.

我为自己动大工程，建造房屋，栽种葡萄园，

我大兴土木，为自己建造房屋，栽葡萄园，

我大兴土木，为自己建造房屋，栽葡萄园，

我大动工程，为自己建造房屋，栽种葡萄园，

我大事发展：为自己建造房屋，栽种葡萄园，

我扩建工程，为自己建造房屋，种植葡萄园；

我為自己動大工程，建造房屋，栽種葡萄園，

我大興土木，為自己建造房屋，栽葡萄園，

我大興土木，為自己建造房屋，栽葡萄園，

我大動工程，為自己建造房屋，栽種葡萄園，

我大事發展：為自己建造房屋，栽種葡萄園，

我為自己動大工程，建造房屋，為自己栽種葡萄園，

我擴建工程，為自己建造房屋，種植葡萄園；

我興鉅工、為己建屋、植葡萄園、

於是興工作、建屋宇、作園囿、種葡萄、栽百果、

於是廣興工作、建造屋宇、植葡萄園、

I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards.

So I started some large projects. I built houses for myself. I planted vineyards.

I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.

I increased my achievements. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.

I enlarged my works: I built houses for myself, I planted vineyards for myself;

I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards.

I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards;

I increased my achievements. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.

I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards:

I increased my possessions: I built houses for myself; I planted vineyards for myself.

I made myself great works. I built myself houses. I planted myself vineyards.

Solomon also built a palace for himself, and it took him thirteen years to complete the construction.One of Solomon’s buildings was called the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. It was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. There were four rows of cedar pillars, and great cedar beams rested on the pillars.The hall had a cedar roof. Above the beams on the pillars were forty five side rooms, arranged in three tiers of fifteen each.On each end of the long hall were three rows of windows facing each other.All the doorways and doorposts had rectangular frames and were arranged in sets of three, facing each other.Solomon also built the Hall of Pillars, which was 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. There was a porch in front, along with a canopy supported by pillars.Solomon also built the throne room, known as the Hall of Justice, where he sat to hear legal matters. It was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling.Solomon’s living quarters surrounded a courtyard behind this hall, and they were constructed the same way. He also built similar living quarters for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.From foundation to eaves, all these buildings were built from huge blocks of high quality stone, cut with saws and trimmed to exact measure on all sides.Some of the huge foundation stones were 15 feet long, and some were 12 feet long.The blocks of high quality stone used in the walls were also cut to measure, and cedar beams were also used.The walls of the great courtyard were built so that there was one layer of cedar beams between every three layers of finished stone, just like the walls of the inner courtyard of the Lord’s Temple with its entry room.

The throne had six steps and a rounded back. There were armrests on both sides of the seat, and the figure of a lion stood on each side of the throne.There were also twelve other lions, one standing on each end of the six steps. No other throne in all the world could be compared with it!

Then they said,“ Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”

“ Let there be a treaty between you and me like the one between your father and my father. See, I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel so that he will leave me alone.”

Shimei from Ramah was in charge of the king’s vineyards. Zabdi from Shepham was responsible for the grapes and the supplies of wine.

He is like a bouquet of sweet henna blossoms from the vineyards of En gedi.

The grave is their eternal home, where they will stay forever. They may name their estates after themselves,

Now I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a rich and fertile hill.

For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in,and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful!Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.

So Solomon finished building the Temple of the Lord, as well as the royal palace. He completed everything he had planned to do.

Let us get up early and go to the vineyards to see if the grapevines have budded, if the blossoms have opened, and if the pomegranates have bloomed. There I will give you my love.

Solomon moved his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter, from the City of David to the new palace he had built for her. He said,“ My wife must not live in King David’s palace, for the Ark of the Lord has been there, and it is holy ground.”

It took Solomon twenty years to build the Lord’s Temple and his own royal palace. At the end of that time,Solomon turned his attention to rebuilding the towns that King Hiram had given him, and he settled Israelites in them.Solomon also fought against the town of Hamath zobah and conquered it.He rebuilt Tadmor in the wilderness and built towns in the region of Hamath as supply centers.He fortified the towns of Upper Beth horon and Lower Beth horon, rebuilding their walls and installing barred gates.He also rebuilt Baalath and other supply centers and constructed towns where his chariots and horses could be stationed. He built everything he desired in Jerusalem and Lebanon and throughout his entire realm.

He also constructed forts in the wilderness and dug many water cisterns, because he kept great herds of livestock in the foothills of Judah and on the plains. He was also a man who loved the soil. He had many workers who cared for his farms and vineyards, both on the hillsides and in the fertile valleys.

As he looked out across the city, he said,‘ Look at this great city of Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor.’

During his lifetime, Absalom had built a monument to himself in the King’s Valley, for he said,“ I have no son to carry on my name.” He named the monument after himself, and it is known as Absalom’s Monument to this day.

Solomon has a vineyard at Baal hamon, which he leases out to tenant farmers. Each of them pays a thousand pieces of silver for harvesting its fruit.But my vineyard is mine to give, and Solomon need not pay a thousand pieces of silver. But I will give two hundred pieces to those who care for its vines.