Solomon Builds his Palace

1Solomon, however, took thirteen years to complete the construction of his entire palace. 2He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high, with four rows of cedar pillars supporting the cedar beams. 3The house was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the pillars— forty-five beams, fifteen per row. 4There were three rows of high windows facing one another in three tiers. 5All the doorways had rectangular frames, with the openings facing one another in three tiers.

6Solomon made his colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty cubits wide, with a portico in front of it and a canopy with pillars in front of the portico.

7In addition, he built a hall for the throne, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge. It was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling.

8And the palace where Solomon would live, set further back, was of similar construction. He also made a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.

9All these buildings were constructed with costly stones, cut to size and trimmed with saws inside and out from the foundation to the eaves, and from the outside to the great courtyard.

10The foundations were laid with large, costly stones, some ten cubits long and some eight cubits long. 11Above these were high-grade stones, cut to size, and cedar beams. 12The great courtyard was surrounded by three rows of dressed stone and a row of trimmed cedar beams, as were the inner courtyard and portico of the house of the LORD.

The Work of Hiram

(2 Chronicles 4:1-5)

13Now King Solomon sent to bring Huram from Tyre. 14He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a craftsman in bronze. Huram had great skill, understanding, and knowledge for every kind of bronze work. So he came to King Solomon and carried out all his work.

15He cast two pillars of bronze, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference. 16He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on top of the pillars, each capital five cubits high. 17For the capitals on top of the pillars he made a network of lattice, with wreaths of chainwork, seven for each capital. 18Likewise, he made the pillars with two rows of pomegranates around each grating to cover each capital atop the pillars. 19And the capitals atop the pillars in the portico were shaped like lilies, four cubits high. 20On the capitals of both pillars, just above the rounded projection next to the network, were the two hundred pomegranates in rows encircling each capital. 21Thus he set up the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jachin, and the pillar to the north he named Boaz. 22And the tops of the pillars were shaped like lilies. So the work of the pillars was completed.

The Sea of Cast Metal

23He also made the Sea of cast metal. It was circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim, five cubits in height, and thirty cubits in circumference. 24Below the rim, ornamental buds encircled it, ten per cubit all the way around the Sea, cast in two rows as a part of the Sea. 25The Sea stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The Sea rested on them, with all their hindquarters toward the center. 26It was a handbreadth thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It could hold two thousand baths.

The Ten Bases

27In addition, he made ten movable stands of bronze, each four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high. 28This was the design of the stands: They had side panels attached to uprights, 29and on the panels between the uprights were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the uprights was a pedestal above, and below the lions and oxen were wreaths of beveled work. 30Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles and a basin resting on four supports, with wreaths at each side. 31The opening to each stand inside the crown at the top was one cubit deep, with a round opening like the design of a pedestal, a cubit and a half wide. And around its opening were engravings, but the panels of the stands were square, not round. 32There were four wheels under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were attached to the stand; each wheel was a cubit and a half in diameter. 33The wheels were made like chariot wheels; their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all of cast metal. 34Each stand had four handles, one for each corner, projecting from the stand. 35At the top of each stand was a circular band half a cubit high. The supports and panels were cast as a unit with the top of the stand. 36He engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees on the surfaces of the supports and panels, wherever each had space, with wreaths all around. 37In this way he made the ten stands, each with the same casting, dimensions, and shape.

The Ten Bronze Basins

(2 Chronicles 4:6-8)

38He also made ten bronze basins, each holding forty baths and measuring four cubits across, one basin for each of the ten stands. 39He set five stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north, and he put the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner of the temple.

The Vessels

(2 Chronicles 4:11-18)

40Additionally, Huram made the pots, shovels, and sprinkling bowls. So Huram finished all the work that he had undertaken for King Solomon in the house of the LORD: 41the two pillars; the two bowl-shaped capitals atop the pillars; the two sets of network covering both bowls of the capitals atop the pillars; 42 the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network covering both the bowl-shaped capitals atop the pillars); 43 the ten stands; the ten basins on the stands; 44 the Sea; the twelve oxen underneath the Sea; 45and the pots, shovels, and sprinkling bowls. All the articles that Huram made for King Solomon in the house of the LORD were made of burnished bronze. 46The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan. 47Solomon left all these articles unweighed, because there were so many. The weight of the bronze could not be determined.

48Solomon also made all the furnishings for the house of the LORD: the golden altar; the golden table on which was placed the Bread of the Presence; 49 the lampstands of pure gold in front of the inner sanctuary, five on the right side and five on the left; the gold flowers, lamps, and tongs; 50the pure gold basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, ladles, and censers; and the gold hinges for the doors of the inner temple (that is, the Most Holy Place as well as for the doors of the main hall of the temple.

51So all the work that King Solomon had performed for the house of the LORD was completed. Then Solomon brought in the items his father David had dedicated— the silver, the gold, and the furnishings— and he placed them in the treasuries of the house of the LORD.