2 Chronicles 3–4

Solomon Builds the Temple

3Now ^aSolomon began to build the house of the Lord at ^bJerusalem on Mount Moriah, where ¹the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of ^cOrnan ²the Jebusite. ²And he began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.

³This is the foundation ^dwhich Solomon laid for building the house of God: The length was sixty cubits (by cubits according to the former measure) and the width twenty cubits. ⁴And the ^evestibule that was in front of ³the sanctuary was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the height was ⁴one hundred and twenty. He overlaid the inside with pure gold. ^5fThe larger ⁵room he ^gpaneled with cypress which he overlaid with fine gold, and he carved palm trees and chainwork on it. ⁶And he decorated the house with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was gold from Parvaim. ⁷He also overlaid the house—the beams and doorposts, its walls and doors—with gold; and he carved cherubim on the walls.

⁸And he made the ^hMost Holy Place. Its length was according to the width of the house, twenty cubits, and its width twenty cubits. He overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold. ⁹The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold; and he overlaid the upper ⁱarea with gold. ^10jIn the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim, fashioned by carving, and overlaid them with gold. ¹¹The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits in overall length: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub; ¹²one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing also was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub. ¹³The wings of these cherubim spanned twenty cubits overall. They stood on their feet, and they faced inward. ¹⁴And he made the ^kveil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and wove cherubim into it.

¹⁵Also he made in front of the ⁶temple ^ltwo pillars ⁷thirty-five cubits ⁸high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. ¹⁶He made wreaths of chainwork, as in the inner sanctuary, and put them on top of the pillars; and he made ^mone hundred pomegranates, and put them on the wreaths of chainwork. ¹⁷Then he ⁿset up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left; he called the name of the one on the right hand ⁹Jachin, and the name of the one on the left ¹Boaz.

Furnishings of the Temple

4Moreover he made ^aa bronze altar: twenty cubits was its length, twenty cubits its width, and ten cubits its height.

^2bThen he made the ¹Sea of cast bronze, ten cubits from one brim to the other; it was completely round. Its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. ^3cAnd under it was the likeness of oxen encircling it all around, ten to a cubit, all the way around the Sea. The oxen were cast in two rows, when it was cast. ⁴It stood on twelve ^doxen: three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; the Sea was set upon them, and all their back parts pointed inward. ⁵It was a handbreadth thick; and its brim was shaped like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It contained ²three thousand baths.

⁶He also made ^eten lavers, and put five on the right side and five on the left, to wash in them; such things as they offered for the burnt offering they would wash in them, but the ³Sea was for the ^fpriests to wash in. ^7gAnd he made ten lampstands of gold ^haccording to their design, and set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. ⁸ⁱHe also made ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made one hundred ^jbowls of gold.

⁹Furthermore ^khe made the court of the priests, and the ^lgreat court and doors for the court; and he overlaid these doors with bronze. ^10mHe set the Sea on the right side, toward the southeast.

¹¹Then ⁿHuram made the pots and the shovels and the bowls. So Huram finished doing the work that he was to do for King Solomon for the house of God: ¹²the two pillars and ^othe bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the two pillars; the two networks covering the two bowl-shaped capitals which were on top of the pillars; ^13pfour hundred pomegranates for the two networks (two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on the pillars); ¹⁴he also made ^qcarts and the lavers on the carts; ¹⁵one Sea and twelve oxen under it; ¹⁶also the pots, the shovels, the forks—and all their articles ^rHuram his ⁴master craftsman made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord.

¹⁷In the plain of Jordan the king had them cast in clay molds, between Succoth and ⁵Zeredah. ^18sAnd Solomon had all these articles made in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.

¹⁹Thus ^tSolomon had all the furnishings made for the house of God: the altar of gold and the tables on which was ^uthe showbread; ²⁰the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, to burn ^vin the prescribed manner in front of the inner sanctuary, ²¹with ^wthe flowers and the lamps and the wick-trimmers of gold, of purest gold; ²²the trimmers, the bowls, the ladles, and the censers of pure gold. As for the entry of the ⁶sanctuary, its inner doors to the Most Holy Place, and the doors of the main hall of the temple, were gold.