Building the Temple

3 Then Solomon began^(A) to build the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah^(B) where the Lord^[a] had appeared to his father David, at the site David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan^[b] the Jebusite. ² He began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign. ³ These are Solomon’s foundations^[c] for building God’s temple: the length^[d] was ninety feet,^[e] and the width thirty feet.^{[f] 4} The portico, which was across the front extending across the width of the temple, was thirty feet wide; its height was thirty feet;^[g] he overlaid its inner surface with pure gold. ⁵ The larger room^[h] he paneled with cypress wood, overlaid with fine gold, and decorated with palm trees and chains. ⁶ He adorned the temple with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was the gold of Parvaim. ⁷ He overlaid the temple—the beams, the thresholds, its walls and doors—with gold,^(C) and he carved cherubim on the walls.^(D)

The Most Holy Place

⁸ Then he made the most holy place; its length corresponded to the width of the temple, 30 feet, and its width was 30 feet.^(E) He overlaid it with forty-five thousand pounds^[i] of fine gold. ⁹ The weight of the nails was twenty ounces^[j] of gold, and he overlaid the ceiling with gold.

¹⁰ He made^(F) two cherubim of sculptured work, for the most holy place, and he overlaid them with gold. ¹¹ The overall length of the wings of the cherubim was 30 feet: the wing of one was 7½ feet,^[k] touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet, touching the wing of the other cherub. ¹² The wing of the other^[l] cherub was 7½ feet, touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet, reaching the wing of the other cherub. ¹³ The wingspan of these cherubim was 30 feet. They stood on their feet and faced the larger room.^[m]

¹⁴ He made the curtain of blue, purple, and crimson yarn and fine linen, and he wove cherubim into it.^(G)

The Bronze Pillars

¹⁵ In front of the temple^(H) he made two pillars, each 27 feet^[n] high. The capital on top of each was 7½ feet high. ¹⁶ He had made chainwork in the inner sanctuary and also put it on top of the pillars.^(I) He made a hundred pomegranates and fastened them into the chainwork. ¹⁷ Then he set up the pillars in front of the sanctuary, one on the right and one on the left. He named the one on the right Jachin^[o] and the one on the left Boaz.^[p]

The Altar and Basins

4 He made a bronze altar^(J) 30 feet^[q] long, 30 feet wide, and 15 feet^[r] high.

² Then he made the cast metal basin,^[s](K) 15 feet from brim to brim, perfectly round. It was 7½ feet^[t] high and 45 feet^[u] in circumference. ³ The likeness of oxen^[v] was below it, completely encircling it, ten every half yard,^[w] completely surrounding the basin. The oxen were cast in two rows when the basin was cast. ⁴ It stood on twelve oxen, 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. ⁵ The basin was three inches^[x] thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup or a lily blossom. It could hold eleven thousand gallons.^[y]

⁶ He made ten basins for washing and he put five on the right and five on the left.^(L) The parts of the burnt offering were rinsed in them,^(M) but the basin was used by the priests for washing.

The Lampstands, Tables, and Courts

⁷ He made the ten gold lampstands according to their specifications and put them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left.^{(N) 8} He made ten tables and placed them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left.^(O) He also made a hundred gold bowls.

⁹ He made the courtyard^(P) of the priests and the large court, and doors for the court. He overlaid the doors with bronze. ¹⁰ He put the basin on the right side, toward the southeast.^{(Q) 11} Then Huram^[z](R) made^(S) the pots, the shovels, and the bowls.

Completion of the Bronze Furnishings

So Huram finished doing the work that he was doing for King Solomon in God’s temple: ¹² two pillars; the bowls and the capitals on top of the two pillars; the two gratings for covering both bowls of the capitals that were on top of the pillars; ¹³ the four hundred pomegranates for the two gratings (two rows of pomegranates for each grating covering both capitals’ bowls on top of the pillars^(T)). ¹⁴ He also made the water carts^[aa](U) and the basins on the water carts. ¹⁵ The one basin and the twelve oxen underneath it, ¹⁶ the pots, the shovels, the forks, and all their utensils—Huram-abi^[ab](V) made them for King Solomon for the Lord’s temple. All these were made of polished bronze. ¹⁷ The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zeredah. ¹⁸ Solomon made all these utensils in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.

Completion of the Gold Furnishings

¹⁹ Solomon also made all the equipment in God’s temple: the gold altar; the tables on which to put the Bread of the Presence;^{(W) 20} the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn in front of the inner sanctuary according to specifications;^{(X) 21} the flowers, lamps, and gold tongs—of purest gold; ²² the wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, ladles,^[ac] and firepans—of purest gold; and the entryway to the temple, its inner doors to the most holy place, and the doors of the temple sanctuary—of gold.

Prologue

1 I wrote the first narrative, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach^{(A) 2} until the day he was taken up, after he had given instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.^{(B) 3} After he had suffered, he also presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.^(C)

The Holy Spirit Promised

⁴ While he was^[a] with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise.^(D) “Which,” he said, “you have heard me speak about; ⁵ for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.”^(E)

⁶ So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?”

⁷ He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.^{(F) 8} But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”^(G)

The Ascension

⁹ After he had said this, he was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰ While he was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them.^{(H) 11} They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen him going into heaven.”^(I)

Psalm 77

Confidence in a Time of Crisis

For the choir director: according to Jeduthun. Of Asaph.^(A) A psalm.