1 Kings 7
1 They also built a palace for Solomon, but it required 13 years to build it.
And Solomon built a house for himself in thirteen years.
2 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.
And he built the house with the wood of Libanus; its length [was] a hundred cubits, and its breadth [was] fifty cubits, and its height [was] of thirty cubits, and [it was made] with three rows of cedar pillars, and the pillars had side-pieces of cedar.
3 [To support the roof] there were cedar beams that connected the rows of pillars.
And he formed the house with chambers above on the sides of the pillars, and the number of the pillars [was each] row forty and five,
4 On each of the two side walls there were three rows of windows.
and [there were] three chambers, and space against space in three rows.
5 All the windows and doorways had rectangular frames. The windows along the long wall on one side faced the windows on the other side.
And all the doors and spaces formed like chambers [were] square, and from door to door [was a correspondence] in three rows.
6 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.
And [he made] the porch of the pillars, [they were] fifty [cubits] long and fifty broad, the porch joining them in front; and the [other] pillars and the thick beam [were] in front of the house by the porches.
7 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.
And [there was] the Porch of seats where he would judge, the porch of judgment.
8 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.
And their house where he would dwell, [had] one court communicating with these according to this work; and [he built] the house for the daughter of Pharao whom Solomon had taken, according to this porch.
9 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.
All these [were] of costly stones, sculptured at intervals within even from the foundation even to the top, and outward to the great court,
10 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.
founded with large costly stones, stones of ten cubits and eight cubits [long].
11 On top of the foundation stones were other blocks of stone that were cut according to the sizes they needed, and cedar beams.
And above with costly stones, according to the measure of hewn stones, and with cedars.
12 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.
[There were] three rows of hewn [stones] round about the great hall, and a row of sculptured cedar.
13 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.
And king Solomon sent, and took Chiram out of Tyre,
the son of a widow woman; and he [was] of the tribe of Nephthalim, and his father [was] a Tyrian; a worker in brass, and accomplished in are and skill and knowledge to work every work in brass: and he was brought in to king Solomon, and he wrought all the works.
15 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.
And he cast the two pillars for the porch of the house: eighteen cubits [was] the height of [each] pillar, and a circumference of fourteen cubits encompassed it, even the thickness of the pillar: the flutings [were] four fingers [wide], and thus [was] the other pillar [formed].
16 He also made two bronze caps to be put on top of the pillars. Each cap was 7-1/2 feet tall.
And he made two molten chapiters to put on the heads of the pillars: five cubits [was] the height of one chapiter, and five cubits [was] the height of the other chapiter.
17 Then he made bronze wreaths of chains to decorate the top part of each pillar.
And he made two ornaments of network to cover the chapiters of the pillars; even a net for one chapiter, and a net for the other chapiter.
18 He also made bronze [figures that resembled] pomegranates. He put two rows of pomegranates over the top parts of each pillar.
And hanging work, two rows of brazen pomegranates, formed with network, hanging work, row upon row: and thus he framed [the ornaments] for the second chapiter. And he set up the pillars of the porch of the temple: and he set up the one pillar, and called its name Jachum: and he set up the second pillar, and called its name Boloz.
19 The top part over each pillar was shaped like a lily. Each [lily leaf] was six feet tall.
And on the heads of the pillars he made lily-work against the porch, of four cubits,
20 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.
and a chamber over both the pillars, and above the sides an addition [equal to] the chamber in width.
21 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 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 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.
And he made the sea, ten cubits from one rim to the other, the same was completely circular round about: its height [was] five cubits, and its circumference thirty-three cubits.
24 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.
And stays underneath its rim round about compassed it ten cubits round;
25 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.
And [there were] twelve oxen under the sea: three looking to the north, and three looking to the west, and three looking to the south, and three looking to the east: and all their hinder parts [were] inward, and the sea [was] above upon them.
26 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].
and its rim [was] as the work of the rim of a cup, a lily-flower, and the thickness of it [was] a span.
27 Huram also made ten bronze carts. Each was six feet long and six feet wide and 4-1/2 feet tall.
And he made ten brazen bases: five cubits [was] the length of one base, and four cubits the breadth of it, and its height [was] six cubits.
28 [On the sides of the carts] there were panels which were set in frames.
And this work of the bases [was] formed with a border the them, and [there was] a border between the ledges.
29 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.
And upon their borders between the projection [were] lions, and oxen, and cherubs: and on the projections, even so above, and also below [were] the places of lions and oxen, hanging work.
30 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.
And [there were] four brazen wheels to one base; and [there were] brazen bases, and their four sides [answering to them], side pieces under the bases.
31 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.
And [there were] axles in the wheels under the base.
32 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.
And the height of one wheel [was] a cubit and a half.
33 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].
And the work of the wheels [was] as the work of chariot wheels: their axles, and their felloes, and [the rest of] their work, [were] all molten.
34 At the top corners of each cart there were handles. These were cast in the same mold as the rest of the cart.
The four side pieces were at the four corners of each base; its shoulders [were formed] of the base.
35 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.
And on the top of the base half a cubit [was] the size of it, [there was] a circle on the top of the base, and [there was] the top of its spaces and its borders: and it was open at the top of its spaces.
36 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.
And its borders [were] cherubs, and lions, and palm-trees, upright, each [was] joined in front [and] within and round about.
37 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.
According to the same form he made all the ten bases, [even] one order and one measure to all.
38 Huram also made ten bronze basins, one for each cart. Each basin was six feet across and held 200 gallons [of water].
And he made ten brazen lavers, each laver containing forty baths, [and] measuring four cubits, each laver [placed] on a several base throughout the ten bases.
39 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.
And he put five bases on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house: and the sea was placed on the right side of the house eastward in the direction of the south.
40 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]:
And Chiram made the caldrons, and the pans, and the bowls; and Chiram finished making all the works that he wrought for king Solomon in the house of the Lord:
41 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;
two pillars and the wreathen works of the pillars on the heads of the two pillars; and the two networks to cover both the wreathen works of the flutings that were upon the pillars.
42 the 400 [figures of] pomegranates, in two rows, with 100 in each row, that were placed over the top parts of the pillars;
The four hundred pomegranates for both the networks, two rows of pomegranates for one network, to cover both the wreathen works of the bases belonging to both pillars.
43 the ten carts; the ten basins;
And the ten bases, and the ten lavers upon the bases.
44 the big tank; the twelve [statues of] oxen on whose backs the tank was placed;
And one sea, and the twelve oxen under the sea.
45 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.
And the caldrons, and pans, and bowls, and all the furniture, which Chiram made for king Solomon for the house of the Lord: and [there were] eight and forty pillars of the house of the king and of the house of the Lord: all the works of the king which Chiram made were entirely of brass.
46 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 Solomon did not [tell his workers to] weigh those bronze objects, because there were many items. So no one ever knew what they weighed.
There was no reckoning of the brass of which he made all these works, from the very great abundance, there was no end of the weight of the brass. In the country round about Jordan did he cast them, in the clay land between Socchoth and Sira.
48 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;
And king Solomon took the furniture which [Chiram] made for the house of the Lord, the golden altar, and the golden table of show bread.
49 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];
And [he put] the five candlesticks on the left, and five on the right in front of the oracle, [being] of pure gold, and the lamp-stands, and the lamps, and the snuffers of gold.
50 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.
And [there were made] the porches, and the nails, and the bowls, and the spoons, and the golden censers, of pure gold: and the panels of the doors of the innermost part of the house, [even] the holy of holies, and the golden doors of the temple.
51 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.
So the work of the house of the Lord which Solomon wrought was finished; and Solomon brought in the holy things of David his father, and all the holy things of Solomon; he put the silver, and the gold, and the furniture, into the treasures of the house of the Lord.
