Preparations for Building the Temple^(A)

2 ^[a]Solomon gave orders to build a temple^(B) for the Name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself.^{(C) 2} He conscripted 70,000 men as carriers and 80,000 as stonecutters in the hills and 3,600 as foremen over them.^(D)

³ Solomon sent this message to Hiram^[b](E) king of Tyre:

¹¹ Hiram king of Tyre replied by letter to Solomon:

¹² And Hiram added:

¹⁷ Solomon took a census of all the foreigners^(AA) residing in Israel, after the census^(AB) his father David had taken; and they were found to be 153,600. ¹⁸ He assigned^(AC) 70,000 of them to be carriers and 80,000 to be stonecutters in the hills, with 3,600 foremen over them to keep the people working.

Preparations for Building the Temple^(A)

5 ^[a]When Hiram^(B) king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David. ² Solomon sent back this message to Hiram:

⁷ When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he was greatly pleased and said, “Praise be to the Lord^(K) today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.”

⁸ So Hiram sent word to Solomon:

¹⁰ In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted, ¹¹ and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors^[b] of wheat as food^(N) for his household, in addition to twenty thousand baths^[c][d] of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year. ¹² The Lord gave Solomon wisdom,^(O) just as he had promised him. There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.^(P)

¹³ King Solomon conscripted laborers^(Q) from all Israel—thirty thousand men. ¹⁴ He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram^(R) was in charge of the forced labor. ¹⁵ Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, ¹⁶ as well as thirty-three hundred^[e] foremen^(S) who supervised the project and directed the workers. ¹⁷ At the king’s command they removed from the quarry^(T) large blocks of high-grade stone^(U) to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. ¹⁸ The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram^(V) and workers from Byblos^(W) cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.

The Temple’s Furnishings^(A)(B)

¹³ King Solomon sent to Tyre and brought Huram,^{[a](C) 14} whose mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali and whose father was from Tyre and a skilled craftsman in bronze. Huram was filled with wisdom,^(D) with understanding and with knowledge to do all kinds of bronze work. He came to King Solomon and did all^(E) the work assigned to him.

¹⁵ He cast two bronze pillars,^(F) each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference.^{[b] 16} He also made two capitals^(G) of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars; each capital was five cubits^[c] high. ¹⁷ A network of interwoven chains adorned the capitals on top of the pillars, seven for each capital. ¹⁸ He made pomegranates in two rows^[d] encircling each network to decorate the capitals on top of the pillars.^[e] He did the same for each capital. ¹⁹ The capitals on top of the pillars in the portico were in the shape of lilies, four cubits^[f] high. ²⁰ On the capitals of both pillars, above the bowl-shaped part next to the network, were the two hundred pomegranates^(H) in rows all around. ²¹ He erected the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jakin^[g] and the one to the north Boaz.^{[h](I) 22} The capitals on top were in the shape of lilies. And so the work on the pillars^(J) was completed.

²³ He made the Sea^(K) of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line^(L) of thirty cubits^[i] to measure around it. ²⁴ Below the rim, gourds encircled it—ten to a cubit. The gourds were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.

²⁵ The Sea stood on twelve bulls,^(M) three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. ²⁶ It was a handbreadth^[j] in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths.^[k]

²⁷ He also made ten movable stands^(N) of bronze; each was four cubits long, four wide and three high.^{[l] 28} This is how the stands were made: They had side panels attached to uprights. ²⁹ On the panels between the uprights were lions, bulls and cherubim—and on the uprights as well. Above and below the lions and bulls were wreaths of hammered work. ³⁰ Each stand^(O) had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and each had a basin resting on four supports, cast with wreaths on each side. ³¹ On the inside of the stand there was an opening that had a circular frame one cubit^[m] deep. This opening was round, and with its basework it measured a cubit and a half.^[n] Around its opening there was engraving. The panels of the stands were square, not round. ³² The four wheels were under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were attached to the stand. The diameter of each wheel was a cubit and a half. ³³ The wheels were made like chariot wheels; the axles, rims, spokes and hubs were all of cast metal.

³⁴ Each stand had four handles, one on each corner, projecting from the stand. ³⁵ At the top of the stand there was a circular band half a cubit^[o] deep. The supports and panels were attached to the top of the stand. ³⁶ He engraved cherubim, lions and palm trees on the surfaces of the supports and on the panels, in every available space, with wreaths all around. ³⁷ This is the way he made the ten stands. They were all cast in the same molds and were identical in size and shape.

³⁸ He then made ten bronze basins,^(P) each holding forty baths^[p] and measuring four cubits across, one basin to go on each of the ten stands. ³⁹ He placed five of the stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north. He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner of the temple. ⁴⁰ He also made the pots^[q] and shovels and sprinkling bowls.^(Q)

So Huram finished all the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of the Lord:

All these objects that Huram^(T) made for King Solomon for the temple of the Lord were of burnished bronze. ⁴⁶ The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain^(U) of the Jordan between Sukkoth^(V) and Zarethan.^{(W) 47} Solomon left all these things unweighed,^(X) because there were so many;^(Y) the weight of the bronze^(Z) was not determined.

⁴⁸ Solomon also made all^(AA) the furnishings that were in the Lord’s temple:

⁵¹ When all the work King Solomon had done for the temple of the Lord was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated^(AG)—the silver and gold and the furnishings^(AH)—and he placed them in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple.