The Daily Audio Bible

Furnishings of the Temple

4 Then Solomon made an altar of bronze, twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and ten cubits in height. ² He also made the Sea [that is, the large basin used for ceremonial washing] of cast metal, ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and five cubits in height, and its circumference was thirty cubits. ³ Under it and entirely encircling it were figures of oxen, ten to a cubit. The oxen were in two rows, cast in one piece. ⁴ It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, three facing east; and the Sea was set on top of them and all their hindquarters turned inward. ⁵ It was a handbreadth (the width of the four fingers) thick; its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It could hold ^[a]3,000 baths (measures). ⁶ He also made ten [portable] basins in which to wash, and he put five on the right (south) side and five on the left (north). They would rinse things for the burnt offering in them, but the Sea was for the priests to wash in.

⁷ And he made ten golden lampstands just as directed and set them in the temple, five on the right side 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 side, and he made a hundred [ceremonial] basins of gold. ⁹ Moreover, he made the courtyard of the priests, and the great courtyard [for the people] and doors for the courtyard, and he overlaid their doors with bronze. ¹⁰ He set the Sea on the right side at the southeast corner [of the house].

¹¹ And Huram also made the pails [for ashes], the shovels, and the basins. So Huram finished the work that he did for King Solomon in the house of God: ¹² the two pillars, the bowls, the capitals on top of the two pillars, and the two lattice works to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on top of the pillars, ¹³ and the four hundred pomegranates for the two lattice works, two rows of pomegranates for each lattice to cover the two bowls of the capitals on the pillars. ¹⁴ He also made the stands and he made the basins on the stands; ¹⁵ and the one Sea with the twelve oxen under it. ¹⁶ The pails, the shovels, and the meat-forks, and all the utensils Huram-abi made of polished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord. ¹⁷ The king cast them on the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah. ¹⁸ Solomon made all these utensils in such great quantity that the weight of the bronze could not be determined.

¹⁹ Solomon also made all the articles that were in the house of God: the golden altar, and the tables for the bread of the Presence (showbread), ²⁰ and the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, to burn in front of the inner sanctuary (the Holy of Holies) as directed; ²¹ the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold, of purest gold; ²² and the snuffers, the basins, the dishes [for incense], and the firepans, of pure gold; and for the entrance of the house (temple), the inner doors for the Holy of Holies and the doors of the Holy Place (main room), were of gold.

The Ark Is Brought into the Temple

5 Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of the Lord was finished. He brought in the things that his father David had dedicated, and he put the silver and the gold and all the utensils in the treasuries of the house of God.

² Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the Israelites, in Jerusalem to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the City of David, which is Zion. ³ All the men of Israel gathered before the king at the feast in the seventh month. ⁴ And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark. ⁵ The Levitical priests brought up the ark, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy utensils that were in the Tent. ⁶ And King Solomon and all the assembly of Israel who gathered together with him before the ark were sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. ⁷ Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, to the inner sanctuary of the house, into the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim; ⁸ for the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, making a covering above the ark and its carrying poles. ⁹ The poles were so long that the ends of the poles of the ark were visible from the front of the Holy of Holies (inner sanctuary), but were not visible from the outside. They are there to this day. ¹⁰ There was nothing in the ark except ^[b]the two tablets [of the Ten Commandments] which Moses put there at Mount Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites, when they came out of Egypt.^(A)

The Glory of God Fills the Temple

¹¹ When the priests came out of the Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves [separating themselves from everything unclean], without regard to their ^[c]assigned divisions), ¹² and all of the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, with their sons and relatives, clothed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres were standing at the east end of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests blowing trumpets ¹³ in unison when the trumpeters and singers were to make themselves heard with one voice praising and thanking the Lord, and when they raised their voices accompanied by the trumpets and cymbals and [other] instruments of music, and when they praised the Lord, saying, “For He is good, for His mercy and lovingkindness endure forever,” then the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud, ¹⁴ so that the priests could not remain standing to minister because of the cloud; for the glory and brilliance of the Lord filled the house of God.

Solomon’s Dedication

6 Then Solomon said,

³ Then the king turned around and blessed the entire assembly of Israel, while they were all standing. ⁴ And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled with His hands what He promised, saying, ⁵ ‘Since the day that I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city among all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name (Presence) might be there, nor did I choose any man to be a leader over My people Israel; ⁶ but I have chosen Jerusalem that My Name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’ ⁷ Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁸ But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Because it was ^[d]in your heart to build a house for My Name, you did well that it was in your heart. ⁹ Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who will be born to you, he shall build the house for My Name.’ ¹⁰ Now the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in place of my father David and I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and have built the house for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹¹ There I have placed the ark [the symbol of His Presence] in which is the covenant of the Lord [the Ten Commandments], which He made with the people (descendants) of Israel.”

Believers United to Christ

7 Or do you not know, ^[a]brothers and sisters (for I am speaking to those who know the Law), that the Law has jurisdiction [to rule] over a person as long as he lives? ² For the married woman [as an example] is bound and remains bound by law to her husband while he lives; but if her husband dies, she is released and exempt from the law concerning her husband. ³ Accordingly, she will be designated as an adulteress if she ^[b]unites herself to another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law [regarding marriage], so that she is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

⁴ Therefore, my ^[c]fellow believers, you too died to the Law through the [crucified] body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. ⁵ When we were living in the flesh [trapped by sin], the sinful passions, which were awakened by [that which] the Law [identifies as sin], were at work in our body to bear fruit for death [since the willingness to sin led to death and separation from God]. ⁶ But now we have been released from the Law and its penalty, having died [through Christ] to that by which we were held captive, so that we serve [God] in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter [of the Law].

⁷ What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, if it had not been for the Law, I would not have recognized sin. For I would not have known [for example] about coveting [what belongs to another, and would have had no sense of guilt] if the Law had not [repeatedly] said, “You shall not covet.”^{(A) 8} But sin, finding an opportunity through the commandment [to express itself] produced in me every kind of coveting and selfish desire. For without the Law sin is dead [the recognition of sin is inactive]. ⁹ I was once alive without [knowledge of] the Law; but when the commandment came [and I understood its meaning], sin became alive and I died [since the Law sentenced me to death].^{(B) 10} And the very commandment which was intended to bring life, actually proved to bring death for me.^{(C) 11} For sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, beguiled and completely deceived me, and ^[d]using it as a weapon killed me [separating me from God]. ¹² So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

¹³ Did that which is good [the Law], then become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, in order that it might be revealed as sin, was producing death in me by [using] this good thing [as a weapon], so that through the commandment sin would become exceedingly sinful.

Prayer for Protection against Oppressors.

A Prayer of David.