2 Chronicles 4–6

Chapter 4

Furnishings of the Temple

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

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

³Now figures like oxen were under it and all around 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 hindquarters turned inwards.

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

^6aHe also made ten basins in which to wash, and he set five on the right side and five on the left ¹to rinse things for the burnt offering; but the sea was for the priests to wash in.

⁷Then ^ahe made the ten golden lampstands in the way prescribed for them and he set 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.

^10aHe set the sea on the right ¹side of the house toward the southeast.

^11aHuram also made the pails, the shovels and the bowls. So Huram finished doing the work which he performed for King Solomon in the house of God:

¹²the two pillars, the 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 basins on the stands,

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

¹⁶The pails, the shovels, the forks and all its utensils, ^aHuram-abi made of polished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord.

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 things that were in the house of God: even the golden altar, ^athe tables with the bread of the Presence on them,

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

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

²²and the snuffers, the bowls, 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 Is Brought into the Temple

^1aThus all the work that Solomon performed for the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the ^1bthings that David his father had dedicated, even the silver and the gold and all the utensils, and put them in the treasuries of the house of God.

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

^3aAll 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 took up the ark.

⁵They 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 were assembled 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 the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the holy of holies, under the wings of the cherubim.

⁸For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its ¹poles.

⁹The poles were so long that ^athe ends of the poles of the ark could be seen in front of 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 the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.

The Glory of God Fills the Temple

¹¹When the priests came forth from 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 kinsmen, clothed in fine linen, ^bwith cymbals, harps and lyres, standing east of the altar, and with them one hundred and twenty priests ^cblowing trumpets

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

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

Chapter 6

Solomon’s Dedication

^1aThen Solomon said,

“The Lord has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.

²“I have built You a lofty house,

And a place for Your dwelling forever.”

³Then the king ¹faced about and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing.

⁴He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled it with His hands, saying,

⁵‘Since the day that I brought My people from the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house that My name might be there, nor did I choose any man for a leader over My people Israel;

⁶but ^aI have chosen Jerusalem that My name might be there, and I ^bhave chosen David to be over My people Israel.’

⁷“^aNow it was ¹in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁸“But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Because it was ¹in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was in your heart.

⁹‘Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who ¹will be born to you, he shall build the house for My name.’

¹⁰“Now the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in the place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord ¹promised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

¹¹“There I have set the ark ^ain which is the covenant of the Lord, which He made with the sons of Israel.”

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

¹²Then he stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.

^13aNow Solomon had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and he stood on it, ^bknelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.

¹⁴He said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, ^athere is no god like You in heaven or on earth, ^bkeeping covenant and showing lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart;

^15awho has kept with Your servant David, my father, that which You have ¹promised him; indeed You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.

¹⁶“Now therefore, O Lord, the God of Israel, keep with Your servant David, my father, that which You have ¹promised him, saying, ‘^2aYou shall not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way, to walk in My law as you have walked before Me.’

¹⁷“Now therefore, O Lord, the God of Israel, let Your word be confirmed which You have spoken to Your servant David.

¹⁸“But ^awill God indeed dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold, ^bheaven and the ¹highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built.

¹⁹“Yet have regard to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You;

²⁰that Your ^aeye may be open toward this house day and night, toward ^bthe place of which You have said that You would put Your name there, to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place.

²¹“Listen to the supplications of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place; hear from Your dwelling place, from heaven; ^ahear and forgive.

²²“If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, and he comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this house,

²³then hear from heaven and act and judge Your servants, ^1apunishing the wicked by bringing his way on his own head and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.

²⁴“If Your people Israel ¹are defeated before an enemy because ^athey have sinned against You, and they return to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication before You in this house,

²⁵then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You have given to them and to their fathers.

²⁶“When the ^aheavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin when You afflict them;

²⁷then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel, indeed, ^ateach them the good way in which they should walk. And send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people for an inheritance.

²⁸“If there is ^a…