Solomon Gets Ready to Build the House of God

5 Now Hiram the king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, when he heard that they had set him apart to be king in place of his father. Hiram had always loved David. ² Then Solomon sent word to Hiram, saying, ³ “You know that my father David was not able to build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the wars all around him. The Lord had not yet put those who hated him under his feet. ⁴ But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. There is no trouble or anything bad happening. ⁵ So I plan to build a house for the name of the Lord my God. Because the Lord said to my father David, ‘I will set your son on your throne in your place. He will build the house for My name.’ ⁶ So tell them to cut cedar trees of Lebanon for me. My servants will join yours. And I will give you whatever you say to pay your servants. For you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut trees like the Sidonians.”

⁷ When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he was filled with joy and said, “Thanks be to the Lord today. He has given to David a wise son to rule this great people.” ⁸ Hiram sent word to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the news you have sent me. I will do what you want with the cedar and cypress trees. ⁹ My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea. I will make them ready to go on the sea to the place you choose. I will have them broken up there, and you can carry them away. Then you will do what I wish by giving food to those of my house.” ¹⁰ So Hiram gave Solomon as much as he wanted of the cedar and cypress trees. ¹¹ Then Solomon gave Hiram 200,000 baskets of grain as food for those of his house, and 200 jars of beaten oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram each year. ¹² And the Lord gave wisdom to Solomon, just as He promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they made an agreement.

¹³ Now King Solomon made men work for him from all Israel. There were 30,000 men made to work for him. ¹⁴ He sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 men each month. They were in Lebanon one month and at home two months. Adoniram ruled those who were made to work. ¹⁵ Now Solomon had 70,000 men to carry loads, and 80,000 stone cutters in the mountains. ¹⁶ And he had 3,300 men who were leaders of the work, and who ruled over the people doing the work. ¹⁷ Then as the king told them, they cut out large stones of much worth for the house of God to be built on. ¹⁸ Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites cut them. They made the wood and the stones ready to build the house.

Solomon Builds the House of God

6 In the 480th year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s rule over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord. ² The house which King Solomon built for the Lord was as long as thirty long steps, as wide as ten long steps, and eight times taller than a man. ³ All along the front of the House of God was a porch ten long steps long and five long steps wide. It was as long as the house was wide. ⁴ He made windows for the house with beautiful cross-pieces. ⁵ He made a building of rooms against the outer walls of three sides of the house. These rooms were three floors high. ⁶ The bottom floor was as wide as three steps. The second floor was as wide as three long steps. And the third floor was as wide as four steps. For around the outside of the house he made places for the large wood cross-pieces to rest on. That way they would not need to be put into holes in the walls of the house. ⁷ The house was built of stone that was cut at the place where it was taken from the ground. There was no noise of a hammer or an ax or any iron object heard in the house while it was being built. ⁸ The door for the first floor room was on the right side of the house. They would go up steps to the second floor, and from the second to the third. ⁹ So he built the house and finished it. And he made the roof of the house of large pieces of cedar wood. ¹⁰ He built the three floors against the outside wall of the house. Each one was as high as a man could raise his hand. They were joined to the house with big pieces of cedar wood.

¹¹ Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying, ¹² “If you obey My Laws and keep My Word, then I will keep My promise with you, which I spoke to your father David about this house you are building. ¹³ I will live among the sons of Israel. And I will not leave My people Israel alone.”

¹⁴ So Solomon built the house and finished it. ¹⁵ He built the walls of the house on the inside with pieces of cedar wood. He put wood over the inside walls from the floor of the house to the roof. And he put pieces of cypress wood over the floor of the house. ¹⁶ An inside room called the most holy place was built in the back part of the house with pieces of cedar wood, from the floor to the roof and as wide as ten long steps. ¹⁷ The rest of the house, the center room in front of the most holy place, was as long as twenty long steps. ¹⁸ There was cedar on the house within, cut to look like gourds and open flowers. It was all cedar. No stone was seen. ¹⁹ Then he built the most holy place inside the house, in which to put the special box of the agreement. ²⁰ The most holy place was as long as ten long steps, as wide as ten long steps, and more than five times taller than a man. He covered it with pure gold. And he covered the altar with cedar. ²¹ Solomon covered the inside of the house with pure gold. He crossed the front of the most holy place with chains of gold, and he covered it with gold. ²² He covered the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. And he covered the whole altar by the most holy place with gold.

²³ In the most holy place he made two cherubim of olive wood. Each one was almost three times taller than a man. ²⁴ One wing of the cherub was as long as three steps. And the other wing of the cherub was as long as three steps. It was as far as five long steps from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing. ²⁵ It was as much as five long steps between the ends of the wings of the other cherub also. Both the cherubim were the same height, length and width, and they looked alike. ²⁶ Each of the cherubim was almost three times taller than a man. ²⁷ He put the cherubim in the most holy place of the house. The wings of the cherubim were spread out. The wing of the one cherub was touching the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub was touching the other wall. So their wings were touching each other in the center of the house. ²⁸ He covered the cherubim with gold.

²⁹ Then he cut pictures in all the walls around the house to look like cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, in the center room and the most holy place. ³⁰ He covered the floor of the house with gold, in the center room and the most holy place. ³¹ He made doors of olive wood for the most holy place. The top and sides of the door had five sides. ³² He cut pictures in the two doors of olive wood, to look like cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and covered them with gold. He spread the gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees. ³³ For the doorway of the center room he made four-sided side pieces of olive wood ³⁴ and two doors of cypress wood. Each door had two moving parts. ³⁵ On them he cut pictures of cherubim, palm trees and open flowers. And he covered the pictures with an even covering of gold. ³⁶ He built the inside place with three rows of cut stone and one row of large pieces of cedar wood.

³⁷ In the fourth year the base of the house was laid in the month of Ziv. ³⁸ In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, the eighth month, all the parts of the house were finished just as all the plans had been made. Solomon took seven years to build it.

Solomon’s House

7 Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all of it. ² He built the house of the trees of Lebanon. It was as long as fifty long steps, as wide as twenty-five long steps, and eight times taller than a man. It was built on four rows of cedar pillars, and large pieces of cedar wood lying on top of the pillars. ³ And it was covered with cedar above the rooms that were on the forty-five pillars, fifteen in each row. ⁴ There were three rows of special windows on one side, and three rows of windows on the other side. ⁵ All the doors and windows were as high as they were wide. And there were three rows of windows on each side. ⁶ Then he made a room for walking through of large pillars. It was as long as twenty-five long steps, and as wide as fifteen long steps. There was a porch in front with pillars, and an overhead covering in front of them. ⁷ He made a room for the throne, the room for judging. It was where he would decide between right and wrong. It was covered with cedar from the floor to the roof. ⁸ His own house where he was to live, in the place behind the throne room, was built the same way. Solomon made a house like this room for Pharaoh’s daughter also, whom he had married.

⁹ All these were made with stones of much worth, each one cut to be put into place. They were cut with saws, inside and outside, from the very base to the top of the roof, and from the outside to the largest room.

¹⁰ The base of the building was made with large stones of much worth. The stones were as long as five long steps, and four long steps. ¹¹ Above this were stones of much worth, cut to go well into place, and cedar. ¹² The largest room had three rows of cut stone around it, and a row of cedar pieces. The same was around the open space in the house of the Lord, and the porch of the house.

Hiram—the Able Workman

¹³ Now King Solomon brought Hiram from Tyre. ¹⁴ Hiram was the son of a woman whose husband had died, from the family of Naphtali. His father was a man of Tyre, who worked with brass. He was filled with wisdom and understanding and much learning for doing any work with brass. So he came to King Solomon, and did all his work.

The Two Brass Pillars

¹⁵ He made the two pillars of brass. One of them was five times taller than a man. And the length around each of them was as far as six long steps. ¹⁶ He made two top pieces of melted brass to set on the tops of the pillars. One piece to go on top was as tall as a man can raise his hand. And the other piece to go on top was as tall as a man can raise his hand. ¹⁷ He made nets of network and turned strings of chain-work for the pieces on top of the pillars. There were seven for one top piece, and seven for the other. ¹⁸ So Hiram made the pillars. There were two rows of pomegranates around each network, to cover the top pieces. ¹⁹ Now the top pieces on the pillars of the porch were made to look like lily flowers, as tall as a man. ²⁰ The top pieces were upon the two pillars, and above the round part beside the network. There were 200 pomegranates in rows around both top pieces. ²¹ He set up the pillars at the porch of the house. He set up the right pillar and called it Jachin. And he set up the left pillar and called it Boaz. ²² The top pieces on the pillars were made to look like lily flowers. So the work of the pillars was finished.

The Brass Pool

²³ Now he made a large brass water pool. It was round, and as wide as five long steps. It was as tall as a man can raise his hand. And the length around it was as far as fifteen long steps. ²⁴ Gourds went around the top of the pool. There were ten of them for every cubit. The gourds were in two rows, and made right in with the pool. ²⁵ The pool stood on the backs of twelve bulls made of brass. Three looked to the north. Three looked to the west. Three looked to the south. And three looked to the east. The water was set on top of them, and their back parts turned toward the center. ²⁶ The side of the pool was as far through as the width of a man’s open hand. Its round top was made like the top of a cup, like a lily flower. It could hold 2,000 bottles of water.

The Brass Stands

²⁷ Then he made the ten stands of brass. Each stand was as long as two long steps, as wide as two long steps, and as high as a man’s neck. ²⁸ This is how the stands were made. They had sides of the same length between the cross-pieces. ²⁹ On the side pieces between the cross-pieces were lions, bulls and cherubim. On the side pieces, both above and below the lions and bulls, there were round pieces of hanging work. ³⁰ Each stand had four brass wheels on straight pieces of brass. At the four corners were pieces to hold up the basin. These pieces were made of melted brass with round pieces at each side. ³¹ Its opening inside the crown at the top was a cubit. It was round like a pillar, one and a half cubits deep. There were pictures cut on its opening. And their sides were not round, but had four sides of the same length. ³² Under the sides were the four wheels. The pieces that held the wheels were on the stand. The height of a wheel was one and a half cubits. ³³ The wheels were made like the wheel of a war-wagon. The straight pieces which held the wheels, the outside of the wheels, their crosspieces and their center pieces were all made of one piece of brass. ³⁴ There were four pieces at the four corners of each stand to hold it up. These were of one piece with the stands. ³⁵ A narrow piece went all the way around the top that held it up and the sides were of one piece. ³⁶ He cut pictures of cherubim, lions and palm trees in the plates of the parts that held it up and on its sides, where there was room. And there were pictures all around. ³⁷ He made the ten stands like this. All of them were made alike. They had the same length, width and height, and looked the same. ³⁸ He made ten basins of brass. One basin held 40 bottles of water. Each one was as wide as two long steps. And one basin was on each of the ten stands. ³⁹ Then he put the stands in place. Five were on the south side of the house, and five were on the north side of the house. And he set the large basin of brass on the southeast corner of the house.

⁴⁰ Hiram made the basins, and the objects for digging, and the pots. So Hiram finished doing all the work for King Solomon in the house of the Lord. ⁴¹ He made the two pillars, and the two pots of the top pieces on the top of the two pillars. And he made the two networks to cover the two pots of the pieces on top of the pillars. ⁴² He made the 400 pomegranates for the two networks. There were two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two pots of the pieces on top of the pillars. ⁴³ He made the ten stands with the ten basins on top of them. ⁴⁴ He made the large basin and the twelve bulls under it. ⁴⁵ He made the pails, the objects for digging, and the pots. All these things which Hiram made for King Solomon in the house of the Lord were made of shining brass. ⁴⁶ The king made them in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan. ⁴⁷ Solomon did not weigh any of the objects, because there were too many. The weight of the brass was not known.

⁴⁸ Solomon made all the holy things which were in the house of the Lord. He made the gold altar and the gold table for the bread before the Lord. ⁴⁹ He made the lamp-stands of pure gold. There were five on the right side and five on the left side, in front of the most holy place. He made the flowers and the lamps and their objects out of gold. ⁵⁰ He made the cups, the objects to put out the lamps, the pots, the dishes for special perfume, and the fire-holders, of pure gold. He made the hinges of gold, for the doors of the most holy place and for the doors of the house.

⁵¹ So all the work that King Solomon did in the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things which had been set apart by his father David, the silver and the gold and the holy things. He put them in the store-houses of the house of the Lord.