1 Kings 7
7
Solomon Builds His Palace
1Solomon also built a palace for himself, and it took him thirteen years to complete the construction.
2One of Solomon’s buildings was called the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. It was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.#7:2 Hebrew 100 cubits [46 meters] long, 50 cubits [23 meters] wide, and 30 cubits [13.8 meters] high. There were four rows of cedar pillars, and great cedar beams rested on the pillars. 3The hall had a cedar roof. Above the beams on the pillars were forty-five side rooms,#7:3 Or 45 rafters, or 45 beams, or 45 pillars. The architectural details in 7:2-6 can be interpreted in many different ways. arranged in three tiers of fifteen each. 4On each end of the long hall were three rows of windows facing each other. 5All the doorways and doorposts#7:5 Greek version reads windows. had rectangular frames and were arranged in sets of three, facing each other.
6Solomon also built the Hall of Pillars, which was 75 feet long and 45 feet wide.#7:6 Hebrew 50 cubits [23 meters] long and 30 cubits [13.8 meters] wide. There was a porch in front, along with a canopy supported by pillars.
7Solomon also built the throne room, known as the Hall of Justice, where he sat to hear legal matters. It was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling.#7:7 As in Syriac version and Latin Vulgate; Hebrew reads from floor to floor. 8Solomon’s living quarters surrounded a courtyard behind this hall, and they were constructed the same way. He also built similar living quarters for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.
9From foundation to eaves, all these buildings were built from huge blocks of high-quality stone, cut with saws and trimmed to exact measure on all sides. 10Some of the huge foundation stones were 15 feet long, and some were 12 feet#7:10 Hebrew 10 cubits [4.6 meters] . . . 8 cubits [3.7 meters]. long. 11The blocks of high-quality stone used in the walls were also cut to measure, and cedar beams were also used. 12The walls of the great courtyard were built so that there was one layer of cedar beams between every three layers of finished stone, just like the walls of the inner courtyard of the Lord’s Temple with its entry room.
Furnishings for the Temple
13King Solomon then asked for a man named Huram#7:13 Hebrew Hiram (also in 7:40, 45); compare 2 Chr 2:13. This is not the same person mentioned in 5:1. to come from Tyre. 14He was half Israelite, since his mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father had been a craftsman in bronze from Tyre. Huram was extremely skillful and talented in any work in bronze, and he came to do all the metal work for King Solomon.
15Huram cast two bronze pillars, each 27 feet tall and 18 feet in circumference.#7:15 Hebrew 18 cubits [8.3 meters] tall and 12 cubits [5.5 meters] in circumference. 16For the tops of the pillars he cast bronze capitals, each 7-1/2 feet#7:16 Hebrew 5 cubits [2.3 meters]. tall. 17Each capital was decorated with seven sets of latticework and interwoven chains. 18He also encircled the latticework with two rows of pomegranates to decorate the capitals over the pillars. 19The capitals on the columns inside the entry room were shaped like water lilies, and they were six feet#7:19 Hebrew 4 cubits [1.8 meters]; also in 7:38. tall. 20The capitals on the two pillars had 200 pomegranates in two rows around them, beside the rounded surface next to the latticework. 21Huram set the pillars at the entrance of the Temple, one toward the south and one toward the north. He named the one on the south Jakin, and the one on the north Boaz.#7:21 Jakin probably means “he establishes”; Boaz probably means “in him is strength.” 22The capitals on the pillars were shaped like water lilies. And so the work on the pillars was finished.
23Then Huram cast a great round basin, 15 feet across from rim to rim, called the Sea. It was 7-1/2 feet deep and about 45 feet in circumference.#7:23 Hebrew 10 cubits [4.6 meters] across. . . . 5 cubits [2.3 meters] deep and 30 cubits [13.8 meters] in circumference. 24It was encircled just below its rim by two rows of decorative gourds. There were about six gourds per foot#7:24 Or 20 gourds per meter; Hebrew reads 10 per cubit. all the way around, and they were cast as part of the basin.
25The Sea was placed on a base of twelve bronze oxen,#7:25 Hebrew 12 oxen; compare 2 Kgs 16:17, which specifies bronze oxen. all facing outward. Three faced north, three faced west, three faced south, and three faced east, and the Sea rested on them. 26The walls of the Sea were about three inches#7:26a Hebrew a handbreadth [8 centimeters]. thick, and its rim flared out like a cup and resembled a water lily blossom. It could hold about 11,000 gallons#7:26b Hebrew 2,000 baths [42 kiloliters]. of water.
27Huram also made ten bronze water carts, each 6 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 4-1/2 feet tall.#7:27 Hebrew 4 cubits [1.8 meters] long, 4 cubits wide, and 3 cubits [1.4 meters] high. 28They were constructed with side panels braced with crossbars. 29Both the panels and the crossbars were decorated with carved lions, oxen, and cherubim. Above and below the lions and oxen were wreath decorations. 30Each of these carts had four bronze wheels and bronze axles. There were supporting posts for the bronze basins at the corners of the carts; these supports were decorated on each side with carvings of wreaths. 31The top of each cart had a rounded frame for the basin. It projected 1-1/2 feet#7:31a Hebrew a cubit [46 centimeters]. above the cart’s top like a round pedestal, and its opening was 2-1/4 feet#7:31b Hebrew 1-1/2 cubits [69 centimeters]; also in 7:32. across; it was decorated on the outside with carvings of wreaths. The panels of the carts were square, not round. 32Under the panels were four wheels that were connected to axles that had been cast as one unit with the cart. The wheels were 2-1/4 feet in diameter 33and were similar to chariot wheels. The axles, spokes, rims, and hubs were all cast from molten bronze.
34There were handles at each of the four corners of the carts, and these, too, were cast as one unit with the cart. 35Around the top of each cart was a rim nine inches wide.#7:35 Hebrew half a cubit wide [23 centimeters]. The corner supports and side panels were cast as one unit with the cart. 36Carvings of cherubim, lions, and palm trees decorated the panels and corner supports wherever there was room, and there were wreaths all around. 37All ten water carts were the same size and were made alike, for each was cast from the same mold.
38Huram also made ten smaller bronze basins, one for each cart. Each basin was six feet across and could hold 220 gallons#7:38 Hebrew 40 baths [840 liters]. of water. 39He set five water carts on the south side of the Temple and five on the north side. The great bronze basin called the Sea was placed near the southeast corner of the Temple. 40He also made the necessary washbasins, shovels, and bowls.
So at last Huram completed everything King Solomon had assigned him to make for the Temple of the Lord:
41the two pillars;
the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;
the two networks of interwoven chains that decorated the capitals;
42the 400 pomegranates that hung from the chains on the capitals (two rows of pomegranates for each of the chain networks that decorated the capitals on top of the pillars);
43the ten water carts holding the ten basins;
44the Sea and the twelve oxen under it;
45the ash buckets, the shovels, and the bowls.
Huram made all these things of burnished bronze for the Temple of the Lord, just as King Solomon had directed. 46The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zarethan. 47Solomon did not weigh all these things because there were so many; the weight of the bronze could not be measured.
48Solomon also made all the furnishings of the Temple of the Lord:
the gold altar;
the gold table for the Bread of the Presence;
49the lampstands of solid gold, five on the south and five on the north, in front of the Most Holy Place;
the flower decorations, lamps, and tongs—all of gold;
50the small bowls, lamp snuffers, bowls, ladles, and incense burners—all of solid gold;
the doors for the entrances to the Most Holy Place and the main room of the Temple, with their fronts overlaid with gold.
51So King Solomon finished all his work on the Temple of the Lord. Then he brought all the gifts his father, David, had dedicated—the silver, the gold, and the various articles—and he stored them in the treasuries of the Lord’s Temple.
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1 Kings 7: NLT
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1 Kings 7
7
1 Kings 7
1¶ But Solomon built his own house in thirteen years, and he finished all his house.
2He also built the house of the forest of Lebanon, which was one hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.
3And it was covered with cedar above upon the beams that lay on forty-five pillars, fifteen in a row.
4And there were windows in three orders, one against another in three orders.
5And all the doors and posts were square, with some windows opposite the other windows in three orders.
6And he made a porch of pillars, which was fifty cubits long and thirty cubits wide, and the porch was before those others, with its corresponding pillars and thick beams.
7Then he made a porch for the throne where he was to judge, even the porch of judgment; and it was covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other.
8And his house where he dwelt had another court within the porch, which was of like work. Solomon also made a house for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had taken to wife, like unto this porch.
9All these works were of costly stones, cut and sawed with saws according to the measurements, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside unto the great court.
10And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits.
11And above were also costly stones, hewed according to their measurements, and work of cedar.
12And the great court round about had three orders of hewed stones and an order of cedar beams, and likewise the inner court of the house of the Lord and the porch of the house.
13¶ And King Solomon sent and brought Hiram out of Tyre,
14who was a widow’s son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father had been of Tyre. A worker in brass, full of wisdom and intelligence and knowledge in all work of brass. And he came to King Solomon and did all his work.
15He made two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece, and a line of twelve cubits did compass each of them about.
16And he made two chapiters of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars; the height of the one chapiter was five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter was five cubits.
17 And nets of checker work and wreaths of chain work for the chapiters which were to be placed upon the top of the pillars, seven for the one chapiter and seven for the other chapiter.
18And when he had made the pillars, he also made two orders of pomegranates round about upon the network to cover the chapiters that were upon the heads of the pillars with the pomegranates, and so did he for the other chapiter.
19And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars were in the form of lilies like those seen in the porch, for four cubits.
20And the chapiters upon the two pillars had two hundred pomegranates in two orders round about in each chapiter, on top of the belly of the chapiter, this belly being in front of the network.
21And he stood up the pillars in the porch of the temple. And when he had set up the right pillar, he called the name of it Jachin; {Heb. The Lord establishes} and in standing up the left pillar, he called its name Boaz. {Heb. Only in Him is there strength}
22And upon the top of the pillars was lily work, and so the work of the pillars was finished.
23Likewise, he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other; it was perfectly round, and its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.
24And under the brim of it round about there were knops like gourds compassing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about in two orders, which were made when it was cast.
25It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north and three looking toward the west and three looking toward the Negev and three looking toward the east; and upon them the sea rested, and all their hinder parts were inward.
26And it was a hand breadth thick, and its lip was made like the lip of a cup, with flowers of lilies; it contained two thousand baths.
27He also made ten bases of brass; four cubits was the length of each base and four cubits the width and three cubits the height.
28And the work of the bases was like this: they had borders, and the borders were between mouldings;
29and upon the borders that were between the mouldings were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and upon the mouldings of the base, above and beneath the lions and oxen were certain additions made of bevelled work.
30And each base had four brasen wheels and cardinals {hinged axles} of brass, and in its four corners it had shoulderpieces, which were molten at the side of each addition, to be under the laver.
31Its mouth entered into the chapiter (in the joint that came out of the base) one cubit above, and its mouth was rounded like the workmanship (of the same joint) in the base, of a cubit and a half. There were also engravings upon the mouth of it with their borders, which were square, not round.
32And under the borders were the four wheels, and the axletrees of the wheels came forth from the same base. The height of each wheel was one and a half cubits.
33And the workmanship of the wheels was like the workmanship of a chariot wheel, their axletrees and their rims and their spokes and their hubs were all molten.
34Likewise, the four shoulderpieces to the four corners of each base, and the shoulderpieces were of the very base itself.
35And in the top of the base there was a rounded compass of half a cubit high and on the top of the base, its mouldings and borders which were part of it.
36For on the tables of the mouldings and on the borders thereof, he made cherubim, lions, and palm trees, in front of the additions of each one round about.
37After this manner he made ten bases cast in the same manner, of the same size and of the same shape.
38Then he also made ten lavers of brass; each laver contained forty baths, and each laver measured four cubits; and he set a laver upon each one of the ten bases.
39And he put five bases on the right side of the house and five on the left side of the house, and he set the sea on the right side of the house to the east towards the Negev.
40Hiram made the lavers and the shovels and the basins likewise. So Hiram finished all the work that he made King Solomon for the house of the Lord:
41 That is, the two pillars and the two bowls of the chapiters that were on the top of the two pillars and the two networks, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters which were upon the head of the pillars,
42and four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, even two orders of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that were upon the heads of the pillars,
43and the ten bases and ten lavers upon the bases,
44and one sea and twelve oxen under the sea,
45and the pots and the shovels and the basins and all the other vessels, which Hiram made to King Solomon for the house of the Lord of bright brass.
46And the king caused them all to be cast in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarthan.
47And Solomon did not inquire the weight of the brass of all the vessels because they were exceeding many.
48¶ And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the Lord: an altar of gold, and a table upon which the showbread was, also of gold,
49and the lampstands of pure gold, five on the right hand, and five on the left, in front of the oracle, with the flowers and the lamps and the tongs of gold,
50likewise the bowls and the snuffers and the basins and the spoons and the censers of pure gold, also the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house, the holy of holies, and for the doors of the house of the temple.
51So all the work that King Solomon made for the house of the Lord was complete. And Solomon brought in the things which David, his father, had dedicated, even the silver and the gold and the vessels, and he kept it all in the treasury of the house of the Lord.
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