1 KingsChapter 7

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¹But Solomon took thirteen years to finish building his whole palace. ²He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon. It was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. It had four rows of cedar pillars. These held up the cedar beams.a ³The roof was made of cedar. It lay above the beams that rested on the pillars. There were forty-five beams, fifteen in each row. ⁴There were three rows of windows high up. They were set across from each other in three levels. ⁵All the doorways had frames with four straight sides. The openings were across from each other in three levels. ⁶Solomon made a hall of pillars. It was 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. There was a porch in front of it. In front of the porch were more pillars with a roof over them.b ⁷He also built a hall for his throne. It was called the Hall of Justice. That is where he would judge cases. It was covered with cedar from the floor to the ceiling. ⁸Solomon's own palace was set farther back. It was built in the same way. He also built a palace like this hall for Pharaoh's daughter. She was the woman he had married. ⁹All these buildings were made of costly stones. The stones were cut to size and trimmed with saws on the inside and outside. They were used from the foundation to the top of the walls. They were used from the outside all the way to the great courtyard. ¹⁰The foundations were made of large, costly stones. Some were 15 feet long, and some were 12 feet long.c ¹¹On top of these were more costly stones cut to size. There were cedar beams too. ¹²The walls around the great courtyard had three layers of cut stone and one layer of cedar beams. The inner courtyard and the porch of the house of the LORD were built the same way. ¹³King Solomon sent for a man named Huram. He brought him from Tyre. ¹⁴Huram's mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali. His father was a man from Tyre who worked with bronze. Huram was very skilled. He had understanding and knew how to do every kind of bronze work. So he came to King Solomon and did all the work he was given. ¹⁵He made two bronze pillars in molds. Each one was 27 feet tall and 18 feet around.d ¹⁶He also made two tops of cast bronze to set on the pillars. Each top was 7 and a half feet tall.e ¹⁷For the tops of the pillars, he made a net of crossed bronze strips. It had chains twisted together like wreaths. There were seven for each top. ¹⁸He also made two rows of pomegranates around each net. They covered the tops of the pillars. ¹⁹The tops of the pillars at the porch were shaped like lilies. They were 6 feet tall.f ²⁰On the tops of both pillars, there was a rounded part next to the net. Just above it were two hundred pomegranates. They were set in rows all around each top. ²¹He set up the pillars at the porch of the temple. He named the pillar on the south side Jachin. He named the pillar on the north side Boaz.g ²²The tops of the pillars were shaped like lilies. And so the work on the pillars was finished. ²³He also made the Sea out of melted metal. It was a huge round basin. It was 15 feet across from rim to rim and 7 and a half feet high. It was 45 feet around.h ²⁴Under the rim were rows of buds for decoration all the way around the Sea. There were ten of them in every 18 inches. They were in two rows. They were made in one piece with the Sea. ²⁵The Sea stood on the backs of twelve bronze oxen. Three faced north, three faced west, three faced south, and three faced east. The Sea rested on top of them. Their back ends all faced the center. ²⁶The Sea was about 3 inches thick. Its rim was shaped like the rim of a cup, like a lily flower. It held about 11,500 gallons.i ²⁷He also made ten bronze stands that could be moved. Each one was 6 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 4 and a half feet high.j ²⁸This is how the stands were made: They had side panels joined to posts at the corners. ²⁹On the panels between the posts were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the posts there was a base on top. Below the lions and oxen were wreaths that hung down. ³⁰Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles. Each one had a basin resting on four supports. The supports had wreaths on each side. ³¹Inside the top of each stand was an opening 18 inches deep. The opening was round like a base. It was 27 inches across. There were carvings around the opening. But the panels of the stands were square, not round.k ³²There were four wheels under the panels. The axles of the wheels were joined to the stand. Each wheel was 27 inches tall.l ³³The wheels were made like chariot wheels. Their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all made of melted metal poured in molds. ³⁴Each stand had four handles, one at each corner. They stuck out from the stand. ³⁵At the top of each stand was a round band 9 inches high. The supports and panels were made in one piece with the top of the stand.m ³⁶He carved cherubim, lions, and palm trees on the supports and panels. He put them wherever there was room. There were wreaths all around. ³⁷This is how he made the ten stands. They were all made in the same molds. They were all the same size and shape. ³⁸He also made ten bronze basins. Each one held about 230 gallons. Each was 6 feet across. There was one basin for each of the ten stands.n ³⁹He put five stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north side. He put the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner of the temple. ⁴⁰Huram also made the pots, shovels, and sprinkling bowls. So Huram finished all the work he had agreed to do for King Solomon in the house of the LORD. This is what he made: ⁴¹the two pillars;
the two bowl-shaped tops on the pillars;
the two nets that covered the two bowls on top of the pillars; ⁴²the four hundred pomegranates for the two nets (two rows of pomegranates for each net that covered the bowl-shaped tops of the pillars); ⁴³the ten stands;
the ten basins on the stands; ⁴⁴the Sea;
the twelve oxen under the Sea; ⁴⁵and the pots, shovels, and sprinkling bowls. Huram made all these things for King Solomon for the house of the LORD. They were all made of shiny, polished bronze. ⁴⁶The king had them made in clay molds. This was done on the plain of the Jordan River between Succoth and Zarethan. ⁴⁷Solomon did not weigh any of these things because there were so many. No one could figure out how much the bronze weighed. ⁴⁸Solomon also made all the things for the house of the LORD. He made the gold altar. He made the gold table that held the Bread of the Presence. ⁴⁹He made the lampstands of pure gold in front of the inner room. There were five on the right side and five on the left. He made the gold flowers, lamps, and tongs. ⁵⁰He made the basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, ladles, and incense burners of pure gold. He made gold hinges for the doors of the inner room, the Most Holy Place. He also made gold hinges for the doors of the main hall of the temple. ⁵¹So King Solomon finished all the work for the house of the LORD. Then Solomon brought in the things his father David had set apart for God. He brought the silver, the gold, and the other things. He put them in the treasure rooms of the house of the LORD.