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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3 Kings 7
7
1And Solomon built his own house in thirteen years, and brought it to perfection.
2He built also the house of the forest of Libanus. The length of it was a hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty cubits, and the height thirty cubits: and four galleries between pillars of cedar: for he had cut cedar-trees into pillars.
3And he covered the whole vault with boards of cedar, and it was held up with five and forty pillars. And one row had fifteen pillars,
4Set one against another:
5And looking one upon another, with equal space between the pillars, and over the pillars were square beams in all things equal.
6And he made a porch of pillars of fifty cubits in length, and thirty cubits in breadth: and another porch before the greater porch; and pillars, and chapiters upon the pillars.
7He made also the porch of the throne, wherein is the seat of judgment: and covered it with cedar-wood from the floor to the top.
8And in the midst of the porch was a small house where he sat in judgment, of the like work. He made also a house for the daughter of Pharao (whom Solomon had taken to wife) of the same work as this porch,
9All of costly stones: which were sawed by a certain rule and measure both within and without, from the foundation to the top of the walls, and without unto the great court.
10And the foundations were of costly stones, great stones of ten cubits or eight cubits.
11And above there were costly stones, or equal measure, hewed; and, in like manner, planks of cedar.
12And the greater court was made round with three rows of hewed stones, and one row of planks of cedar: moreover also in the inner court of the house of the Lord, and in the porch of the house.
13And king Solomon sent, and brought Hiram from Tyre,
14The son of a widow woman of the tribe of Nephtali, whose father was a Tyrian, an artificer in brass, and full of wisdom, and understanding, and skill to work all work in brass. And when he was come to king Solomon, he wrought all his work.
15And he cast two pillars in brass. Each pillar was eighteen cubits high: and a line of twelve cubits compassed both the pillars.
16He made two chapiters of molten brass, to be set upon the tops of the pillars (the height of one chapiter was five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter was five cubits),
17And a kind of network, and chain-work wreathed together with wonderful art. Both the chapiters of the pillars were cast: seven rows of nets were on one chapiter, and seven nets on the other chapiter.
18And he made the pillars, and two rows round about each network to cover the chapiters, that were upon the top, with pomegranates: and in like manner did he to the other chapiter.
19And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars, were of lily-work in the porch, of four cubits.
20And again other chapiters in the top of the pillars above, according to the measure of the pillar over against the network. And of pomegranates there were two hundred in rows round about the other chapiter.
21And he set up the two pillars in the porch of the temple. And when he had set up the pillar on the right hand, he called the name thereof Jachin: in like manner he set up the second pillar, and called the name thereof Booz.
22And upon the tops of the pillars he made lily-work. So the work of the pillars was finished.
23He made also a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round all about; the height of it was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits compassed it round about.
24And a graven work under the brim of it compassed it, for ten cubits going about the sea. There were two rows cast of chamfered sculptures.
25And it stood upon twelve oxen, of which three looked towards the north, and three towards the west, and three towards the south, and three towards the east: and the sea was above upon them, and their hinder parts were all hid within.
26And the laver was a handbreadth thick: and the brim thereof was like the brim of a cup, or the leaf of a crisped lily. It contained two thousand bates.
27And he made ten bases of brass: every base was four cubits in length, and four cubits in breadth, and three cubits high.
28And the work itself of the bases was intergraven: and there were gravings between the joinings.
29And between the little crowns and the ledges were lions, and oxen, and cherubims: and in the joinings likewise above: and under the lions and oxen, as it were bands of brass hanging down.
30And every base had four wheels, and axletrees of brass: and at the four sides were undersetters under the laver molten, looking one against another.
31The mouth also of the laver within was in the top of the chapiter. And that which appeared without was of one cubit all round: and together it was one cubit and a half. And in the corners of the pillars were divers engravings: and the spaces between the pillars were square, not round.
32And the four wheels, which were at the four corners of the base, were joined one to another under the base: the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half.
33And they were such wheels as are used to be made in a chariot: and their axletrees, and spokes, and strakes, and naves, were all cast.
34And the four undersetters that were at every corner of each base were of the base itself cast and joined together.
35And in the top of the base there was a round compass of half a cubit, so wrought that the laver might be set thereon, having its gravings, and divers sculptures of itself.
36He engraved also in those plates, which were of brass, and in the corners, cherubims, and lions, and palm-trees, in likeness of a man standing: so that they seemed not to be engraven, but added round about.
37After this manner he made ten bases: of one casting and measure, and the like graving.
38He made also ten lavers of brass. One laver contained four bases, and was of four cubits: and upon every base, in all ten, he put as many lavers.
39And he set the ten bases, five on the right side of the temple, and five on the left: and the sea he put on the right side of the temple over against the east southward.
40And Hiram made caldrons, and shovels, and basins, and finished all the work of king Solomon in the temple of the Lord.
41The two pillars and the two cords of the chapiters, upon the chapiters of the pillars: and the two networks, to cover the two cords, that were upon the top of the pillars.
42And four hundred pomegranates for the two networks: two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the cords of the chapiters, which were upon the tops of the pillars.
43And the ten bases, and the ten lavers on the bases.
44And one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea.
45And the caldrons, and the shovels, and the basins. All the vessels that Hiram made for king Solomon for the house of the Lord were of fine brass.
46In the plains of the Jordan did the king cast them in a clay ground, between Socoth and Sartham.
47And Solomon placed all the vessels: but for exceeding great multitude the brass could not be weighed.
48And Solomon made all the vessels for the house of the Lord: the altar of gold: and the table of gold, upon which the leaves of proposition should be set:
49And the golden candlesticks, five on the right hand, and five on the left, over against the oracle, of pure gold: and the flowers like lilies: and the lamps over them of gold: and golden snuffers:
50And pots, and fleshhooks, and bowls, and mortars, and censers, of most pure gold. And the hinges for the doors of the inner house of the Holy of Holies, and for the doors of the house of the temple were of gold.
51And Solomon finished all the work that he made in the house of the Lord: and brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, the silver and the gold, and the vessels; and laid them up in the treasures of the house of the Lord.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.