Solomon Builds His Palace

7 Solomon was ^(A)building his own house for thirteen years, and he finished his entire house.

² He built ^(B)the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was a hundred cubits^[a] and its breadth fifty cubits and its height thirty cubits, and it was built on four^[b] rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars. ³ And it was covered with cedar above the chambers that were on the forty-five pillars, fifteen in each row. ⁴ There were window frames in three rows, and window opposite window in three tiers. ⁵ All the doorways and windows^[c] had square frames, and window was opposite window in three tiers.

⁶ And he made ^(C)the Hall of Pillars; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits. There was a porch in front with pillars, and ^(D)a canopy in front of them.

⁷ And he made the Hall of the Throne where he was to pronounce judgement, even the Hall of Judgement. ^(E)It was finished with cedar from floor to rafters.^[d]

⁸ His own house where he was to dwell, in the other court back of the hall, was of like workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh's daughter ^(F)whom he had taken in marriage.

⁹ All these were made of costly stones, cut according to measure, sawn with saws, back and front, even from the foundation to the coping, and from the outside to the great court. ¹⁰ The foundation was of costly stones, huge stones, stones of eight and ten cubits. ¹¹ And above were costly stones, cut according to measurement, and cedar. ^12 (G)The great court had three courses of cut stone all round, and a course of cedar beams; so had the inner court of the house of the Lord and ^(H)the vestibule of the house.

The Temple Furnishings

¹³ And King Solomon sent and brought ^(I)Hiram from Tyre. ¹⁴ He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze. And ^(J)he was full of wisdom, understanding, and skill for making any work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his work.

^15 (K)He cast ^(L)two pillars of bronze. ^(M)Eighteen cubits was the height of one pillar, and a line of twelve cubits measured its circumference. It was hollow, and its thickness was four fingers. The second pillar was the same.^{[e] 16} He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of one capital was five cubits, and ^(N)the height of the other capital was five cubits. ¹⁷ There were lattices of chequerwork with wreaths of chainwork for the capitals on the tops of the pillars, a lattice^[f] for one capital and a lattice for the other capital. ¹⁸ Likewise he made pomegranates^[g] in two rows round the one latticework to cover the capital that was on the top of the pillar, and he did the same with the other capital. ¹⁹ Now the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars in the vestibule were of lily-work, four cubits. ²⁰ The capitals were on the two pillars and also above the rounded projection which was beside the latticework. There were ^(O)two hundred pomegranates in two rows all round, and so with the other capital. ^21 (P)He set up the pillars at the vestibule of the temple. He set up the pillar on the south and called its name Jachin, and he set up the pillar on the north and called its name Boaz. ²² And on the tops of the pillars was lily-work. Thus the work of the pillars was finished.

^23 (Q)Then he made ^(R)the sea of cast metal. It was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. ²⁴ Under its brim were ^(S)gourds, for ten cubits, compassing the sea all round. The gourds were in two rows, cast with it when it was cast. ²⁵ It stood on ^(T)twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The sea was set on them, and all their rear parts were inward. ²⁶ Its thickness was a handbreadth,^[h] and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It held two thousand baths.^[i]

²⁷ He also made the ^(U)ten stands of bronze. Each stand was four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high. ²⁸ This was the construction of the stands: they had panels, and the panels were set in the frames, ²⁹ and on the panels that were set in the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the frames, both above and below the lions and oxen, there were wreaths of bevelled work. ³⁰ Moreover, each stand had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze, and at the four corners were supports for a basin. The supports were cast with wreaths at the side of each. ³¹ Its opening was within a crown that projected upwards one cubit. Its opening was round, as a pedestal is made, a cubit and a half deep. At its opening there were carvings, and its panels were square, not round. ³² And the four wheels were underneath the panels. The axles of the wheels were of one piece with the stands, and the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half. ³³ The wheels were made like a chariot wheel; their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast. ³⁴ There were four supports at the four corners of each stand. The supports were of one piece with the stands. ³⁵ And on the top of the stand there was a round band half a cubit high; and on the top of the stand its stays and its panels were of one piece with it. ³⁶ And on the surfaces of its stays and on its panels, he carved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the space of each, with wreaths all round. ³⁷ After this manner he made ^(V)the ten stands. All of them were cast alike, of the same measure and the same form.

³⁸ And he made ^(W)ten basins of bronze. Each basin held forty baths, each basin measured four cubits, and there was a basin for each of the ten stands. ³⁹ And he set the stands, five on the south side of the house, and five on the north side of the house. And he set the sea at the southeast corner of the house.

^40 (X)Hiram also made ^(Y)the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished all the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of the Lord: ⁴¹ the two pillars, the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars, and the two ^(Z)latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars; ⁴² and the ^(AA)four hundred pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars; ⁴³ the ten stands, and the ten basins on the stands; ⁴⁴ and ^(AB)the one sea, and the twelve oxen underneath the sea.

⁴⁵ Now ^(AC)the pots, the shovels, and the basins, all these vessels in the house of the Lord, which Hiram made for King Solomon, were of burnished bronze. ⁴⁶ In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between ^(AD)Succoth and ^(AE)Zarethan. ⁴⁷ And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because there were so many of them; ^(AF)the weight of the bronze was not ascertained.

⁴⁸ So Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of the Lord: ^(AG)the golden altar, ^(AH)the golden table for ^(AI)the bread of the Presence, ^49 (AJ)the lampstands of pure gold, five on the south side and five on the north, before the inner sanctuary; ^(AK)the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of gold; ⁵⁰ the cups, snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and ^(AL)firepans, of pure gold; and the sockets of gold, for the doors of the innermost part of the house, ^(AM)the Most Holy Place, and for the doors of the nave of the temple.

⁵¹ Thus all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in ^(AN)the things that David his father had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and the vessels, and stored them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.

³⁰ “Now when forty years had passed, ^(A)an angel appeared to him ^(B)in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. ³¹ When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: ^32 (C)‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. ³³ Then the Lord said to him, ^(D)‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. ^34 (E)I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and ^(F)have heard their groaning, and ^(G)I have come down to deliver them. ^(H)And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

³⁵ “This Moses, whom they rejected, ^(I)saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer ^(J)by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ^36 (K)This man led them out, performing ^(L)wonders and signs ^(M)in Egypt and ^(N)at the Red Sea and ^(O)in the wilderness for ^(P)forty years. ³⁷ This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you ^(Q)a prophet like me from your brothers.’ ³⁸ This is the one ^(R)who was in the congregation in the wilderness with ^(S)the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. ^(T)He received ^(U)living ^(V)oracles to give to us. ³⁹ Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and ^(W)in their hearts they turned to Egypt, ⁴⁰ saying to Aaron, ^(X)‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ ⁴¹ And ^(Y)they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and ^(Z)were rejoicing in ^(AA)the works of their hands. ⁴² But ^(AB)God turned away and ^(AC)gave them over to worship ^(AD)the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

⁴⁴ “Our fathers had ^(AH)the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses ^(AI)directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. ⁴⁵ Our fathers in turn ^(AJ)brought it in with Joshua when they ^(AK)dispossessed the nations ^(AL)that God drove out before our fathers. So it was ^(AM)until the days of David, ^46 (AN)who found favour in the sight of God and ^(AO)asked to find a dwelling place for ^(AP)the God of Jacob.^{[a] 47} But it was ^(AQ)Solomon who built a house for him. ^48 (AR)Yet the Most High does not dwell ^(AS)in houses made by hands, as the prophet says,

Blessed Is Everyone Who Fears the Lord

A Song of ^(A)Ascents.