Old/New Testament

6 During the second month called Ziv in the 4th year of Solomon’s reign, 480 years after the Israelites had departed from Egypt, Solomon began constructing the Eternal’s temple.

² The Eternal’s temple was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. ³ The front porch of the temple was 30 feet long (the same measurement as the width) and 15 feet deep at the front. ⁴ Solomon made windows that had artistic frames. ^5-6 He built the structure surrounding the central sanctuary of the temple that supported the sanctuary’s walls and served as storehouses. The lower level of the structure was 7½ feet wide, the middle level was 9 feet wide, and the top level was 10½ feet wide. He constructed coffers in the temple so that the ceiling beams would not intersect with the temple walls.

⁷ The temple was constructed out of rocks that had been finished and polished at the quarry. Not a single hammer, hatchet, or other iron tool was heard inside the temple during construction. ⁸ The entrance into the lowest^[a] level was on the right side of the temple. From there a winding staircase led up to the middle level, and from there, to the top level.

⁹ Solomon completed the temple, and he roofed it with beams and cedar boards. ¹⁰ He constructed the structure on the outside of the temple as well. Each level was 7½ feet high and was connected to the temple by cedar beams.

¹¹ The voice of the Eternal One spoke to Solomon.

¹⁴ Solomon built the temple, and he completed the task. ¹⁵ He covered the inner walls with cedar boards, overlaying the stone inner walls with wood from the floor to the ceiling, and he laid the floor with cypress boards. ¹⁶ He covered 30 feet of the back end of the temple with cedar boards that reached from the floor to the ceiling. He made this inner place the most holy sanctuary. ¹⁷ The part of the temple in front of the inner sanctuary was 60 feet long. ¹⁸ The cedar paneling inside of the temple was carved with gourds and flowers. There was no stone showing between the wood panels. Only the cedar boards could be seen.

¹⁹ Solomon then prepared the inner sanctuary in the temple specifically to hold the Eternal’s covenant chest. ²⁰ This inner sanctuary was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. The walls were gilded, and the altar was paneled with cedar. ²¹ Solomon covered the inside of the temple with the purest gold. He stretched gold chains in front of the inner sanctuary and covered it in gold. ²² He gilded the entire temple as the finishing touch to his work. The altar beside the inner sanctuary was covered with gold as well.

²³ Solomon made two 15-foot-high winged creatures out of olive wood, and these guarded the inner sanctuary. ²⁴ Each wing of one creature was 7½ feet long. The entire wingspan was 15 feet. ^25-26 The other creature had the same measurements and shape: a wingspan 15 feet across and 15 feet high. ²⁷ Solomon set up the creatures inside the inner sanctuary. Both of their wings were stretched out so that one creature’s left wing reached all the way to one wall, and the other creature’s right wing reached all the way to the other wall. Their other wings touched each other at the very center of the temple. ²⁸ Solomon gilded both creatures.

²⁹ He decorated the temple walls with carvings of the winged guardian creatures, palm trees, and flowers. He did this for both the inner sanctuary and outer rooms. ³⁰ He covered the temple floor with gold as well—both the inner sanctuary and outer rooms.

³¹ He crafted olive wood doors, a lintel, and five-sided doorposts for the entryway into the inner sanctuary. ³² He crafted two olive wood doors, and he decorated them with engravings of winged guardian creatures, palm trees, and flowers. He also gilded the doors, winged creatures, and palm trees.

³³ He crafted olive wood doorposts for the entryway into the square central hall. ³⁴ He also made two cypress doors for the entryway. Two of the leaves on one of the doors rotated on an axle, and two leaves of the other door also rotated on an axle. ³⁵ He carved winged guardian creatures, palm trees, and flowers into them; and he gilded the doors and engravings carefully. ³⁶ He constructed the interior court with three rows of cut stones and one row of cedar boards.

³⁷ The foundation of the Eternal’s temple was completed during the spring of the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, in the month of Ziv. ³⁸ The temple was finally completed as planned in all its fine details during the autumn of the eleventh year, in the eighth month of Bul. It took seven years in all to complete construction.

7 It took Solomon 13 years to complete his own house. ² He constructed the house of the forest of Lebanon, and it was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. It was built on top of cedar beams supported by 4 rows of cedar columns. ³ The space above the side rooms (which were on top of the 45 columns, 15 columns in each row) was paneled with cedar. ⁴ There were 3 rows of window frames directly opposite each other—3 on each side. ⁵ The doorways and doorposts were square, and the openings were directly opposite each other: 3 on each side.

⁶ Solomon then constructed the hall of pillars. It was 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. There was a porch with pillars and a canopy as an entryway before them. ⁷ Then he made the hall for the throne. This is where he would give judgment; thus it was called the hall of judgment. The entire room was paneled from floor to floor^[b] with cedar.

⁸ His own residence, the interior court behind the hall of judgment, was made the same way. For his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter, Solomon constructed another house like the hall of judgment. ⁹ They were all decorated inside and out, top to bottom, with costly stones, rare rocks perfectly cut with saws. ¹⁰ The foundation of the house was made out of rare, expensive stones. There were some gigantic stones, 12 and 15 feet long. ¹¹ The elevation of the house was also made of large, costly stones; and they were trimmed to perfection, along with the cedar. ¹² The courtyard had 3 rows of trimmed stones; and it also had 1 row of cedar beams, just like the porch and the central hall of the Eternal’s temple.

¹³ King Solomon sent for Hiram, the master craftsman from Tyre. ¹⁴ Hiram was the son of a widow from the Naphtali tribe. His father was a craftsman from Tyre who was wise, educated, and skilled enough to do anything with bronze. Hiram did all the bronze work for King Solomon. ¹⁵ He crafted the 2 bronze columns. Each one of them was 27 feet high, and the circumference of both was 18 feet. ¹⁶ He cast 2 capitals out of molten bronze for the columns. Each of the capitals was 7½ feet high. ¹⁷ There was an intricate network of twisted threads and chain on the capitals of the columns. There were 7 networks on each capital. ¹⁸ Hiram crafted the columns and 2 rows around one network in order to hide the capitals that were over the pomegranates.^[c] He did the same thing for the other capital. ¹⁹ The capitals on the porch columns were crafted to look like 6-foot-high lilies. ²⁰ There were capitals on top of both columns, and above the round sun face beside the network were 200 pomegranates in rows around both capitals. ²¹ He raised the columns on the porch of the central hall. After he raised the column on the right, he named it Jachin, meaning “he will establish.” He raised the column on the left and named it Boaz, meaning “in it is strength.” ²² There were lily designs at the top of both columns.

When he had finished casting the columns, ²³ Hiram cast the sea. It was in the shape of a circle: 15 feet in diameter, 7½ feet deep, and 45 feet in circumference. ²⁴ Gourds surrounded the sea underneath the brim: 10 gourds for every foot and a half. They were in 2 rows and had been cast as part of the sea. ²⁵ Its pedestal was 12 oxen: 3 of the oxen faced north, 3 faced west, 3 faced south, and 3 faced east so that the back ends of the oxen were all on the inside. ²⁶ The sea was as thick as a hand is wide. The edge of it was designed like the edge of a cup, curved back like the blossom of a lily. The sea had a water capacity of 12,000 gallons.^[d]

²⁷ Hiram then crafted 10 bronze moveable stands. Each water stand was 6 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 4½ feet high. ²⁸ The stands had side panels and panels between the crossbars. ²⁹ On the panels between the crossbars there were lions, oxen, and winged creatures. There was a pedestal over the crossbars that would support the basin, and there were garlands of ornaments below the lions and oxen. ³⁰ There were 4 bronze wheels and 4 bronze axles for each stand. The 4 legs of each stand also had 4 bases. There were bases with garlands on all sides below the basin. ³¹ The opening at the crown of the cart was 1½ feet wide, in the shape of a circle, and like the pedestal, 27 inches. There were carvings on the opening, and the ends were straight, not rounded. ³² The 4 wheels were beneath the panels, and the wheel axles were on the base. Each wheel was 27 inches tall. ³³ The wheels were crafted like the wheels of a chariot. Their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all cast. ³⁴ There were 4 braces on the 4 corners of each base that were part of the stand. ³⁵ There was a circular form 18 inches high above the base that the basin would rest in. It remained above the base, connected to the perimeter. ³⁶ Hiram carved winged creatures, lions, and palm trees onto the braces wherever he found space, and he surrounded them with garlands. ³⁷ All 10 of the stands were cast from the same mold, giving them all the same measurements and shape.

³⁸ He crafted 10 bronze basins. Each basin had a capacity of 240 gallons and was 6 feet tall. There was 1 basin on each of the 10 stands. ³⁹ He put 5 of the stands on the right side of the temple and the other 5 on the left side. He placed the sea on the right end of the temple, toward the southeast.

⁴⁰ Hiram cast the basins, shovels, and bowls. He finally completed all his work for King Solomon in the Eternal’s temple: ⁴¹ 2 columns and 2 bowls for the capitals (which were placed on top of the columns), 2 networks that were placed over the bowls of the capitals, ⁴² 400 pomegranates for the 2 networks, 2 rows of pomegranates for each network to go over the 2 bowls of the capitals which sat on top of the columns, ⁴³ 10 stands, 10 basins for the stands, ⁴⁴ the sea, the 12 oxen beneath the sea, ⁴⁵ buckets, shovels, bowls, and everything else, including the objects Hiram crafted for Solomon in the Eternal’s temple. All were made out of burnished bronze. ⁴⁶ The king molded the clay into forms in the plain of the Jordan and cast them there, between Succoth and Zarethan.

⁴⁷ Solomon did not weigh any of the utensils because there were so many of them. It was impossible to get an accurate weight of the bronze.

⁴⁸ Solomon had crafted all the furniture in the Eternal’s temple: the golden altar; the golden table that held the bread of the Presence; ⁴⁹ 5 golden lampstands on the right and 5 on the left in front of the inner sanctuary; the golden flowers, lamps, and tongs; ⁵⁰ the golden cups, snuffers, bowls, spoons, and coal pans; the door hinges of the inner sanctuary (which was the most holy place); and the door hinges for the central hall of the temple that were crafted out of the purest gold.

⁵¹ Solomon’s work in the Eternal’s temple was complete. Solomon moved the sacred things his father had sanctified—the silver, gold, and utensils—into the treasuries in the Eternal’s temple.

²⁷ Another group came to test Him—this time from the Sadducees, a rival party of the Pharisees, who believe that there is no resurrection.

⁴⁰ After this no one had the courage to ask Him any more questions. ⁴¹ But He asked them a question.

⁴⁵ Jesus turned to His disciples, speaking loudly enough for the others to hear.