1 Kings 7:40-8:21

New American Standard Bible 1995

⁴⁰ Now Hiram made the basins and the shovels and the bowls. So Hiram finished doing all the work which he performed for King Solomon in the house of the Lord: ⁴¹ the two pillars and the two bowls of the capitals which were on the top of the ^(A)two pillars, and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the top of the pillars; ⁴² and the ^(B)four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for each network to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the tops of the pillars; ⁴³ and the ten stands with the ten basins on the stands; ⁴⁴ and ^(C)the one sea and the twelve oxen under the sea; ⁴⁵ and ^(D)the pails and the shovels and the bowls; even all these utensils which Hiram made for King Solomon in the house of the Lord were of polished bronze. ^46 (E)In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between ^(F)Succoth and ^(G)Zarethan. ⁴⁷ Solomon left all the utensils unweighed, because they were too many; ^(H)the weight of the bronze could not be ascertained.

⁴⁸ Solomon made all the furniture which was in the house of the Lord: ^(I)the golden altar and the golden table on which was the ^(J)bread of the Presence; ⁴⁹ and the lampstands, five on the right side and five on the left, in front of the inner sanctuary, of pure gold; and ^(K)the flowers and the lamps and the tongs, of gold; ⁵⁰ and the cups and the snuffers and the bowls and the spoons and the ^(L)firepans, of pure gold; and the hinges both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, that is, of the nave, of gold.

^51 (M)Thus all the work that King Solomon performed in the house of the Lord was finished. And ^(N)Solomon brought in the things dedicated by his father David, the silver and the gold and the utensils, and he put them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.

The Ark Brought into the Temple

8 ^(O)Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all ^(P)the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, ^(Q)to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from ^(R)the city of David, which is Zion. ² All the men of Israel assembled themselves to King Solomon at ^(S)the feast, in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. ³ Then all the elders of Israel came, and ^(T)the priests took up the ark. ⁴ They brought up the ark of the Lord and ^(U)the tent of meeting and all the holy utensils, which were in the tent, and the priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁵ And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were assembled to him, ^(V)were with him before the ark, sacrificing ^[a]so many sheep and oxen they could not be counted or numbered. ⁶ Then ^(W)the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord ^(X)to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, ^(Y)under the wings of the cherubim. ⁷ For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its poles from above. ⁸ But ^(Z)the poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; they are there to this day. ^9 (AA)There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, where ^(AB)the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ It happened that when the priests came from the holy place, ^(AC)the cloud filled the house of the Lord, ¹¹ so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

Solomon Addresses the People

^12 (AD)Then Solomon said,

¹⁴ Then the king ^[b]faced about and ^(AH)blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. ¹⁵ He said, “^(AI)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(AJ)who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled it with His hand, saying, ¹⁶ ‘^(AK)Since the day that I brought My people Israel from Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house that ^(AL)My name might be there, but ^(AM)I chose David to be over My people Israel.’ ^17 (AN)Now it was ^[c]in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁸ But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Because it was ^[d]in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was ^[e]in your heart. ^19 (AO)Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who ^[f]will be born to you, he will build the house for My name.’ ²⁰ Now the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for ^(AP)I have risen in place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord ^[g]promised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ²¹ There I have set a place for the ark, ^(AQ)in which is the covenant of the Lord, which He made with our fathers when He brought them from the land of Egypt.”