The Daily Audio Bible

Solomon’s Palace

7 Now Solomon built his own house (palace) ^[a]in thirteen years, and he finished all of his house [in that time]. ² He also built the House of the Forest of Lebanon; its length was a hundred ^[b]cubits (150 ft.), its width fifty cubits (75 ft.), and its height thirty cubits (45 ft.), upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars. ³ And it was covered with cedar [as a roof] on the supporting beams that were upon the forty-five pillars, fifteen in each row. ⁴ There were artistic window frames in three rows, and window was opposite window in three tiers. ⁵ All the doorways and doorposts [and windows] had squared [artistic] frames, and window was opposite window in three tiers.

⁶ He also made the Hall of Pillars; its length was fifty cubits (75 ft.) and its width thirty cubits (45 ft.). There was a porch in front, and pillars and a threshold in front of them.

⁷ He made the hall for the throne where he was to judge, the Hall of Judgment; it was paneled with cedar from [one] floor to [another] floor.

⁸ His house where he was to live, the other courtyard behind the hall, was of similar workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.

⁹ All these were of expensive stones, of stone cut according to measure, sawed with saws, inside and outside; even from the foundation to the coping, and from the outside to the great courtyard.

¹⁰ The foundation was of expensive stones, large stones, stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits. ¹¹ And above [the foundation] were expensive stones, stones cut according to measure, and cedar. ¹² So the great courtyard all around had three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams like the inner courtyard of the house of the Lord, and the porch of the house.

Hiram’s Work in the Temple

¹³ Now King Solomon sent word and brought ^[c]Hiram [a skilled craftsman] from Tyre. ¹⁴ He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a craftsman in bronze. Hiram was filled with wisdom, understanding, and skill for doing any [kind of] work in bronze. So he came to King Solomon and did all his [bronze] work.

¹⁵ He cast the two pillars of bronze; the one pillar was eighteen cubits high, and a [measuring] line of twelve cubits measured the circumference of both. ¹⁶ He also made two capitals (crowns) of cast bronze to put on the tops of the pillars; the height of one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits. ¹⁷ There were nets of network (lattice-work) and twisted threads (wreaths) of chainwork for the capitals which were on the tops of the pillars, seven for one capital and seven for the other. ¹⁸ So Hiram made the pillars [in this manner], and two rows around on the one network to cover the capitals which were on the top of the pomegranates; and he did the same for the other capital. ¹⁹ The capitals which were upon the top of the pillars in the porch were of lily work (design), four cubits. ²⁰ The capitals were on the two pillars and also above and close to the rounded projection which was beside the network. There were two hundred pomegranates in rows around both capitals. ²¹ Hiram set up the pillars at the porch of the temple; he set up the right pillar and named it Jachin (may he establish), and he set up the left pillar and named it Boaz (in it is strength). ²² On the tops of the pillars was lily work (design). So the work of the pillars was finished.

²³ Now he made the Sea (basin) of cast metal, ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, five cubits high and thirty cubits in circumference.^{(A) 24} Under its brim were gourds encircling it ten to a cubit, completely surrounding the Sea; the gourds were in two rows, cast in one piece with it. ²⁵ It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three west, three south, and three east; the Sea was set on top of them, and all their rear parts pointed inward. ²⁶ It was a hand width thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand ^[d]baths.

²⁷ Then Hiram made ten bronze stands [for smaller basins]; the length of each stand was four cubits, its width was four cubits and its height was three cubits. ²⁸ This was the design of the stands: they had borders between the frames. ²⁹ On the borders between the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and on the frames there was a pedestal above. Beneath the lions and oxen were borders of hanging work. ³⁰ Now each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and its four feet had supports [for a basin]. Beneath the basin were cast supports with borders at each side. ³¹ Its opening inside the crown at the top measured a cubit, and its opening was round like the design of a pedestal, a cubit and a half. Also on its opening were carvings, and their borders were square, not round. ³² Underneath the borders were four wheels, and the axles of the wheels were on the stand. And the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half. ³³ The wheels were made like a chariot wheel: their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast. ³⁴ Now there were four supports at the four corners of each stand; the supports were part of the stand itself. ³⁵ On the top of the stand there was a circular piece half a cubit high, and on the top of the stand its supports and borders were part of it. ³⁶ And on the surface of its supports and its borders Hiram engraved cherubim, lions, and palm-shaped decorations, according to the [available] space for each, with borders all around. ³⁷ He made the ten stands like this: they all had one casting, one measure, and one form.

³⁸ Then he made ten basins of bronze; each basin held forty baths and was four cubits, and there was one basin on each of the ten stands. ³⁹ Then he placed the bases, five on the right [or south] side of the house and five on the left [or north] side; and he set the Sea [of cast metal] on the right side of the house toward the southeast.

⁴⁰ Now Hiram made the basins and the shovels and the bowls. So Hiram finished all the work which he did for King Solomon on the house of the Lord: ⁴¹ the two pillars and the [two] bowls of the capitals which were on the top of the two pillars, and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on top of the pillars; ⁴² and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for each network to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars; ⁴³ the ten stands and the ten basins on the stands; ⁴⁴ one Sea (basin), and the twelve oxen under the Sea; ⁴⁵ the pails, the shovels, and the bowls; all these utensils which Hiram made for King Solomon in the house of the Lord were of polished bronze. ⁴⁶ In the plain of the Jordan [River] the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan. ⁴⁷ Solomon left all the utensils unweighed, because there were so many; the weight of the bronze could not be determined.

⁴⁸ Solomon made all the [other] furniture which was in the house of the Lord: the [incense] altar of gold; the table of gold on which was the bread of the Presence; ⁴⁹ the lampstands of pure gold, five on the right side and five on the left, in front of the Holy of Holies (inner sanctuary); with the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold; ⁵⁰ the cups, snuffers, bowls, spoons, firepans—of pure gold; and the hinges of gold [both] for the doors of the inner house, the Holy of Holies, and for the doors of the house, the main room [the Holy Place].

⁵¹ So all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the Lord was completed. Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated—the silver, the gold, and the utensils—and he put them in the treasuries of the Lord’s house.

³⁰ “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount ^[a]Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush. ³¹ When Moses saw it, he was astonished at the sight; but as he went near to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came [to him, saying]: ³² ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look. ³³ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground [worthy of reverence and respect]. ³⁴ I have most certainly seen the oppression of My people in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. Now come, and I will send you to Egypt [as My messenger].’^(A)

³⁵ “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the very one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer, with the [protecting and helping] hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush.^{(B) 36} This man led them out [of Egypt] after performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.^{(C) 37} This is the Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a Prophet ^[b]like me from your countrymen.’^{(D) 38} This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles [divine words that still live] to be handed down to you.^{(E) 39} Our fathers were unwilling to be subject to him [and refused to listen to him]. They rejected him, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.^{(F) 40} They said to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’^{(G) 41} In those days they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced and celebrated over the works of their hands.^{(H) 42} But God turned away [from them] and handed them over to serve the ^[c]host of heaven. As it is written and forever remains written in the book of the prophets, ‘It was not [really] to Me that you offered victims and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness, was it, O house of Israel?^{(I) 43} You also took along the tabernacle (portable temple) of Moloch and the star of the god Rompha, the images which you made to worship; and I will remove you beyond Babylon [carrying you away into exile].’^(J)

⁴⁴ “Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as God directed Moses to make it according to the pattern which he had seen.^{(K) 45} Our fathers also brought it in [with them into the land] with Joshua when they dispossessed the ^[d]nations whom God drove out before our fathers, [and so it remained here] until the time of David,^{(L) 46} who found favor (grace, spiritual blessing) in the sight of God and asked that he might [be allowed to] find a dwelling place for the ^[e]God of Jacob.^{(M) 47} But it was Solomon who built a house for Him.^{(N) 48} However, the Most High [the One infinitely exalted above humanity] does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet [Isaiah] says,^(O)

Blessedness of the Fear of the Lord.

A Song of ^[a]Ascents.