The Temple Construction in Jerusalem

3 Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared to his father David, in the place that David had prepared, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.^{(A) 2} Solomon began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.

Dimensions and Materials of the Temple

³ Now this is the [measurement of the] foundation which Solomon laid for the house of God: the length in cubits—by the old standard of measure—was sixty cubits (90 ft.), and the width was twenty cubits (30 ft.). ⁴ The porch in front of the house was as long as the width of the house, twenty cubits, and the height was 120 cubits. He overlaid it inside with pure gold. ⁵ He overlaid the main room [the Holy Place] with cypress wood and overlaid it with fine gold, and decorated it with palm trees and chains. ⁶ And he adorned the house with precious stones; and the gold was gold from Parvaim. ⁷ He also overlaid the house [the Holy Place] with gold—the beams, the thresholds, and its walls and its doors; and he carved cherubim on the walls.

⁸ Now he made the room of the Holy of Holies: its length equaling the width of the house was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits; and he overlaid it with 600 talents of fine gold. ⁹ The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He also overlaid the upper rooms with gold.

¹⁰ And in the Holy of Holies he made two sculptured cherubim, and overlaid them with gold. ¹¹ The wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits: one wing of one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the other cherub’s wing. ¹² The wing of the other cherub, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house; and its other wing of five cubits touched the wing of the first cherub. ¹³ The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits. The cherubim stood on their feet, their faces toward the Holy Place (the main room). ¹⁴ He made the veil [between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies] of blue, purple, and crimson colors, and ^[a]fine linen, and embroidered cherubim on it.

¹⁵ He also made two pillars for the front of the house, thirty-five cubits high, and the capital on the top of each one was five cubits. ¹⁶ He made chains [like a necklace] in the inner sanctuary and put them on the tops of the pillars; and he made a hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains. ¹⁷ He erected the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right, the other on the left, and named the one on the right Jachin (may He establish) and the one on the left Boaz (in Him is strength).

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 ^[b]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.