1 Kings 7

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

They also built a palace for Solomon, but it required 13 years to build it.

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;

One of the buildings they constructed was [a] large [ceremonial hall]. It was called the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon. It was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. It was supported/held up by four rows of pillars of [wood from] cedar [trees]. There were 15 pillars in each row. There were cedar beams across each row.

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

[To support the roof] there were cedar beams that connected the rows of pillars.

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

On each of the two side walls there were three rows of windows.

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

All the windows and doorways had rectangular frames. The windows along the long wall on one side faced the windows on the other side.

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.

They also built another building called the Hall of Pillars. It was 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. It had a covered porch [whose roof was] supported by pillars.

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.

Then they made a building called the Hall of the Throne. It was also called the Hall of Judgment. That was where Solomon decided/judged concerning people’s disputes. The walls were covered with cedar boards, from the floor to the rafters.

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.

In the courtyard behind the Hall of Judgment they built a house for Solomon to live in that was made like the other buildings. They also built the same kind of house for his wife, who was the daughter of the king of Egypt.

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 of those buildings and the walls around the palace courtyard were made from costly blocks of stone, from the foundations up to the eaves. The stones were cut [at the quarry], according to the sizes that were needed, and the sides of the stones were shaped by cutting/smoothing them with saws.

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

The foundations were also made from huge blocks of stone [that were prepared at the quarry]. Some of them were twelve feet long and some were fifteen feet long.

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

On top of the foundation stones were other blocks of stone that were cut according to the sizes they needed, and cedar beams.

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.

The palace courtyard, the inner courtyard in front of the temple, and the entrance room of the temple had walls made by putting down three layers of cut stones between each layer of cedar beams.

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

There was a man who lived in Tyre [city] whose name was Huram. He knew how to make very nice things from bronze. His father had also lived in Tyre and had also been very skilled at making things from bronze, but Huram’s father was no longer living. His mother was from the tribe of Naphtali. Huram was very wise and intelligent and was very skilled at making things from bronze. Solomon invited him to come [to Jerusalem and supervise] all the work of making things from bronze, and Huram agreed.

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.

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 made two bronze pillars. Each one was 27 feet tall and 18 feet around. Each was hollow, and the walls of the pillars were 3 in./7.4 cm. thick.

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 made two bronze caps to be put on top of the pillars. Each cap was 7-1/2 feet tall.

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.

Then he made bronze wreaths of chains to decorate the top part of each pillar.

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.

He also made bronze [figures that resembled] pomegranates. He put two rows of pomegranates over the top parts of each pillar.

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

The top part over each pillar was shaped like a lily. Each [lily leaf] was six feet tall.

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.

These top parts were placed on a bowl-shaped section around which was draped the wreaths of chains. He made 200 [figures that represented] pomegranates and put them in two rows around the top/head of each pillar.

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;

His [helpers] set up the pillars in front of the entrance of the temple. The pillar on the south side was named Jakin, and the pillar on the north side was named Boaz.

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

The bronze top parts that were shaped like lilies were placed on top of the pillars. So Huram and his helpers finished making the bronze pillars.

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;

Huram also constructed a very large round bronze tank that was made of metal and cast [in a clay mold]. It was 7-1/2 ft./2.3 meters high, 30 feet/9 meters across/wide, and 45 feet/13.5 meters around it.

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.

Around the outer edge of the rim of the tank were two rows of gourds that were made of bronze. [But] the gourds [were not cast separately; they] were cast in the same mold as the rest of the tank. For each foot of length around the rim of the tank there were six [figures of] gourds.

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.

Huram [also cast] twelve [bronze statues of] oxen. He placed them to face outward. He placed three of them to face north, three to face west, three to face south, and three to face east. His helpers put the bronze tank on the backs of [the statues of] the oxen.

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.

The sides [of the tank] were 3 in./8 cm. thick. The rim was like the rim of a cup. It [curved outward, ] like the petals of a lily. [When the tank was full, ] it held about 10,000 gallons [of water].

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.

Huram also made ten bronze carts. Each was six feet long and six feet wide and 4-1/2 feet tall.

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

[On the sides of the carts] there were panels which were set in frames.

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.

On those panels were [bronze figures of] lions, bulls, and winged creatures. Below and above the lions and bulls there were decorations of bronze 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 and two axles made of bronze. At the top corners of each cart were bronze supports to hold up a basin. On these supports were also decorations of bronze wreaths.

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.

On top of each cart, [under each basin, ] was a frame [that resembled] a circular collar. The top of each circular frame was 18 inches above the top of the cart, and the bottom of it was nine inches below the top of the cart. There were also decorations of bronze wreaths on the frame engraved within square panels.

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 wheels were 27 inches high. They were below the panels. The wheels were connected to axles that had been cast in the same mold as the rest of the cart.

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 of the carts were like the wheels of chariots. The axles, the rims, the spokes, and the hubs were all cast [from bronze].

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

At the top corners of each cart there were handles. These were cast in the same mold as the rest of the cart.

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 nine-inch bronze band around the top of each cart. There were braces attached to the corners of each cart. The bands and the braces were cast in the same mold as the rest 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.

The braces and the panels [on the sides of the carts] were also decorated with [figures of] winged creatures, lions, and palm trees, whenever there was space for them, and there were bronze wreaths all around them.

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

That is how Huram made the ten carts. They [were all cast in the same mold, so they] were all alike: They all were the same size and had the same 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;

Huram also made ten bronze basins, one for each cart. Each basin was six feet across and held 200 gallons [of water].

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.

Huram placed five of the carts on the south side of the temple and five on the north side. He put the big tank at the southeast corner.

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:

Huram also made pots, shovels [for carrying ashes], and bowls [for carrying the blood of the animals that would be sacrificed]. He completed all the work that King Solomon requested him to do for the temple. [This is a list of the bronze things he made]:

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 pillars; the two top parts to be put over the pillars; the two wreaths of chains to decorate the tops of the pillars;

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 400 [figures of] pomegranates, in two rows, with 100 in each row, that were placed over the top parts of the pillars;

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

the ten carts; the ten basins;

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

the big tank; the twelve [statues of] oxen on whose backs the tank was placed;

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.

the pots, shovels [for the ashes of the altar], and bowls. Huram [and his workers] made all these things for King Solomon and put them outside the temple. They were all 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.

They made them by pouring melted bronze into the clay molds that Huram had set up near the Jordan [River] Valley, between [the cities of] 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 [tell his workers to] weigh those bronze objects, because there were many items. So no one ever knew what they weighed.

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’s [workers] also made all the gold items for the temple: the altar; the table on which the priests put the sacred bread placed before God;

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 ten lampstands [that were put] in front of the Very Holy Place, five on the south side and five on the north side; the [decorations that resembled] flowers; the lamps; the tongs [to grasp the hot coals];

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 cups, the gold lamp wick snuffers, the small lamp bowls, the dishes for incense, the pans [for carrying the hot coals], and the hinges for the doors at the entrance to the Very Holy Place and for the doors at the entrance [to the main room] of the temple. Those things were all made of gold.

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.

So Solomon’s [workers] finished all the work for the temple. Then they placed in the temple storerooms all the things that his father David had dedicated to Yahweh—all the silver and gold, and the other valuable items.