1 Kings 7
7
Solomon Builds His Palace
1But it took Solomon 13 years to finish constructing his palace and the other buildings related to it. 2He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. It was 150 feet long. It was 75 feet wide. And it was 45 feet high. It had four rows of cedar columns. They held up beautiful cedar beams. 3Above the beams was a roof made out of cedar boards. It rested on the columns. There were three rows of beams with 15 in each row. The total number of beams was 45. 4The windows of the palace were placed high up in the walls. They were in groups of three. And they faced each other. 5All the doorways had frames shaped like rectangles. They were in front. They were in groups of three. And they faced each other.
6Solomon made a covered area. It was 75 feet long. And it was 45 feet wide. Its roof was held up by columns. In front of it was a porch. In front of that were pillars and a roof that went out beyond them.
7Solomon built the throne hall. It was called the Hall of Justice. That’s where he would serve as judge. He covered the hall with cedar boards from floor to ceiling. 8The palace where he would live was set farther back. Its plan was something like the plan for the hall. Solomon had married Pharaoh’s daughter. He made a palace for her. It was like the hall.
9All those buildings were made out of blocks of good quality stone. They were cut to the right size. They were made smooth on their back and front sides. Those stones were used for the outside of each building and for the large courtyard. They were also used from the foundations up to the roofs. 10Large blocks of good quality stone were used for the foundations. Some were 15 feet long. Others were 12 feet long. 11The walls above them were made out of good quality stones. The stones were cut to the right size. On top of them was a layer of cedar beams. 12The large courtyard had a wall around it. The first three layers of the wall were made out of blocks of stone. The top layer was made out of beautiful cedar wood. The same thing was done with the inside courtyard of the Lord’s temple and its porch.
More Facts About the Temple
13King Solomon sent messengers to Tyre. He wanted them to bring Huram back with them. 14Huram’s mother was a widow. She was from the tribe of Naphtali. Huram’s father was from Tyre. He was skilled in working with bronze. Huram also had great skill, knowledge and understanding in working with bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all the work he was asked to do.
15Huram made two bronze pillars. Each of them was 27 feet high. And each was 18 feet around. 16Each pillar had a decorated top made out of bronze. Each top was seven and a half feet high. 17Chains that were linked together hung down from the tops of the pillars. There were seven chains for each top. 18Huram made two rows of pomegranates. They circled the chains. The pomegranates decorated the tops of the pillars. Huram did the same thing for each pillar. 19The tops on the pillars of the porch were shaped like lilies. The lilies were 6 feet high. 20On the tops of both pillars were 200 pomegranates. They were in rows all around the tops. They were above the part that was shaped like a bowl. And they were next to the chains. 21Huram set the pillars up at the temple porch. The pillar on the south he named Jakin. The one on the north he named Boaz. 22The tops of the pillars were shaped like lilies. So the work on the pillars was finished.
23Huram made a huge metal bowl for washing. Its shape was round. It measured 15 feet from rim to rim. It was seven and a half feet high. And it was 45 feet around. 24Below the rim there was a circle of gourds around the bowl. In every 18 inches around the bowl there were ten gourds. The gourds were arranged in two rows. They were made as part of the bowl itself.
25The huge bowl stood on 12 bulls. Three of them faced north. Three faced west. Three faced south. And three faced east. The bowl rested on top of the bulls. Their rear ends were toward the center. 26The bowl was three inches thick. Its rim was like the rim of a cup. The rim was shaped like the bloom of a lily. The bowl held 12,000 gallons of water.
27Huram also made ten stands out of bronze. They could be moved around. Each stand was six feet long. It was six feet wide. And it was four and a half feet high. 28Here is how the stands were made. They had sides that were joined to posts. 29On the sides between the posts were lions, bulls and cherubim. They were also on all of the posts. Above and below the lions and bulls were wreaths made out of hammered metal. 30Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles. Each stand had a bowl that rested on four supports. The stand had wreaths on each side. 31There was a round opening on the inside of each stand. The opening had a frame 18 inches deep. The sides were 27 inches high from the top of the opening to the bottom of the base. There was carving around the opening. The sides of the stands were square, not round. 32The four wheels were under the sides. The axles of the wheels were connected to the stand. Each wheel was 27 inches across. 33The wheels were made like chariot wheels. All the axles, rims, spokes and hubs were made out of metal.
34Each stand had four handles on it. There was one on each corner. They came out from the stand. 35At the top of the stand there was a round band. It was nine inches deep. The sides and supports were connected to the top of the stand. 36Huram carved cherubim, lions and palm trees on the sides of the stands. He also carved them on the surfaces of the supports. His carving covered every open space. He had also carved wreaths all around. 37That’s how he made the ten stands. All of them were made in the same molds. And they had the same size and shape.
38Then Huram made ten bronze bowls. Each one held 240 gallons. The bowls measured six feet across. There was one bowl for each of the ten stands. 39He placed five of the stands on the south side of the temple. He placed the other five on the north side. He put the huge bowl on the south side. It was at the southeast corner of the temple. 40He also made the pots, shovels and sprinkling bowls.
So Huram finished all the work he had started for King Solomon. Here’s what he made for the Lord’s temple.
41He made the two pillars.
He made the two tops for the pillars. The tops were shaped like bowls.
He made the two sets of chains that were linked together. They decorated the two bowl-shaped tops of the pillars.
42He made the 400 pomegranates for the two sets of chains. There were two rows of pomegranates for each chain. They decorated the bowl-shaped tops of the pillars.
43He made the ten stands with their ten bowls.
44He made the huge bowl. He made the 12 bulls that were under it.
45He made the pots, shovels and sprinkling bowls.
Huram made all those objects for King Solomon for the Lord’s temple. He made them out of bronze. Then he shined them up. 46The king had made them in clay molds. It was done on the plain of the Jordan River between Sukkoth and Zarethan. 47Solomon didn’t weigh any of those things. There were too many of them to weigh. No one even tried to weigh the bronze they were made out of.
48Solomon also made everything in the Lord’s temple.
He made the golden altar.
He made the golden table for the holy bread.
49He made the pure gold lampstands. There were five on the right and five on the left. They were in front of the Most Holy Room.
He made the gold flowers. He made the gold lamps and tongs.
50He made the bowls, wick cutters, sprinkling bowls, dishes, and shallow cups for burning incense. All of them were made out of pure gold.
He made the gold bases for the doors of the inside room. That’s the Most Holy Room. He also made gold bases for the doors of the main hall of the temple.
51King Solomon finished all the work for the Lord’s temple. Then he brought in the things his father David had set apart for the Lord. They included the silver and gold and all the other things for the Lord’s temple. Solomon placed them with the other treasures that were there.
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1 Kings 7: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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1 Kings 7
7
1However, it took Solomon thirteen years to finish building the whole of his palace. 2He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon— a hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. There were four rows of cedar pillars that supported cedar beams. 3The cedar roof of the house was on top of the beams that rested on the pillars. There were forty-five beams, fifteen in each row. 4The windows were placed high up, in three rows facing each other. 5All the doorways and door casings had rectangular frames, the openings facing each other in sets of three.
6He also had the Hall of Columns made—forty cubits long and thirty cubits wide. It had a porch in front, its canopy also supported by columns. 7The throne room where he sat as judge was called the Hall of Justice, lined with cedar panels from floor to ceiling.
8Solomon's own palace where he lived was in a courtyard behind the porch, made in a similar way to the Temple.#7:8. “To the Temple”: implied. He also had a palace made for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he'd married.
9All these buildings were built using stone blocks that were expensive to produce. They were cut to size and trimmed with saws on the inside and outside. These stones were used from the foundation to the eaves, from the outside of the building all the way to the great courtyard. 10The foundations were laid with very large top-quality stones, between eight and ten cubits long. 11On these were placed top-quality stones, cut to size, along with cedar timber. 12Around the great courtyard, the inner courtyard, and the porch of the Lord's Temple were three courses of dressed stone and a course of cedar beams.
13King Solomon sent for Hiram#7:13. “Hiram,” or “Huram.” Not the King of Tyre who bore the same name. from Tyre. 14He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was from Tyre, a craftsman who worked in bronze. Hiram had great expertise, understanding and being familiar with all kinds of bronze work. He came to King Solomon and carried out all that the king required.
15He cast two columns in bronze. They were both eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference. 16He also cast two capitals in bronze to place on top of the columns. Each capital was five cubits high. 17He made a network of lattice using interlinked chains for both capitals, seven for each one. 18Around the lattice network he made two rows of ornamental pomegranates to cover the capitals on the top of both the columns. 19The capitals placed on top of columns in the porch were in the shape of lilies, four cubits high. 20On the capitals of both columns were the two hundred pomegranates in rows that encircled them, just above the rounded part that was next to the chain network. 21He erected the columns at the entrance porch of the Temple. The southern column he named Jachin, and the northern column he named Boaz. 22The capitals on the columns were in the shape of lilies. And so the work on the columns was finished.
23Then he made the Sea of cast metal.#7:23. The “Sea” was a very large metal bowl that contained water. Its shape was circular, and measured ten cubits from edge to edge, five cubits in height, and thirty cubits in circumference. 24Below the edge it was decorated with ornamental gourds that encircled it, ten per cubit all the way around. They were in two rows cast as one piece with the Sea. 25The Sea stood on twelve metal bulls. Three faced to the north, three to the west, three to the south, and three to the east. The Sea was placed on them, with their rears toward the center. 26It was as thick as the width of a hand, and its edge was like the flared edge of a cup or a lily flower. It held two thousand baths.
27He also made ten carts to carry basins. The carts measured four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high. 28This is how they were put together: side panels were attached to uprights. 29Both the side panels and the uprights were decorated with lions, bulls, and cherubim. Above and below the lions and the bulls were decorative wreaths.
30Each cart had four bronze wheels with bronze axles. A basin rested on four supports that had decorative wreaths on each side. 31At the top of each cart was a round opening like a pedestal to hold the basin.#7:31. “To hold the basin”: implied. The opening was one cubit deep, and one and a half cubits wide. The opening had carvings around it. The panels of the cart were square, not round. 32The four wheels were under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were attached to the cart. Each wheel measured one and a half cubits in diameter. 33The wheels were made in the same way as chariot wheels; their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all made by casting.
34Each cart had four handles, one on each corner, made as part of the stand. 35There was a ring on the top of the cart a half cubit wide. The supports and panels were cast as one piece with the top of the cart. 36He had designs of cherubim, lions, and palm trees engraved on the panels, supports, and frame, wherever there was space, with decorative wreaths all around. 37This is how he made the ten carts, with the same casts, size, and shape. 38Then he made ten bronze basins. Each one held forty baths and measured four cubits across, one basin for each of the ten carts. 39He placed five carts on the south side of the Temple and five on the north side. He placed the Sea on the south side, by the southeast corner of the Temple. 40He also made the pots, shovels, and bowls.
So Hiram finished making everything required by King Solomon for the Temple of the Lord: 41the two columns; the two capitals shaped like bowls on top the columns; the two chain networks that covered the capitals shaped like bowls on top of the columns; 42the four hundred ornamental pomegranates for the chain networks (in two rows for the chain networks that covered the capitals on top of the columns); 43the ten carts; the ten basins on the carts; 44the Sea; the twelve bulls under the Sea; 45and the pots, shovels, and bowls. Everything that Hiram made for King Solomon in the Temple of the Lord was made of polished bronze. 46The king had them cast in molds made of clay in the Jordan valley between Succoth and Zarethan. 47Solomon did not weigh anything that had been made because there was just so much—the weight of bronze used could not be measured. 48Solomon also had made all the items for the Temple of the Lord: the golden altar; the golden table where the Bread of the Presence was placed; 49the lampstands made of pure gold that stood in front of the inner sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left; the flowers, lamps, and tongs that were all made of pure gold; 50the basins, wick trimmers, bowls, ladles, and censers that again were all made of pure gold; and the gold hinges for the doors of the inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place, in addition to the doors of the main hall of the Temple. 51In this way all King Solomon's work for the Temple of the Lord was completed. Then Solomon brought in the items his father David had dedicated, the special objects made of silver, the gold, and the Temple furnishings, and he placed them in the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com