1 Kings 7
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- 1Solomon spent thirteen years building his own house, and he finished all of it.
- 2He built the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon. It was 100 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high, supported by 4 rows of cedar pillars with cedar beams resting on top of them.
- 3The ceiling above the beams was covered with cedar. The beams rested on 45 pillars, arranged in 3 rows of 15.
- 4There were 3 rows of window openings, with windows facing each other on opposite walls in 3 tiers.
- 5All the doorways and window frames were rectangular, and the windows faced each other in 3 tiers.
- 6He also built a porch of pillars, 50 cubits long and 30 cubits wide. The porch was in front of them, with the other pillars and the thick beam also in front of them.
- 7Then he made a porch for the throne where he might judge, called the porch of judgment, and it was covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other.
- 8His house where he lived had another courtyard within the porch, built in the same style. Solomon also built a house for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had married, similar to this porch.
- 9All of these were made of expensive stones, cut to precise measurements with saws, used on both the inside and outside, from the foundation to the top edge, and extending to the great courtyard.
- 10The foundations were laid with massive, costly stones — some 10 cubits long and others 8 cubits long.
- 11Above were costly stones, cut to size, and cedar timbers.
- 12The great courtyard all around had 3 rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams, just as the inner court of the house of the LORD and the porch of the house had.
- 13King Solomon sent for Hiram from Tyre.
- 14Hiram's mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father had been a bronze craftsman from Tyre. Hiram was filled with wisdom, understanding, and skill in every kind of bronze work. He came to King Solomon and carried out all the work assigned to him.
- 15For he cast 2 bronze pillars, each 18 cubits high, and a line of 12 cubits went around each of them.
- 16He also made 2 capitals out of cast bronze to sit on top of the pillars. Each capital was 5 cubits tall.
- 17The capitals on top of the pillars were decorated with lattice networks and chain-like wreaths — 7 sets of chains for each capital.
- 18He designed the pillars with 2 rows of pomegranate decorations encircling each network to cover the capitals on top. He did the same for both capitals.
- 19The capitals on top of the pillars in the porch were shaped like lilies, standing 4 cubits tall.
- 20Both capitals also had pomegranates above the rounded section next to the network. There were 200 pomegranates arranged in rows around each capital.
- 21He set up the pillars at the entrance porch of the temple. He placed the right pillar and named it Jachin, and he placed the left pillar and named it Boaz.
- 22The tops of the pillars were finished with lily-shaped designs, and with that, the work on the pillars was complete.
- 23He made a molten sea, 10 cubits from one rim to the other. It was round all around, 5 cubits high, and had a circumference of 30 cubits.
- 24Beneath the rim, decorative buds encircled the basin — 10 per cubit all the way around. The buds were arranged in 2 rows and were cast as one piece with the basin.
- 25The Sea rested on twelve oxen: three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The basin sat on top of them, and all their hindquarters faced inward.
- 26The basin's walls were a hand width thick, and its rim was shaped like the rim of a cup, with lily blossoms. It could hold 2,000 baths.
- 27He made 10 bronze stands. Each one was 4 cubits long, 4 cubits wide, and 3 cubits high.
- 28The stands were constructed with panels fitted between upright frames.
- 29On the panels between the frames, he engraved lions, oxen, and cherubim. Above and below the lions and oxen on the frames were decorative wreaths of hammered metalwork.
- 30Each stand had 4 bronze wheels with bronze axles, and supports at the 4 corners beneath the basin. These supports were cast with decorative wreaths on each side.
- 31The opening at the top of each stand extended 1 cubit above the surface inside a circular frame. The opening itself was round, set on a pedestal 1 and a half cubits across, and decorated with engravings. The surrounding panels, however, were square rather than round.
- 32The 4 wheels were positioned beneath the panels, and the axles were attached to the stand. Each wheel was 1 and a half cubits tall.
- 33The wheels were built like chariot wheels — their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all made of cast metal.
- 34Each stand had 4 supports at its 4 corners, cast as one piece with the stand itself.
- 35At the top of each stand was a circular band half a cubit high, and the supports and panels at the top were cast as part of the stand.
- 36On the flat surfaces of the supports and panels, he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees wherever there was space, surrounded by decorative wreaths.
- 37All 10 stands were made this way — each one identical in casting, measurements, and design.
- 38He then made 10 bronze basins, one for each stand. Each basin held 40 baths of water and measured 4 cubits across.
- 39He placed five stands on the right side of the house and five on the left side. He set the Sea on the right side of the house, eastward, opposite the south.
- 40Hiram also made the lavers, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished all the work that he made for King Solomon for the house of the LORD:
- 41the 2 pillars; the 2 bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars; the 2 lattice networks covering those capitals;
- 42the 400 pomegranates for the 2 networks — 2 rows of pomegranates on each network — covering the bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;
- 43the 10 stands and the 10 basins on them;
- 44the Sea and the 12 oxen beneath it;
- 45and the pots, shovels, and sprinkling basins. Every one of these items that Hiram made for King Solomon for the house of the LORD was crafted from polished bronze.
- 46The king had all of these pieces cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley, in the area between Succoth and Zarthan.
- 47Solomon did not weigh any of the items because there were so many of them, and the weight of the bronze was not determined.
- 48Solomon also made all the furnishings for the house of the LORD: the gold altar, and the gold table on which the shewbread was placed,
- 49the lampstands of pure gold — 5 on the right side and 5 on the left — placed in front of the inner sanctuary, along with the gold flowers, lamps, and tongs,
- 50the bowls, the snuffers, the basins, the spoons, and the censers of pure gold; and the gold hinges for the doors of the inner house, the Most Holy Place, and for the doors of the house, that is, of the temple.
- 51So all the work that King Solomon made for the house of the LORD was finished. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated — the silver, the gold, and the vessels — and put them among the treasures of the house of the LORD.