The Temple’s Furnishings

4:2–6,10–5:1pp—1Ki 7:23–26,38–51

4 He made a bronze altarq twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high.a 2 He made the Sear of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubitsb high. It took a line of thirty cubitsc to measure around it. 3 Below the rim, figures of bulls encircled it—ten to a cubit.d The bulls were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.

4 The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east.s The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. 5 It was a handbreadthe in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held three thousand baths.f

6 He then made ten basinst for washing and placed five on the south side and five on the north. In them the things to be used for the burnt offeringsu were rinsed, but the Sea was to be used by the priests for washing.

7 He made ten gold lampstandsv according to the specificationsw for them and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north.

8 He made ten tablesx and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He also made a hundred gold sprinkling bowls.y

9 He made the courtyardz of the priests, and the large court and the doors for the court, and overlaid the doors with bronze. 10 He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner.

11 And Huram also made the pots and shovels and sprinkling bowls.

So Huram finisheda the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of God:

12 the two pillars;

the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;

the two sets of network decorating the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;

13 the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network, decorating the bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars);

14 the standsb with their basins;

15 the Sea and the twelve bulls under it;

16 the pots, shovels, meat forks and all related articles.

All the objects that Huram-Abic made for King Solomon for the temple of the Lord were of polished bronze. 17 The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Sukkothd and Zarethan.g 18 All these things that Solomon made amounted to so much that the weight of the bronzee could not be calculated.

19 Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in God’s temple:

the golden altar;

the tablesf on which was the bread of the Presence;

20 the lampstandsg of pure gold with their lamps, to burn in front of the inner sanctuary as prescribed;

21 the gold floral work and lamps and tongs (they were solid gold);

22 the pure gold wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishesh and censers;i and the gold doors of the temple: the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and the doors of the main hall.

5 When all the work Solomon had done for the temple of the Lord was finished,j he brought in the things his father David had dedicatedk—the silver and gold and all the furnishings—and he placed them in the treasuries of God’s temple.

The Ark Brought to the Temple

5:2–6:11pp—1Ki 8:1–21

2 Then Solomon summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the arkl of the Lord’s covenant from Zion, the City of David. 3 And all the Israelitesm came together to the king at the time of the festival in the seventh month.

4 When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the Levites took up the ark, 5 and they brought up the ark and the tent of meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The Levitical priestsn carried them up; 6 and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.

7 The priests then brought the arko of the Lord’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. 8 The cherubimp spread their wings over the place of the ark and covered the ark and its carrying poles. 9 These poles were so long that their ends, extending from the ark, could be seen from in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today. 10 There was nothing in the ark exceptq the two tabletsr that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.

11 The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions.s 12 All the Levites who were musicianst—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets.u 13 The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang:

“He is good;

his love endures forever.”v

Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud,w 14 and the priests could not performx their service because of the cloud,y for the gloryz of the Lord filled the temple of God.

6 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud;a 2 I have built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever.b”

3 While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king turned around and blessed them. 4 Then he said:

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hands has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to my father David. For he said, 5 ‘Since the day I brought my people out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built so that my Name might be there, nor have I chosen anyone to be ruler over my people Israel. 6 But now I have chosen Jerusalemc for my Named to be there, and I have chosen Davide to rule my people Israel.’

7 “My father David had it in his heartf to build a temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 8 But the Lord said to my father David, ‘You did well to have it in your heart to build a temple for my Name. 9 Nevertheless, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your own flesh and blood—he is the one who will build the temple for my Name.’

10 “The Lord has kept the promise he made. I have succeeded David my father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and I have built the temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 11 There I have placed the ark, in which is the covenantg of the Lord that he made with the people of Israel.”

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

6:12–40pp—1Ki 8:22–53
6:41–42pp—Ps 132:8–10

12 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. 13 Now he had made a bronze platform,h five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high,a and had placed it in the center of the outer court. He stood on the platform and then knelt downi before the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven. 14 He said:

“Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like youj in heaven or on earth—you who keep your covenant of lovek with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 15 You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promisedl and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today.

16 “Now, Lord, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never failm to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me according to my law,n as you have done.’ 17 And now, Lord, the God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David come true.

18 “But will God really dwello on earth with humans? The heavens,p even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 19 Yet, Lord my God, give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence. 20 May your eyesq be open toward this temple day and night, this place of which you said you would put your Namer there. May you hears the prayer your servant prays toward this place. 21 Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.t

22 “When anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oathu and they come and swear the oath before your altar in this temple, 23 then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemningv the guilty and bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence.

24 “When your people Israel have been defeatedw by an enemy because they have sinned against you and when they turn back and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication before you in this temple, 25 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.

26 “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rainx because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 27 then hear from heaven and forgivey the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.

28 “When faminez or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when enemies besiege them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, 29 and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people …