2 Chronicles 4-5

New American Standard Bible

Furnishings of the Temple

4 Then ^(A)he made a bronze altar, ^[a]twenty cubits in length, ^[b]twenty cubits in width, and ^[c]ten cubits in height. ^2 (B)He also made the ^[d]Sea of cast metal, ^[e]ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and its height was ^[f]five cubits and ^[g]its circumference ^[h]thirty cubits. ³ Now figures like oxen were under it and all around it, ^[i]ten cubits, entirely encircling the Sea. The oxen were in two rows, cast ^[j]in one piece. ⁴ It was standing on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; and the Sea was set on top of them and all their hindquarters turned inward. ⁵ It was a ^[k]hand width thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom; it ^(C)could hold three thousand ^[l]baths. ^6 (D)He also made ten basins in which to wash, and he set five on the right side and five on the left ^[m]to rinse things for the burnt offering; but the Sea was for the priests to wash in.

⁷ Then ^(E)he made the ten golden lampstands in the way prescribed for them, and he set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. ⁸ He also made ^(F)ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made a hundred golden bowls. ⁹ Then he made ^(G)the courtyard of the priests and ^(H)the great courtyard, and doors for the courtyard, and overlaid their doors with bronze. ^10 (I)He put the Sea on the right side of the house toward the southeast.

^11 (J)Huram also made the pails, the shovels, and the bowls. So Huram finished the work that he did for King Solomon in the house of God: ¹² the two pillars, the bowls and the two capitals on top of the pillars, and the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on top of the pillars, ¹³ and ^(K)the four hundred pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the pillars. ^14 (L)He also made the stands and he made the basins on the stands, ¹⁵ and the one Sea with the twelve oxen under it. ¹⁶ The pails, the shovels, the forks, and all its utensils, ^(M)Huram-abi made of polished bronze for King Solomon, for the house of the Lord. ¹⁷ On the plain of the Jordan the king cast them in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah. ^18 (N)So Solomon made all these utensils in great quantities, for the weight of the bronze could not be determined.

¹⁹ Solomon also made all the things that were in the house of God: the golden altar, ^(O)the tables with the bread of the Presence on them, ²⁰ the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, ^(P)to burn in front of the inner sanctuary in the way prescribed; ²¹ the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold, that is, of purest gold; ²² and the snuffers, the bowls, the spoons, and the firepans of pure gold; and the entrance of the house, its inner doors for the Most Holy Place and the doors of the house, that is, of the main room, of gold.

The Ark Is Brought into the Temple

5 ^(Q)So all the work that Solomon performed for the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the ^[n](R)things that his father David had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and all the utensils, and he put them in the treasuries of the house of God.

^2 (S)Then Solomon assembled at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, ^(T)to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the city of David, which is Zion. ^3 (U)All the men of Israel assembled themselves before the king at ^(V)the feast, that is in the seventh month. ⁴ Then all the elders of Israel came, and ^(W)the Levites picked up the ark. ⁵ They brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy utensils that were in the tent. The Levitical priests brought them up. ⁶ And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who had assembled with him before the ark were sacrificing ^[o]so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. ⁷ Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim. ⁸ For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its ^[p]poles. ⁹ The poles were so long that ^(X)the ends of the poles of the ark could be seen in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; and ^[q]they are there to this day. ^10 (Y)There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.

The Glory of God Fills the Temple

¹¹ When the priests came out from the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard ^(Z)to divisions), ¹² and all the Levitical singers, ^(AA)Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and kinsmen, clothed in fine linen, ^(AB)with cymbals, harps, and lyres, standing east of the altar, and with them 120 priests ^(AC)blowing trumpets ¹³ in unison when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to glorify the Lord, and when they raised their voices ^(AD)accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other musical instruments, and when they praised the Lord saying, “^(AE)He indeed is good for His ^[r]kindness is everlasting,” then the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, ¹⁴ so that the priests could not rise to minister because of the cloud, for ^(AF)the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.