1 Kings 7

Solomon’s Palace

1King Solomon also built a palace for himself. It took him 13 years to finish building it. 2He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. It was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. It had four rows of cedar columns. They supported the cedar beams. 3The ceiling was covered with cedar above the beams. There were 45 beams on the roof, with 15 beams in each row. 4Windows were placed in three rows facing each other. 5All the doors were square. The three doors at each end faced each other.

6Solomon also built the porch of pillars. It was 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. Along the front of the porch, there was a covering supported by pillars.

7Solomon also built a throne room where he judged people. He called this the Hall of Justice. The room was covered with cedar from the floor to the ceiling. 8The palace where Solomon was to live was behind the Hall of Justice. And it was built like the Hall of Justice. Solomon also built the same kind of palace for his wife. She was the daughter of the king of Egypt.

9All these buildings were made with blocks of carefully cut fine stone. Then they were trimmed with a saw in the front and back. These fine stones went from the foundations of the buildings to the top of the walls. Even the courtyard was made with blocks of stone. 10The foundations were made with large blocks of fine stone. Some of the stones were 15 feet long. Others were 12 feet long. 11On top of those stones there were other cut blocks of fine stone and cedar beams. 12The palace courtyard, the courtyard inside the Temple and the porch to the Temple were surrounded by walls. All of these walls had three rows of cut stone blocks and one row of cedar beams.

The Temple Is Completed Inside

13King Solomon sent to Tyre and had Huram brought to him. 14Huram’s mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali. His father was from Tyre and had been skilled in making things from bronze. Huram was also very skilled and experienced in bronze work. So he came to King Solomon. And he did all the bronze work Solomon wanted.

15He made two bronze pillars. Each one was 27 feet tall and 18 feet around. 16He also made two bronze capitals that were 7½ feet tall. He put them on top of the pillars. 17Then he made a net of seven chains for each capital. They covered the capitals on top of the two pillars. 18Then he made two rows of bronze pomegranates to go on the nets. They were to cover the capitals at the top of the pillars. 19The capitals on top of the pillars in the porch were shaped like lilies. They were 6 feet tall. 20The capitals were on top of both pillars. They were above the bowl-shaped section and next to the nets. At that place there were 200 pomegranates in rows all around the capitals. 21Huram put these two bronze pillars at the porch of the Temple. He named the south pillar He Establishes. And he named the north pillar In Him Is Strength. 22The capitals on top of the pillars were shaped like lilies. So the work on the pillars was finished.

23Then Huram made a large round bowl from bronze, which was called the Sea. It was 45 feet around. It was 15 feet across and 7½ feet deep. 24There was a rim around the outer edge of the bowl. Under this rim there were two rows of bronze plants surrounding the bowl. There were ten plants in every 18 inches. They were made in one piece with the bowl. 25The bowl rested on the backs of 12 bronze bulls. They faced outward from the center of the bowl. Three bulls faced north, 3 faced east, 3 faced south and 3 faced west. 26The sides of the bowl were 4 inches thick. The rim was like the rim of a cup or like a lily blossom. The bowl held about 11,000 gallons.

27Then Huram made ten bronze stands. Each one was 6 feet long, 6 feet wide and 4½ feet high. 28The stands were made from square sides, which were put on frames. 29On the sides were bronze lions, bulls and creatures with wings. On the frames above and below the lions and bulls there were designs of flowers hammered into the bronze. 30Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles. At the corners there were bronze supports for a large bowl. The supports had designs of flowers. 31There was a frame on top of the bowls. It was 18 inches high above the bowls. The opening of the bowl was round, 27 inches deep. There were designs carved into the bronze on the frame. The frame was square, not round. 32The four wheels were under the frame. They were 27 inches high. The axles between the wheels were made as one piece with the stand. 33The wheels were like a chariot’s wheels. Everything on the wheels was made of bronze. The axles, rims, spokes and hubs were made of bronze.

34The four supports were on the four corners of each stand. They were made as one piece with the stand. 35There was a strip of bronze around the top of each stand. It was 9 inches deep. It was made as one piece with the stand. 36The sides of the stand and the frames were totally covered with carvings. They were carved with pictures of creatures with wings, lions and palm trees. There were also flowers carved all around. 37So this is the way Huram made the ten stands. The bronze for each stand was melted and poured into a mold. So all of the stands were the same size and shape.

38Huram also made ten bronze bowls. There was one bowl for each of the ten stands. Each bowl was six feet across and could hold about 230 gallons. 39Huram put five of the stands on the south side of the Temple. And he put the other five stands on the north side. He put the large bowl in the southeast corner of the Temple. 40Huram also made bowls, shovels and small bowls.

So Huram finished making everything King Solomon wanted him to make. Here is a list of what Huram made for the Temple of the Lord:

41two pillars;

two large bowls for the capitals on top of the pillars;

two nets to cover the two large bowls for the capitals on top of the pillars;

42400 pomegranates for the two nets (there were two rows of pomegranates for each net covering the bowls for the capitals on top of the pillars);

43ten stands with a bowl on each stand;

44the large bowl with 12 bulls under it;

45the pots, shovels, small bowls and all the dishes for the Temple of the Lord.

Huram made everything King Solomon wanted. They were all made from polished bronze. 46The king ordered these things to be made near the Jordan River between Succoth and Zarethan. They were made by melting and pouring bronze into clay molds. 47Solomon never weighed the bronze used to make these things. There was too much to weigh. So the total weight of all the bronze was never known.

48Solomon also commanded that many things be made of gold for the Temple:

the golden altar;

the golden table which held the bread that shows God’s people are in his presence;

49the lampstands of pure gold (five on the right side and five on the left side in front of the Most Holy Place);

the gold flowers, lamps and tongs;

50the pure gold bowls, wick trimmers, small bowls, pans and dishes used to carry coals;

the hinges for the doors of the Most Holy Place and the main room of the Temple.

51So the work King Solomon did for the Temple of the Lord was finished. David, Solomon’s father, had saved silver, gold and other articles for the Temple. So Solomon brought these things into the Temple. And he put them into the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord.

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1 Kings 7

Solomon's Other Buildings

1But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.

2He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was a hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, 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 rows, and light was against light in three ranks. 5And all the doors and posts were square, with the windows: and light was against light in three ranks.

6And he made a porch of pillars; the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth thereof thirty cubits: and the porch was before them: and the other pillars and the thick beam were before them.

7Then he made a porch for the throne where he might judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other.

8 # 1 Kgs 3.1. And his house where he dwelt had another court within the porch, which was of the like work. Solomon made also a house for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken to wife, like unto this porch.

9All these were of costly stones, according to the measures of hewed stones, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside toward 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 costly stones, after the measures of hewed stones, and cedars. 12And the great court round about was with three rows of hewed stones, and a row of cedar beams, both for the inner court of the house of the Lord, and for the porch of the house.

Solomon Employs Hiram of Tyre

(2 Chronicles 2.13,14; 3.15-17)

13And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre. 14He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naph´tali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work.

15For he cast two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits did compass either 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: 17and nets of checkerwork, and wreaths of chainwork, for the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars; seven for the one chapiter, and seven for the other chapiter. 18And he made the pillars, and two rows round about upon the one network, to cover the chapiters that were upon the top, with pomegranates: and so did he for the other chapiter. 19And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars were of lily work in the porch, four cubits. 20And the chapiters upon the two pillars had pomegranates also above, over against the belly which was by the network: and the pomegranates were two hundred in rows round about upon the other chapiter. 21And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin:#7.21 That is, He shall establish. and he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz.#7.21 That is, In it is strength. 22And upon the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the work of the pillars finished.

The Furnishings for the Temple

(2 Chronicles 4.1—5.1)

23And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his 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 compassing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about: the knops were cast in two rows, 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 south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward. 26And it was a handbreadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it contained two thousand baths.

27And he made ten bases of brass; four cubits was the length of one base, and four cubits the breadth thereof, and three cubits the height of it. 28And the work of the bases was on this manner: they had borders, and the borders were between the ledges: 29and on the borders that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubim: and upon the ledges there was a base above: and beneath the lions and oxen were certain additions made of thin work. 30And every base had four brazen wheels, and plates of brass: and the four corners thereof had undersetters: under the laver were undersetters molten, at the side of every addition. 31And the mouth of it within the chapiter and above was a cubit: but the mouth thereof was round after the work of the base, a cubit and a half: and also upon the mouth of it were gravings with their borders, foursquare, not round. 32And under the borders were four wheels; and the axletrees of the wheels were joined to the base: and the height of a wheel was a cubit and half a cubit. 33And the work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel: their axletrees, and their naves, and their felloes, and their spokes, were all molten. 34And there were four undersetters to the four corners of one base: and the undersetters were of the very base itself. 35And in the top of the base was there a round compass of half a cubit high: and on the top of the base the ledges thereof and the borders thereof were of the same. 36For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, he graved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion of every one, and additions round about. 37After this manner he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure, and one size.

38 # Exod 30.17-21. Then made he ten lavers of brass: one laver contained forty baths: and every laver was four cubits: and upon every one of the ten bases one laver. 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 eastward, over against the south.

40And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he made king Solomon for the house of the Lord: 41the 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 top of the pillars; 42and four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, even two rows of pomegranates for one network, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that were upon the pillars; 43and the ten bases, and ten lavers on the bases; 44and one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea.

45And the pots, and the shovels, and the basins: and all these vessels, which Hiram made to king Solomon for the house of the Lord, were of bright brass. 46In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarthan. 47And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were exceeding many: neither was the weight of the brass found out.

48 # Exod 30.1-3; Exod 25.23-30. And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the Lord: the altar of gold, and the table of gold, whereupon the showbread was, 49#Exod 25.31-40. and the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold, 50and the bowls, and the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple.

51 # 2 Sam 8.11; 1 Chr 18.11. So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the Lord. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated; even the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, did he put among the treasures of the house of the Lord.

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