The Basin

²³ He made the cast metal basin,^[a](A) 15 feet^[b] from brim to brim, perfectly round. It was 7½ feet high and 45 feet in circumference. ²⁴ Ornamental gourds^(B) encircled it below the brim, ten every half yard,^[c] completely encircling the basin.^(C) The gourds were cast in two rows when the basin was cast. ²⁵ It stood on twelve oxen,^(D) 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. ²⁶ The basin was three inches^[d] thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup or of a lily blossom. It held eleven thousand gallons.^[e]

The Bronze Water Carts

²⁷ Then he made ten bronze water carts.^[f](E) Each water cart was 6 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 4½ feet^[g] high. ²⁸ This was the design of the carts: They had frames; the frames were between the cross-pieces, ²⁹ and on the frames between the cross-pieces were lions, oxen, and cherubim.^(F) On the cross-pieces there was a pedestal above, and below the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging^[h] work. ³⁰ Each cart^(G) had four bronze wheels with bronze axles. Underneath the four corners of the basin were cast supports, each next to a wreath. ³¹ And the water cart’s opening inside the crown on top was eighteen inches^[i] wide. The opening was round, made as a pedestal twenty-seven inches^[j] wide. On it were carvings, but their frames were square, not round. ³² There were four wheels under the frames, and the wheel axles were part of the water cart; each wheel was twenty-seven inches^[k] tall. ³³ The wheels’ design was similar to that of chariot wheels: their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all of cast metal. ³⁴ Four supports were at the four corners of each water cart; each support was one piece with the water cart. ³⁵ At the top of the cart was a band nine inches^[l] high encircling it; also, at the top of the cart, its braces and its frames were one piece with it. ³⁶ He engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees^(H) on the plates of its braces and on its frames, wherever each had space, with encircling wreaths. ³⁷ In this way he made the ten water carts using the same casting, dimensions, and shape for all of them.

Bronze Basins and Other Utensils

³⁸ Then he made ten bronze basins^(I)—each basin held 220 gallons^[m] and each was six feet wide—one basin for each of the ten water carts. ³⁹ He set five water carts on the right side of the temple and five on the left side. He put the basin near the right side of the temple toward the southeast.^{(J) 40} Then Hiram made^(K) the basins, the shovels, and the sprinkling basins.

Completion of the Bronze Works

So Hiram finished all the work that he was doing for King Solomon on the Lord’s temple: ⁴¹ two pillars;^(L) bowls for the capitals that were on top of the two pillars; the two gratings for covering both bowls of the capitals that were on top of the pillars;^{(M) 42} the four hundred pomegranates for the two gratings (two rows of pomegranates for each grating covering both capitals’ bowls on top of the pillars^(N)); ⁴³ the ten water carts;^(O) the ten basins on the water carts;^{(P) 44} the basin;^(Q) the twelve oxen underneath the basin;^{(R) 45} and the pots, shovels, and sprinkling basins.^(S) All the utensils that Hiram made for King Solomon at the Lord’s temple were made of burnished bronze. ⁴⁶ The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth^(T) and Zarethan.^{(U) 47} Solomon left all the utensils unweighed because there were so many; the weight of the bronze was not determined.^(V)

Completion of the Gold Furnishings

⁴⁸ Solomon also made all the equipment in the Lord’s temple: the gold altar; the gold table that the Bread of the Presence was placed on;^{(W) 49} the pure gold lampstands in front of the inner sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left;^(X) the gold flowers, lamps, and tongs; ⁵⁰ the pure gold ceremonial bowls, wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, ladles,^[n] and firepans;^(Y) and the gold hinges for the doors of the inner temple (that is, the most holy place) and for the doors of the temple sanctuary.

⁵¹ So all the work King Solomon did in the Lord’s temple was completed.^(Z) Then Solomon brought in the consecrated things of his father David^(AA)—the silver, the gold, and the utensils—and put them in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple.^(AB)

Solomon’s Dedication of the Temple

8 At that time Solomon assembled the elders^(A) of Israel,^(B) all the tribal heads^(C) and the ancestral leaders of the Israelites before him at Jerusalem in order to bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from the city of David,^(D) that is Zion.^{(E) 2} So all the men of Israel were assembled in the presence of King Solomon in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month,^[a] at the festival.^(F)

³ All the elders^(G) of Israel came, and the priests^(H) picked up the ark.^{(I) 4} The priests and the Levites brought the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting,^(J) and the holy utensils that were in the tent.^{(K) 5} King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel, who had gathered around him and were with him in front of the ark, were sacrificing sheep, goats, and cattle that could not be counted or numbered, because there were so many.^{(L) 6} The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the most holy place^(M) beneath the wings of the cherubim. ⁷ For the cherubim were spreading their wings over^[b] the place of the ark, so that the cherubim covered the ark and its poles from above.^{(N) 8} The poles were so long that their ends were seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen from outside the sanctuary; they are still there today.^{(O) 9} Nothing was in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had put there at Horeb,^[c](P) where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt.^(Q)

¹⁰ When the priests came out of the holy place, the cloud filled the Lord’s temple,^{(R) 11} and because of the cloud, the priests were not able to continue ministering, for the glory^(S) of the Lord filled the temple.

¹² Then Solomon said:

¹⁴ The king turned around and blessed^(W) the entire congregation of Israel while they were standing. ¹⁵ He said: