2 Chronicles 4
EasyEnglish Bible
Solomon's workers make things for the temple
4 Solomon's workers made a bronze altar. It was 9 metres long, 9 metres wide and 4 metres high. 2 They used bronze to make a big bath which they called ‘the Sea’. It was in the shape of a circle 4½ metres across. It was 2½ metres deep. It was 14 metres around the outside.[a] 3 All around its edge, below the top, there were two rows of images of things that looked like bulls. They were all part of the same piece of bronze as the big bath. There were 20 bulls for every metre around the edge.
4 They put the bronze ‘Sea’ on top of 12 bronze bulls. Three pointed north, three pointed west, three pointed south and three pointed east. Their backs were towards the middle of the ‘Sea’. 5 The bronze walls of the ‘Sea’ were 7½ centimetres thick. Its top edge was like a cup in the shape of a lily flower. The ‘Sea’ contained about 65,000 litres of water.
6 They made ten bowls to wash in. They put five bowls on the south side and five bowls on the north side. The priests used them to wash all the things that they used for the burnt offerings. But the priests washed themselves in the water from the bronze ‘Sea’.
7 They used gold to make ten lampstands. They made them in the way that Solomon told them. They put the lampstands in the temple, five lampstands on the south side and five lampstands on the north side.[b]
8 They also made ten tables. They put them in the temple, five tables on the south side and five tables on the north side. They also used gold to make 100 bowls.
9 They made a small yard for the priests and another big yard with doors. They covered the doors with bronze. 10 They put the bronze ‘Sea’ on the south side of the temple, at its south-east corner.
11 Huram-Abi also made more pots, small tools and bowls. So he finished all the work in God's temple that King Solomon had asked him to do. He made these things:
12 two pillars;
two pieces for the top of each pillar, with the shape of big bowls;
rows of chains on the tops of the pillars;
13 400 images of pomegranates for the two groups of chains (there were two rows of these images around the piece at the top of each pillar, which had the shape of a bowl);
14 the carts with the buckets that were on them;
15 the big bronze bath called ‘the Sea’ and the 12 bulls under it;
16 the pots, small tools and forks for meat.
King Solomon asked Huram-Abi to make all these things for the Lord's temple. He used bright bronze to make all these things. 17 The king told his workers to pour the hot bronze into shapes in the ground. They did that at a special place in the region of the Jordan Valley, between Succoth and Zarethan. 18 Solomon did not weigh any of these things, because there were so many of them. No one ever knew the weight of the bronze.
Inside the temple
19 Solomon's workers also made all these things for God's temple:
the gold altar;
the tables which had the special bread on them;
20 the pure gold lampstands with their lamps (the plans showed how the lamps had to burn at the entrance of the Most Holy Place);
21 the gold images of flowers;
the lamps;
the small tools that held things for the altar;
22 the small tools of pure gold that they used for the lamps;
the bowls for water;
the dishes for ashes;
the baskets that carried hot coals;
the gold pieces that held the doors of the Most Holy Place;
the gold pieces that held the doors of the temple's big hall.
Footnotes
- 4:2 ‘The Sea’ was full of water. The priests used this to wash themselves when they went into the temple.
- 4:7 See 1 Chronicles 28:14-15.
2 Chronicles 4
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Altar, Reservoir, and Basins
4 He made a bronze altar(A) 30 feet[a] long, 30 feet[b] wide, and 15 feet[c] high.
2 Then he made the cast metal reservoir,(B) 15 feet[d] from brim to brim, perfectly round. It was 7½ feet[e] high and 45 feet[f] in circumference. 3 The likeness of oxen[g] was below it, completely encircling it, 10 every half yard,[h] completely surrounding the reservoir. The oxen were cast in two rows when the reservoir was cast. 4 It stood on 12 oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The reservoir was on top of them and all their hindquarters were toward the center. 5 The reservoir was three inches[i] thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup or a lily blossom. It could hold 11,000 gallons.[j]
6 He made 10 basins for washing and he put five on the right and five on the left.(C) The parts of the burnt offering were rinsed in them,(D) but the reservoir was used by the priests for washing.
The Lampstands, Tables, and Courts
7 He made the 10 gold lampstands according to their specifications and put them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left.(E) 8 He made 10 tables and placed them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left.(F) He also made 100 gold bowls.
9 He made the courtyard(G) of the priests and the large court, and doors for the court. He overlaid the doors with bronze. 10 He put the reservoir on the right side, toward the southeast.(H) 11 Then Huram[k](I) made(J) 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 400 pomegranates for the two gratings (two rows of pomegranates for each grating covering both capitals’ bowls on top of the pillars(K)). 14 He also made the water carts[l](L) and the basins on the water carts. 15 The one reservoir and the 12 oxen underneath it, 16 the pots, the shovels, the forks, and all their utensils—Huram-abi[m](M) 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;(N) 20 the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn in front of the inner sanctuary according to specifications;(O) 21 the flowers, lamps, and gold tongs—of purest gold; 22 the wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, ladles,[n] 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.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 4:1 Lit 20 cubits
- 2 Chronicles 4:1 Lit 20 cubits
- 2 Chronicles 4:1 Lit 10 cubits
- 2 Chronicles 4:2 Lit 10 cubits
- 2 Chronicles 4:2 Lit five cubits
- 2 Chronicles 4:2 Lit 30 cubits
- 2 Chronicles 4:3 = gourds in 1Kg 7:24
- 2 Chronicles 4:3 Lit 10 per cubit
- 2 Chronicles 4:5 Lit a handbreadth
- 2 Chronicles 4:5 Text emended; MT reads 3,000 baths in 1Kg 7:26
- 2 Chronicles 4:11 = Hiram in 1Kg 7:13,40,45
- 2 Chronicles 4:14 Lit the stands
- 2 Chronicles 4:16 Lit Huram my father
- 2 Chronicles 4:22 Or dishes, or spoons; lit palms
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