2 Chronicles 4–6

THE ALTAR AND BASINS

4He made a bronze altar^d 30 feet^D long, 30 feet wide, and 15 feet high.

²Then he made the cast metal basin,^Fe 15 feet from brim to brim, perfectly round. It was 7½ feet^G high and 45 feet^H in circumference. ³The likeness of oxen was below it, completely encircling it, ten every half yard,^J completely surrounding the basin. The oxen were cast in two rows when the basin was cast. ⁴It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The basin was on top of them and all their hindquarters were toward the center. ⁵The basin was three inches^K thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup or a lily blossom. It could hold eleven thousand gallons.

⁶He made ten basins for washing and he put five on the right and five on the left.^f The parts of the burnt offering were rinsed in them,^g but the basin was used by the priests for washing.

THE LAMPSTANDS, TABLES, AND COURTS

⁷He made the ten gold lampstands according to their specifications and put them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left.^{h 8}He made ten tables and placed them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left.ⁱ He also made a hundred gold bowls.

⁹He made the courtyard^j of the priests and the large court, and doors for the court. He overlaid the doors with bronze. ¹⁰He put the basin on the right side, toward the southeast.^{k 11}Then Huram^l made^m the pots, the shovels, and the bowls.

COMPLETION OF THE BRONZE FURNISHINGS

So Huram finished doing the work that he was doing for King Solomon in God’s temple: ¹²two pillars; the bowls and the capitals on top of the two pillars; the two gratings for covering both bowls of the capitals that were on top of the pillars; ¹³the four hundred pomegranates for the two gratings (two rows of pomegranates for each grating covering both capitals’ bowls on top of the pillarsⁿ). ¹⁴He also made the water carts^No and the basins on the water carts. ¹⁵The one basin and the twelve oxen underneath it, ¹⁶the pots, the shovels, the forks, and all their utensils—Huram-abi^Ap made them for King Solomon for the Lord’s temple. All these were made of polished bronze. ¹⁷The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zeredah. ¹⁸Solomon made all these utensils in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.

COMPLETION OF THE GOLD FURNISHINGS

¹⁹Solomon also made all the equipment in God’s temple: the gold altar; the tables on which to put the Bread of the Presence;^{q 20}the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn in front of the inner sanctuary according to specifications;^{r 21}the flowers, lamps, and gold tongs—of purest gold; ²²the wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, ladles,^B and firepans—of purest gold; and the entryway to the temple, its inner doors to the most holy place, and the doors of the temple sanctuary—of gold.

5So all the work Solomon did for the Lord’s temple was completed. Then Solomon brought the consecrated things of his father David—the silver, the gold, and all the utensils—and put them in the treasuries of God’s temple.

PREPARATIONS FOR THE TEMPLE DEDICATION

²At that time^s Solomon assembled at Jerusalem the elders of Israel—all the tribal heads, the ancestral chiefs of the Israelites—in order to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the city of David,^a that is, Zion. ³So all the men of Israel were assembled in the king’s presence at the festival; this was in the seventh month.^C

⁴All the elders of Israel came, and the Levites picked up the ark. ⁵They brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and the holy utensils that were in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁶King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel who had gathered around him were in front of the ark sacrificing sheep, goats, and cattle that could not be counted or numbered because there were so many. ⁷The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the most holy place, beneath the wings of the cherubim.^{b 8}And the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark so that the cherubim formed a cover above the ark and its poles. ⁹The poles were so long that their ends were seen from the holy place^c in front of the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen from outside; they are still there today. ¹⁰Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had put in it at Horeb,^Ed where the Lord had made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of Egypt.

¹¹Now all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves regardless of their divisions.^e When the priests came out of the holy place, ¹²the Levitical singers dressed in fine linen and carrying cymbals, harps, and lyres^f were standing east of the altar, and with them were 120 priests blowing trumpets.^g The Levitical singers were descendants of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun and their sons^h and relatives. ¹³The trumpeters and singers joined together to praise and thank the Lord with one voice. They raised their voices, accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and musical instruments,ⁱ in praise to the Lord:

For he is good;

his faithful love endures forever.^j

The temple, the Lord’s temple, was filled with a cloud.^{k 14}And because of the cloud, the priests were not able to continue ministering, for the glory of the Lord filled God’s temple.^l

SOLOMON’S DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE

6Then Solomon said:^m

The Lord said he would dwell in total darkness,ⁿ

²but I have built an exalted temple for you,

a place for your dwelling forever.

³Then the king turned and blessed the entire congregation of Israel while they were standing. ⁴He said:

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel!

He spoke directly to my father David,

and he has fulfilled the promise

by his power.

He said,

⁵“Since the day I brought my people Israel

out of the land of Egypt,^o

I have not chosen a city to build a temple in

among any of the tribes of Israel,

so that my name would be there,

and I have not chosen a man

to be ruler over my people Israel.

⁶But I have chosen Jerusalem

so that my name will be there,^p

and I have chosen David

to be over my people Israel.”^q

⁷My father David had his heart set

on building a temple for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.^r

⁸However, the Lord said to my father David,

“Since it was your desire to build a temple for my name,

you have done well to have this desire.

⁹Yet, you are not the one to build the temple,

but your son, your own offspring,

will build the temple for my name.”

¹⁰So the Lord has fulfilled what he promised.

I have taken the place of my father David

and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised.

I have built the temple for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

¹¹I have put the ark there,

where the Lord’s covenant is

that he made with the Israelites.^s

SOLOMON’S PRAYER

¹²Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire congregation of Israel and spread out his hands. ¹³For Solomon had made a bronze platform 7½ feet^A long, 7½ feet wide, and 4½ feet^B high and put it in the court. He stood on it,^a knelt down in front of the entire congregation of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven.^{b 14}He said:

Lord God of Israel,

there is no God like you

in heaven or on earth,^c

who keeps his gracious covenant

with your servants who walk before you

with all their heart.^d

¹⁵You have kept what you promised

to your servant, my father David.

You spoke directly to him,

and you fulfilled your promise by your power,

as it is today.^e

¹⁶Therefore, Lord God of Israel,

keep what you promised

to your servant, my father David:

“You will never fail to have a man

to sit before me on the throne of Israel,^f

if only your sons take care to walk in my Law

as you have walked before me.”

¹⁷Now, Lord God of Israel, please confirm

what you promised to your servant David.

¹⁸But will God indeed live on earth with humans?

Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain you,^g

much less this temple I have built.

¹⁹Listen^C to your servant’s prayer and his petition,

Lord my God,

so that you may hear the cry and the prayer

that your servant prays before you,

²⁰so that your eyes watch over this temple

day and night,

toward the place where you said

you would put your name;^h

and so that you may hear the prayer

your servant prays toward this place.

²¹Hear the petitions of your servant

and your people Israel,

which they pray toward this place.

May you hear in your dwelling place in heaven.

May you hear and forgive.

²²If a man sins against his neighbor

and is forced to take an oath^D

and he comes to take an oath

before your altar in this temple,

²³may you hear in heaven and act.

May you judge your servants,

condemning the wicked man by bringing

what he has done on his own head

and providing justice for the righteous

by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

²⁴If your people Israel are defeated before an enemy,

because they have sinned against you,

and they return to you and praise your name,

and they pray and plead for mercy

before you in this temple,

²⁵may you hear in heaven

and forgive the sin of your people Israel.

May you restore them to the land

you gave them and their ancestors.

²⁶When the skies are shut and there is no rain

because they have sinned against you,

and they pray toward this place

and praise your name,

and they turn from their sins

because you are afflictingⁱ them,

²⁷may you hear in heaven

and forgive the sin of your servants

and your people Israel,

so that you may teach them the good way

they should walk in.

May you send rain on your land

that you gave your people for an inheritance.

²⁸When there is famine in the land,

when there is pestilence,

when there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper,

when their enemies besiege them

in the land and its cities,^Bj

when there is any plague or illness,

²⁹every prayer or petition

that any person or that all your people Israel may have—

they each know…