1 Kings 7
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
7 Solomon was building his own house [a]thirteen years, and he finished all of it.
2 He built also the Forest of Lebanon House; its length was a hundred cubits, its breadth fifty, and its height thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.
3 And it was covered with cedar above the side chambers that were upon the forty-five pillars, fifteen in a row.
4 There were window frames in three rows, and window opposite window in three tiers.
5 All the doorways and windows were square cut, and window was opposite window in three tiers.
6 He also made the Hall of Pillars; its length was fifty cubits and its breadth thirty cubits. There was a porch in front, and pillars and a cornice before them.
7 He made the porch for the throne where he was to judge, the Porch of Judgment; it was covered with cedar from floor to ceiling.
8 His house where he was to dwell had another court behind the Porch of Judgment of similar work. Solomon also made a house like this porch for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.
9 All were of costly stones hewn according to measure, sawed with saws back and front, even from foundation to coping, and from the outside to the great court.
10 The foundation was of costly stones, even great stones of eight and ten cubits.
11 And above were costly stones hewn according to measure, and cedar timbers.
12 Also the great encircling court had three courses of hewn stone and a course of cedar beams, like was around the inner court of the house of the Lord and the porch of the house.
13 King Solomon brought 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. He was full of wisdom, understanding, and skill to do any kind of work in bronze. So he came to King Solomon and did all his [bronze] work.
15 He fashioned the two pillars of bronze, each eighteen cubits high, and a line of twelve cubits measured its circumference.
16 He made two capitals of molten bronze to set upon the tops of the pillars; the height of each capital was five cubits.
17 Nets of checkerwork and wreaths of chainwork for the capitals were on the tops of the pillars, seven for each capital.
18 So Hiram made the pillars. There were two rows of pomegranates encircling each network to cover the capitals that were upon the top.
19 The capitals that were upon the top of the pillars in the porch were of lily work [design], four cubits.
20 The capitals were upon the two pillars and also above the rounded projection beside the network. There were 200 pomegranates in two rows round about, and so with the other capital.
21 Hiram set up the pillars of the porch of the temple; he set up the right pillar and called its name Jachin [he will establish], and he set up the left pillar and called its name Boaz [in strength].
22 On the tops of the pillars was lily work [design]. So the work of the pillars was finished.
23 He made a round molten Sea, ten cubits from brim to brim, five cubits high and thirty cubits in circumference.(A)
24 Under its brim were gourds encircling the Sea, ten to a cubit; the gourds were in two rows, cast in one piece with it.
25 It stood upon twelve oxen, three facing north, three west, three south, and three east; the Sea was set upon them, and all their rears pointed inward.
26 It was a handbreadth thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held 2,000 baths [Hebrew liquid measurement].
27 Hiram made ten bronze bases [for the lavers]; their length and breadth were four cubits, and the height three cubits.
28 This is the way the bases were made: they had panels between the ledges.
29 On the panels between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and upon the ledges there was a pedestal above. Beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work.
30 And every base had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze, and at the four corners were supports for a laver. Beneath the laver the supports were cast, with wreaths at the side of each.
31 Its mouth within the capital projected upward a cubit, and its mouth was round like the work of a pedestal, a cubit and a half. Also upon its mouth were carvings, and their borders were square, not round.
32 Under the borders were four wheels, and the axles of the wheels were one piece with the base. 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 to the four corners of each base; the supports were part of the base itself.
35 On the top of the base there was a circular elevation half a cubit high, and on the top of the base its stays and panels were of one piece with it.
36 And on the surface of its stays and its panels Hiram carved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the space of each, with wreaths round about.
37 Thus he made the ten bases. They all had one casting, one measure, and one form.
38 Then he made ten lavers of bronze; each laver held forty baths and measured four cubits, and there was one laver on each of the ten bases.
39 He put the bases five on the south side of the house and five on the north side; and he set the Sea at the southeast corner of the house.
40 Hiram made the lavers, 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; and the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the two pillars; and the two networks to cover the two bowls;
42 And the 400 pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were upon the pillars;
43 The ten bases and the ten lavers on the bases;
44 One Sea, and the twelve oxen under it;
45 The pots, the shovels, and the basins. All these vessels which Hiram made for King Solomon in the house of the Lord were of burnished bronze.
46 In the Jordan plain the king cast them, in clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan.
47 Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were so many; the weight of the bronze was not found out.
48 Solomon made all the other vessels of the Lord’s house: the [incense] altar of gold; the table of gold for the showbread;
49 The lampstands of pure gold, five on the right side and five on the left, in front of the Holy of Holies; with the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold;
50 The cups, snuffers, basins, spoons, firepans—of pure gold; and the hinges of gold for the doors of the innermost room, the Holy of Holies, and for the doors of the Holy Place.
51 So all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the Lord was completed. Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated—the silver, the gold, and the vessels—and put them in the treasuries of the Lord’s house.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 7:1 Solomon built God’s house first, then his own. That his took much longer is no reflection on Solomon, for David had made every possible preparation for building the temple, greatly reducing the time needed to finish it (I Chron. 22:2-5). David even left for Solomon plans and patterns for the temple and loyal friends eager to help (I Kings 5:1; I Chron. 28:14-19).
1 Kings 7
The Voice
7 It took Solomon 13 years to complete his own house. 2 He constructed the house of the forest of Lebanon, and it was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. It was built on top of cedar beams supported by 4 rows of cedar columns. 3 The space above the side rooms (which were on top of the 45 columns, 15 columns in each row) was paneled with cedar. 4 There were 3 rows of window frames directly opposite each other—3 on each side. 5 The doorways and doorposts were square, and the openings were directly opposite each other: 3 on each side.
6 Solomon then constructed the hall of pillars. It was 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. There was a porch with pillars and a canopy as an entryway before them. 7 Then he made the hall for the throne. This is where he would give judgment; thus it was called the hall of judgment. The entire room was paneled from floor to floor[a] with cedar.
8 His own residence, the interior court behind the hall of judgment, was made the same way. For his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter, Solomon constructed another house like the hall of judgment. 9 They were all decorated inside and out, top to bottom, with costly stones, rare rocks perfectly cut with saws. 10 The foundation of the house was made out of rare, expensive stones. There were some gigantic stones, 12 and 15 feet long. 11 The elevation of the house was also made of large, costly stones; and they were trimmed to perfection, along with the cedar. 12 The courtyard had 3 rows of trimmed stones; and it also had 1 row of cedar beams, just like the porch and the central hall of the Eternal’s temple.
13 King Solomon sent for Hiram, the master craftsman from Tyre. 14 Hiram was the son of a widow from the Naphtali tribe. His father was a craftsman from Tyre who was wise, educated, and skilled enough to do anything with bronze. Hiram did all the bronze work for King Solomon. 15 He crafted the 2 bronze columns. Each one of them was 27 feet high, and the circumference of both was 18 feet. 16 He cast 2 capitals out of molten bronze for the columns. Each of the capitals was 7½ feet high. 17 There was an intricate network of twisted threads and chain on the capitals of the columns. There were 7 networks on each capital. 18 Hiram crafted the columns and 2 rows around one network in order to hide the capitals that were over the pomegranates.[b] He did the same thing for the other capital. 19 The capitals on the porch columns were crafted to look like 6-foot-high lilies. 20 There were capitals on top of both columns, and above the round sun face beside the network were 200 pomegranates in rows around both capitals. 21 He raised the columns on the porch of the central hall. After he raised the column on the right, he named it Jachin, meaning “he will establish.” He raised the column on the left and named it Boaz, meaning “in it is strength.” 22 There were lily designs at the top of both columns.
When he had finished casting the columns, 23 Hiram cast the sea. It was in the shape of a circle: 15 feet in diameter, 7½ feet deep, and 45 feet in circumference. 24 Gourds surrounded the sea underneath the brim: 10 gourds for every foot and a half. They were in 2 rows and had been cast as part of the sea. 25 Its pedestal was 12 oxen: 3 of the oxen faced north, 3 faced west, 3 faced south, and 3 faced east so that the back ends of the oxen were all on the inside. 26 The sea was as thick as a hand is wide. The edge of it was designed like the edge of a cup, curved back like the blossom of a lily. The sea had a water capacity of 12,000 gallons.[c]
27 Hiram then crafted 10 bronze moveable stands. Each water stand was 6 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 4½ feet high. 28 The stands had side panels and panels between the crossbars. 29 On the panels between the crossbars there were lions, oxen, and winged creatures. There was a pedestal over the crossbars that would support the basin, and there were garlands of ornaments below the lions and oxen. 30 There were 4 bronze wheels and 4 bronze axles for each stand. The 4 legs of each stand also had 4 bases. There were bases with garlands on all sides below the basin. 31 The opening at the crown of the cart was 1½ feet wide, in the shape of a circle, and like the pedestal, 27 inches. There were carvings on the opening, and the ends were straight, not rounded. 32 The 4 wheels were beneath the panels, and the wheel axles were on the base. Each wheel was 27 inches tall. 33 The wheels were crafted like the wheels of a chariot. Their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all cast. 34 There were 4 braces on the 4 corners of each base that were part of the stand. 35 There was a circular form 18 inches high above the base that the basin would rest in. It remained above the base, connected to the perimeter. 36 Hiram carved winged creatures, lions, and palm trees onto the braces wherever he found space, and he surrounded them with garlands. 37 All 10 of the stands were cast from the same mold, giving them all the same measurements and shape.
38 He crafted 10 bronze basins. Each basin had a capacity of 240 gallons and was 6 feet tall. There was 1 basin on each of the 10 stands. 39 He put 5 of the stands on the right side of the temple and the other 5 on the left side. He placed the sea on the right end of the temple, toward the southeast.
40 Hiram cast the basins, shovels, and bowls. He finally completed all his work for King Solomon in the Eternal’s temple: 41 2 columns and 2 bowls for the capitals (which were placed on top of the columns), 2 networks that were placed over the bowls of the capitals, 42 400 pomegranates for the 2 networks, 2 rows of pomegranates for each network to go over the 2 bowls of the capitals which sat on top of the columns, 43 10 stands, 10 basins for the stands, 44 the sea, the 12 oxen beneath the sea, 45 buckets, shovels, bowls, and everything else, including the objects Hiram crafted for Solomon in the Eternal’s temple. All were made out of burnished bronze. 46 The king molded the clay into forms in the plain of the Jordan and cast them there, between Succoth and Zarethan.
47 Solomon did not weigh any of the utensils because there were so many of them. It was impossible to get an accurate weight of the bronze.
48 Solomon had crafted all the furniture in the Eternal’s temple: the golden altar; the golden table that held the bread of the Presence; 49 5 golden lampstands on the right and 5 on the left in front of the inner sanctuary; the golden flowers, lamps, and tongs; 50 the golden cups, snuffers, bowls, spoons, and coal pans; the door hinges of the inner sanctuary (which was the most holy place); and the door hinges for the central hall of the temple that were crafted out of the purest gold.
51 Solomon’s work in the Eternal’s temple was complete. Solomon moved the sacred things his father had sanctified—the silver, gold, and utensils—into the treasuries in the Eternal’s temple.
Footnotes
- 7:7 Latin manuscripts read, “ceiling,” because the floor above is the ceiling of the first floor.
- 7:18 Some Hebrew manuscripts read, “columns.”
- 7:26 2 Chronicles 4:5, “18,000 gallons”
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