1 Kings 5:1-7:51

Preparations for Building the Temple 1In Hebrew texts 5:1-18 is numbered 5:15-32. When Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David.

2Solomon sent back this message to Hiram: 3“You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the LORD his God until the LORD put his enemies under his feet. 4But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster.

5I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God, as the LORD told my father David, when he said, ‘Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.’

6“So give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians.”

7When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he was greatly pleased and said, “Praise be to the LORD today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.”

8So Hiram sent word to Solomon: “I have received the message you sent me and will do all you want in providing the cedar and juniper logs.

9My men will haul them down from Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea, and I will float them as rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate them and you can take them away. And you are to grant my wish by providing food for my royal household.” 10In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted, 11and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors That is, probably about 3,600 tons or about 3,250 metric tons of wheat as food for his household, in addition to twenty thousand baths Septuagint (see also 2 Chron. 2:10); Hebrew twenty cors That is, about 120,000 gallons or about 440,000 liters of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year.

12The LORD gave Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised him. There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty. 13King Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel—thirty thousand men. 14He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor. 15Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, 16as well as thirty-three hundred Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 2 Chron. 2:2,18) thirty-six hundred foremen who supervised the project and directed the workers. 17At the king’s command they removed from the quarry large blocks of high-grade stone to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. 18The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram and workers from Byblos cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.

Solomon Builds the Temple 1In the four hundred and eightieth Hebrew; Septuagint four hundred and fortieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the LORD . 2The temple that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high. That is, about 90 feet long, 30 feet wide and 45 feet high or about 27 meters long, 9 meters wide and 14 meters high 3The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits, That is, about 30 feet or about 9 meters; also in verses 16 and 20 and projected ten cubits That is, about 15 feet or about 4.5 meters; also in verses 23-26 from the front of the temple. 4He made narrow windows high up in the temple walls. 5Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms.

6The lowest floor was five cubits That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters; also in verses 10 and 24 wide, the middle floor six cubits That is, about 9 feet or about 2.7 meters and the third floor seven. That is, about 11 feet or about 3.2 meters He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls.

7In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built. 8The entrance to the lowest Septuagint; Hebrew middle floor was on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third. 9So he built the temple and completed it, roofing it with beams and cedar planks.

10And he built the side rooms all along the temple. The height of each was five cubits, and they were attached to the temple by beams of cedar. 11The word of the LORD came to Solomon: 12“As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father.

13And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.” 14So Solomon built the temple and completed it. 15He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and covered the floor of the temple with planks of juniper. 16He partitioned off twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. 17The main hall in front of this room was forty cubits That is, about 60 feet or about 18 meters long.

18The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen. 19He prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there. 20The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty wide and twenty high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar. 21Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold.

22So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary. 23For the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim out of olive wood, each ten cubits high. 24One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing five cubits—ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip. 25The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in size and shape. 26The height of each cherub was ten cubits. 27He placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room.

28He overlaid the cherubim with gold. 29On the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers.

30He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold. 31For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors out of olive wood that were one fifth of the width of the sanctuary. 32And on the two olive-wood doors he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold. 33In the same way, for the entrance to the main hall he made doorframes out of olive wood that were one fourth of the width of the hall. 34He also made two doors out of juniper wood, each having two leaves that turned in sockets.

35He carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings.

36And he built the inner courtyard of three courses of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams. 37The foundation of the temple of the LORD was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv. 38In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple was finished in all its details according to its specifications. He had spent seven years building it.

Solomon Builds His Palace 1It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace. 2He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred cubits long, fifty wide and thirty high, That is, about 150 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high or about 45 meters long, 23 meters wide and 14 meters high with four rows of cedar columns supporting trimmed cedar beams. 3It was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the columns—forty-five beams, fifteen to a row. 4Its windows were placed high in sets of three, facing each other.

5All the doorways had rectangular frames; they were in the front part in sets of three, facing each other. The meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.

6He made a colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty wide. That is, about 75 feet long and 45 feet wide or about 23 meters long and 14 meters wide In front of it was a portico, and in front of that were pillars and an overhanging roof. 7He built the throne hall, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge, and he covered it with cedar from floor to ceiling. Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew floor

8And the palace in which he was to live, set farther back, was similar in design. Solomon also made a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married. 9All these structures, from the outside to the great courtyard and from foundation to eaves, were made of blocks of high-grade stone cut to size and smoothed on their inner and outer faces. 10The foundations were laid with large stones of good quality, some measuring ten cubits That is, about 15 feet or about 4.5 meters; also in verse 23 and some eight. That is, about 12 feet or about 3.6 meters 11Above were high-grade stones, cut to size, and cedar beams.

12The great courtyard was surrounded by a wall of three courses of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams, as was the inner courtyard of the temple of the LORD with its portico.

The Temple’s Furnishings 13King Solomon sent to Tyre and brought Huram, Hebrew Hiram, a variant of Huram; also in verses 40 and 45

14whose mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali and whose father was from Tyre and a skilled craftsman in bronze. Huram was filled with wisdom, with understanding and with knowledge to do all kinds of bronze work. He came to King Solomon and did all the work assigned to him. 15He cast two bronze pillars, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference. That is, about 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference or about 8.1 meters high and 5.4 meters in circumference 16He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars; each capital was five cubits That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters; also in verse 23 high. 17A network of interwoven chains adorned the capitals on top of the pillars, seven for each capital. 18He made pomegranates in two rows Two Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts made the pillars, and there were two rows encircling each network to decorate the capitals on top of the pillars. Many Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts pomegranates He did the same for each capital. 19The capitals on top of the pillars in the portico were in the shape of lilies, four cubits That is, about 6 feet or about 1.8 meters; also in verse 38 high. 20On the capitals of both pillars, above the bowl-shaped part next to the network, were the two hundred pomegranates in rows all around. 21He erected the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jakin Jakin probably means he establishes. and the one to the north Boaz. Boaz probably means in him is strength.

22The capitals on top were in the shape of lilies. And so the work on the pillars was completed. 23He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line of thirty cubits That is, about 45 feet or about 14 meters to measure around it.

24Below the rim, gourds encircled it—ten to a cubit. The gourds were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea. 25The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center.

26It was a handbreadth That is, about 3 inches or about 7.5 centimeters in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths. That is, about 12,000 gallons or about 44,000 liters; the Septuagint does not have this sentence. 27He also made ten movable stands of bronze; each was four cubits long, four wide and three high. That is, about 6 feet long and wide and about 4 1/2 feet high or about 1.8 meters long and wide and 1.4 meters high 28This is how the stands were made: They had side panels attached to uprights. 29On the panels between the uprights were lions, bulls and cherubim—and on the uprights as well. Above and below the lions and bulls were wreaths of hammered work. 30Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and each had a basin resting on four supports, cast with wreaths on each side. 31On the inside of the stand there was an opening that had a circular frame one cubit That is, about 18 inches or about 45 centimeters deep. This opening was round, and with its basework it measured a cubit and a half. That is, about 2 1/4 feet or about 68 centimeters; also in verse 32 Around its opening there was engraving. The panels of the stands were square, not round. 32The four wheels were under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were attached to the stand. The diameter of each wheel was a cubit and a half.

33The wheels were made like chariot wheels; the axles, rims, spokes and hubs were all of cast metal. 34Each stand had four handles, one on each corner, projecting from the stand. 35At the top of the stand there was a circular band half a cubit That is, about 9 inches or about 23 centimeters deep. The supports and panels were attached to the top of the stand. 36He engraved cherubim, lions and palm trees on the surfaces of the supports and on the panels, in every available space, with wreaths all around.

37This is the way he made the ten stands. They were all cast in the same molds and were identical in size and shape. 38He then made ten bronze basins, each holding forty baths That is, about 240 gallons or about 880 liters and measuring four cubits across, one basin to go on each of the ten stands. 39He placed five of the stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north. He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner of the temple.

40He also made the pots Many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac and Vulgate (see also verse 45 and 2 Chron. 4:11); many other Hebrew manuscripts basins and shovels and sprinkling bowls. So Huram finished all the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of the LORD :

41the two pillars; the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars; the two sets of network decorating the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;

42the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network decorating the bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars);

43the ten stands with their ten basins;

44the Sea and the twelve bulls under it;

45the pots, shovels and sprinkling bowls. All these objects that Huram made for King Solomon for the temple of the LORD were of burnished bronze. 46The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Sukkoth and Zarethan.

47Solomon left all these things unweighed, because there were so many; the weight of the bronze was not determined.

48Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in the LORD ’s temple: the golden altar; the golden table on which was the bread of the Presence;

49the lampstands of pure gold (five on the right and five on the left, in front of the inner sanctuary); the gold floral work and lamps and tongs;

50the pure gold basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and censers; and the gold sockets for the doors of the innermost room, the Most Holy Place, and also for the doors of the main hall of the temple. 51When all the work King Solomon had done for the temple of the LORD was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated—the silver and gold and the furnishings—and he placed them in the treasuries of the LORD ’s temple.