Old/New Testament

Solomon Builds the Temple

6 So in the month of Ziv, the second month of the year, during Solomon’s fourth year as king, he began work on the Temple. This was 480 years after the Israelites left Egypt.^{[a] 2} The Temple was 60 cubits^[b] long, 20 cubits^[c] wide, and 30 cubits^[d] high. ³ The porch of the Temple was 20 cubits long and 10 cubits^[e] wide. The porch ran along the front of the main part of the Temple itself. Its length was equal to the width of the Temple. ⁴ There were narrow windows in the Temple. These windows were smaller on the inside of the wall than on the outside.^{[f] 5} Then Solomon built a row of rooms around the main part of the Temple. This row of rooms was three stories tall with the rooms built one above the other. ⁶ The rooms touched the Temple wall, but their beams were not built into that wall. The Temple wall became thinner at the top, so the rooms on the upper floors were larger than the ones below them. The rooms on the bottom floor were 5 cubits^[g] wide. The rooms on the middle floor were 6 cubits^[h] wide. The rooms above that were 7 cubits^[i] wide. ⁷ The stones were completely finished before they were brought into the Temple area, so there was no noise of hammers, axes, or any other iron tools in the Temple.

⁸ The entrance to these rooms was on bottom floor at the south side of the Temple. Inside there were stairs that went up to the second floor and from there to the third floor.

⁹ Solomon finished building the main part of the Temple and then covered it inside with cedar boards. ¹⁰ Then he finished building the rooms around the Temple. Each story was 5 cubits tall. The cedar beams in these rooms rested on a ledge of the Temple wall.

¹¹ The Lord said to Solomon, ¹² “If you obey all my laws and commands, I will do for you what I promised your father David. ¹³ I will live among the children of Israel in this Temple that you are building, and I will never leave the people of Israel.”

¹⁴ When Solomon finished the stonework on the Temple, ¹⁵ the stone walls inside the Temple were covered with cedar boards from floor to ceiling. Then the stone floor was covered with pine boards. ¹⁶ They built an inner room 20 cubits long in the back part of the Temple. This room was called the Most Holy Place. They covered the walls in this room with cedar boards, from floor to ceiling. ¹⁷ In front of the Most Holy Place was the main part of the Temple. This room was 40 cubits^[j] long. ¹⁸ They covered the walls in this room with cedar boards—none of the stones in the walls could be seen. They carved pictures of flowers and gourds into the cedar.

¹⁹ Solomon finished the inner room in the back part of the Temple. This room was for the Box of the Lord’s Agreement. ²⁰ This room was 20 cubits long, 20 cubits wide, and 20 cubits high. Solomon covered this room with pure gold. He also covered the cedar altar with gold. ²¹ He covered the inside of the Temple with pure gold and wrapped gold chains around it. ²² The inside of the Temple was covered with gold, and the altar in front of the Most Holy Place was covered with gold.

²³ The workers made two statues of Cherub angels with wings. They made the statues from olive wood and put them in the Most Holy Place. Each angel was 10 cubits tall. ^24-26 Both Cherub angels were the same size and built the same way. Each one had two wings. Each wing was 5 cubits long. From the end of one wing to the end of the other wing was 10 cubits. And each Cherub angel was 10 cubits tall. ²⁷ They put the Cherub angels beside one another in the Most Holy Place. Their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. The other two wings touched each side wall. ²⁸ The two Cherub angels were covered with gold.

²⁹ The walls around the main room and the inner room were carved with pictures of Cherub angels, palm trees, and flowers. ³⁰ The floor of both rooms was covered with gold.

³¹ The workers made two doors from olive wood. They put these doors at the entrance of the Most Holy Place. The frame around the doors was made with five sides.^{[k] 32} They made the two doors from olive wood. The workers carved pictures of Cherub angels, palm trees, and flowers on the doors. Then they covered the doors with gold.

³³ They also made doors for the entrance to the main room. They used olive wood to make a square doorframe. ³⁴ There were two doors made from pine. Each door had two parts that folded together. ³⁵ They carved pictures of Cherub angels, palm trees, and flowers on the doors. Then they covered them with gold.

³⁶ Then they built a wall around the inner yard. Each wall was made from three rows of cut stones and one row of cedar timbers.

³⁷ They started working on the Lord’s Temple in the month of Ziv, the second month of the year. This was during Solomon’s fourth year as king of Israel. ³⁸ The Temple was finished in the month of Bul, the eighth month of the year, in Solomon’s eleventh year as king. It took seven years to build the Temple. It was built exactly as planned.

Solomon’s Palace

7 King Solomon also built a palace for himself. It took 13 years to build Solomon’s palace. ² He also built the building called the “Forest of Lebanon.” It was 100 cubits^[l] long, 50 cubits^[m] wide, and 30 cubits^[n] high. It had four rows of cedar columns. On top of each column was a cedar capital. ³ There were cedar beams going across the rows of columns. There were 15 beams for each section of columns, making a total of 45 beams. On top of these beams there were cedar boards for the ceiling. ⁴ There were three rows of windows across from each other on the side walls. ⁵ There were three doors at each end. All the door openings and frames were square.

⁶ Solomon also built the Porch of Columns. It was 50 cubits long and 30 cubits wide. Along the front of the porch, there was a covering supported by columns.

⁷ He also built a throne room where he judged people. He called this the Judgment Hall. The room was covered with cedar from floor to ceiling.

⁸ Behind the Judgment Hall was a courtyard. The palace where Solomon lived was built around that courtyard and looked like the Judgment Hall. He also built the same kind of palace for his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt.

⁹ All these buildings were made with expensive blocks of stone. The stones were cut to the right size with a saw and then smoothed on front and back. These expensive stones went from the foundation all the way up to the top layer of the wall. Even the wall around the yard was made with expensive blocks of stone. ¹⁰ The foundations were made with large, expensive stones. Some of the stones were 10 cubits^[o] long and the others were 8 cubits^[p] long. ¹¹ On top of these stones there were other expensive stones and cedar beams. ¹² There were walls around the palace yard and around the yard and porch of the Lord’s Temple. The walls were built with three rows of stone and one row of cedar timbers.

¹³ King Solomon sent for a man named Huram^[q] who lived in Tyre and brought him to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ Huram’s mother was an Israelite from the tribe of Naphtali. His dead father was from Tyre. Huram made things from bronze. He was a very skilled and experienced builder. So King Solomon asked him to come, and Huram accepted. King Solomon put him in charge of all the bronze work, and Huram did all the work he was given to do.

¹⁵ Huram made two bronze columns for the porch. Each column was 18 cubits^[r] tall and 12 cubits^[s] around. The columns were hollow and their metal walls were 3 inches^[t] thick.^{[u] 16} He also made two bronze capitals that were 5 cubits^[v] tall. He put these capitals on top of the columns. ¹⁷ He made two nets of chain to cover the capitals on top of the two columns. ¹⁸ Then he made two rows of bronze pomegranates. He put the bronze pomegranates on the nets of each column to cover the capitals at the top of the columns. ¹⁹ The capitals on top of the columns were shaped like flowers. ²⁰ The capitals were on top of the columns, above the bowl-shaped net. There were 200 pomegranates in rows all around the capitals. ²¹ Huram put these two bronze columns at the porch of the Temple. One column was put on the south side of the entrance and one was put on the north side of it. The column on the south was named Jakin. The column on the north was named Boaz. ²² They put the flower-shaped capitals on top of the columns, and the work on the two columns was finished.

²³ Then Huram melted bronze and poured it into a huge mold to make a tank,^[w] which was called “The Sea.” The tank was about 30 cubits around. It was 10 cubits across and 5 cubits deep. ²⁴ There was a rim around the outer edge of the tank. Under this rim there were two rows of bronze gourds all around the tank. The bronze gourds were made in one piece as part of the tank. ²⁵ The tank rested on the backs of 12 bronze bulls. All 12 of the bulls were looking out, away from the tank. Three were looking north, three east, three south, and three west. ²⁶ The sides of the tank were 3 inches thick. The rim around the tank was like the rim of a cup or like the petals on a flower. The tank held about 11,000 gallons^[x] of water.

²⁷ Then Huram made ten bronze carts. Each cart was 4 cubits^[y] long, 4 cubits wide, and 3 cubits^[z] high. ²⁸ The carts were made with square panels set in frames. ²⁹ On the panels and frames were bronze bulls, lions, and Cherub angels. There were designs of flowers hammered into the bronze above and below the bulls and lions. ³⁰ Each cart had four bronze wheels with bronze axles. At the corners there were bronze supports for a large bowl. The supports had designs of flowers hammered into the bronze. ³¹ There was a frame around the top with an opening for the bowl. The frame was 1 cubit^[aa] tall, and the opening was 1 1/2 cubits^[ab] in diameter. There were designs carved into the bronze on the frame. The frame was square, not round. ³² There were four wheels under the frame. The wheels were 1 1/2 cubits in diameter. The axles between the wheels were made as one piece with the cart. ³³ The wheels were like the wheels on a chariot. Everything on the wheels—the axles, the rims, the spokes, and the hubs were made from bronze.

³⁴ There were supports at each of the four corners of the carts. They were made as one piece with the cart. ³⁵ There was a strip of bronze around the top of each cart. It was made as one piece with the cart. ³⁶ The sides of the cart and the frames had pictures of Cherub angels, lions, and palm trees carved into the bronze. These pictures were carved all over the carts—wherever there was room. And there were flowers carved on the frame around the cart. ³⁷ Huram made ten carts, and they were all the same. Each cart was made from bronze. The bronze was melted and poured into a mold. So all the carts were the same size and shape.

³⁸ Huram also made ten bowls. There was one bowl for each of the ten carts. Each bowl was 4 cubits across and could hold about 230 gallons.^{[ac] 39} He put five carts on the south side of the Temple and five carts on the north side. He put the large tank in the southeast corner of the Temple. ^40-45 Huram also made pots, small shovels, and small bowls. He finished making all the things King Solomon wanted him to make. This is a list of the things that Huram made for the Temple of the Lord:

Huram made everything King Solomon wanted. They were all made from polished bronze. ^46-47 Solomon never weighed the bronze that was used to make these things. There was too much to weigh. So the total weight of all the bronze was never known. The king ordered these things to be made near the Jordan River between Succoth and Zarethan. They made them by melting the bronze and pouring it into molds in the ground.

^48-50 Solomon also commanded that all these things be made from gold for the Temple:

⁵¹ So King Solomon finished all the work he wanted to do for the Lord’s Temple. Then he took everything his father David had saved for this special purpose and put them in the Temple. He put the silver and gold in the special storage rooms in the Lord’s Temple.

Some Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus^(A)

²⁷ Some Sadducees came to Jesus. (Sadducees believe that people will not rise from death.) They asked him, ²⁸ “Teacher, Moses wrote that if a married man dies and had no children, his brother must marry his widow. Then they will have children for the dead brother.^{[a] 29} One time there were seven brothers. The first brother married a woman but died. He had no children. ³⁰ Then the second brother married the woman, and he died. ³¹ And the third brother married the woman, and he died. The same thing happened with all the other brothers. They all died and had no children. ³² The woman was the last to die. ³³ But all seven brothers married her. So when people rise from death, whose wife will this woman be?”

³⁴ Jesus said to the Sadducees, “On earth, people marry each other. ³⁵ Some people will be worthy to be raised from death and live again after this life. In that life they will not marry. ³⁶ In that life people are like angels and cannot die. They are children of God, because they have been raised from death. ³⁷ Moses clearly showed that people are raised from death. When Moses wrote about the burning bush,^[b] he said that the Lord is ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’^{[c] 38} So they were not still dead, because he is the God only of living people. Yes, to God they are all still living.”

³⁹ Some of the teachers of the law said, “Teacher, your answer was very good.” ⁴⁰ No one was brave enough to ask him another question.

Is the Messiah David’s Son or David’s Lord?^(B)

⁴¹ Then Jesus said, “Why do people say that the Messiah is the Son of David? ⁴² In the book of Psalms, David himself says,

⁴⁴ David calls the Messiah ‘Lord.’ So how can the Messiah also be David’s son?”

Warning Against the Teachers of the Law^(D)

⁴⁵ While all the people were listening to Jesus, he said to his followers, ⁴⁶ “Be careful of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around wearing clothes that look important. And they love for people to show respect to them in the marketplaces. They love to have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. ⁴⁷ But they cheat widows and take their homes. Then they try to make themselves look good by saying long prayers. God will punish them very much.”