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7 It took Solomon 13 years to complete his own house. 2 He constructed the house of the forest of Lebanon, and it was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. It was built on top of cedar beams supported by 4 rows of cedar columns. 3 The space above the side rooms (which were on top of the 45 columns, 15 columns in each row) was paneled with cedar. 4 There were 3 rows of window frames directly opposite each other—3 on each side. 5 The doorways and doorposts were square, and the openings were directly opposite each other: 3 on each side.
6 Solomon then constructed the hall of pillars. It was 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. There was a porch with pillars and a canopy as an entryway before them. 7 Then he made the hall for the throne. This is where he would give judgment; thus it was called the hall of judgment. The entire room was paneled from floor to floor[a] with cedar.
8 His own residence, the interior court behind the hall of judgment, was made the same way. For his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter, Solomon constructed another house like the hall of judgment. 9 They were all decorated inside and out, top to bottom, with costly stones, rare rocks perfectly cut with saws. 10 The foundation of the house was made out of rare, expensive stones. There were some gigantic stones, 12 and 15 feet long. 11 The elevation of the house was also made of large, costly stones; and they were trimmed to perfection, along with the cedar. 12 The courtyard had 3 rows of trimmed stones; and it also had 1 row of cedar beams, just like the porch and the central hall of the Eternal’s temple.
13 King Solomon sent for Hiram, the master craftsman from Tyre. 14 Hiram was the son of a widow from the Naphtali tribe. His father was a craftsman from Tyre who was wise, educated, and skilled enough to do anything with bronze. Hiram did all the bronze work for King Solomon. 15 He crafted the 2 bronze columns. Each one of them was 27 feet high, and the circumference of both was 18 feet. 16 He cast 2 capitals out of molten bronze for the columns. Each of the capitals was 7½ feet high. 17 There was an intricate network of twisted threads and chain on the capitals of the columns. There were 7 networks on each capital. 18 Hiram crafted the columns and 2 rows around one network in order to hide the capitals that were over the pomegranates.[b] He did the same thing for the other capital. 19 The capitals on the porch columns were crafted to look like 6-foot-high lilies. 20 There were capitals on top of both columns, and above the round sun face beside the network were 200 pomegranates in rows around both capitals. 21 He raised the columns on the porch of the central hall. After he raised the column on the right, he named it Jachin, meaning “he will establish.” He raised the column on the left and named it Boaz, meaning “in it is strength.” 22 There were lily designs at the top of both columns.
When he had finished casting the columns, 23 Hiram cast the sea. It was in the shape of a circle: 15 feet in diameter, 7½ feet deep, and 45 feet in circumference. 24 Gourds surrounded the sea underneath the brim: 10 gourds for every foot and a half. They were in 2 rows and had been cast as part of the sea. 25 Its pedestal was 12 oxen: 3 of the oxen faced north, 3 faced west, 3 faced south, and 3 faced east so that the back ends of the oxen were all on the inside. 26 The sea was as thick as a hand is wide. The edge of it was designed like the edge of a cup, curved back like the blossom of a lily. The sea had a water capacity of 12,000 gallons.[c]
27 Hiram then crafted 10 bronze moveable stands. Each water stand was 6 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 4½ feet high. 28 The stands had side panels and panels between the crossbars. 29 On the panels between the crossbars there were lions, oxen, and winged creatures. There was a pedestal over the crossbars that would support the basin, and there were garlands of ornaments below the lions and oxen. 30 There were 4 bronze wheels and 4 bronze axles for each stand. The 4 legs of each stand also had 4 bases. There were bases with garlands on all sides below the basin. 31 The opening at the crown of the cart was 1½ feet wide, in the shape of a circle, and like the pedestal, 27 inches. There were carvings on the opening, and the ends were straight, not rounded. 32 The 4 wheels were beneath the panels, and the wheel axles were on the base. Each wheel was 27 inches tall. 33 The wheels were crafted like the wheels of a chariot. Their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all cast. 34 There were 4 braces on the 4 corners of each base that were part of the stand. 35 There was a circular form 18 inches high above the base that the basin would rest in. It remained above the base, connected to the perimeter. 36 Hiram carved winged creatures, lions, and palm trees onto the braces wherever he found space, and he surrounded them with garlands. 37 All 10 of the stands were cast from the same mold, giving them all the same measurements and shape.
38 He crafted 10 bronze basins. Each basin had a capacity of 240 gallons and was 6 feet tall. There was 1 basin on each of the 10 stands. 39 He put 5 of the stands on the right side of the temple and the other 5 on the left side. He placed the sea on the right end of the temple, toward the southeast.
40 Hiram cast the basins, shovels, and bowls. He finally completed all his work for King Solomon in the Eternal’s temple: 41 2 columns and 2 bowls for the capitals (which were placed on top of the columns), 2 networks that were placed over the bowls of the capitals, 42 400 pomegranates for the 2 networks, 2 rows of pomegranates for each network to go over the 2 bowls of the capitals which sat on top of the columns, 43 10 stands, 10 basins for the stands, 44 the sea, the 12 oxen beneath the sea, 45 buckets, shovels, bowls, and everything else, including the objects Hiram crafted for Solomon in the Eternal’s temple. All were made out of burnished bronze. 46 The king molded the clay into forms in the plain of the Jordan and cast them there, between Succoth and Zarethan.
47 Solomon did not weigh any of the utensils because there were so many of them. It was impossible to get an accurate weight of the bronze.
48 Solomon had crafted all the furniture in the Eternal’s temple: the golden altar; the golden table that held the bread of the Presence; 49 5 golden lampstands on the right and 5 on the left in front of the inner sanctuary; the golden flowers, lamps, and tongs; 50 the golden cups, snuffers, bowls, spoons, and coal pans; the door hinges of the inner sanctuary (which was the most holy place); and the door hinges for the central hall of the temple that were crafted out of the purest gold.
51 Solomon’s work in the Eternal’s temple was complete. Solomon moved the sacred things his father had sanctified—the silver, gold, and utensils—into the treasuries in the Eternal’s temple.
30 Forty more years passed. One day while Moses was in the desert near Mount Sinai, a heavenly messenger appeared to him in the flames of a burning bush. 31 The phenomenon intrigued Moses; and as he approached for a closer look, he heard a voice—the voice of the Lord: 32 “I am the God of your own fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”[a] This terrified Moses—he began to tremble and looked away in fear. 33 The voice continued: “Take off your sandals and stand barefoot on the ground in My presence, for this ground is holy ground. 34 I have avidly watched how My people are being mistreated by the Egyptians. I have heard their groaning at the treatment of their oppressors. I am descending personally to rescue them. So get up. I’m sending you to Egypt.”[b]
35 Now remember: this was the same Moses who had been rejected by his kinfolk when they said, “Who made you our prince and judge?” This man, rejected by his own people, was the one God had truly sent and commissioned by the heavenly messenger who appeared in the bush, to be their leader and deliverer.
36 Moses indeed led our ancestors to freedom, and he performed miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness over a period of 40 years. 37 This Moses promised our ancestors, “The Eternal One your God will raise up from among your people a Prophet who will be like me.”[c] 38 This is the same one who led the people to Mount Sinai, where a heavenly messenger spoke to him and our ancestors, and who received the living message of God to give to us.
39 But our ancestors still resisted. They again pushed Moses away and refused to follow him. In their hearts, they were ready to return to their former slavery in Egypt. 40 While Moses was on the mountain communing with God, they begged Aaron to make idols to lead them. “We have no idea what happened to this fellow, Moses, who brought us from Egypt,”[d] they said. 41 So they made a calf as their new god, and they even sacrificed to it and celebrated an object they had fabricated as if it was their God.
42 And you remember what God did next: He let them go. He turned from them and let them follow their idolatrous path—worshiping sun, moon, and stars just as their unenlightened neighbors did. The prophet Amos spoke for God about this horrible betrayal:
Did you offer Me sacrifices or give Me offerings
during your 40-year wilderness journey, you Israelites?
43 No, but you have taken along your sacred tent for the worship of Moloch,
and you honored the star of Rompha, your false god.
So, if you want to worship your man-made images,
you may do so—beyond Babylon.[e]
44 Now recall that our ancestors had a sacred tent in the wilderness, the tent God directed Moses to build according to the pattern revealed to him. 45 When Joshua led our ancestors to dispossess the nations God drove out before them, our ancestors carried this sacred tent. It remained here in the land until the time of David. 46 David found favor with God and asked Him for permission to build a permanent structure (rather than a portable tent) to honor Him. 47 It was, of course, Solomon who actually built God’s house. 48 Yet we all know the Most High God doesn’t actually dwell in structures made by human hands, as the prophet Isaiah said,
49 “Since My throne is heaven
and since My footstool is earth—
What kind of structure can you build to contain Me?
What man-made space could provide Me a resting place?” asks the Eternal One.
50 “Didn’t I make all things with My own hand?”[f]
Psalm 128
A song for those journeying to worship.
1 Those who stand in awe of the Eternal—
who follow wherever He leads, committed in their hearts—experience His blessings!
2 God will use your hard work to provide you food.
You will prosper in your labor, and it will go well for you.
3 Your wife will be like a healthy vine producing plenty of fruit,
a spring of life in your home.
Your children will be like young olive shoots;
you will watch them bud and bloom around your table.
4 Such are the blessings the Eternal lavishes
on those who stand in awe of Him!
5 May the Eternal continue to pour out His love on you,
showering down blessings from His holy mountain, Zion.
May you see Jerusalem prosper
all your days.
6 May you have the privilege of seeing your grandchildren as they grow.
May peace flourish in Israel!
31 Gray hair is a crown of honor,
earned by living the right kind of life.
32 It is better to be a patient man than a mighty warrior,
better to be someone who controls his temper than someone who conquers a city.
33 We may try to control the roll of the dice,
but actually, the Eternal decides what they will determine.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.