Furnishings of the Temple

4 Then Solomon made an altar of bronze, twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and ten cubits in height. ² He also made the Sea [that is, the large basin used for ceremonial washing] of cast metal, ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and five cubits in height, and its circumference was thirty cubits. ³ Under it and entirely encircling it were figures of oxen, ten to a cubit. The oxen were in two rows, cast in one piece. ⁴ It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, three facing east; and the Sea was set on top of them and all their hindquarters turned inward. ⁵ It was a handbreadth (the width of the four fingers) thick; its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It could hold ^[a]3,000 baths (measures). ⁶ He also made ten [portable] basins in which to wash, and he put five on the right (south) side and five on the left (north). They would rinse things for the burnt offering in them, but the Sea was for the priests to wash in.

⁷ And he made ten golden lampstands just as directed and set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. ⁸ He made also ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left side, and he made a hundred [ceremonial] basins of gold. ⁹ Moreover, he made the courtyard of the priests, and the great courtyard [for the people] and doors for the courtyard, and he overlaid their doors with bronze. ¹⁰ He set the Sea on the right side at the southeast corner [of the house].

¹¹ And Huram also made the pails [for ashes], the shovels, and the basins. So Huram finished the work that he did for King Solomon in the house of God: ¹² the two pillars, the bowls, the capitals on top of the two pillars, and the two lattice works to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on top of the pillars, ¹³ and the four hundred pomegranates for the two lattice works, two rows of pomegranates for each lattice to cover the two bowls of the capitals on the pillars. ¹⁴ He also made the stands and he made the basins on the stands; ¹⁵ and the one Sea with the twelve oxen under it. ¹⁶ The pails, the shovels, and the meat-forks, and all the utensils Huram-abi made of polished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord. ¹⁷ The king cast them on the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah. ¹⁸ Solomon made all these utensils in such great quantity that the weight of the bronze could not be determined.

¹⁹ Solomon also made all the articles that were in the house of God: the golden altar, and the tables for the bread of the Presence (showbread), ²⁰ and the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, to burn in front of the inner sanctuary (the Holy of Holies) as directed; ²¹ the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold, of purest gold; ²² and the snuffers, the basins, the dishes [for incense], and the firepans, of pure gold; and for the entrance of the house (temple), the inner doors for the Holy of Holies and the doors of the Holy Place (main room), were of gold.

The Ark Is Brought into the Temple

5 Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of the Lord was finished. He brought in the things that his father David had dedicated, and he put the silver and the gold and all the utensils in the treasuries of the house of God.

² Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the Israelites, in Jerusalem to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the City of David, which is Zion. ³ All the men of Israel gathered before the king at the feast in the seventh month. ⁴ And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark. ⁵ The Levitical priests brought up the ark, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy utensils that were in the Tent. ⁶ And King Solomon and all the assembly of Israel who gathered together with him before the ark were sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. ⁷ Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, to the inner sanctuary of the house, into the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim; ⁸ for the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, making a covering above the ark and its carrying poles. ⁹ The poles were so long that the ends of the poles of the ark were visible from the front of the Holy of Holies (inner sanctuary), but were not visible from the outside. They are there to this day. ¹⁰ There was nothing in the ark except ^[b]the two tablets [of the Ten Commandments] which Moses put there at Mount Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites, when they came out of Egypt.^(A)

The Glory of God Fills the Temple

¹¹ When the priests came out of the Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves [separating themselves from everything unclean], without regard to their ^[c]assigned divisions), ¹² and all of the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, with their sons and relatives, clothed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres were standing at the east end of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests blowing trumpets ¹³ in unison when the trumpeters and singers were to make themselves heard with one voice praising and thanking the Lord, and when they raised their voices accompanied by the trumpets and cymbals and [other] instruments of music, and when they praised the Lord, saying, “For He is good, for His mercy and lovingkindness endure forever,” then the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud, ¹⁴ so that the priests could not remain standing to minister because of the cloud; for the glory and brilliance of the Lord filled the house of God.

Solomon’s Dedication

6 Then Solomon said,

³ Then the king turned around and blessed the entire assembly of Israel, while they were all standing. ⁴ And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled with His hands what He promised, saying, ⁵ ‘Since the day that I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city among all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name (Presence) might be there, nor did I choose any man to be a leader over My people Israel; ⁶ but I have chosen Jerusalem that My Name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’ ⁷ Now it was in 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 ^[d]in 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 will 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 place of my father David and I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and have built the house for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹¹ There I have placed the ark [the symbol of His Presence] in which is the covenant of the Lord [the Ten Commandments], which He made with the people (descendants) of Israel.”

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

¹² Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. ¹³ For Solomon had made a bronze platform, five cubits square and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the courtyard; and he stood on it, and he knelt down on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven, ¹⁴ and he said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no god like You in heaven or on the earth, keeping covenant and showing mercy and lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You [in obedience] with all their heart, ¹⁵ [You] who have kept Your promise to Your servant David, my father, that which You told him; You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is today. ¹⁶ Now therefore, O Lord, the God of Israel, keep with Your servant David, my father, that which You promised him, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man to sit on the throne of Israel, provided your sons are careful to walk in My law as you, [David,] have walked before Me.’ ¹⁷ Now then, O Lord, the God of Israel, let Your word which You have spoken to Your servant David be confirmed (verified).

¹⁸ “But will God actually dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built! ¹⁹ Yet have regard for the prayer of Your servant and for his supplication, O Lord my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You, ²⁰ that Your eyes may be open toward this house day and night, toward the place in which You have said that You would put Your Name (Presence), to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place. ²¹ So listen to the requests of Your servant and Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from Your dwelling place, from heaven; and when You hear, forgive.

²² “If a man sins against his neighbor, and he is required to take an ^[e]oath, and he comes and takes the oath before Your altar in this house, ²³ then hear from heaven and act and judge Your servants, punishing the wicked by bringing his conduct on his own head, and providing justice to the righteous by giving to him in accordance with his righteousness (innocence).

²⁴ “If Your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication before You in this house, ²⁵ then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them again to the land which You gave to them and to their fathers.

²⁶ “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because Your people have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin when You afflict and humble them; ²⁷ then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel, indeed, teach them the good way in which they should walk. And send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.

²⁸ “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, if there are [migratory] locusts or grasshoppers, if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities, whatever plague or whatever sickness there is, ²⁹ then whatever prayer or request is made by any man or all of Your people Israel, each knowing his own suffering and his own pain, and stretching out his hands toward this house, ³⁰ then hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, and forgive, and render to each ^[f]in accordance with all his ways, whose heart You know; for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men, ³¹ so that they may fear You, to walk in Your ways [in obedience to You] as long as they live in the land which You have given to our fathers.

³² “Also in regard to the foreigner who is not from Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for the sake of Your great name and Your mighty power and Your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this house, ³³ then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, so that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, and fear You [reverently and worshipfully], as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your Name.

³⁴ “When Your people go out to war against their enemies, by the way that You send them, and they pray to You facing this city [Jerusalem] which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your Name, ³⁵ then hear from heaven their prayer and their request, and maintain their cause and do justice.

³⁶ “When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and hand them over to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to a land far away or near, ³⁷ if they take it to heart in the land where they have been taken captive, and repent and pray to You in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and have acted wickedly’; ³⁸ if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, and pray facing their land which You have given to their fathers and toward the city which You have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for Your Name; ³⁹ then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, their prayer and requests, and maintain their cause and do justice and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.

^40 [g]“Now, O my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.

⁴¹ “Now then arise, O Lord God, [and come] to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength and power. Let Your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation and let Your godly ones rejoice in [Your] goodness.

⁴² “O Lord God, do not turn away and reject the face of Your anointed; remember Your lovingkindness and faithfulness to Your servant David.”