2 Chronicles 4–6

The Furnishings of Solomon’s Temple

4And he made an altar of bronze, twenty cubits was its length, and twenty cubits was its width, and ten cubits was its height. ²Then he made the sea of molten metal, from brim to brim it was ten cubits, completely round. And it was five cubits in height, and its circumference measured^a thirty cubits. ³Under it were figures of oxen all around it, ten cubits high, encircling the sea all around. The oxen were in two rows cast as one piece with it.^{b 4}It was standing upon twelve oxen, three facing north, and three facing west, and three facing south, and three facing east. The sea was set upon them from above, and all their hindquarters faced inward.^{c 5}And its thickness was a handbreadth, and its brim was like the working of the lip of a cup, the blossom of a lily. And it held three thousand baths. ⁶And he made ten basins. And he set five on the south and five on the north in which to wash; they washed off the work of the burnt offering in them, but the sea was for the priests to wash therein. ⁷And he made ten golden lampstands according to their custom, and he set them in the temple, five on the south and five on the north. ⁸And he made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the south and five on the north. And he made a hundred drinking bowls of gold. ⁹And he made the courtyard of the priests and the great outer courtyard and the doors for the outer court. And he overlaid their doors with bronze. ¹⁰And he set the sea at the southeast corner of the temple. ¹¹And Huram^d made the pots, the shovels, and the drinking bowls. So Hiram^e finished making the work that he made on the house of God for King Solomon: ¹²the two columns, the bowls, and the two capitals on top of the columns, and the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on top of the columns, ¹³and the four hundred pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for the latticework, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were before the columns. ¹⁴And he made the water carts, and he made the basins on the water carts, ¹⁵and the one sea and the twelve oxen underneath it.

¹⁶And Huram-abi made for King Solomon the pots, the shovels, the three-pronged meat forks, and all the utensils of polished bronze for the house of Yahweh. ¹⁷The king cast them in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay soil between Succoth and Zeredah. ¹⁸Solomon made all these utensils in great abundance, for the weight of the bronze could not be determined. ¹⁹So Solomon made all the objects that were in the house of God: the altar of gold; the tables upon which was the bread of the presence; ²⁰the lampstands, and the lamps for burning according to the custom before the inner sanctuary, of solid gold; ²¹and the blossoms, the lamps, and the tongs that were of solid gold; ²²and the snuffers, the drinking bowls, the dishes, and the firepans, of solid gold; and the entrance to the house, the inner doors to the most holy place, and the doors to the house of the temple were of gold.

The Ark Installed in the Temple

5When all the work that Solomon did for the house of Yahweh was finished, Solomon brought the holy objects of David his father: the silver, the gold, and all the objects he had put into the storehouses of the house of God. ²Then Solomon assembled all the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the families^a for the Israelites,^b to Jerusalem in order to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from the city of David, which is Zion. ³And all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the feast that is in the seventh month. ⁴And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark. ⁵And they brought up the ark, the tent of assembly,^c and all the holy objects that were in the tent; the Levitical priests brought them up. ⁶And King Solomon and the whole community of Israel that was assembled before him were before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle that could not be counted nor numbered for abundance. ⁷Then the priests brought up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, into the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. ⁸The cherubim were spreading their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim were covering the ark and over its poles from above. ⁹But the poles were so long that the ends of the poles from the ark were seen from before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from the outside. And they are there until this day. ¹⁰There was nothing in the ark but the two stone tablets that Moses had put inside at Horeb on which Yahweh had made^d a covenant with the Israelites^e when they went out from Egypt. ¹¹And when the priests came out of the sanctuary (for all the priests who were present^f sanctified themselves without keeping their divisions) ¹²and all the Levitical singers—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, their sons, their brothers, dressed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and stringed instruments—they were standing to the east of the altar. And with them outside were one hundred and twenty priests who were trumpet blowers. ¹³And it was the primary duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard with one voice, to praise and give thanks to Yahweh. And when a sound from the trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments of song was raised to Yahweh—for he is good, because his loyal love is everlasting—then the house, the house of Yahweh, was filled with a cloud. ¹⁴And the priests were not able to stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of Yahweh filled the house of God.

Solomon Blesses the People

6Then Solomon said, “Yahweh has decided^a to dwell in the deep gloom. ²But I have built for you an exalted house, even a place for you to dwell in forever.” ³Then the king turned around^b and blessed all the assembly of Israel, and all the assembly of Israel were standing. ⁴And he said, “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth with David my father, and with his hands he has fulfilled it, saying, ⁵‘From the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt I did not choose a city among all the tribes of Israel to build a house in order for my name to be there. Nor did I choose a man to be leader over my people Israel. ⁶But I have chosen my name to be there in Jerusalem, and I 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 Yahweh, the God of Israel. ⁸But Yahweh said to David my father, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart, ⁹but you yourself will not build the house, but your son who will proceed from your loins; he himself will build the house for my name.’ ¹⁰Now Yahweh has fulfilled his word that he spoke. I have risen in the place of David my father and am seated on the throne of Israel as Yahweh has spoken. I have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. ¹¹And I have there the ark in which is the covenant of Yahweh that he made^c with the Israelites.”^d

Solomon’s Prayer to Dedicate the Temple

¹²Then Solomon stood before the altar of Yahweh before all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. ¹³(For Solomon had made a platform of bronze five cubits long and five cubits wide and three cubits high, and placed it in the midst of the outer court.) And he stood upon it, then knelt down on his knees before the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands to heaven. ¹⁴And he said, “O Yahweh, God of Israel, there is none like you, a God in the heavens and on the earth, keeping the covenant and loyal love with your servants who walk before you with all their heart, ¹⁵that you have kept for your servant David my father what you spoke to him. You spoke with your mouth, and by your hand you have fulfilled it on this day. ¹⁶And now, O Yahweh, God of Israel, keep for your servant David, my father, what you have spoken to him, saying, ‘You shall not lack^e a man to sit on the throne of Israel before me, if only your sons keep their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’ ¹⁷And now, O Yahweh, God of Israel, let your word that you have spoken to your servant David be confirmed.

¹⁸“But will God indeed dwell with humankind upon the earth? Look, the heavens and the highest heavens^f cannot contain you! Surely then this house that I have built will not contain you! ¹⁹But turn to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Yahweh my God, to hearken to the pleading and to the prayer that your servant is praying before you, ²⁰that your eyes may be open day and night to this house, to the place that you have promised to place your name there, that you may hear the prayer that your servant has prayed to this place. ²¹And listen to the pleas of your servant and your people Israel when they pray toward this place, that you yourself might hear from the place of your dwelling, from the heavens, that you might hear and forgive.

²²“If a man sins against his neighbor and makes him swear an oath^g and comes with an oath before your altar in this house, ²³then may you yourself hear from the heavens and act and judge your servants, to repay the guilty by bringing his way upon his head and to vindicate the righteous by giving to him according to his righteousness.

²⁴“And if your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against you and they repent and confess your name and pray and plead before you in this house, ²⁵then may you yourself hear from the heavens and forgive the sin of your people Israel and again bring them back to the land that you gave to them and to their ancestors.^h

²⁶“When the heavens are stopped up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you and they pray to this place and confess your name and turn back from their sin when you humble them, ²⁷then may you yourself hear from the heavens and forgive…