The Temple Construction in Jerusalem

3 ^(A)Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared ^(B)on the threshing floor of ^[a]Ornan the Jebusite. ² He began to build on the second day in the second month ^[b]of the fourth year of his reign.

Dimensions and Materials of the Temple

³ Now these are the ^[c]foundations which ^(C)Solomon laid for building the house of God. The length in ^[d]cubits, according to the old standard was sixty cubits, and the width twenty cubits. ⁴ The porch which was in front of the house ^(D)was as long as the width of the house, twenty cubits, and the height 120; and inside he overlaid it with pure gold. ⁵ He overlaid ^(E)the ^[e]main room with cypress wood and overlaid it with fine gold, and ^[f]ornamented it with palm trees and chains. ⁶ Further, he ^[g]adorned the house with precious stones; and the gold was gold from ^[h]Parvaim. ^7 (F)He also overlaid the house with gold—the beams, the thresholds and its walls and its doors; and he ^(G)carved cherubim on the walls.

⁸ Now he made ^(H)the ^[i]room of the holy of holies: its length across the width of the house was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits; and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to 600 talents. ⁹ The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He also overlaid ^(I)the upper rooms with gold.

^10 (J)Then he made two ^[j]sculptured cherubim in the room of the holy of holies and overlaid them with gold. ¹¹ The wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits; the wing of one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub. ¹² The wing of the other cherub, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house; and its other wing of five cubits was attached to the wing of the ^[k]first cherub. ¹³ The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits, and they stood on their feet ^[l]facing the main room. ^14 (K)He made the veil of violet, purple, crimson and fine linen, and he worked cherubim on it.

^15 (L)He also made two pillars for the front of the house, thirty-five cubits ^[m]high, and the capital on the top of each was five cubits. ¹⁶ He made chains in the inner sanctuary and placed them on the tops of the pillars; and he made one hundred pomegranates and placed them on the chains. ^17 (M)He erected the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right and the other on the left, and named the one on the right Jachin and the one on the left Boaz.

Furnishings of the Temple

4 Then ^(N)he made a bronze altar, twenty cubits in length and twenty cubits in width and ten cubits in height. ^2 (O)Also he made the cast metal sea, ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and its height was five cubits and ^[n]its circumference thirty cubits. ³ Now figures like oxen were under it and all around it, ten cubits, entirely encircling the sea. The oxen were in two rows, cast ^[o]in one piece. ⁴ It stood on twelve oxen, three facing the north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east; and the sea was set on top of them and all their hindquarters turned inwards. ⁵ It was a handbreadth thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom; it ^(P)could hold 3,000 baths. ^6 (Q)He also made ten basins in which to wash, and he set five on the right side and five on the left ^[p]to rinse things for the burnt offering; but the sea was for the priests to wash in.

⁷ Then ^(R)he made the ten golden lampstands in the way prescribed for them and he set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. ⁸ He also made ^(S)ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made one hundred golden bowls. ⁹ Then he made ^(T)the court of the priests and ^(U)the great court and doors for the court, and overlaid their doors with bronze. ^10 (V)He set the sea on the right ^[q]side of the house toward the southeast.

^11 (W)Huram also made the pails, the shovels and the bowls. So Huram finished doing the work which he performed for King Solomon in the house of God: ¹² the two pillars, the bowls and the two capitals on top of the pillars, and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on top of the pillars, ¹³ and ^(X)the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for each network to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the pillars. ^14 (Y)He also made the stands and he made the basins on the stands, ¹⁵ and the one sea with the twelve oxen under it. ¹⁶ The pails, the shovels, the forks and all its utensils, ^(Z)Huram-abi made of polished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord. ¹⁷ On the plain of the Jordan the king cast them in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah. ^18 (AA)Thus Solomon made all these utensils in great quantities, for the weight of the bronze could not be found out.

¹⁹ Solomon also made all the things that were in the house of God: even the golden altar, ^(AB)the tables with the bread of the Presence on them, ²⁰ the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, ^(AC)to burn in front of the inner sanctuary in the way prescribed; ²¹ the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold, of purest gold; ²² and the snuffers, the bowls, the spoons and the firepans of pure gold; and the entrance of the house, its inner doors for the holy of holies and the doors of the house, that is, of the nave, of gold.

The Ark Is Brought into the Temple

5 ^(AD)Thus all the work that Solomon performed for the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the ^[r](AE)things that David his father had dedicated, even the silver and the gold and all the utensils, and put them in the treasuries of the house of God.

^2 (AF)Then Solomon assembled to Jerusalem the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, ^(AG)to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. ^3 (AH)All the men of Israel assembled themselves to the king at ^(AI)the feast, that is in the seventh month. ⁴ Then all the elders of Israel came, and ^(AJ)the Levites took up the ark. ⁵ They brought up the ark and the tent of meeting and all the holy utensils which were in the tent; the Levitical priests brought them up. ⁶ And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him before the ark, were sacrificing ^[s]so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. ⁷ Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the holy of holies, under the wings of the cherubim. ⁸ For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its ^[t]poles. ⁹ The poles were so long that ^(AK)the ends of the poles of the ark could be seen in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; and ^[u]they are there to this day. ^10 (AL)There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.

The Glory of God Fills the Temple

¹¹ When the priests came forth from the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard ^(AM)to divisions), ¹² and all the Levitical singers, ^(AN)Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and kinsmen, clothed in fine linen, ^(AO)with cymbals, harps and lyres, standing east of the altar, and with them one hundred and twenty priests ^(AP)blowing trumpets ¹³ in unison when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to glorify the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice ^(AQ)accompanied by trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and when they praised the Lord saying, “^(AR)He indeed is good for His lovingkindness is everlasting,” then the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, ¹⁴ so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for ^(AS)the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.

Believers United to Christ

7 Or do you not know, ^(A)brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? ² For ^(B)the married woman is bound by law to her ^[a]husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law ^[b]concerning the husband. ³ So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.

⁴ Therefore, my brethren, you also were ^(C)made to die ^(D)to the Law ^(E)through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. ⁵ For while we were ^(F)in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were ^(G)aroused by the Law, were at work ^(H)in ^[c]the members of our body to bear fruit for death. ⁶ But now we have been ^(I)released from the Law, having ^(J)died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in ^(K)newness of ^(L)the ^[d]Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

^7 (M)What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? ^(N)May it never be! On the contrary, ^(O)I would not have come to know sin except ^[e]through the Law; for I would not have known about ^[f]coveting if the Law had not said, “^(P)You shall not ^[g]covet.” ⁸ But sin, ^(Q)taking opportunity ^(R)through the commandment, produced in me ^[h]coveting of every kind; for ^(S)apart ^[i]from the Law sin is dead. ⁹ I was once alive apart ^[j]from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; ¹⁰ and this commandment, which was ^[k](T)to result in life, proved ^[l]to result in death for me; ¹¹ for sin, ^(U)taking an opportunity ^(V)through the commandment, ^(W)deceived me and through it killed me. ^12 (X)So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

¹³ Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? ^(Y)May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

The Conflict of Two Natures

¹⁴ For we know that the Law is ^(Z)spiritual, but I am ^(AA)of flesh, ^(AB)sold ^[m](AC)into bondage to sin. ¹⁵ For what I am doing, ^(AD)I do not understand; for I am not practicing ^(AE)what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. ¹⁶ But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with ^(AF)the Law, confessing that the Law is good. ¹⁷ So now, ^(AG)no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. ¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my ^(AH)flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. ¹⁹ For ^(AI)the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. ²⁰ But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, ^(AJ)I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

²¹ I find then ^(AK)the ^[n]principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. ²² For I joyfully concur with the law of God ^[o]in ^(AL)the inner man, ²³ but I see ^(AM)a different law in ^[p]the members of my body, waging war against the ^(AN)law of my mind and making me a prisoner ^[q]of ^(AO)the law of sin which is in my members. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from ^[r](AP)the body of this ^(AQ)death? ^25 (AR)Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh ^(AS)the law of sin.