1 Wafalme 7

Solomon’s palace

¹Solomon was building his own palace for thirteen years, and then he finished the whole of it. ²He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon about 150 feet long, about 75 feet wide and about 45 feet high. It stood on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams laid on the pillars.^{a 3}It was roofed with cedar above the side rooms that rested on the pillars, forty-five rooms, fifteen in each row.^{bc 4}There were window frames in three rows, and window faced window in three tiers.^{d 5}All the doorways and doorposts had square frames, and in front, window faced window in three tiers.^{e 6}He made the Hall of Pillars about 75 feet long and about 45 feet wide. There was a porch in front of it, and pillars with a canopy in front of that.^{f 7}He made the Hall of the Throne, where he was to judge, the Hall of Judgment. It was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling.^{g 8}His own house where he was to live, in the other courtyard further in from the hall, was built the same way. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married. ⁹All these buildings were made of costly stones, cut to size and sawn on their inner and outer faces, from the foundation up to the top course, and from the outside as far as the great courtyard.^{h 10}The foundations were laid with costly stones, large stones, some measuring about 15 feet and some about 12 feet. ¹¹Above them were costly stones cut to size, and cedar beams. ¹²The great courtyard had walls all around of three courses of cut stone and one course of cedar beams, like the inner courtyard of the house of the LORD and the porch of the house.ⁱ

Hiram makes the bronze pillars and the sea

¹³King Solomon sent for Hiram and brought him from Tyre. ¹⁴He was a widow’s son from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father had been a man of Tyre, a craftsman in bronze. Hiram was full of wisdom, understanding and knowledge for doing every kind of work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his work.^{j 15}He cast the two bronze pillars. Each pillar was about 27 feet high, and it took a line of about 18 feet to go around it. ¹⁶He also made two capitals of cast bronze for the tops of the pillars. One capital was about 7 1/2 feet high, and the other capital was about 7 1/2 feet high. ¹⁷There were nets of lattice work and wreaths of chain work for the capitals on top of the pillars, seven for one capital and seven for the other.^{k 18}He made the pomegranates in two rows all around on the one network, to cover the capitals on top of the pillars, and he did the same for the other capital.^{l 19}The capitals on top of the pillars at the porch were lily work, about 6 feet high.^{m 20}The capitals on the two pillars were also above, close to the rounded part beside the network. There were two hundred pomegranates in rows all around, on the other capital as well.^{n 21}He erected the pillars at the temple porch. The pillar on the right he set up and named Jachin, and the pillar on the left he set up and named Boaz.^{op 22}On top of the pillars was lily work. So the work on the pillars was finished. ²³He made the Sea of cast metal. It was round, about 15 feet from brim to brim and about 7 1/2 feet high, and it took a line of about 45 feet to measure around it. ²⁴Under its brim, gourds went all around it, ten to every 18 inches, encircling the Sea. The gourds were in two rows, cast in one piece with it. ²⁵It stood on twelve oxen: three faced north, three west, three south and three east. The Sea was set on top of them, and their hindquarters were all toward the center. ²⁶It was about 3 inches thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held about 12,000 gallons.^qr

The bronze stands and basins

²⁷He also made ten bronze stands. Each stand was about 6 feet long, about 6 feet wide and about 4 1/2 feet high. ²⁸This is how the stands were made: they had panels, and the panels were set between crossbars.^{st 29}On the panels between the crossbars were lions, oxen and cherubim. On the crossbars there was a base above, and below the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work.^{uv 30}Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and its four feet had supports. The supports were cast to sit beneath the basin, and each had wreaths at its side.^{w 31}Its opening, within the crown, rose about 18 inches upward. The opening was round, made like a pedestal, about 27 inches across. There were carvings on its opening, and the panels were square, not round.^{xy 32}The four wheels were under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were fixed to the stand. Each wheel was about 27 inches high. ³³The wheels were made the way chariot wheels are made: axles, rims, spokes and hubs, all of cast metal.^{z 34}There were four supports at the four corners of each stand, and the supports were part of the stand itself. ³⁵At the top of the stand was a round band about 9 inches high, and at the top of the stand its brackets and panels were one piece with it.^{aa 36}On the surfaces of its brackets and on its panels he engraved cherubim, lions and palm trees, as each had space, with wreaths all around.^{ab 37}This is how he made the ten stands. All of them were cast alike, with the same size and the same shape.

³⁸He made ten bronze basins. Each basin held about 240 gallons and measured about 6 feet across, with one basin on each of the ten stands.^{ac 39}He placed five of the stands on the south side of the house and five on the north side. He put the Sea on the south side of the house, at the southeast corner.

The furnishings of the temple

⁴⁰Hiram also made the basins, the shovels and the sprinkling bowls. So Hiram finished all the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of the LORD:^{ad 41}the two pillars; the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars; the two networks covering the two bowls of the capitals on top of the pillars; ⁴²the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, in two rows on each network, covering the two bowls of the capitals on top of the pillars; ⁴³the ten stands, with the ten basins on the stands; ⁴⁴the one Sea, with the twelve oxen under the Sea; ⁴⁵and the pots, the shovels and the sprinkling bowls. All these things that Hiram made for King Solomon for the house of the LORD were of polished bronze. ⁴⁶The king cast them in the clay ground of the Jordan plain, between Succoth and Zarethan.^{ae 47}Solomon left all these things unweighed because there were so very many of them; the weight of the bronze was never found out.^{af 48}Solomon also made all the furnishings of the house of the LORD: the altar of gold; the table of gold for the bread of the Presence; ⁴⁹the lampstands of pure gold, five on the right and five on the left in front of the inner sanctuary; the flowers, the lamps and the tongs of gold; ⁵⁰the cups, the wick trimmers, the sprinkling bowls, the dishes and the firepans of pure gold; and the gold sockets for the inner house doors, those of the most holy place, and for the doors to the main hall of the temple.^ag

⁵¹So all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the LORD was finished. Then Solomon brought in the things his father David had dedicated, the silver, the gold and the vessels, and he put them in the treasuries of the house of the LORD.