The Altar and Basins

He made a bronze altar(A) 30 feet[a] long, 30 feet wide, and 15 feet[b] high.

Then he made the cast metal basin,[c](B) 15 feet from brim to brim, perfectly round. It was 7½ feet[d] high and 45 feet[e] in circumference. The likeness of oxen[f] was below it, completely encircling it, ten every half yard,[g] 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[h] thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup or a lily blossom. It could hold eleven thousand gallons.[i]

He made ten 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 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.(E) He made ten tables and placed them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left.(F) He also made a hundred gold bowls.

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 basin on the right side, toward the southeast.(H) 11 Then Huram[j](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 four hundred 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[k](L) 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[l](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,[m] 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

  1. 4:1 Lit 20 cubits
  2. 4:1 Lit 10 cubits, also in v. 2
  3. 4:2 Lit sea
  4. 4:2 Lit five cubits
  5. 4:2 Lit 30 cubits
  6. 4:3 = gourds in 1Kg 7:24
  7. 4:3 Lit 10 per cubit
  8. 4:5 Lit a handbreadth
  9. 4:5 Text emended; MT reads 3,000 baths in 1Kg 7:26
  10. 4:11 = Hiram in 1Kg 7:13,40,45
  11. 4:14 Lit the stands
  12. 4:16 Lit Huram my father
  13. 4:22 Or dishes, or spoons; lit palms

And he maketh an altar of brass, twenty cubits its length, and twenty cubits its breadth, and ten cubits its height.

And he maketh the molten sea; ten by the cubit, from its edge unto its edge, round in compass, and five by the cubit its height, and a line of thirty by the cubit doth compass it, round about.

And the likeness of oxen [is] under it, all round about encompassing it, ten in the cubit, compassing the sea round about; two rows of oxen are cast in its being cast.

It is standing on twelve oxen, three facing the north, and three facing the west, and three facing the south, and three facing the east, and the sea [is] upon them above, and all their hinder parts [are] within.

And its thickness [is] a handbreadth, and its lip as the work of the lip of a cup flowered with lilies; taking hold -- baths three thousand it containeth.

And he maketh ten lavers, and putteth five on the right, and five on the left, to wash with them; the work of the burnt-offering they purge with them; and the sea [is] for priests to wash with.

And he maketh the ten candlesticks of gold, according to their ordinance, and placeth in the temple, five on the right, and five on the left.

And he maketh ten tables, and placeth in the temple, five on the right, and five on the left; and he maketh bowls of gold a hundred.

And he maketh the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and their doors he hath overlaid with brass.

10 And the sea he hath placed on the right shoulder eastward, over-against the south.

11 And Huram maketh the pots, and the shovels, and the bowls, and Huram finisheth to make the work that he made for king Solomon in the house of God;

12 two pillars, and the bowls, and the crowns on the heads of the two pillars, and the two wreaths to cover the two bowls of the crowns that [are] on the heads of the pillars;

13 and the pomegranates four hundred to the two wreaths, two rows of pomegranates to the one wreath, to cover the two bowls of the crowns that [are] on the front of the pillars.

14 And the bases he hath made; and the lavers he hath made on the bases;

15 the one sea, and the twelve oxen under it,

16 and the pots, and the shovels, and the forks, and all their vessels, hath Huram his father made for king Solomon, for the house of Jehovah, of brass purified.

17 In the circuit of the Jordan hath the king cast them, in the thick soil of the ground, between Succoth and Zeredathah.

18 And Solomon maketh all these vessels in great abundance, that the weight of the brass hath not been searched out.

19 And Solomon maketh all the vessels that [are for] the house of God, and the altar of gold, and the tables, and on them [is] bread of the presence;

20 and the candlesticks, and their lamps, for their burning according to the ordinance, before the oracle, of gold refined;

21 and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold -- it [is] the perfection of gold;

22 and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and the censers, of gold refined, and the opening of the house, its innermost doors to the holy of holies, and the doors of the house to the temple, of gold.