1 Kings 7

Solomon’s Palace

1Now 1Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house. 22He built the house of the forest of Lebanon; its length was 100 3cubits and its width 50 cubits and its height 30 cubits, on four rows of cedar pillars with cedar beams on the pillars. 3It was paneled with cedar above the side chambers which were on the 45 pillars, 15 in each row. 4There were artistic window frames in three rows, and window was opposite window in three ranks. 5All the doorways and doorposts had squared artistic frames, and window was opposite window in three ranks.

6Then he made 4the hall of pillars; its length was 50 cubits and its width 30 cubits, and a porch was in front of them and pillars and a 5threshold in front of them.

7He made the hall of the 6throne where he was to judge, the hall of judgment, and 7it was paneled with cedar from floor to floor.

8His house where he was to live, the other court inward from the hall, was of the same workmanship. 8He also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, 9whom Solomon had married.

9All these were of costly stones, of stone cut according to measure, sawed with saws, inside and outside; even from the foundation to the coping, and so on the outside to the great court.

10The foundation was of costly stones, even large stones, stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits. 11And above were costly stones, stone cut according to measure, and cedar. 12So 10the great court all around had three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams even as the inner court of the house of the Lord, and 11the porch of the house.

Hiram’s Work in the Temple

13Now 12King Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre. 1413He was a widow’s son from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze; and 14he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill for doing any work in bronze. So he came to King Solomon and 15performed all his work.

15He fashioned 16the two pillars of bronze; 17eighteen cubits was the height of one pillar, and a line of twelve cubits 18measured the circumference of both. 16He also made two capitals of molten bronze to set on the tops of the pillars; the height of the one capital was five 19cubits and the height of the other capital was five cubits. 17There were nets of network and twisted threads of chainwork for the capitals which were on the top of the pillars; seven for the one capital and seven for the other capital. 18So he made the pillars, and two rows around on the one network to cover the capitals which were on the top of the pomegranates; and so he did for the other capital. 19The capitals which were on the top of the pillars in the porch were of lily design, four cubits. 20There were capitals on the two pillars, even above and close to the 20rounded projection which was beside the network; and 21the pomegranates numbered two hundred in rows around 22both capitals. 2123Thus he set up the pillars at the 24porch of the nave; and he set up the right pillar and named it 25Jachin, and he set up the left pillar and named it 26Boaz. 22On the top of the pillars was lily design. So the work of the pillars was finished.

2327Now he made the sea of 28cast metal ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and its height was five cubits, and 29thirty cubits in circumference. 24Under its brim 30gourds went around encircling it ten to a cubit, 31completely surrounding the sea; the gourds were in two rows, cast 32with the rest. 2533It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; and the sea was set on top of them, and all their rear parts turned inward. 26It was a handbreadth thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, as a lily blossom; it could hold two thousand baths.

27Then 34he made the ten stands of bronze; the length of each stand was four cubits and its width four cubits and its height three cubits. 28This was the design of the stands: they had borders, even borders between the 35frames, 29and on the borders which were between the 36frames were lions, oxen and cherubim; and on the 37frames there was a pedestal above, and beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work. 30Now each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and its four feet had supports; beneath the basin were cast supports with wreaths at each side. 31Its opening inside the crown at the top was a cubit, and its opening was round like the design of a pedestal, a cubit and a half; and also on its opening there were engravings, and their borders were square, not round. 32The four wheels were underneath the borders, and the axles of the wheels were on the stand. And the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half. 33The workmanship of the wheels was like the workmanship of a chariot wheel. Their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast. 34Now there were four supports at the four corners of each stand; its supports were part of the stand itself. 35On the top of the stand there was a circular form half a 38cubit high, and on the top of the stand its 39stays and its borders were part of it. 36He engraved on the plates of its stays and on its borders, cherubim, lions and palm trees, according to the clear space on each, with wreaths all around. 3740He made the ten stands like this: all of them had one casting, one measure and one form.

3841He made ten basins of bronze, one basin held forty baths; each basin was four cubits, and on each of the ten stands was one basin. 39Then he set the stands, five on the right side of the house and five on the left side of the house; and he set the sea of cast metal on the right side of the house eastward toward the south.

40Now Hiram made the basins and the shovels and the bowls. So Hiram finished doing all the work which he performed for King Solomon in the house of the Lord: 41the two pillars and the two bowls of the capitals which were on the top of the 42two pillars, and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the top of the pillars; 42and the 43four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for each network to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the tops of the pillars; 43and the ten stands with the ten basins on the stands; 44and 44the one sea and the twelve oxen under the sea; 45and 45the pails and the shovels and the bowls; even all these utensils which Hiram made for King Solomon in the house of the Lord were of polished bronze. 4646In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between 47Succoth and 48Zarethan. 47Solomon left all the utensils unweighed, because they were too many; 49the weight of the bronze could not be ascertained.

48Solomon made all the furniture which was in the house of the Lord: 50the golden altar and the golden table on which was the 51bread of the Presence; 49and the lampstands, five on the right side and five on the left, in front of the inner sanctuary, of pure gold; and 52the flowers and the lamps and the tongs, of gold; 50and the cups and the snuffers and the bowls and the spoons and the 53firepans, of pure gold; and the hinges both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, that is, of the nave, of gold.

5154Thus all the work that King Solomon performed in the house of the Lord was finished. And 55Solomon brought in the things dedicated by his father David, the silver and the gold and the utensils, and he put them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.