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The Temple Furnishings
4 He made a bronze altar thirty feet long, thirty feet wide, and fifteen feet high.
2 He also made the sea of cast metal. It was round and fifteen feet from rim to rim. It was seven and a half feet high and forty-five feet in circumference. 3 Under the rim, figurines of cattle[a] completely encircled it, one every two inches, all the way around the sea. These cattle were in two rows, cast as one piece with the sea. 4 The sea stood on twelve cattle, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The sea was set on them, with all their hindquarters toward the center. 5 The sea was three inches[b] thick. Its rim was shaped like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held eighteen thousand gallons.[c]
6 He also made ten basins for washing and put five on the south side and five on the north. The pieces of the burnt offering were washed in the basins, but the priests washed in the sea.
7 He made ten gold lampstands according to the specifications that had been given for them, and he set them in the outer room of the temple building, five on the south side and five on the north.
8 He made ten tables and placed them in the outer room of the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He also made one hundred gold sprinkling bowls.
9 He also made the courtyard of the priests and the great enclosure,[d] and he made doors for the enclosure and overlaid them with bronze. 10 He set the sea on the south side of the temple building near its southeast corner.
11 Huram[e] also made the pots, the shovels, and the bowls.
So Huram finished the work that he carried out for King Solomon for God’s house: 12 the two pillars, the two globe-shaped capitals on top of the pillars, the two latticeworks to cover the two globe-shaped capitals on top of the pillars, 13 and the four hundred pomegranates for the two latticeworks (two rows of pomegranates for each latticework to cover the two globe-shaped capitals that were on the pillars). 14 He also made the carts, and he made the basins on the carts, 15 one sea, and the twelve cattle under it. 16 Huram Abi also made the pots, the shovels, the meat hooks,[f] and all the vessels of burnished bronze for King Solomon, for the House of the Lord.
17 The king cast them in clay molds, in the plain of the Jordan between Succoth and Zeredatha.[g] 18 Solomon made all these vessels in such great quantity that the weight of the bronze was not determined.
19 Solomon made all the furnishings that were in God’s house: the gold altar, the tables on which the Bread of the Presence was arranged, 20 and the lampstands with their lamps, which were to burn in front of the inner sanctuary according to the regulations. He made them of pure gold.[h] 21 He also made the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of the purest gold,[i] 22 and the snuffers, the sprinkling bowls, the small dishes, and the fire pans[j] of pure gold. For the entrances into the sanctuary, he made the gold inner doors for the Most Holy Place and the gold doors for the front room of the sanctuary.
5 All the work which Solomon carried out for the House of the Lord was completed, so Solomon brought the things his father David had dedicated, namely, the silver, the gold, and all the vessels and utensils, and put them into the treasuries of the House of God.
The Ark Is Placed in the Temple
2 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leading fathers[k] of the people of Israel, in Jerusalem, in order to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from the City of David, that is, from Zion. 3 All the men of Israel gathered in the presence of the king at the festival that takes place during the seventh month.[l] 4 Then when all the elders of Israel had come, the priests, who were Levites,[m] lifted up the Ark. 5 They brought the Ark, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels which were in the tent. The priests and Levites[n] brought them up.
6 King Solomon and the whole congregation of Israel that had gathered with him in front of the Ark were sacrificing sheep and oxen, too many to be counted or numbered.
7 The priests brought the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to its place in the inner sanctuary of the House, that is, to the Most Holy Place, and they placed it under the wings of the cherubim. 8 The cherubim were spreading their wings over the place for the Ark, so that the cherubim covered the Ark and its poles from above. 9 The poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the Holy Place[o] in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside. They are there to this day.
10 There was nothing in the Ark except the two tablets which Moses placed there at Horeb, where the Lord had made a covenant with the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt.
11 The priests then came out from the Holy Place. (All the priests who were present had consecrated themselves. They did not remain separated by their divisions.)
12 The levitical musicians, the divisions of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, including their sons and their relatives, were standing east of the altar. They were clothed in fine linen and had their cymbals, harps, and lyres with them. With them there were also one hundred twenty priests who blew trumpets.
13 The trumpeters and the singers joined together as one to praise and give thanks to the Lord. As they raised their voices to praise the Lord, accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other musical instruments, they sang:
Truly, he is good, because his mercy endures forever.
Then the sanctuary of the House of the Lord was filled with a cloud. 14 The priests were not able to take their positions to minister because of the presence of the cloud, because the Glory of the Lord had filled the House of God.
Solomon’s Speech and Prayer of Dedication
6 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he dwells in thick darkness, 2 but I have truly built a majestic house for you, a place for you to dwell in forever.”
3 Then the king turned and blessed the whole assembly of Israel, while the whole assembly of Israel was standing there. 4 Then Solomon said:
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel.
What he said with his mouth to my father David,
he has fulfilled with his hands.
5 The Lord said, “From the day I brought my people out from the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a house for my Name to be there. I did not choose a man to be ruler over my people Israel. 6 But now I have chosen Jerusalem as the place where my Name will be, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.”
7 It was on my father David’s heart to build a house for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 8 However, the Lord said to my father David, “That it was on your heart to build a house for my Name was a good thing to have on your heart, 9 but you will not build the house. Your son, who will come from your own body, will build the house for my Name.”
10 So the Lord kept his word which he had spoken, and I arose in the place of my father David. Now I am seated on the throne of Israel just as the Lord said. I have built this house for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 11 There I have placed the Ark, which contains the covenant of the Lord, which he made with the people of Israel.
7 Or don’t you know, brothers[a] (since I am speaking to those who know the law), that a law has jurisdiction over a person only as long as he lives? 2 For example, a married woman is bound to her husband by law as long as he is alive, but if he dies, she is released from this law regarding her husband. 3 So then, she will be labeled an adulteress if she is joined to another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from this law, and she is not an adulteress if she marries another man.
4 In the same way, my brothers, you also were put to death in regard to the law by the body of Christ, so that you may be joined to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, in order that we might produce fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, strong sinful desires stirred up by the law were at work in our members, with the result that we produced fruit that results in death. 6 But now we have been released from the law by dying to what held us in its grip, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the letter of the law.
The Law Stirs Up My Sinful Nature
7 What will we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! On the contrary, I would not have recognized sin except through the law. For example, I would not have known about coveting if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”[b] 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity provided by this commandment, produced every kind of sinful desire in me.
For apart from the law, sin is dead. 9 Once I was alive without the law. But when this commandment came, sin came to life, 10 and I died. This commandment that was intended to result in life actually resulted in death for me. 11 You see, sin, seizing the opportunity provided by this commandment, deceived me and put me to death through it.
12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good. 13 Then did what is good become death to me? Absolutely not! But sin, so that it might be recognized as sin, brings about my death by this good thing, so that through this commandment sin might prove itself to be totally sinful.
Psalm 17
My Righteous Plea
Heading
A prayer by David.
David’s Righteousness
1 Hear my righteous plea, O Lord.
Pay attention to my outcry.
Turn your ear to my prayer, which is not offered by deceitful lips.
2 May a just verdict for me come from you.
May your eyes observe the things that are right.
3 You have tested my heart.
You have visited me at night.
You have refined me;
you have found nothing wrong.
I resolved that my mouth will not overstep its bounds.
4 As for the deeds of people:
by the words from your lips
I have kept myself from the ways of the violent.
5 Keep my footsteps on your paths.
My steps have not slipped.
God’s Love
6 Indeed, I call to you because you will answer me, O God.
Turn your ear toward me. Hear what I say.
7 Perform wonders through your mercy.
By your right hand save those who seek refuge
from those who rise up against them.
8 Guard me like the pupil of your eye.[a]
In the shadow of your wings hide me
9 from the wicked who try to destroy me,
from those enemies of my life who surround me.
The Enemies’ Ruthlessness
10 Their hearts are calloused.[b]
Their mouths speak arrogantly.
11 Now they surround our steps.
They watch us to throw us to the ground.
12 He is like a lion that is eager to tear,
like a young lion crouching in its hiding place.
13 Rise, O Lord. Confront him. Bring him down.
Save my life from the wicked by your sword.
14 Save me from such men by your hand, O Lord,
from men of this world, whose reward is in this life.
Closing Confidence
14b But you fill the stomachs of those whom you treasure.[c]
Their children are satisfied,
and they leave their wealth to their children.
15 Indeed, in righteousness I will view your face.
When I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.
22 A desirable trait in a person is loyalty.[a]
It is better to be poor than a liar.
23 The fear of the Lord leads to life.
One who has it rests content.
He will not be disturbed by trouble.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.