The Horrible Thing

(Matthew 24.15-21; Luke 21.20-24)

^14 (A) Someday you will see that “Horrible Thing” where it should not be.^[a] Everyone who reads this must try to understand! If you are living in Judea at that time, run to the mountains. ^15 (B) If you are on the roof^[b] of your house, don't go inside to get anything. ¹⁶ If you are out in the field, don't go back for your coat. ¹⁷ It will be an awful time for women who are expecting babies or nursing young children. ¹⁸ Pray that it won't happen in winter.^{[c] 19 (C)} This will be the worst time of suffering since God created the world, and nothing this terrible will ever happen again. ²⁰ If the Lord doesn't make the time shorter, no one will be left alive. But because of his chosen and special ones, he will make the time shorter.

²¹ If someone should say, “Here is the Messiah!” or “There he is!” don't believe it. ²² False messiahs and false prophets will come and work miracles and signs. They will even try to fool God's chosen ones. ²³ But be on your guard! That's why I am telling you these things now.

When the Son of Man Appears

(Matthew 24.29-31; Luke 21.25-28)

^24 (D) In those days, right after this time of suffering,

^26 (F) Then the Son of Man will be seen coming in the clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷ He will send his angels to gather his chosen ones from all over the earth.

A Lesson from a Fig Tree

(Matthew 24.32-35; Luke 21.29-33)

²⁸ Learn a lesson from a fig tree. When its branches sprout and start putting out leaves, you know summer is near. ²⁹ So when you see all these things happening, you will know that the time has almost come.^{[e] 30} You can be sure that some of the people of this generation will still be alive when all this happens. ³¹ The sky and the earth will not last forever, but my words will.

No One Knows the Day or Time

(Matthew 24.36-44)

^32 (G) No one knows the day or the time. The angels in heaven don't know, and the Son himself doesn't know. Only the Father knows. ³³ So watch out and be ready! You don't know when the time will come. ^34 (H) It is like what happens when a man goes away for a while and places his servants in charge of everything. He tells each of them what to do, and he orders the guard to keep alert. ³⁵ So be alert! You don't know when the master of the house will come back. It could be in the evening or at midnight or before dawn or in the morning. ³⁶ But if he comes suddenly, don't let him find you asleep. ³⁷ I tell everyone just what I have told you. Be alert!

Solomon's Palace Is Built

7 Solomon's palace took 13 years to build.

^2-3 Forest Hall was the largest room in the palace. It was 44 meters long, 22 meters wide, and 13.5 meters high, and was lined with cedar from Lebanon. It had 4 rows of cedar pillars, 15 in a row, and they held up 45 cedar beams. The ceiling was covered with cedar. ⁴ Three rows of windows on each side faced each other, ⁵ and there were three doors on each side near the front of the hall.

⁶ Pillar Hall was 22 meters long and 13.5 meters wide. A covered porch supported by pillars went all the way across the front of the hall.

⁷ Solomon's throne was in Justice Hall, where he judged cases. This hall was completely lined with cedar.

^8 (A) The section of the palace where Solomon lived was behind Justice Hall and looked exactly like it. He had a similar place built for his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt.

⁹ From the foundation all the way to the top, these buildings and the courtyard were made out of the best stones^[a] carefully cut to size, then smoothed on every side with saws. ¹⁰ The foundation stones were huge, good stones—some of them four and a half meters long and others three and a half meters long. ¹¹ The cedar beams and other stones that had been cut to size were on top of these foundation stones. ¹² The walls around the palace courtyard were made out of three layers of cut stones with one layer of cedar beams, just like the front porch and the inner courtyard of the temple.

Hiram Makes the Bronze Furnishings

(2 Chronicles 3.15-17; 4.1-10)

^13-14 Hiram was a skilled bronze worker from the city of Tyre.^[b] His father was now dead, but he also had been a bronze worker from Tyre, and his mother was from the tribe of Naphtali.

King Solomon asked Hiram to come to Jerusalem and make the bronze furnishings to use for worship in the Lord's temple, and he agreed to do it.

¹⁵ Hiram made two bronze columns eight meters tall and almost two meters across. ¹⁶ For the top of each column, he also made a bronze cap just over two meters high. ¹⁷ The caps were decorated with seven rows of designs that looked like chains,^{[c] 18} with two rows of designs that looked like pomegranates.^[d]

¹⁹ The caps for the columns of the porch were almost two meters high and were shaped like lilies.^[e]

²⁰ The chain designs on the caps were right above the rounded tops of the two columns, and there were 200 pomegranates in rows around each cap. ²¹ Hiram placed the two columns on each side of the main door of the temple. The column on the south side was called Jachin,^[f] and the one on the north was called Boaz.^[g]

²² The lily-shaped caps were on top of the columns.

This completed the work on the columns.

²³ Hiram also made a large bowl called the Sea. It was just over two meters deep, about 4.5 meters across, and 13.5 meters around. ²⁴ Two rows of bronze gourds were around the outer edge of the bowl, ten gourds to every 45 centimeters. ²⁵ The bowl itself sat on top of twelve bronze bulls with three bulls facing outward in each of four directions. ²⁶ The sides of the bowl were 75 millimeters thick, and its rim was like a cup that curved outward like flower petals. The bowl held about 40,000 liters.

²⁷ Hiram made ten movable bronze stands, each one over a meter high, almost two meters long, and almost two meters wide. ^28-29 The sides were made with panels attached to frames decorated with flower designs. The panels themselves were decorated with figures of lions, bulls, and winged creatures. ^30-31 Each stand had four bronze wheels and axles and a round frame 68 centimeters across, held up by four supports 45 centimeters high. A small bowl rested in the frame. The supports were decorated with flower designs, and the frame with carvings.

The side panels of the stands were square, ³² and the wheels and axles were underneath them. The wheels were about 68 centimeters high ³³ and looked like chariot wheels. The axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were made out of bronze.

^34-35 Around the top of each stand was a 22-centimeter strip, and there were four braces^[h] attached to the corners of each stand. The panels and the supports were attached to the stands, ³⁶ and the stands were decorated with flower designs and figures of lions, palm trees, and winged creatures. ³⁷ Hiram made the ten bronze stands from the same mold, so they were exactly the same size and shape.

^38 (B) Hiram also made ten small bronze bowls, one for each stand. The bowls were almost two meters across and could hold about 800 liters.

³⁹ He put five stands on the south side of the temple, five stands on the north side, and the large bowl at the southeast corner of the temple.

⁴⁰ Hiram made pans for hot ashes, and also shovels and sprinkling bowls.

A List of Everything inside the Temple

(2 Chronicles 4.11—5.1)

This is a list of the bronze items that Hiram made for the Lord's temple: ⁴¹ two columns; two bowl-shaped caps for the tops of the columns; two chain designs on the caps; ⁴² 400 pomegranates^[i] for the chain designs; ⁴³ ten movable stands; ten small bowls for the stands; ⁴⁴ a large bowl; twelve bulls that held up the bowl; ⁴⁵ pans for hot ashes, and also shovels and sprinkling bowls.

Hiram made these bronze things for Solomon ⁴⁶ near the Jordan River between Succoth and Zarethan by pouring melted bronze into clay molds.

⁴⁷ There were so many bronze things that Solomon never bothered to weigh them, and no one ever knew how much bronze was used.

^48 (C) Solomon gave orders to make the following temple furnishings out of gold: the altar; the table that held the sacred loaves of bread;^{[j] 49 (D)} ten lampstands that went in front of the most holy place; flower designs; lamps and tongs; ⁵⁰ cups, lamp snuffers, and small sprinkling bowls; dishes for incense; fire pans; and the hinges for the doors to the most holy place and the main room of the temple.

^51 (E) After the Lord's temple was finished, Solomon put into its storage rooms everything that his father David had dedicated to the Lord, including the gold and the silver.

Israel Will Be Punished

Sin's Terrible Results

Hosea's Advice

The Lord's Judgment on Israel