Building the Temple

Then Solomon began(A) to build the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah(B) where the Lord[a] had appeared to his father David, at the site David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan[b] the Jebusite. He began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign. These are Solomon’s foundations[c] for building God’s temple: the length[d] was ninety feet,[e] and the width thirty feet.[f] The portico, which was across the front extending across the width of the temple, was thirty feet wide; its height was thirty feet;[g] he overlaid its inner surface with pure gold. The larger room[h] he paneled with cypress wood, overlaid with fine gold, and decorated with palm trees and chains. He adorned the temple with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was the gold of Parvaim. He overlaid the temple—the beams, the thresholds, its walls and doors—with gold,(C) and he carved cherubim on the walls.(D)

The Most Holy Place

Then he made the most holy place; its length corresponded to the width of the temple, 30 feet, and its width was 30 feet.(E) He overlaid it with forty-five thousand pounds[i] of fine gold. The weight of the nails was twenty ounces[j] of gold, and he overlaid the ceiling with gold.

10 He made(F) two cherubim of sculptured work, for the most holy place, and he overlaid them with gold. 11 The overall length of the wings of the cherubim was 30 feet: the wing of one was 7½ feet,[k] touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet, touching the wing of the other cherub. 12 The wing of the other[l] cherub was 7½ feet, touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet, reaching the wing of the other cherub. 13 The wingspan of these cherubim was 30 feet. They stood on their feet and faced the larger room.[m]

14 He made the curtain of blue, purple, and crimson yarn and fine linen, and he wove cherubim into it.(G)

The Bronze Pillars

15 In front of the temple(H) he made two pillars, each 27 feet[n] high. The capital on top of each was 7½ feet high. 16 He had made chainwork in the inner sanctuary and also put it on top of the pillars.(I) He made a hundred pomegranates and fastened them into the chainwork. 17 Then he set up the pillars in front of the sanctuary, one on the right and one on the left. He named the one on the right Jachin[o] and the one on the left Boaz.[p]

The Altar and Basins

He made a bronze altar(J) 30 feet[q] long, 30 feet wide, and 15 feet[r] high.

Then he made the cast metal basin,[s](K) 15 feet from brim to brim, perfectly round. It was 7½ feet[t] high and 45 feet[u] in circumference. The likeness of oxen[v] was below it, completely encircling it, ten every half yard,[w] completely surrounding the basin. The oxen were cast in two rows when the basin was cast. It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The basin was on top of them and all their hindquarters were toward the center. The basin was three inches[x] thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup or a lily blossom. It could hold eleven thousand gallons.[y]

He made ten basins for washing and he put five on the right and five on the left.(L) The parts of the burnt offering were rinsed in them,(M) but the basin was used by the priests for washing.

The Lampstands, Tables, and Courts

He made the ten gold lampstands according to their specifications and put them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left.(N) He made ten tables and placed them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left.(O) He also made a hundred gold bowls.

He made the courtyard(P) of the priests and the large court, and doors for the court. He overlaid the doors with bronze. 10 He put the basin on the right side, toward the southeast.(Q) 11 Then Huram[z](R) made(S) the pots, the shovels, and the bowls.

Completion of the Bronze Furnishings

So Huram finished doing the work that he was doing for King Solomon in God’s temple: 12 two pillars; the bowls and the capitals on top of the two pillars; the two gratings for covering both bowls of the capitals that were on top of the pillars; 13 the four hundred pomegranates for the two gratings (two rows of pomegranates for each grating covering both capitals’ bowls on top of the pillars(T)). 14 He also made the water carts[aa](U) and the basins on the water carts. 15 The one basin and the twelve oxen underneath it, 16 the pots, the shovels, the forks, and all their utensils—Huram-abi[ab](V) made them for King Solomon for the Lord’s temple. All these were made of polished bronze. 17 The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zeredah. 18 Solomon made all these utensils in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.

Completion of the Gold Furnishings

19 Solomon also made all the equipment in God’s temple: the gold altar; the tables on which to put the Bread of the Presence;(W) 20 the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn in front of the inner sanctuary according to specifications;(X) 21 the flowers, lamps, and gold tongs—of purest gold; 22 the wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, ladles,[ac] and firepans—of purest gold; and the entryway to the temple, its inner doors to the most holy place, and the doors of the temple sanctuary—of gold.

So all the work Solomon did for the Lord’s temple was completed. Then Solomon brought the consecrated things of his father David—the silver, the gold, and all the utensils—and put them in the treasuries of God’s temple.

Preparations for the Temple Dedication

At that time(Y) Solomon assembled at Jerusalem the elders of Israel—all the tribal heads, the ancestral chiefs of the Israelites—in order to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the city of David,(Z) that is, Zion. So all the men of Israel were assembled in the king’s presence at the festival; this was in the seventh month.[ad]

All the elders of Israel came, and the Levites picked up the ark. They brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and the holy utensils that were in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought them up. King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel who had gathered around him were in front of the ark sacrificing sheep, goats, and cattle that could not be counted or numbered because there were so many. The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the most holy place, beneath the wings of the cherubim.(AA) And the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark so that the cherubim formed a cover above the ark and its poles. The poles were so long that their ends were seen from the holy place[ae](AB) in front of the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen from outside; they are still there today. 10 Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had put in it at Horeb,[af](AC) where the Lord had made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of Egypt.

11 Now all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves regardless of their divisions.(AD) When the priests came out of the holy place, 12 the Levitical singers dressed in fine linen and carrying cymbals, harps, and lyres(AE) were standing east of the altar, and with them were 120 priests blowing trumpets.(AF) The Levitical singers were descendants of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun and their sons(AG) and relatives. 13 The trumpeters and singers joined together to praise and thank the Lord with one voice. They raised their voices, accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and musical instruments,(AH) in praise to the Lord:

For he is good;
his faithful love endures forever.(AI)

The temple, the Lord’s temple, was filled with a cloud.(AJ) 14 And because of the cloud, the priests were not able to continue ministering, for the glory of the Lord filled God’s temple.(AK)

Footnotes

  1. 3:1 LXX; Tg reads the angel of the Lord; MT reads he
  2. 3:1 = Araunah in 2Sm 24:16–24
  3. 3:3 Tg reads The measurements which Solomon decreed
  4. 3:3 Lit length—cubits in the former measure
  5. 3:3 Lit 60 cubits
  6. 3:3 Lit 20 cubits, also in vv. 4,8,11,13
  7. 3:4 LXX, Syr; MT reads 120 cubits
  8. 3:5 Lit The house
  9. 3:8 Lit 600 talents
  10. 3:9 Lit 50 shekels
  11. 3:11 Lit five cubits, also in vv. 12,15
  12. 3:12 Syr, Vg; MT reads the one
  13. 3:13 Lit the house
  14. 3:15 Syr reads 18 cubits (27 feet); Hb reads 35 cubits (52½ feet)
  15. 3:17 = He Will Establish
  16. 3:17 = Strength Is in Him
  17. 4:1 Lit 20 cubits
  18. 4:1 Lit 10 cubits, also in v. 2
  19. 4:2 Lit sea
  20. 4:2 Lit five cubits
  21. 4:2 Lit 30 cubits
  22. 4:3 = gourds in 1Kg 7:24
  23. 4:3 Lit 10 per cubit
  24. 4:5 Lit a handbreadth
  25. 4:5 Text emended; MT reads 3,000 baths in 1Kg 7:26
  26. 4:11 = Hiram in 1Kg 7:13,40,45
  27. 4:14 Lit the stands
  28. 4:16 Lit Huram my father
  29. 4:22 Or dishes, or spoons; lit palms
  30. 5:3 = Tishri (September–October)
  31. 5:9 Some Hb mss, LXX; other Hb mss read the ark; 1Kg 8:8
  32. 5:10 = Sinai

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