1 Kings 7

1 And Solomon has built his own house [in] thirteen years, and he finishes all his house.

However, it took Solomon thirteen years to finish building the whole of his palace.

2 And he builds the House of the Forest of Lebanon; its length [is] one hundred cubits, and its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, on four rows of cedar pillars, and cedar-beams on the pillars;

He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon— a hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. There were four rows of cedar pillars that supported cedar beams.

3 and [it is] covered with cedar above, on the sides that [are] on the forty-five pillars, fifteen in the row.

The cedar roof of the house was on top of the beams that rested on the pillars. There were forty-five beams, fifteen in each row.

4 And frames [are] in three rows, and window [is] toward window three times.

The windows were placed high up, in three rows facing each other.

5 And all the openings and the doorposts [are of] square frame; and window [is] toward window three times.

All the doorways and door casings had rectangular frames, the openings facing each other in sets of three.

6 And he has made the porch of the pillars; its length fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits, and the porch [is] before them, and pillars and a thick place [are] before them.

He also had the Hall of Columns made—forty cubits long and thirty cubits wide. It had a porch in front, its canopy also supported by columns.

7 And the porch of the throne where he judges—the porch of judgment—he has made, and [it is] covered with cedar from the floor to the floor.

The throne room where he sat as judge was called the Hall of Justice, lined with cedar panels from floor to ceiling.

8 As for his house where he dwells, the other court [is] within the porch—it has been as this work; and he makes a house for the daughter of Pharaoh—whom Solomon has taken—like this porch.

Solomon's own palace where he lived was in a courtyard behind the porch, made in a similar way to the Temple. He also had a palace made for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he'd married.

9 All these [are] of precious stones, according to the measures of hewn work, sawn with a saw, inside and outside, even from the foundation to the coping, and at the outside, to the great court.

All these buildings were built using stone blocks that were expensive to produce. They were cut to size and trimmed with saws on the inside and outside. These stones were used from the foundation to the eaves, from the outside of the building all the way to the great courtyard.

10 And the foundation [is] of precious stones, great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits;

The foundations were laid with very large top-quality stones, between eight and ten cubits long.

11 and precious stones [are] above, according to the measures of hewn work, and cedar;

On these were placed top-quality stones, cut to size, along with cedar timber.

12 and the great court around [is] three rows of hewn work, and a row of cedar-beams, even for the inner court of the house of YHWH, and for the porch of the house.

Around the great courtyard, the inner courtyard, and the porch of the Lord's Temple were three courses of dressed stone and a course of cedar beams.

13 And King Solomon sends and takes Hiram out of Tyre—

King Solomon sent for Hiram from Tyre.

14 he [is the] son of a woman, a widow, of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father [is] a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze, and he is filled with the wisdom and the understanding, and the knowledge to do all work in bronze—and he comes to King Solomon, and does all his work.

He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was from Tyre, a craftsman who worked in bronze. Hiram had great expertise, understanding and being familiar with all kinds of bronze work. He came to King Solomon and carried out all that the king required.

15 And he forms the two pillars of bronze; eighteen cubits [is] the height of the first pillar, and a cord of twelve cubits goes around the second pillar.

He cast two columns in bronze. They were both eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference.

16 And he has made two chapiters to put on the tops of the pillars, cast in bronze; five cubits the height of the first capital, and five cubits the height of the second capital.

He also cast two capitals in bronze to place on top of the columns. Each capital was five cubits high.

17 Nets of network, wreaths of chain-work [are] for the chapiters that [are] on the top of the pillars, seven for the first capital, and seven for the second capital.

He made a network of lattice of interlinked chains for both capitals, seven for each one.

18 And he makes the pillars, and two rows around on the one network, to cover the chapiters that [are] on the top, with the pomegranates, and so he has made for the second capital.

Around the lattice network he made two rows of ornamental pomegranates to cover the capitals on the top of both the columns.

19 And the chapiters that [are] on the top of the pillars [are] of lily-work in the porch, four cubits;

The capitals placed on top of columns in the porch were in the shape of lilies, four cubits high.

20 and the chapiters on the two pillars also [have pomegranates] above, close by the protuberance that [is] beside the net; and the pomegranates [are] two hundred, in rows around on the second capital.

On the capitals of both columns were the two hundred pomegranates in rows that encircled them, just above the rounded part that was next to the chain network.

21 And he raises up the pillars for the porch of the temple, and he raises up the right pillar, and calls its name Jachin, and he raises up the left pillar, and calls its name Boaz;

He erected the columns at the entrance porch of the Temple. The southern column he named Jachin, and the northern column he named Boaz.

22 and on the top of the pillars [is] lily-work; and the work of the pillars [is] completed.

The capitals on the columns were in the shape of lilies. And so the work on the columns was finished.

23 And he makes the molten sea, ten by the cubit from its edge to its edge; [it is] round all about, and its height [is] five by the cubit, and a line of thirty by the cubit surrounds it around;

Then he made the Sea of cast metal. Its shape was circular, and measured ten cubits from edge to edge, five cubits in height, and thirty cubits in circumference.

24 and knobs beneath its brim around are going around it, ten by the cubit, going around the sea; the knobs [are] in two rows, cast in its being cast.

Below the edge it was decorated with ornamental gourds that encircled it, ten per cubit all the way around. They were in two rows cast as one piece with the Sea.

25 It is standing on twelve oxen, three facing the north, and three facing the west, and three facing the south, and three facing the east, and the sea [is] on them above, and all their back parts [are] inward.

The Sea stood on twelve metal bulls. Three faced to the north, three to the west, three to the south, and three to the east. The Sea was placed on them, with their rears toward the center.

26 And its thickness [is] a handbreadth, and its edge [is] as the work of the edge of a cup, [as] flowers of lilies; it contains two thousand baths.

It was as thick as the width of a hand, and its edge was like the flared edge of a cup or a lily flower. It held two thousand baths.

27 And he makes the ten bases of bronze; the length of the one base [is] four by the cubit, and its breadth [is] four by the cubit, and its height [is] three by the cubit.

He also made ten carts to carry basins. The carts measured four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high.

28 And this [is] the work of the base: they have borders, and the borders [are] between the joinings;

This is how they were put together: side panels were attached to uprights.

29 and on the borders that [are] between the joinings [are] lions, oxen, and cherubim, and on the joinings a base above, and beneath the lions and the oxen [are] additions—sloping work.

Both the side panels and the uprights were decorated with lions, bulls, and cherubim. Above and below the lions and the bulls were decorative wreaths.

30 And four wheels of bronze [are] for the one base, and axles of bronze; and its four corners have shoulders—the molten shoulders [are] under the laver, beside each addition.

Each cart had four bronze wheels with bronze axles. A basin rested on four supports that had decorative wreaths on each side.

31 And its mouth within the capital and above [is] by the cubit, and its mouth [is] round, the work of the base, a cubit and half a cubit; and also on its mouth [are] carvings and their borders, square, not round.

At the top of each cart was a round opening like a pedestal to hold the basin. The opening was one cubit deep, and one and a half cubits wide. The opening had carvings around it. The panels of the cart were square, not round.

32 And the four wheels [are] under the borders, and the spokes of the wheels [are] in the base, and the height of the one wheel [is] a cubit and half a cubit.

The four wheels were under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were attached to the cart. Each wheel measured one and a half cubits in diameter.

33 And the work of the wheels [is] as the work of the wheel of a chariot, their spokes, and their axles, and their felloes, and their naves; the whole [is] molten.

The wheels were made in the same way as chariot wheels; their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all made by casting.

34 And four shoulders [are] for the four corners of the one base; its shoulders [are] out of the base.

Each cart had four handles, one on each corner, made as part of the stand.

35 And in the top of the base [is] the half of a cubit in the height all around; and on the top of the base its spokes and its borders [are] of the same.

There was a ring on the top of the cart a half cubit wide. The supports and panels were cast as one piece with the top of the cart.

36 And he engraves on the tablets of its spokes, and on its borders, cherubim, lions, and palm-trees, according to the void space of each, and additions all around.

He had designs of cherubim, lions, and palm trees engraved on the panels, supports, and frame, wherever there was space, with decorative wreaths all around.

37 Thus he has made the ten bases; they all have one casting, one measure, one form.

This is how he made the ten carts, with the same casts, size, and shape.

38 And he makes ten lavers of bronze; the one laver contains forty baths [and] the one laver [is] four by the cubit; one laver on the one base [is] for [each of] the ten bases;

Then he made ten bronze basins. Each one held forty baths and measured four cubits across, one basin for each of the ten carts.

39 and he puts the five bases on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house, and he has put the sea on the right side of the house eastward—from toward the south.

He placed five carts on the south side of the Temple and five on the north side. He placed the Sea on the south side, by the southeast corner of the Temple.

40 And Hiram makes the lavers, and the shovels, and the bowls; and Hiram completes to do all the work that he made for King Solomon, [for] the house of YHWH:

He also made the pots, shovels, and bowls. So Hiram finished making everything required by King Solomon for the Temple of the Lord:

41 two pillars, and bowls of the chapiters that [are] on the top of the two pillars, and the two nets to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that [are] on the top of the pillars;

the two columns; the two capitals shaped like bowls on top the columns; the two chain networks that covered the bowls of the capitals on top of the columns;

42 and the four hundred pomegranates for the two nets (two rows of pomegranates for the one net to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that [are] on the front of the pillars);

the four hundred ornamental pomegranates for the chain networks (in two rows for the chain networks that covered the capitals on top of the columns);

43 and the ten bases, and the ten lavers on the bases;

the ten carts; the ten basins on the carts;

44 and the one sea, the twelve oxen under the sea,

the Sea; the twelve bulls under the Sea;

45 and the pots, and the shovels, and the bowls; and all these vessels, that Hiram has made for King Solomon [for] the house of YHWH, [are] of polished bronze.

and the pots, shovels, and bowls. Everything that Hiram made for King Solomon in the Temple of the Lord was made of polished bronze.

46 The king has cast them in the circuit of the Jordan, in the thick soil of the ground, between Succoth and Zarthan.

The king had them cast in molds made of clay in the Jordan valley between Succoth and Zarethan.

47 And Solomon places the whole of the vessels; because of the very great abundance, the weight of the bronze has not been searched out.

Solomon did not weigh anything that had been made because there was just so much—the weight of bronze used could not be measured.

48 And Solomon makes all the vessels that [are] in the house of YHWH: the altar of gold, and the table of gold (on which [is] the Bread of the Presentation),

Solomon also had made all the items for the Temple of the Lord: the golden altar; the golden table where the Bread of the Presence was placed;

49 and the lampstands, five on the right, and five on the left, before the oracle, of refined gold, and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, of gold,

the lampstands made of pure gold that stood in front of the inner sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left; the flowers, lamps, and tongs that were all made of pure gold;

50 and the basins, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and the censers, of refined gold, and the hinges for the doors of the inner-house, for the Holy of Holies, for the doors of the house of the temple, of gold.

the basins, wick trimmers, bowls, ladles, and censers that again were all made of pure gold; and the gold hinges for the doors of the inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place, in addition to the doors of the main hall of the Temple.

51 And it is complete—all the work that King Solomon has made [for] the house of YHWH, and Solomon brings in the sanctified things of his father David; he has put the silver, and the gold, and the vessels in the treasuries of the house of YHWH.

In this way all King Solomon's work for the Temple of the Lord was completed. Then Solomon brought in the items his father David had dedicated, the special objects made of silver, the gold, and the Temple furnishings, and he placed them in the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord.