Solomon Builds the Temple^(A)

3 Now ^(B)Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at ^(C)Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where ^[a]the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of ^(D)Ornan^[b] the Jebusite. ² And he began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.

³ This is the foundation ^(E)which Solomon laid for building the house of God: The length was sixty cubits (by cubits according to the former measure) and the width twenty cubits. ⁴ And the ^(F)vestibule that was in front of ^[c]the sanctuary was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the height was ^[d]one hundred and twenty. He overlaid the inside with pure gold. ^5 (G)The larger ^[e]room he ^(H)paneled with cypress which he overlaid with fine gold, and he carved palm trees and chainwork on it. ⁶ And he decorated the house with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was gold from Parvaim. ⁷ He also overlaid the house—the beams and doorposts, its walls and doors—with gold; and he carved cherubim on the walls.

⁸ And he made the ^(I)Most Holy Place. Its length was according to the width of the house, twenty cubits, and its width twenty cubits. He overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold. ⁹ The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold; and he overlaid the upper ^(J)area with gold. ^10 (K)In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim, fashioned by carving, and overlaid them with gold. ¹¹ The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits in overall length: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub; ¹² one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing also was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub. ¹³ The wings of these cherubim spanned twenty cubits overall. They stood on their feet, and they faced inward. ¹⁴ And he made the ^(L)veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and wove cherubim into it.

¹⁵ Also he made in front of the ^[f]temple ^(M)two pillars ^[g]thirty-five cubits ^[h]high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. ¹⁶ He made wreaths of chainwork, as in the inner sanctuary, and put them on top of the pillars; and he made ^(N)one hundred pomegranates, and put them on the wreaths of chainwork. ¹⁷ Then he ^(O)set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left; he called the name of the one on the right hand ^[i]Jachin, and the name of the one on the left ^[j]Boaz.

Furnishings of the Temple^(P)

4 Moreover he made ^(Q)a bronze altar: twenty cubits was its length, twenty cubits its width, and ten cubits its height.

^2 (R)Then he made the ^[k]Sea of cast bronze, ten cubits from one brim to the other; it was completely round. Its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. ^3 (S)And under it was the likeness of oxen encircling it all around, ten to a cubit, all the way around the Sea. The oxen were cast in two rows, when it was cast. ⁴ It stood on twelve ^(T)oxen: three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; the Sea was set upon them, and all their back parts pointed inward. ⁵ It was a handbreadth thick; and its brim was shaped like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It contained ^[l]three thousand baths.

⁶ He also made ^(U)ten lavers, and put five on the right side and five on the left, to wash in them; such things as they offered for the burnt offering they would wash in them, but the ^[m]Sea was for the ^(V)priests to wash in. ^7 (W)And he made ten lampstands of gold ^(X)according to their design, and set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. ^8 (Y)He also made ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made one hundred ^(Z)bowls of gold.

⁹ Furthermore ^(AA)he made the court of the priests, and the ^(AB)great court and doors for the court; and he overlaid these doors with bronze. ^10 (AC)He set the Sea on the right side, toward the southeast.

¹¹ Then ^(AD)Huram made the pots and the shovels and the bowls. So Huram finished doing the work that he was to do for King Solomon for the house of God: ¹² the two pillars and ^(AE)the bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the two pillars; the two networks covering the two bowl-shaped capitals which were on top of the pillars; ^13 (AF)four hundred pomegranates for the two networks (two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on the pillars); ¹⁴ he also made ^(AG)carts and the lavers on the carts; ¹⁵ one Sea and twelve oxen under it; ¹⁶ also the pots, the shovels, the forks—and all their articles ^(AH)Huram his ^[n]master craftsman made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord.

¹⁷ In the plain of Jordan the king had them cast in clay molds, between Succoth and ^[o]Zeredah. ^18 (AI)And Solomon had all these articles made in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.

¹⁹ Thus ^(AJ)Solomon had all the furnishings made for the house of God: the altar of gold and the tables on which was ^(AK)the showbread; ²⁰ the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, to burn ^(AL)in the prescribed manner in front of the inner sanctuary, ²¹ with ^(AM)the flowers and the lamps and the wick-trimmers of gold, of purest gold; ²² the trimmers, the bowls, the ladles, and the censers of pure gold. As for the entry of the ^[p]sanctuary, its inner doors to the Most Holy Place, and the doors of the main hall of the temple, were gold.

Herod’s Violence to the Church

12 Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. ² Then he killed James ^(A)the brother of John with the sword. ³ And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during ^(B)the Days of Unleavened Bread. ⁴ So ^(C)when he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four ^[a]squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.

Peter Freed from Prison

⁵ Peter was therefore kept in prison, but ^[b]constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. ⁶ And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were ^[c]keeping the prison. ⁷ Now behold, ^(D)an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. ⁸ Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.” ⁹ So he went out and followed him, and ^(E)did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought ^(F)he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰ When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, ^(G)which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

¹¹ And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that ^(H)the Lord has sent His angel, and ^(I)has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.”

¹² So, when he had considered this, ^(J)he came to the house of Mary, the mother of ^(K)John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together ^(L)praying. ¹³ And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. ¹⁵ But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, ^(M)“It is his angel.”

¹⁶ Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. ¹⁷ But ^(N)motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren.” And he departed and went to another place.

¹⁸ Then, as soon as it was day, there was no small ^[d]stir among the soldiers about what had become of Peter. ¹⁹ But when Herod had searched for him and not found him, he examined the guards and commanded that they should be put to death.

And he went down from Judea to Caesarea, and stayed there.

Herod’s Violent Death

²⁰ Now Herod had been very angry with the people of ^(O)Tyre and Sidon; but they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus ^[e]the king’s personal aide their friend, they asked for peace, because ^(P)their country was ^[f]supplied with food by the king’s country.

²¹ So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. ²² And the people kept shouting, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” ²³ Then immediately an angel of the Lord ^(Q)struck him, because ^(R)he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and ^[g]died.

²⁴ But ^(S)the word of God grew and multiplied.

Barnabas and Saul Appointed

²⁵ And ^(T)Barnabas and Saul returned ^[h]from Jerusalem when they had ^(U)fulfilled their ministry, and they also ^(V)took with them ^(W)John whose surname was Mark.