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Furnishings for the Temple

Solomon[a] also made a bronze altar 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 15 feet high.[b] Then he cast a great round basin, 15 feet across from rim to rim, called the Sea. It was 7 1⁄2 feet deep and about 45 feet in circumference.[c] It was encircled just below its rim by two rows of figures that resembled oxen. There were about six oxen per foot[d] all the way around, and they were cast as part of the basin.

The Sea was placed on a base of twelve bronze oxen, all facing outward. Three faced north, three faced west, three faced south, and three faced east, and the Sea rested on them. The walls of the Sea were about three inches[e] thick, and its rim flared out like a cup and resembled a water lily blossom. It could hold about 16,500 gallons[f] of water.

He also made ten smaller basins for washing the utensils for the burnt offerings. He set five on the south side and five on the north. But the priests washed themselves in the Sea.

He then cast ten gold lampstands according to the specifications that had been given, and he put them in the Temple. Five were placed against the south wall, and five were placed against the north wall.

He also built ten tables and placed them in the Temple, five along the south wall and five along the north wall. Then he molded 100 gold basins.

He then built a courtyard for the priests, and also the large outer courtyard. He made doors for the courtyard entrances and overlaid them with bronze. 10 The great bronze basin called the Sea was placed near the southeast corner of the Temple.

11 Huram-abi also made the necessary washbasins, shovels, and bowls.

So at last Huram-abi completed everything King Solomon had assigned him to make for the Temple of God:

12 the two pillars;
the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;
the two networks of interwoven chains that decorated the capitals;
13 the 400 pomegranates that hung from the chains on the capitals (two rows of pomegranates for each of the chain networks that decorated the capitals on top of the pillars);
14 the water carts holding the basins;
15 the Sea and the twelve oxen under it;
16 the ash buckets, the shovels, the meat hooks, and all the related articles.

Huram-abi made all these things of burnished bronze for the Temple of the Lord, just as King Solomon had directed. 17 The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zarethan.[g] 18 Solomon used such great quantities of bronze that its weight could not be determined.

19 Solomon also made all the furnishings for the Temple of God:

the gold altar;
the tables for the Bread of the Presence;
20 the lampstands and their lamps of solid gold, to burn in front of the Most Holy Place as prescribed;
21 the flower decorations, lamps, and tongs—all of the purest gold;
22 the lamp snuffers, bowls, ladles, and incense burners—all of solid gold;
the doors for the entrances to the Most Holy Place and the main room of the Temple, overlaid with gold.

So Solomon finished all his work on the Temple of the Lord. Then he brought all the gifts his father, David, had dedicated—the silver, the gold, and the various articles—and he stored them in the treasuries of the Temple of God.

Footnotes

  1. 4:1a Or Huram-abi; Hebrew reads He.
  2. 4:1b Hebrew 20 cubits [9.2 meters] long, 20 cubits wide, and 10 cubits [4.6 meters] high.
  3. 4:2 Hebrew 10 cubits [4.6 meters] across . . . 5 cubits [2.3 meters] deep and 30 cubits [13.8 meters] in circumference.
  4. 4:3 Or 20 oxen per meter; Hebrew reads 10 per cubit.
  5. 4:5a Hebrew a handbreadth [8 centimeters].
  6. 4:5b Hebrew 3,000 baths [63 kiloliters].
  7. 4:17 As in parallel text at 1 Kgs 7:46; Hebrew reads Zeredah.

Furnishings of the Temple

He made an altar of bronze, twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high.(A) Then he made the molten sea; it was round, ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. A line of thirty cubits would encircle it completely.(B) Under it were figures of bulls all around, each of ten cubits, surrounding the sea; there were two rows of bulls, cast when it was cast.(C) It stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; the sea was set on them. The hindquarters of each were toward the inside. Its thickness was a handbreadth; its rim was made like the rim of a cup, like the flower of a lily; it held three thousand baths.[a](D) He also made ten basins in which to wash and set five on the right side and five on the left. In these they were to rinse what was used for the burnt offering. The sea was for the priests to wash in.(E)

He made ten golden lampstands as prescribed and set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left.(F) He also made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made one hundred basins of gold.(G) He made the court of the priests and the great court and doors for the court; he overlaid their doors with bronze.(H) 10 He set the sea at the southeast corner of the house.(I)

11 And Huram made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. Thus Huram finished the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of God:(J) 12 the two pillars, the bowls, and the two capitals on the top of the pillars; and the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars;(K) 13 the four hundred pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars.(L) 14 He made the stands, the basins on the stands,(M) 15 the one sea, and the twelve bulls underneath it. 16 The pots, the shovels, the forks, and all the equipment for these Huram-abi made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord.(N) 17 In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah.(O) 18 Solomon made all these things in great quantities, so that the weight of the bronze was not determined.(P)

19 So Solomon made all the things that were in the house of God: the golden altar, the tables for the bread of the Presence,(Q) 20 the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn before the inner sanctuary, as prescribed;(R) 21 the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of purest gold; 22 the snuffers, basins, ladles, and firepans, of pure gold. As for the entrance to the temple: the inner doors to the most holy place and the doors of the main hall of the temple were of gold.

Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of the Lord was finished. Solomon brought in the things that his father David had dedicated and stored the silver, the gold, and all the vessels in the treasuries of the house of God.(S)

Footnotes

  1. 4.5 A Hebrew measure of volume