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4 He made a bronze altar 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 15 feet high.
2 Huram made a pool from cast metal. It was 15 feet in diameter. It was round, 7½ feet high, and had a circumference of 45 feet. 3 Under the rim were two rows of figurines shaped like bulls all around the 45-foot circumference of the pool. They were cast in metal when the pool was cast. 4 The pool was set on 12 metal bulls. Three bulls faced north, three faced west, three faced south, and three faced east. The pool was set on them, and their hindquarters were toward the center of the pool. 5 The pool was three inches thick. Its rim was like the rim of a cup, shaped like a lily’s bud. It held 18,000 gallons.
6 Huram also made ten basins for washing and put five on the south side and five on the north side. The priests rinsed the meat prepared for the burnt offerings in them. They used the pool to wash themselves.
7 Huram made ten gold lamp stands according to their specifications and put them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north side. 8 He made ten tables and put them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north side. And he made 100 gold bowls.
9 He also made the priests’ courtyard and the large courtyard and its doors. He covered the doors with bronze. 10 He set the pool on the south side in the southeast corner. 11 Huram also made the pots, shovels, and bowls.
So Huram finished the work for King Solomon in Elohim’s temple: 12 2 pillars, bowl-shaped capitals on top of the 2 pillars, and 2 sets of filigree to cover the 2 bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars, 13 400 pomegranates for the 2 sets of filigree (2 rows of pomegranates for each filigree to cover the 2 bowl-shaped capitals on the pillars), 14 10 stands and 10[a] basins on the stands, 15 1 pool and the 12 bulls under it, 16 pots, shovels, and three-pronged forks. Huram made all of them out of polished bronze for Yahweh’s temple at King Solomon’s request. 17 The king cast them in foundries in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zeredah. 18 Solomon made so many of these products that no one tried to determine how much the bronze weighed.
19 Solomon made all the furnishings for Elohim’s temple: the gold altar, the gold tables on which the bread of the presence was placed, 20 lamp stands and lamps of pure gold (to burn as directed in front of the inner room), 21 flowers, lamps, pure gold tongs, 22 snuffers, basins, dishes, incense burners of pure gold, the gold entrance to the temple, the gold doors of the inner room (the most holy place), and the gold doors of the temple.
5 All the work Solomon did on Yahweh’s temple was finished. He brought the holy things that had belonged to his father David—the silver, gold, and all the utensils—and put them in the storerooms of Elohim’s temple.
The Lord Comes to His Temple(A)
2 Then Solomon assembled the respected leaders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the Israelite families. They came to Jerusalem to take the ark of Yahweh’s promise from the City of David (that is, Zion). 3 All the men of Israel gathered around the king at the Festival of Booths in the seventh month.
4 When all the leaders of Israel had arrived, the Levites picked up the ark. 5 They brought the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy utensils in it to the temple. The priests and the Levites carried them 6 while King Solomon and the whole assembly from Israel were offering countless sheep and cattle sacrifices in front of the ark. 7 The priests brought the ark of Yahweh’s promise to its place in the inner room of the temple (the most holy place) under the wings of the angels.[b]
8 The angels’ outstretched wings were over the place where the ark rested so that the angels became a covering above the ark and its poles. 9 The poles were so long that their ends could be seen in the holy place by anyone standing in front of the inner room,[c] but they couldn’t be seen outside. (They are still there today.) 10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets Moses placed there at Horeb, where Yahweh made a promise to the Israelites after they left Egypt.
11 All the priests who were present had performed the ceremonies to make themselves holy to God without regard to staying in their divisions. 12 All the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, their sons, and their relatives—were dressed in fine linen and stood east of the altar with cymbals, harps, and lyres. With the musicians were 120 priests blowing trumpets. When the priests left the holy place,[d] 13 the trumpeters and singers praised and thanked Yahweh in unison. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other musical instruments, they sang in praise to Yahweh: “He is good; his mercy endures forever.” Then Yahweh’s temple was filled with a cloud. 14 The priests couldn’t serve because of the cloud. Yahweh’s glory filled Elohim’s temple.
Solomon Addresses the People(B)
6 Then Solomon said, “Yahweh said he would live in a dark cloud. 2 But I have built you a high temple, a home for you to live in permanently.”
3 Then the king turned around and blessed the whole assembly from Israel while they were standing. 4 “Thanks be to Yahweh Elohim of Israel. With his mouth he made a promise to my father David; with his hand he carried it out. He said, 5 ‘Ever since I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I didn’t choose any city from the tribes of Israel as a place to build a temple for my name. And I didn’t choose any man to be prince over my people Israel. 6 But now I’ve chosen Jerusalem to be a place for my name; I’ve chosen David to rule my people Israel.’
7 “My father David had his heart set on building a temple for the name of Yahweh Elohim of Israel. 8 However, Yahweh said to my father David, ‘Since you had your heart set on building a temple for my name, your intentions were good. 9 But you must not build the temple. Instead, your own son will build the temple for my name.’ 10 Yahweh has kept the promise he made. I’ve taken my father David’s place, and I sit on the throne of Israel as Yahweh promised. I’ve built the temple for the name of Yahweh Elohim of Israel. 11 I’ve put the ark which contains Yahweh’s promise to Israel there.”
7 Don’t you realize, brothers and sisters, that laws have power over people only as long as they are alive? (I’m speaking to people who are familiar with Moses’ Teachings.) 2 For example, a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he is alive. But if her husband dies, that marriage law is no longer in effect for her. 3 So if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she will be called an adulterer. But if her husband dies, she is free from this law, so she is not committing adultery if she marries another man.
4 In the same way, brothers and sisters, you have died to the laws in Moses’ Teachings through Christ’s body. You belong to someone else, the one who was brought back to life.
As a result, we can do what God wants. 5 While we were living under the influence of our corrupt nature, sinful passions were at work throughout our bodies. Stirred up by the laws in Moses’ Teachings, our sinful passions did things that result in death. 6 But now we have died to those laws that bound us. God has broken their effect on us so that we are serving in a new spiritual way, not in an old way dictated by written words.
Moses’ Laws Show What Sin Is
7 What should we say, then? Are the laws in Moses’ Teachings sinful? That’s unthinkable! In fact, I wouldn’t have recognized sin if those laws hadn’t shown it to me. For example, I wouldn’t have known that some desires are sinful if Moses’ Teachings hadn’t said, “Never have wrong desires.” 8 But sin took the opportunity provided by this commandment and made me have all kinds of wrong desires. Clearly, without laws sin is dead. 9 At one time I was alive without any laws. But when this commandment came, sin became alive 10 and I died. I found that the commandment which was intended to bring me life actually brought me death. 11 Sin, taking the opportunity provided by this commandment, deceived me and then killed me.
12 So the laws in Moses’ Teachings are holy, and the commandment is holy, right, and good. 13 Now, did something good cause my death? That’s unthinkable! Rather, my death was caused by sin so that sin would be recognized for what it is. Through a commandment sin became more sinful than ever.
Psalm 17
A prayer by David.
1 Hear my plea for justice, O Yahweh.
Pay attention to my cry.
Open your ears to my prayer,
which comes from lips free from deceit.
2 Let the verdict of my innocence come directly from you.
Let your eyes observe what is fair.
3 You have probed my heart.
You have confronted me at night.
You have tested me like silver,
but you found nothing wrong.
I have determined that my mouth will not sin.
4 I have avoided cruelty because of your word.
In spite of what others have done,
5 my steps have remained firmly in your paths.
My feet have not slipped.
6 I have called on you because you answer me, O El.
Turn your ear toward me.
Hear what I have to say.
7 Reveal your miraculous deeds of mercy,
O Savior of those who find refuge by your side
from those who attack them.
8 Guard me as if I were the pupil in your eye.
Hide me in the shadow of your wings.
9 Hide me from wicked people who violently attack me,
from my deadly enemies who surround me.
10 They have shut out all feeling.[a]
Their mouths have spoken arrogantly.
11 They have tracked me down.
They have surrounded me.
They have focused their attention on throwing me to the ground.
12 Each one of them is like a lion eager to tear its prey apart
and like a young lion crouching in hiding places.
13 Arise, O Yahweh; confront them!
Bring them to their knees!
With your sword rescue my life from wicked people.
14 With your power rescue me from mortals, O Yahweh,
from mortals who enjoy their inheritance only in this life.
You fill their bellies with your treasure.
Their children are satisfied with it,
and they leave what remains to their children.
15 I will see your face when I am declared innocent.
When I wake up, I will be satisfied with seeing you.
22 Loyalty is desirable in a person,
and it is better to be poor than a liar.
23 The fear of Yahweh leads to life,
and such a person will rest easy without suffering harm.[a]
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.