Old/New Testament

Solomon Builds the Temple

6 So Solomon began to build the Temple. This was 480 years after the people of Israel had left Egypt. (This was the fourth year of King Solomon’s rule over Israel.) It was the second month, the month of Ziv.

² The Temple was 90 feet long and 30 feet wide. It was 45 feet high. ³ The porch in front of the main room of the Temple was 15 feet deep and 30 feet wide. The room ran along the front of the Temple itself. Its width was equal to the width of the Temple. ⁴ There were narrow windows in the Temple. These windows were narrow on the outside and larger on the inside. ⁵ Then Solomon built some side rooms against the walls of the main room of the Temple. These rooms were built on top of each other. ⁶ The rooms on the bottom floor were 7½ feet wide. The rooms on the middle floor were 9 feet wide. The rooms above that were 10½ feet wide. The Temple wall which made the side of each room was thinner than the wall in the room below. The rooms were pushed against the wall but did not have their main beams built into the wall.

⁷ The stones were prepared at the same place they were cut from the ground. Only these stones were used to build the Temple. So there was no noise of hammers, axes or any other iron tools at the Temple.

⁸ The entrance to the bottom rooms built beside the Temple was on the south side. From there, stairs went up to the second floor rooms. And from there, they went on to the third floor rooms. ⁹ Solomon put a roof made from beams and cedar boards on the Temple. So he finished building the Temple. ¹⁰ He also finished building the bottom floor that was beside the Temple. It was 7½ feet high. It was attached to the Temple by cedar beams.

¹¹ The Lord spoke his word to Solomon: ¹² “Obey all my laws and commands. If you do, I will do for you what I promised your father David. ¹³ And I will live among the children of Israel in this Temple you are building. I will never leave the people of Israel.”

¹⁴ So Solomon finished building the Temple. ¹⁵ The inside walls were covered from floor to ceiling with cedar boards. The floor was made from pine boards. ¹⁶ A room 30 feet long was built in the back part of the Temple. It was divided from the rest of the Temple by cedar boards reaching from floor to ceiling. It was called the Most Holy Place. ¹⁷ The main room, the room in front of the Most Holy Place, was 60 feet long. ¹⁸ Inside the Temple was cedar. It was carved with pictures of flowers and plants. Everything inside was covered with cedar. So a person could not see the stones of the wall.

¹⁹ He prepared the inner room at the back of the Temple to keep the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord. ²⁰ This inner room was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide and 30 feet high. Solomon covered this room with pure gold. He built an altar of cedar and covered it also. ²¹ He covered the inside of the Temple with pure gold. And he placed gold chains across the front of the inner room. It was covered with gold. ²² So all the inside of the Temple was covered with gold. Also the altar in the Most Holy Place was covered with gold.

²³ Solomon made two creatures with wings from olive wood. Each creature was 15 feet tall. They were put in the Most Holy Place. ²⁴ Each creature had two wings. Each wing was 7½ feet long. So it was 15 feet from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing. ²⁵ The creatures were the same size and shape. ²⁶ And each was 15 feet tall. ²⁷ These creatures were put beside each other in the Most Holy Place. Their wings were spread out. So one creature’s wing touched one wall. The other creature’s wing touched the other wall. And their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. ²⁸ The two creatures were covered with gold.

²⁹ All the walls around the Temple were carved. They were carved with pictures of creatures with wings, palm trees and flowers. This was true for both the main room and the inner room. ³⁰ The floors of both rooms were covered with gold.

³¹ Doors made from olive wood were put at the entrance to the Most Holy Place. The doors were made to fit into an area with five sides. ³² Creatures with wings, palm trees and flowers were carved on the two olive wood doors. Then the doors were covered with gold. And the creatures and the palm trees were covered with gold. ³³ At the entrance to the main room there was a door frame. It was square and was made of olive wood. ³⁴ Two doors were made from pine. Each door had two parts so that the doors folded. ³⁵ The doors were covered with pictures of creatures with wings, palm trees and flowers. And all of the carvings were covered with gold. The gold was smoothed over the carvings.

³⁶ The inner courtyard was built and enclosed with walls. The walls were made of three rows of cut stones and one row of cedar boards.

³⁷ Work began on the Temple in Ziv, the second month. This was during the fourth year Solomon ruled over Israel. ³⁸ The Temple was finished during the eleventh year Solomon ruled. It was finished in the eighth month, the month of Bul. It was finished exactly as it was planned. Solomon had worked seven years to build the Temple.

Solomon’s Palace

7 King Solomon also built a palace for himself. It took him 13 years to finish building it. ² He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. It was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. It had four rows of cedar columns. They supported the cedar beams. ³ The ceiling was covered with cedar above the beams. There were 45 beams on the roof, with 15 beams in each row. ⁴ Windows were placed in three rows facing each other. ⁵ All the doors were square. The three doors at each end faced each other.

⁶ Solomon also built the porch of pillars. It was 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. Along the front of the porch, there was a covering supported by pillars.

⁷ Solomon also built a throne room where he judged people. He called this the Hall of Justice. The room was covered with cedar from the floor to the ceiling. ⁸ The palace where Solomon was to live was behind the Hall of Justice. And it was built like the Hall of Justice. Solomon also built the same kind of palace for his wife. She was the daughter of the king of Egypt.

⁹ All these buildings were made with blocks of carefully cut fine stone. Then they were trimmed with a saw in the front and back. These fine stones went from the foundations of the buildings to the top of the walls. Even the courtyard was made with blocks of stone. ¹⁰ The foundations were made with large blocks of fine stone. Some of the stones were 15 feet long. Others were 12 feet long. ¹¹ On top of those stones there were other cut blocks of fine stone and cedar beams. ¹² The palace courtyard, the courtyard inside the Temple and the porch to the Temple were surrounded by walls. All of these walls had three rows of cut stone blocks and one row of cedar beams.

The Temple Is Completed Inside

¹³ King Solomon sent to Tyre and had Huram brought to him. ¹⁴ Huram’s mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali. His father was from Tyre and had been skilled in making things from bronze. Huram was also very skilled and experienced in bronze work. So he came to King Solomon. And he did all the bronze work Solomon wanted.

¹⁵ He made two bronze pillars. Each one was 27 feet tall and 18 feet around. ¹⁶ He also made two bronze capitals that were 7½ feet tall. He put them on top of the pillars. ¹⁷ Then he made a net of seven chains for each capital. They covered the capitals on top of the two pillars. ¹⁸ Then he made two rows of bronze pomegranates to go on the nets. They were to cover the capitals at the top of the pillars. ¹⁹ The capitals on top of the pillars in the porch were shaped like lilies. They were 6 feet tall. ²⁰ The capitals were on top of both pillars. They were above the bowl-shaped section and next to the nets. At that place there were 200 pomegranates in rows all around the capitals. ²¹ Huram put these two bronze pillars at the porch of the Temple. He named the south pillar He Establishes. And he named the north pillar In Him Is Strength. ²² The capitals on top of the pillars were shaped like lilies. So the work on the pillars was finished.

²³ Then Huram made a large round bowl from bronze, which was called the Sea. It was 45 feet around. It was 15 feet across and 7½ feet deep. ²⁴ There was a rim around the outer edge of the bowl. Under this rim there were two rows of bronze plants surrounding the bowl. There were ten plants in every 18 inches. They were made in one piece with the bowl. ²⁵ The bowl rested on the backs of 12 bronze bulls. They faced outward from the center of the bowl. Three bulls faced north, 3 faced east, 3 faced south and 3 faced west. ²⁶ The sides of the bowl were 4 inches thick. The rim was like the rim of a cup or like a lily blossom. The bowl held about 11,000 gallons.

²⁷ Then Huram made ten bronze stands. Each one was 6 feet long, 6 feet wide and 4½ feet high. ²⁸ The stands were made from square sides, which were put on frames. ²⁹ On the sides were bronze lions, bulls and creatures with wings. On the frames above and below the lions and bulls there were designs of flowers hammered into the bronze. ³⁰ Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles. At the corners there were bronze supports for a large bowl. The supports had designs of flowers. ³¹ There was a frame on top of the bowls. It was 18 inches high above the bowls. The opening of the bowl was round, 27 inches deep. There were designs carved into the bronze on the frame. The frame was square, not round. ³² The four wheels were under the frame. They were 27 inches high. The axles between the wheels were made as one piece with the stand. ³³ The wheels were like a chariot’s wheels. Everything on the wheels was made of bronze. The axles, rims, spokes and hubs were made of bronze.

³⁴ The four supports were on the four corners of each stand. They were made as one piece with the stand. ³⁵ There was a strip of bronze around the top of each stand. It was 9 inches deep. It was made as one piece with the stand. ³⁶ The sides of the stand and the frames were totally covered with carvings. They were carved with pictures of creatures with wings, lions and palm trees. There were also flowers carved all around. ³⁷ So this is the way Huram made the ten stands. The bronze for each stand was melted and poured into a mold. So all of the stands were the same size and shape.

³⁸ Huram also made ten bronze bowls. There was one bowl for each of the ten stands. Each bowl was six feet across and could hold about 230 gallons. ³⁹ Huram put five of the stands on the south side of the Temple. And he put the other five stands on the north side. He put the large bowl in the southeast corner of the Temple. ⁴⁰ Huram also made bowls, shovels and small bowls.

So Huram finished making everything King Solomon wanted him to make. Here is a list of what Huram made for the Temple of the Lord:

Huram made everything King Solomon wanted. They were all made from polished bronze. ⁴⁶ The king ordered these things to be made near the Jordan River between Succoth and Zarethan. They were made by melting and pouring bronze into clay molds. ⁴⁷ Solomon never weighed the bronze used to make these things. There was too much to weigh. So the total weight of all the bronze was never known.

⁴⁸ Solomon also commanded that many things be made of gold for the Temple:

⁵¹ So the work King Solomon did for the Temple of the Lord was finished. David, Solomon’s father, had saved silver, gold and other articles for the Temple. So Solomon brought these things into the Temple. And he put them into the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord.

Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus

²⁷ Some Sadducees came to Jesus. (Sadducees believe that people will not rise from death.) They asked, ²⁸ “Teacher, Moses wrote that a man’s brother might die. He leaves a wife but no children. Then that man must marry the widow and have children for his dead brother. ²⁹ One time there were seven brothers. The first brother married, but died. He had no children. ³⁰ Then the second brother married the widow, and he died. ³¹ And the third brother married the widow, and he died. The same thing happened with all the other brothers. They all died and had no children. ³² The woman was the last to die. ³³ But all seven brothers married her. So when people rise from death, whose wife will the woman be?”

³⁴ Jesus said to the Sadducees, “On earth, people marry each other. ³⁵ But those who will be worthy to be raised from death and live again will not marry. ³⁶ In that life they are like angels and cannot die. They are children of God, because they have been raised from death. ³⁷ Moses clearly showed that the dead are raised to life. When Moses wrote about the burning bush,^[a] he said that the Lord is ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’^{[b] 38} God is the God of living people, not dead people. All people are alive to God.”

³⁹ Some of the teachers of the law said, “Teacher, your answer was good.” ⁴⁰ No one was brave enough to ask him another question.

Is the Christ the Son of David?

⁴¹ Then Jesus said, “Why do people say that the Christ is the Son ofDavid? ⁴² In the book of Psalms, David himself says:

⁴⁴ David calls the Christ ‘Lord.’ But the Christ is also the son of David. How can both these things be true?”

Jesus Accuses the Leaders

⁴⁵ While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his followers, ⁴⁶ “Be careful of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around wearing clothes that look important. And they love for people to show respect to them in the marketplaces. They love to have the most important seats in the synagogues and at the feasts. ⁴⁷ But they cheat widows and steal their houses. Then they try to make themselves look good by saying long prayers. God will punish these men very much.”