1 Kings 7–8

7TH CHAPTER

The Palace Built in 13 Years

¹Solomon took 13 years to finish building his palace. ²He built a hall ⸤named⸥ the Forest of Lebanon. It was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. It had four rows of cedar pillars supporting cedar beams. ³The hall was covered with cedar above the side rooms, which were supported by 45 pillars (15 per row).⁴The windows were in three rows facing each other on opposite sides ⸤of the palace⸥. ⁵All the doors and doorframes were square. There were three doors facing each other on opposite sides ⸤of the palace⸥. 

⁶Solomon made the Hall of Pillars 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. In front of the hall was an entrance hall with pillars. 

⁷He made the Hall of Justice, where he sat on his throne and served as judge. The hall was covered with cedar from floor to ceiling.^b

⁸His own private quarters were in a different location than the Hall of Justice, but they were similar in design. Solomon also built private quarters like this for his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter. 

⁹From the foundation to the roof, all these buildings, including the large courtyard, were built with high-grade stone blocks. The stone blocks were cut to size and trimmed with saws on their inner and outer faces. ¹⁰The foundation was made with large, high-grade stones (some 12 feet long, others 15 feet long). ¹¹Above ⸤the foundation⸥ were cedar beams and high-grade stone blocks, which had been cut to size. ¹²The large courtyard had three layers of cut stone blocks and a layer of cedar beams, like the inner courtyard of the Lord’s temple and the entrance hall. 

The Temple Furnishings—2 Chronicles 2:13–14; 3:15–5:1

¹³King Solomon had Hiram brought from Tyre. ¹⁴Hiram was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali. His father, a native of Tyre, was a skilled bronze craftsman. Hiram was highly skilled, resourceful, and knowledgeable about all kinds of bronze craftsmanship. He came to King Solomon and did all his ⸤bronze⸥ work. 

¹⁵He made two bronze pillars. Each was 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference. ¹⁶He made two capitals of cast bronze to put on top of the pillars. Each capital was 7½ feet high. ¹⁷He also made seven rows of filigree and chains for each capital. ¹⁸After he made the pillars, he made two rows ⸤of decorations⸥ around the filigree to cover the capitals which were above the pillars.^cHe made the capitals identical to each other. ¹⁹The capitals on top of the pillars in the entrance hall were lily-shaped. ⸤Each⸥ was six feet high. ²⁰Two hundred pomegranates in rows were directly above the bowl-shaped parts around the filigree on the capitals on both pillars. 

²¹Hiram set up the pillars in the temple’s entrance hall. He set up the pillar on the right and named it Jachin ^[He Establishes^[. Then he set up the pillar on the left and named it Boaz ^[In Him Is Strength^[. ²²There were lily-shaped capitals at the top of the pillars. He finished the work on the pillars. 

²³Hiram 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. ²⁴Under the rim were two rows of gourds all around the 45-foot circumference of the pool. They were cast in metal when the pool was cast. ²⁵The 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⸥. ²⁶The pool was three inches thick. Its rim was like the rim of a cup, shaped like a lily’s bud. It held 12,000 gallons. 

²⁷He made ten bronze stands. Each stand was 6 feet square and 4½ feet high. ²⁸The stands were made this way: They had side panels set in frames. ²⁹On the panels set in frames were lions, oxen, and angels.^dThese were also on the frames. Above and below the lions and the cattle were engraved designs. ³⁰Each stand had four bronze wheels on bronze axles and four supports beneath the basin. The supports were made of cast metal with designs on the sides. ³¹Each had a 1½-foot-deep opening in the center to the circular frame on top. The opening was round, formed like a pedestal, and was two feet ⸤wide⸥. Around the opening there were engravings. But the panels were square, not round. ³²The four wheels were under the panels, and the axles were attached to the stand. Each wheel was two feet high. ³³The wheels were made like chariot wheels. The axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all cast metal. ³⁴The four supports at the four corners of each stand were part of the stand. ³⁵The top of each stand had a round, nine-inch-high band. Above the stand were supports which were part of the panels. ³⁶Hiram engraved angels, lions, palm trees, and designs in every available space on the supports and panels. ³⁷This is the way he made the ten stands. All of them were cast in the same mold, identical in size and shape. 

³⁸Hiram also made ten bronze basins. Each basin held 240 gallons. Every basin was six feet ⸤wide⸥. There was one basin on each of the ten stands. ³⁹He put five stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north side of the temple. He set the pool on the south side of the temple in the southeast ⸤corner⸥. ⁴⁰Hiram also made pots, shovels, and bowls. 

So Hiram finished all the work for King Solomon on the Lord’s temple: ⁴¹2 pillars, the 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, ⁴²400 pomegranates for the 2 sets of filigree (2 rows of pomegranates for each filigree to cover the 2 bowl-shaped capitals on the pillars), ⁴³10 stands and 10 basins on the stands, ⁴⁴1 pool, 12 bulls under the pool, ⁴⁵pots, shovels, and bowls. Hiram made all these utensils out of polished bronze for the Lord’s temple at King Solomon’s request. ⁴⁶The king cast them in foundries in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zarethan. ⁴⁷Solomon left all the products unweighed because so much bronze was used. No one tried to determine how much the bronze weighed. 

⁴⁸Solomon made all the furnishings for the Lord’s temple: the gold altar, the gold table on which the bread of the presence was placed, ⁴⁹lamp stands of pure gold (five on the south side and five on the north in front of the inner room), flowers, lamps, gold tongs, ⁵⁰dishes, snuffers, bowls, saucers, incense burners of pure gold, the gold sockets for the doors of the inner ⸤room⸥ (the most holy place), and the doors of the temple. 

⁵¹All the work King Solomon did on the Lord’s temple was finished. He brought the holy things that had belonged to his father David—the silver, gold, and utensils—and put them in the storerooms of the Lord’s temple. 

8TH CHAPTER

The Lord Comes to His Temple—2 Chronicles 5:2–14

¹Then Solomon assembled the respected leaders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the Israelite families. They came to King Solomon in Jerusalem to take the ark of the Lord’s promise from the City of David (that is, Zion). ²All the people of Israel gathered around King Solomon at the Festival ⸤of Booths⸥ in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month. 

³When all the leaders of Israel had arrived, the priests picked up the Lord’s ark. ⁴They brought the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy utensils in it ⸤to the temple⸥. The priests and the Levites carried them ⁵while King Solomon with the whole assembly from Israel were offering countless sheep and cattle sacrifices in front of the ark. ⁶The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s promise to its place in the inner room of the temple (the most holy place) under the wings of the angels.^a

⁷When the angels’ outstretched wings were over the place where the ark ⸤rested⸥, the angels became a covering above the ark and its poles. ⁸The poles were so long that their ends could be seen in the holy place by anyone standing in front of the inner room, but they couldn’t be seen outside. (They are still there today.) ⁹There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a promise to the Israelites after they left Egypt. 

¹⁰When the priests left the holy place, a cloud filled the Lord’s temple. ¹¹The priests couldn’t serve because of the cloud. The Lord’s glory filled his temple. 

Solomon Addresses the People—2 Chronicles 6:1–11

¹²Then Solomon said, “The Lord said he would live in a dark cloud. ¹³I certainly have built you a high temple, a home for you to live in permanently.” 

¹⁴Then the king turned around and blessed the whole assembly of Israel while they were standing. ¹⁵“Thanks be to the Lord God of Israel. With his mouth he made a promise to my father David; with his hand he carried it out. He said, ¹⁶‘Ever since I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I didn’t choose any city in any of the tribes of Israel as a place to build a temple for my name. But now I’ve chosen David to rule my people Israel.’ 

¹⁷“My father David had his heart set on building a temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁸However, the Lord said to my father David, ‘Since you had your heart set on building a temple for my name, your intentions were good. ¹⁹But you must not build the temple. Instead, your own son will build the temple for my name.’ ²⁰The Lord has kept the promise he made. I have taken my father David’s place, and I sit on the throne of Israel as the Lord promised. I’ve built the temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. ²¹I’ve made a place there for the ark which contains the Lord’s promise that he made to our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.” 

Solomon’s Prayer—2 Chronicles 6:12–42

²²In the presence of the entire assembly of Israel, Solomon stood in front of the Lord’s altar. He stretched out his hands toward heaven ²³and said, 

“Lord God of Israel, 

there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below. 

You keep your promise^bof mercy to your servants, 

who obey you wholeheartedly. 

²⁴You have kept your promise to my father David, your servant. 

With your mouth you promised it. 

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