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And Solomon began to build the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem on mount Moriah, where he appeared to David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

And he began to build on the second of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.

And this was Solomon's foundation for the construction of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.

And the porch which was in front was twenty cubits in length, in front of the house broadways, and the height was a hundred and twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold.

And the greater house he boarded with cypress-wood, which he overlaid with fine gold, and set on it palm-trees and chains.

And he overlaid the house with precious stones for beauty; and the gold was gold of Parvaim.

And he covered the house, the beams, the threshold, and its walls, and its doors with gold, and engraved cherubim on the walls.

And he made the house of the most holy place, the length of which was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and its breadth twenty cubits; and he covered it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents.

And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. And he covered the upper chambers with gold.

10 And in the house of the most holy place he made two cherubim of image work, and they overlaid them with gold.

11 And the wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: one wing of five cubits touched the wall of the house; and the other wing of five cubits touched the wing of the other cherub.

12 And the wing of the other cherub of five cubits touched the wall of the house; and the other wing was five cubits joining the wing of the other cherub.

13 The wings of these cherubim spread forth were twenty cubits; and they stood on their feet, and their faces were toward the house.

14 And he made the veil of blue, and purple, and crimson, and byssus, and made cherubim upon it.

15 And before the house he made two pillars thirty-five cubits long; and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits.

16 And he made chains [as] in the oracle, and he put them on the top of the pillars; and he made a hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains.

17 And he set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left; and he called the name of that on the right Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.

And he made a brazen altar: its length was twenty cubits, and its breadth twenty cubits, and its height ten cubits.

And he made the sea, molten, ten cubits from brim to brim, round all about; and its height was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits encompassed it round about.

And under it was the similitude of oxen, encompassing it round about, ten in a cubit enclosing the sea round about, two rows of oxen, cast when it was cast.

It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; and the sea was above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward.

And its thickness was a hand-breadth, and its brim like the work of the brim of a cup, with lily-blossoms; in capacity it held three thousand baths.

And he made ten lavers, and put five on the right and five on the left, to wash in them: they rinsed in them what they prepared for the burnt-offering; and the sea was for the priests to wash in.

And he made ten candlesticks of gold according to the ordinance respecting them, and set them in the temple, five on the right hand and five on the left.

And he made ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right hand and five on the left. And he made a hundred golden bowls.

And he made the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid the doors thereof with bronze.

10 And he set the sea on the right side eastward, over against the south.

11 And Huram made the pots and the shovels and the bowls. So Huram ended doing the work that he made for king Solomon in the house of God:

12 two pillars, and the globes and the capitals on the top of the pillars, two; and the two networks, to cover the two globes of the capitals which were on the top of the pillars;

13 and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for one network, to cover the two globes of the capitals which were upon the pillars.

14 And he made the bases, and he made the lavers on the bases;

15 one sea, and the twelve oxen under it.

16 And the pots, and the shovels, and the forks, and all their instruments did Huram Abiv make king Solomon for the house of Jehovah, of bright brass.

17 In the plain of the Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay-ground between Succoth and Zeredathah.

18 And Solomon made all these vessels in great number; for the weight of the brass was not ascertained.

19 And Solomon made all the vessels that were [in] the house of God: the golden altar; and the tables whereon was the shewbread;

20 and the candlesticks with their lamps to burn according to the ordinance before the oracle, of pure gold;

21 and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, of gold (it was perfect gold);

22 and the knives, and the bowls, and the cups, and the censers, of pure gold; and the entrance of the house, the inner folding-doors thereof for the most holy place, and the doors of the house, of the temple, of gold.

Solomon Builds the Temple(A)

Then Solomon began to build(B) the temple of the Lord(C) in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah[a](D) the Jebusite, the place provided by David. He began building on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.(E)

The foundation Solomon laid for building the temple of God was sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wide[b](F) (using the cubit of the old standard). The portico at the front of the temple was twenty cubits[c] long across the width of the building and twenty[d] cubits high.

He overlaid the inside with pure gold. He paneled the main hall with juniper and covered it with fine gold and decorated it with palm tree(G) and chain designs. He adorned the temple with precious stones. And the gold he used was gold of Parvaim. He overlaid the ceiling beams, doorframes, walls and doors of the temple with gold, and he carved cherubim(H) on the walls.

He built the Most Holy Place,(I) its length corresponding to the width of the temple—twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. He overlaid the inside with six hundred talents[e] of fine gold. The gold nails(J) weighed fifty shekels.[f] He also overlaid the upper parts with gold.

10 For the Most Holy Place he made a pair(K) of sculptured cherubim and overlaid them with gold. 11 The total wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits[g] long and touched the temple wall, while its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the other cherub. 12 Similarly one wing of the second cherub was five cubits long and touched the other temple wall, and its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the first cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim(L) extended twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, facing the main hall.[h]

14 He made the curtain(M) of blue, purple and crimson yarn and fine linen, with cherubim(N) worked into it.

15 For the front of the temple he made two pillars,(O) which together were thirty-five cubits[i] long, each with a capital(P) five cubits high. 16 He made interwoven chains[j](Q) and put them on top of the pillars. He also made a hundred pomegranates(R) and attached them to the chains. 17 He erected the pillars in the front of the temple, one to the south and one to the north. The one to the south he named Jakin[k] and the one to the north Boaz.[l]

The Temple’s Furnishings(S)

He made a bronze altar(T) twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high.[m] He made the Sea(U) of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits[n] high. It took a line of thirty cubits[o] to measure around it. Below the rim, figures of bulls encircled it—ten to a cubit.[p] The bulls were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.

The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east.(V) The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. It was a handbreadth[q] in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held three thousand baths.[r]

He then made ten basins(W) for washing and placed five on the south side and five on the north. In them the things to be used for the burnt offerings(X) were rinsed, but the Sea was to be used by the priests for washing.

He made ten gold lampstands(Y) according to the specifications(Z) for them and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north.

He made ten tables(AA) and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He also made a hundred gold sprinkling bowls.(AB)

He made the courtyard(AC) 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 finished(AD) 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 stands(AE) 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-Abi(AF) 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 Sukkoth(AG) and Zarethan.[s] 18 All these things that Solomon made amounted to so much that the weight of the bronze(AH) could not be calculated.

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

the golden altar;

the tables(AI) on which was the bread of the Presence;

20 the lampstands(AJ) 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, dishes(AK) and censers;(AL) and the gold doors of the temple: the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and the doors of the main hall.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 3:1 Hebrew Ornan, a variant of Araunah
  2. 2 Chronicles 3:3 That is, about 90 feet long and 30 feet wide or about 27 meters long and 9 meters wide
  3. 2 Chronicles 3:4 That is, about 30 feet or about 9 meters; also in verses 8, 11 and 13
  4. 2 Chronicles 3:4 Some Septuagint and Syriac manuscripts; Hebrew and a hundred and twenty
  5. 2 Chronicles 3:8 That is, about 23 tons or about 21 metric tons
  6. 2 Chronicles 3:9 That is, about 1 1/4 pounds or about 575 grams
  7. 2 Chronicles 3:11 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters; also in verse 15
  8. 2 Chronicles 3:13 Or facing inward
  9. 2 Chronicles 3:15 That is, about 53 feet or about 16 meters
  10. 2 Chronicles 3:16 Or possibly made chains in the inner sanctuary; the meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  11. 2 Chronicles 3:17 Jakin probably means he establishes.
  12. 2 Chronicles 3:17 Boaz probably means in him is strength.
  13. 2 Chronicles 4:1 That is, about 30 feet long and wide and 15 feet high or about 9 meters long and wide and 4.5 meters high
  14. 2 Chronicles 4:2 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters
  15. 2 Chronicles 4:2 That is, about 45 feet or about 14 meters
  16. 2 Chronicles 4:3 That is, about 18 inches or about 45 centimeters
  17. 2 Chronicles 4:5 That is, about 3 inches or about 7.5 centimeters
  18. 2 Chronicles 4:5 That is, about 18,000 gallons or about 66,000 liters
  19. 2 Chronicles 4:17 Hebrew Zeredatha, a variant of Zarethan