2 Chronicles 4
Good News Translation
Equipment for the Temple(A)
4 (B)King Solomon had a bronze altar made, which was 30 feet square and 15 feet high. 2 He also made a round tank of bronze, 7½ feet deep, 15 feet in diameter, and 45 feet in circumference. 3 All around the outer edge of the rim of the tank[a] were two rows of decorations, one above the other. The decorations were in the shape of bulls, which had been cast all in one piece with the rest of the tank. 4 The tank rested on the backs of twelve bronze bulls that faced outward, three facing in each direction. 5 The sides of the tank were 3 inches thick. Its rim was like the rim of a cup, curving outward like the petals of a flower. The tank held about 15,000 gallons. 6 (C)They also made ten basins, five to be placed on the south side of the Temple and five on the north side. They were to be used to rinse the parts of the animals that were burned as sacrifices. The water in the large tank was for the priests to use for washing.
7-8 (D)They made ten gold lampstands according to the usual pattern, and ten tables, and placed them in the main room of the Temple, five lampstands and five tables on each side. They also made a hundred gold bowls.
9 They made an inner courtyard for the priests, and also an outer courtyard. The doors in the gates between the courtyards were covered with bronze. 10 The tank was placed near the southeast corner of the Temple.
11-16 Huram also made pots, shovels, and bowls. He completed all the objects that he had promised King Solomon he would make for the Temple:
The two columns
The two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the columns
The design of interwoven chains on each capital
The 400 bronze pomegranates arranged in two rows around the design of each capital
The ten[b] carts
The ten basins
The tank
The twelve bulls supporting the tank
The pots, shovels, and forks
Huram the master metalworker made all these objects[c] out of polished bronze, as King Solomon had commanded, for use in the Temple of the Lord.
17 The king had them all made in the foundry between Sukkoth and Zeredah[d] in the Jordan Valley. 18 So many objects were made that no one determined the total weight of the bronze used.
19 King Solomon also had gold furnishings made for the Temple: the altar and the tables for the bread offered to God; 20 the lampstands and the lamps of fine gold that were to burn in front of the Most Holy Place, according to plan; 21 the flower decorations, the lamps, and the tongs; 22 the lamp snuffers, the bowls, the dishes for incense, and the pans used for carrying live coals. All these objects were made of pure gold. The outer doors of the Temple and the doors to the Most Holy Place were overlaid with gold.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 4:3 Probable text All around … tank; Hebrew unclear.
- 2 Chronicles 4:11 Probable text (see 1 K 7.40-45) ten; Hebrew he made.
- 2 Chronicles 4:11 One ancient translation all these objects; Hebrew all their objects.
- 2 Chronicles 4:17 (see Zarethan 1 K 7.46).
2 Chronicles 4
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
The Altar and Basins
4 He made a bronze altar(A) nine metres[a] long, nine metres wide, and four and a half metres[b] high.
2 Then he made the cast metal basin,[c](B) 4.5 metres from brim to brim, perfectly round. It was 2.25 metres[d] high and 13.5 metres[e] in circumference. 3 The likeness of oxen[f] was below it, completely encircling it, ten every 45 centimetres,[g] 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 towards the centre. 5 The basin was eight centimetres[h] thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup or a lily blossom. It could hold forty-four thousand litres.[i]
6 He made ten basins for washing and he put five on the right and five on the left.(C) The parts of the burnt offering were rinsed in them,(D) 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.(E) 8 He made ten tables and placed them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left.(F) He also made a hundred gold bowls.
9 He made the courtyard(G) 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, towards the southeast.(H) 11 Then Huram[j](I) made(J) 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(K)). 14 He also made the water carts[k](L) 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[l](M) 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 moulds 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;(N) 20 the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn in front of the inner sanctuary according to specifications;(O) 21 the flowers, lamps, and gold tongs – of purest gold; 22 the wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, ladles,[m] and firepans – of purest gold; and the entrance to the temple, its inner doors to the most holy place, and the doors of the temple sanctuary – of gold.
Footnotes
- 4:1 Lit 20 cubits
- 4:1 Lit 10 cubits, also in v. 2
- 4:2 Lit sea
- 4:2 Lit five cubits
- 4:2 Lit 30 cubits
- 4:3 = gourds in 1Kg 7:24
- 4:3 Lit 10 per cubit
- 4:5 Lit a handbreadth
- 4:5 Text emended; MT reads 3,000 baths in 1Kg 7:26
- 4:11 = Hiram in 1Kg 7:13,40,45
- 4:14 Lit the stands
- 4:16 Lit Huram my father
- 4:22 Or dishes, or spoons; lit palms
2 Chronicles 4
King James Version
4 Moreover he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof.
2 Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.
3 And under it was the similitude of oxen, which did compass it round about: ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about. Two rows of oxen were cast, when it was cast.
4 It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward.
5 And the thickness of it was an handbreadth, and the brim of it like the work of the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies; and it received and held three thousand baths.
6 He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them: such things as they offered for the burnt offering they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in.
7 And he made ten candlesticks of gold according to their form, and set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left.
8 He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left. And he made an hundred basons of gold.
9 Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid the doors of them with brass.
10 And he set the sea on the right side of the east end, over against the south.
11 And Huram made the pots, and the shovels, and the basons. And Huram finished the work that he was to make for king Solomon for the house of God;
12 To wit, the two pillars, and the pommels, and the chapiters which were on the top of the two pillars, and the two wreaths to cover the two pommels of the chapiters which were on the top of the pillars;
13 And four hundred pomegranates on the two wreaths; two rows of pomegranates on each wreath, to cover the two pommels of the chapiters which were upon the pillars.
14 He made also bases, and lavers made he upon the bases;
15 One sea, and twelve oxen under it.
16 The pots also, and the shovels, and the fleshhooks, and all their instruments, did Huram his father make to king Solomon for the house of the Lord of bright brass.
17 In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredathah.
18 Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance: for the weight of the brass could not be found out.
19 And Solomon made all the vessels that were for the house of God, the golden altar also, and the tables whereon the shewbread was set;
20 Moreover the candlesticks with their lamps, that they should burn after the manner before the oracle, of pure gold;
21 And the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, made he of gold, and that perfect gold;
22 And the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers, of pure gold: and the entry of the house, the inner doors thereof for the most holy place, and the doors of the house of the temple, were of gold.
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