2 Chronicles 4–6

Moreover he made ^aan altar of brass, twenty cubits the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof.

^2bAlso he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about. ³And under it was the similitude of ^coxen, which did compass it round about: ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about. Two rows of oxen were cast, when it was cast. ⁴It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward. ⁵And the thickness of it was a handbreadth, and the brim of it like the work of the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies; and it received and held ^dthree thousand baths.

⁶He made also ^eten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them: such things as they offered for the burnt offering they ^fwashed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in. ⁷And he made ^gten candlesticks of gold ^haccording to their form, and set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left. ⁸He made also ⁱten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left. And he made an hundred basons of gold. ⁹Furthermore he made ^jthe court of the priests, and ^kthe great court, and doors for ^kthe court, and overlaid the doors of them with brass. ¹⁰And ^lhe set the sea on the right side of the east end, over against the south.

^11mAnd Huram made the pots, and the shovels, and the basons. And Huram finished the work that he was to make for king Solomon for the house of God; ¹²to wit, the two pillars, and ⁿthe pommels, and the chapiters which were on the top of the two pillars, and the two wreaths to cover the two pommels of the chapiters which were on the top of the pillars; ¹³and ^ofour hundred pomegranates on the two wreaths; two rows of pomegranates on each wreath, to cover the ⁿtwo pommels of the chapiters which were upon the pillars. ¹⁴He made also ^pbases and lavers made he upon the bases; ¹⁵one sea, and twelve oxen under it. ¹⁶The pots also, and the shovels, and ^qthe fleshhooks, and all their instruments, did ^rHuram his father make to king Solomon for the house of the Lord of bright brass. ¹⁷In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and ^sZeredathah. ¹⁸Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance: for ^tthe weight of the brass could not be found out. ¹⁹And Solomon made all the vessels that were for the house of God, the golden altar also, and ^uthe tables whereon the shewbread was set; ²⁰moreover the candlesticks with their lamps, that they should burn ^wafter the manner before the ^xoracle, of ^ypure gold; ²¹and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, made he of gold, and that perfect gold; ²²and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers, of ^ypure gold: and the ^zentry of the house, the inner doors thereof for the most holy place, and the doors of the house of the temple, were of gold.

V.Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of the Lord was finished: and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and all the instruments, put he among the treasures of the house of God.

^2aThen Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. ³Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king in the feast which was in the seventh month. ⁴And all the elders of Israel came; and ^bthe Levites took up the ark. ⁵And they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, these did the priests ^cand the Levites bring up. ⁶Also king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen, which could not be told nor numbered for multitude. ⁷And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims: ⁸for the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above. ⁹And they drew out the staves of the ark, that the ends of the staves were seen ^dfrom the ark before the oracle; but they were not seen without. And there it is unto this day. ¹⁰There was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses put therein at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt. ^11eAnd it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place: (for all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not then wait by ^fcourse: ¹²also the Levites which were the singers, all of them ^gof Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in ^hwhite linen, having ⁱcymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty ^kpriests sounding with trumpets:) ¹³it came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lift up their voice with ^lthe trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the Lord, ^msaying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: ^ethat then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; ¹⁴ⁿso that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.

VI.^aThen said Solomon, The Lord hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. ²But I have built a house of habitation for thee, and a ^bplace for thy dwelling for ever. ³And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of Israel: and all the congregation of Israel stood. ⁴And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who hath with his hands fulfilled that which he spake with his mouth to my father David, saying, ⁵Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build a house in, that my name might be there; ^cneither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel: ^6dbut I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel. ⁷Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel. ⁸But the Lord said to David my father, Forasmuch as it was in thine heart to build a house for my name, thou didst well in that it was in thine heart: ⁹notwithstanding thou shalt not build the house; but thy son which shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name. ¹⁰The Lord therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken: for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and am set on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord God of Israel. ¹¹And in it have I put the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, that he made with the children of Israel.

¹²And he stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands: ¹³for Solomon had made ^ea brasen scaffold, of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of ^fthe court: and upon it he stood, and ^gkneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands towards heaven, ¹⁴and said, O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and shewest mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts: ¹⁵thou which hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him; and spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day. ¹⁶Now therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; yet so that thy children take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me. ¹⁷Now then, O Lord God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David.

¹⁸But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built? ¹⁹Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee: ²⁰that thine eyes may be open ^hupon this house day and night, ^hupon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth towards this place. ²¹Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make towards this place: hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive.

²²If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house; ²³then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteousness.

²⁴And if thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house; ²⁵then hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and…