2 Chronicles 3–4

CHAPTER 3

Solomon Builds Yahweh’s House

^1aThen Solomon began to build the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where Yahweh had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared ^bon the threshing floor of ¹Ornan the Jebusite.

²Then he began to build on the second day in the second month ¹of the fourth year of his reign.

³Now these are the ¹foundations which ^aSolomon laid for building the house of God. The length in cubits, according to the old standard was ²sixty cubits, and the width twenty cubits.

⁴And the porch which was in front of the house ^awas as long as the width of the house, ¹20 cubits, and the height 120; and inside he overlaid it with pure gold.

⁵Now he overlaid ^athe ¹main room with cypress wood and overlaid it with fine gold, and ²ornamented it with palm trees and chains.

⁶Further, he overlaid the house with precious stones for beauty; and the gold was gold from ¹Parvaim.

^7aHe also covered the house with gold—the beams, the thresholds and its walls and its doors; and he ^bcarved cherubim on the walls.

⁸And he made ^athe ¹room of the Holy of Holies: its length across the width of the house was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits; and he covered it with fine gold, amounting to ²600 talents.

⁹Now the weight of the nails was ¹fifty shekels of gold. He also covered ^athe upper rooms with gold.

^10aThen in the room of the Holy of Holies he made two cherubim of fashioned work and overlaid them with gold.

¹¹Now the wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits; the wing of one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub.

¹²And the wing of the other cherub, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house; and its other wing of five cubits was attached to the wing of the ¹first cherub.

¹³The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits, and they stood on their feet ¹facing the main room.

^14aAnd he made the veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and he ornamented cherubim on it.

^15aHe also made two pillars for the front of the house, ¹thirty-five cubits ²high, and the capital on the top of each was five cubits.

¹⁶And he made chains in the inner sanctuary and put them on the top of the pillars; and he made one hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains.

^17aThus he set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right and one on the left, and named the one on the right Jachin and the one on the left Boaz.

CHAPTER 4

The Furnishings of the House of Yahweh

¹Then ^ahe made a bronze altar, ¹twenty cubits in length and twenty cubits in width and ten cubits in height.

^2aAnd he made the sea of cast metal ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and its height was five cubits, and ¹thirty cubits in ²its circumference.

³Now figures like oxen were under it and encircling it, ten cubits, entirely encircling the sea. The oxen were in two rows, cast ¹in one piece.

⁴It stood on twelve oxen, three facing the north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; and the sea was set on top of them, and all their rear parts turned inward.

⁵And it was a ¹handbreadth thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, as a lily blossom; it ^acould hold 3,000 baths.

^6aHe also made ten lavers and set five on the right side and five on the left, in which to wash things, that is, in which they would rinse things for the burnt offering; but the sea was for the priests to wash in.

⁷Then ^ahe made the ten golden lampstands ¹in the way prescribed for them and he put them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left.

⁸He also made ^aten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made one hundred golden bowls.

⁹Then he made ^athe court of the priests and ^bthe great court and doors for the court, and overlaid their doors with bronze.

^10aAnd he put the sea on the right ¹side of the house toward the southeast.

^11aAnd Huram made the pots and the shovels and the bowls. So Huram completed doing the work which he did for King Solomon in the house of God:

¹²the two pillars and the two bowls and the two capitals on top of the pillars, and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on top of the pillars,

¹³and ^athe four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for each network to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the pillars.

^14aHe also made the stands and he made the lavers on the stands,

¹⁵and the one sea with the twelve oxen under it.

¹⁶And the pots and the shovels and the flesh hooks and all its utensils, ^aHuram-abi made of polished bronze for King Solomon for the house of Yahweh.

¹⁷On the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah.

^18aThus Solomon made all these utensils in great quantities, for the weight of the bronze could not be found out.

¹⁹Solomon also made all the furniture which was in the house of God: even the golden altar and ^athe tables with the bread of the Presence on them,

²⁰and the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, ^ato burn in front of the inner sanctuary ¹in the way prescribed;

²¹and the flowers and the lamps and the tongs of gold, of purest gold;

²²and the snuffers and the bowls and the spoons and the firepans, of pure gold; and the entrance of the house, its inner doors for the Holy of Holies and the doors of the house, that is, of the nave, of gold.