1 Kings 7–8

Solomon Builds His Palace

7Solomon was ^xbuilding his own house thirteen years, and he finished his entire house.

²He built ^ythe House of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was a hundred cubits¹ and its breadth fifty cubits and its height thirty cubits, and it was built on four² rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars. ³And it was covered with cedar above the chambers that were on the forty-five pillars, fifteen in each row. ⁴There were window frames in three rows, and window opposite window in three tiers. ⁵All the doorways and windows³ had square frames, and window was opposite window in three tiers.

⁶And he made ^zthe Hall of Pillars; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits. There was a porch in front with pillars, and ^aa canopy in front of them.

⁷And he made the Hall of the Throne where he was to pronounce judgment, even the Hall of Judgment. ^bIt was finished with cedar from floor to rafters.⁴

⁸His own house where he was to dwell, in the other court at the back of the hall, was of like workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter ^cwhom he had taken in marriage.

⁹All these were made of costly stones, cut according to measure, sawed with saws, back and front, even from the foundation to the coping, and from the outside to the great court. ¹⁰The foundation was of costly stones, huge stones, stones of eight and ten cubits. ¹¹And above were costly stones, cut according to measurement, and cedar. ^12dThe great court had three courses of cut stone all around, and a course of cedar beams; so had the inner court of the house of the Lord and ^ethe vestibule of the house.

The Temple Furnishings

¹³And King Solomon sent and brought ^fHiram from Tyre. ¹⁴He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze. And ^ghe was full of wisdom, understanding, and skill for making any work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his work.

^15hHe cast ⁱtwo pillars of bronze. ^jEighteen cubits was the height of one pillar, and a line of twelve cubits measured its circumference. It was hollow, and its thickness was four fingers. The second pillar was the same.^{5 16}He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of the one capital was five cubits, and ^jthe height of the other capital was five cubits. ¹⁷There were lattices of checker work with wreaths of chain work for the capitals on the tops of the pillars, a lattice⁶ for the one capital and a lattice for the other capital. ¹⁸Likewise he made pomegranates⁷ in two rows around the one latticework to cover the capital that was on the top of the pillar, and he did the same with the other capital. ¹⁹Now the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars in the vestibule were of lily-work, four cubits. ²⁰The capitals were on the two pillars and also above the rounded projection which was beside the latticework. There were ^ktwo hundred pomegranates in two rows all around, and so with the other capital. ^21lHe set up the pillars at the vestibule of the temple. He set up the pillar on the south and called its name Jachin, and he set up the pillar on the north and called its name Boaz. ²²And on the tops of the pillars was lily-work. Thus the work of the pillars was finished.

^23mThen he made ⁿthe sea of cast metal. It was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. ²⁴Under its brim were ^ogourds, for ten cubits, compassing the sea all around. The gourds were in two rows, cast with it when it was cast. ²⁵It stood on ^ptwelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The sea was set on them, and all their rear parts were inward. ²⁶Its thickness was a handbreadth,⁸ and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It held two thousand baths.⁹

²⁷He also made the ^qten stands of bronze. Each stand was four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high. ²⁸This was the construction of the stands: they had panels, and the panels were set in the frames, ²⁹and on the panels that were set in the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the frames, both above and below the lions and oxen, there were wreaths of beveled work. ³⁰Moreover, each stand had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze, and at the four corners were supports for a basin. The supports were cast with wreaths at the side of each. ³¹Its opening was within a crown that projected upward one cubit. Its opening was round, as a pedestal is made, a cubit and a half deep. At its opening there were carvings, and its panels were square, not round. ³²And the four wheels were underneath the panels. The axles of the wheels were of one piece with the stands, and the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half. ³³The wheels were made like a chariot wheel; their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast. ³⁴There were four supports at the four corners of each stand. The supports were of one piece with the stands. ³⁵And on the top of the stand there was a round band half a cubit high; and on the top of the stand its stays and its panels were of one piece with it. ³⁶And on the surfaces of its stays and on its panels, he carved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the space of each, with wreaths all around. ³⁷After this manner he made ^qthe ten stands. All of them were cast alike, of the same measure and the same form.

³⁸And he made ^rten basins of bronze. Each basin held forty baths, each basin measured four cubits, and there was a basin for each of the ten stands. ³⁹And he set the stands, five on the south side of the house, and five on the north side of the house. And he set the sea at the southeast corner of the house.

^40sHiram also made ^tthe pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished all the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of the Lord: ⁴¹the two pillars, the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars, and the two ^ulatticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars; ⁴²and the ^vfour hundred pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars; ⁴³the ten stands, and the ten basins on the stands; ⁴⁴and ^wthe one sea, and the twelve oxen underneath the sea.

⁴⁵Now ^xthe pots, the shovels, and the basins, all these vessels in the house of the Lord, which Hiram made for King Solomon, were of burnished bronze. ⁴⁶In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between ^ySuccoth and ^zZarethan. ⁴⁷And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because there were so many of them; ^athe weight of the bronze was not ascertained.

⁴⁸So Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of the Lord: ^bthe golden altar, ^cthe golden table for ^dthe bread of the Presence, ^49ethe lampstands of pure gold, five on the south side and five on the north, before the inner sanctuary; ^fthe flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of gold; ⁵⁰the cups, snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and ^gfire pans, of pure gold; and the sockets of gold, for the doors of the innermost part of the house, ^hthe Most Holy Place, and for the doors of the nave of the temple.

⁵¹Thus all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in ⁱthe things that David his father had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and the vessels, and stored them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.

The Ark Brought into the Temple

8^jThen Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, ^kthe leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, ^lto bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of ^mthe city of David, which is Zion. ²And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon at ⁿthe feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. ³And all the elders of Israel came, and ^othe priests took up the ark. ⁴And they brought up the ark of the Lord, ^pthe tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁵And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, ^qsacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. ^6rThen the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord ^sto its place in ^tthe inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. ⁷For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. ^8uAnd the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before ^tthe inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day. ⁹There was nothing in the ark except ^vthe two tablets of stone that Moses put there at Horeb, where ^wthe Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, ^xa cloud filled the house of the Lord, ¹¹so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

Solomon Blesses the Lord

^12yThen Solomon said, “The Lord¹ has said that he would dwell ^zin thick darkness. ^13aI have indeed built you an exalted house, ^ba place for you to dwell in forever.” ¹⁴Then the king turned around and ^cblessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. ¹⁵And he said, ^d“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled ^ewhat he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, ^16f‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, ^gthat my name might be there. ^hBut I chose…