Solomon Builds the House of God

3 Then Solomon began to build the Lord’s house in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah. It was there that the Lord had shown Himself to his father David. It was the place that David had chosen, on the grain-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ² Solomon began to build on the second day in the second month of the fourth year of his rule. ³ He laid the base for building the house of God. It was thirty long steps, using the old way to find the length. And it was ten long steps wide. ⁴ The porch in front of the house was as long as the house was wide, ten long steps. It was thirty-three times taller than a man. And he covered the inside with pure gold. ⁵ He covered the large room with cypress wood, and covered that with fine gold. Then he made palm trees and chains on it. ⁶ He put stones of much worth on the house for beauty. And the gold was from Parvaim. ⁷ He covered the house with gold. He covered its cross-pieces, its door-ways, its walls, and its doors. And he cut pictures of cherubim on the walls.

⁸ He made the most holy place. It was as long as the house was wide, ten long steps. And it was as wide as ten long steps. He covered it with fine gold weighing as much as 600 men. ⁹ The nails weighed as much as fifty pieces of gold. He covered the rooms on the second floor with gold also.

¹⁰ Then he made two cherubim of wood in the most holy place, and covered them with gold. ¹¹ The wings of the cherubim spread as far as ten long steps. The wing of one was as long as three steps, and touched the wall of the house. Its other wing was as long as three steps, and touched the wing of the other cherub. ¹² The wing of the other cherub was as long as three steps, and touched the wall of the house. Its other wing was as long as three steps, and was joined to the wing of the first cherub. ¹³ The wings of these cherubim spread as far as ten long steps. And they stood on their feet with their faces toward the holy place. ¹⁴ He made the curtain of blue, purple and red cloth and fine linen. And he worked cherubim on it. ¹⁵ He made two pillars in front of the house that were ten times taller than a man. The top piece of each one was as tall as a man can raise his hand. ¹⁶ For the inside holy place he made chains, and put them on the tops of the pillars. Then he made 100 pomegranates and put them on the chains. ¹⁷ He put up the pillars in front of the house of God. One was on the right and the other was on the left. He named the one on the right Jachin, and the one on the left Boaz.

Objects for Worship

4 Then he made a brass altar. It was ten steps long, and ten steps wide, and three times taller than a man. ² He melted brass and made a pool. It was round, and five long steps from one side to the other. It was as tall as a man can raise his hand. And it took fifteen steps to walk around it. ³ There were objects that looked like oxen under the pool and all around it, (ten long steps around it). The oxen were in two rows, and were made of one piece. ⁴ The pool was put on the twelve oxen. Three had their faces toward the north, three toward the west, three toward the south, and three toward the east. The pool was put on top of them. All their tails were toward the center. ⁵ The brass of the pool was as thick as a hand is wide. Its round top was made like the top of a cup, like a lily flower. It could hold 22,000 bottles of water. ⁶ He made ten pots in which to wash. He put five on the right side and five on the left side. They were to wash what was used for the burnt gifts. But the pool was for the religious leaders to wash in.

⁷ Then he made ten gold lamp-stands, as was shown in the plan. He put them in the house of God, five on the right side and five on the left. ⁸ He made ten tables and put them in the house of God. Five were on the right side and five on the left. And he made 100 deep dishes out of gold. ⁹ Then he made the open space of the religious leaders, the large open space, and the doors for the open space. And he covered their doors with brass. ¹⁰ He set the pool at the south-east corner of the house.

¹¹ Then Huram made the pails, the tools for digging, and the pots. So Huram finished the work of God’s house that he did for King Solomon. ¹² He finished making the two pillars, the pots, and the two pieces on top of the pillars. He finished the two networks to cover the two pots of the pieces on top of the pillars. ¹³ He finished the 400 pomegranates for the two networks. There were two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two pots of the pieces on top of the pillars. ¹⁴ He made the stands and he made the pots on the stands. ¹⁵ He made the one pool with the twelve oxen under it. ¹⁶ Huram-abi made the pails, the tools for digging, the meat-hooks, and all their objects. He made them of shining brass for King Solomon for the house of the Lord. ¹⁷ The king had them made on the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah. ¹⁸ Solomon made so many of these objects that the weight of the brass could not be known.

¹⁹ Solomon made all the things that were in the house of God. He made the gold altar, and the tables for the holy bread. ²⁰ He made the lamp-stands with their lamps of pure gold, to burn in front of the most holy place in the way given. ²¹ He made the flowers, the lamps and their objects of pure gold. ²² He made the things to put out the lamps, the pots and the fire-holders of pure gold. And he made the front of the house, its inside doors for the most holy place, and the doors of the holy place, all of gold.