2 Chronicles 4–5

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.

CHAPTER 5

The Ark Brought into the House of Yahweh

^1aThus all the work that Solomon did for the house of Yahweh was finished. And Solomon brought in the ^1bthings set apart as holy by his father David, even the silver and the gold and all the utensils, and he put them in the treasuries of the house of God.

^2aThen Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel to Jerusalem, ^bto bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from the city of David, which is Zion.

^3aAnd all the men of Israel assembled themselves to the king at ^bthe feast, that is in the seventh month.

⁴Then all the elders of Israel came, and ^athe Levites carried the ark.

⁵And they brought up the ark and the tent of meeting and all the holy utensils which were in the tent; the Levitical priests brought them up.

⁶And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who congregated with him before the ark, were sacrificing ¹so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.

⁷Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim.

⁸And the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its poles from above.

⁹But the poles were so long that ^athe ends of the poles of the ark could be seen before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; and ¹they are there to this day.

^10aThere was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, where Yahweh cut a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.

The Glory of Yahweh Fills His House

¹¹Now it happened that when the priests came out of the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard ^ato divisions),

¹²and all the Levitical singers, ^aAsaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and relatives, clothed in fine linen, ^bwith cymbals, harps, and lyres, standing east of the altar, and with them 120 priests ^cblowing trumpets

¹³in unison when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to give thanks to Yahweh, and when they lifted up their voice ^aaccompanied by trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and when they praised Yahweh saying, “^bHe indeed is good for His lovingkindness endures forever,” then the house, the house of Yahweh, was filled with a cloud,

¹⁴so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for ^athe glory of Yahweh filled the house of God.