The Ark Brought to the Temple^(A)

8 Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs^(B) of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark^(C) of the Lord’s covenant from Zion, the City of David.^{(D) 2} All the Israelites came together to King Solomon at the time of the festival^(E) in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month.^(F)

³ When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests^(G) took up the ark, ⁴ and they brought up the ark of the Lord and the tent of meeting^(H) and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levites^(I) carried them up, ⁵ and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing^(J) so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.

⁶ The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant^(K) to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place,^(L) and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim.^{(M) 7} The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed^(N) the ark and its carrying poles. ⁸ These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today.^{(O) 9} There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets^(P) that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.

¹⁰ When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud^(Q) filled the temple of the Lord. ¹¹ And the priests could not perform their service^(R) because of the cloud, for the glory^(S) of the Lord filled his temple.

¹² Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud;^{(T) 13} I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell^(U) forever.”

¹⁴ While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king turned around and blessed^(V) them. ¹⁵ Then he said:

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication^(AH)

²² Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands^(AI) toward heaven ²³ and said:

⁵⁴ When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the Lord, he rose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. ⁵⁵ He stood and blessed^(CN) the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:

The Dedication of the Temple^(CW)

⁶² Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices^(CX) before the Lord. ⁶³ Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the Lord: twenty-two thousand cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated^(CY) the temple of the Lord.

⁶⁴ On that same day the king consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings and the fat^(CZ) of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar^(DA) that stood before the Lord was too small to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings.^(DB)

⁶⁵ So Solomon observed the festival^(DC) at that time, and all Israel with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath^(DD) to the Wadi of Egypt.^(DE) They celebrated it before the Lord our God for seven days and seven days more, fourteen days in all. ⁶⁶ On the following day he sent the people away. They blessed the king and then went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good^(DF) things the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel.

The Temple’s Furnishings^(A)

4 He made a bronze altar^(B) twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high.^{[a] 2} He made the Sea^(C) of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits^[b] high. It took a line of thirty cubits^[c] to measure around it. ³ Below the rim, figures of bulls encircled it—ten to a cubit.^[d] The bulls were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.

⁴ The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east.^(D) The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. ⁵ It was a handbreadth^[e] in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held three thousand baths.^[f]

⁶ He then made ten basins^(E) for washing and placed five on the south side and five on the north. In them the things to be used for the burnt offerings^(F) were rinsed, but the Sea was to be used by the priests for washing.

⁷ He made ten gold lampstands^(G) according to the specifications^(H) for them and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north.

⁸ He made ten tables^(I) and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He also made a hundred gold sprinkling bowls.^(J)

⁹ He made the courtyard^(K) of the priests, and the large court and the doors for the court, and overlaid the doors with bronze. ¹⁰ He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner.

¹¹ And Huram also made the pots and shovels and sprinkling bowls.

So Huram finished^(L) the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of God:

All the objects that Huram-Abi^(N) made for King Solomon for the temple of the Lord were of polished bronze. ¹⁷ The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Sukkoth^(O) and Zarethan.^{[g] 18} All these things that Solomon made amounted to so much that the weight of the bronze^(P) could not be calculated.

¹⁹ Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in God’s temple:

Psalm 98

A psalm.

God’s Righteous Judgment

2 You, therefore, have no excuse,^(A) you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.^{(B) 2} Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. ³ So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? ⁴ Or do you show contempt for the riches^(C) of his kindness,^(D) forbearance^(E) and patience,^(F) not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?^(G)

⁵ But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath^(H), when his righteous judgment^(I) will be revealed. ⁶ God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”^{[a](J) 7} To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor^(K) and immortality,^(L) he will give eternal life.^{(M) 8} But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil,^(N) there will be wrath and anger.^{(O) 9} There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil:^(P) first for the Jew, then for the Gentile;^{(Q) 10} but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.^{(R) 11} For God does not show favoritism.^(S)

¹² All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law^(T) will be judged by the law. ¹³ For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey^(U) the law who will be declared righteous. ¹⁴ (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law,^(V) they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. ¹⁵ They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) ¹⁶ This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets^(W) through Jesus Christ,^(X) as my gospel^(Y) declares.

The Jews and the Law

¹⁷ Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God;^{(Z) 18} if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; ¹⁹ if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, ²⁰ an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— ²¹ you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?^{(AA) 22} You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?^{(AB) 23} You who boast in the law,^(AC) do you dishonor God by breaking the law? ²⁴ As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”^[b](AD)

²⁵ Circumcision has value if you observe the law,^(AE) but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised.^{(AF) 26} So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements,^(AG) will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised?^{(AH) 27} The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you^(AI) who, even though you have the^[c] written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.

²⁸ A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly,^(AJ) nor is circumcision merely outward and physical.^{(AK) 29} No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart,^(AL) by the Spirit,^(AM) not by the written code.^(AN) Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.^(AO)