1 Kings 7:1-51

1 Kings Chapter 7: 1-51

It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace.

2 He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred cubits long, fifty wide and thirty high, with four rows of cedar columns supporting trimmed cedar beams.

3 It was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the columns—forty-five beams, fifteen to a row. 4 Its windows were placed high in sets of three, facing each other.

5 All the doorways had rectangular frames; they were in the front part in sets of three, facing each other.

6 He made a colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty wide. In front of it was a portico, and in front of that were pillars and an overhanging roof.

7 He built the throne hall, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge, and he covered it with cedar from floor to ceiling.

8 And 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.

9 All 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.

10 The foundations were laid with large stones of good quality, some measuring ten cubits and some eight.

11 Above were high-grade stones, cut to size, and cedar beams.

12 The 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

13 King Solomon sent to Tyre and brought Huram,

14 whose 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.

15 He cast two bronze pillars, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference.

16 He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars; each capital was five cubits high.

17 A network of interwoven chains adorned the capitals on top of the pillars, seven for each capital.

18 He made pomegranates in two rows encircling each network to decorate the capitals on top of the pillars. He did the same for each capital.

19 The capitals on top of the pillars in the portico were in the shape of lilies, four cubits high.

20 On the capitals of both pillars, above the bowl-shaped part next to the network, were the two hundred pomegranates in rows all around.

21 He erected the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jakin and the one to the north Boaz.

22 The capitals on top were in the shape of lilies. And so the work on the pillars was completed.

23 He 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[o] to measure around it.

24 Below the rim, gourds encircled it—ten to a cubit. The gourds were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.

25 The 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.

26 It was a handbreadth in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths.

27 He also made ten movable stands of bronze; each was four cubits long, four wide and three high.[r]

28 This is how the stands were made: They had side panels attached to uprights.

29 On 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.

30 Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and each had a basin resting on four supports, cast with wreaths on each side.

31 On the inside of the stand there was an opening that had a circular frame one cubit deep. This opening was round, and with its basework it measured a cubit and a half. Around its opening there was engraving. The panels of the stands were square, not round.

32 The 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.

33 The wheels were made like chariot wheels; the axles, rims, spokes and hubs were all of cast metal.

34 Each stand had four handles, one on each corner, projecting from the stand.

35 At the top of the stand there was a circular band half a cubit deep. The supports and panels were attached to the top of the stand.

36 He engraved cherubim, lions and palm trees on the surfaces of the supports and on the panels, in every available space, with wreaths all around.

37 This is the way he made the ten stands. They were all cast in the same molds and were identical in size and shape.

38 He then made ten bronze basins, each holding forty baths[v] and measuring four cubits across, one basin to go on each of the ten stands.

39 He 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.

40 He also made the pots[w] and shovels and sprinkling bowls.
So Huram finished all the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of the LORD:

41 the 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;

42 the 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);

43 the ten stands with their ten basins;

44 the Sea and the twelve bulls under it;

45 the pots, shovels and sprinkling bowls.
All these objects that Huram made for King Solomon for the temple of the LORD were of burnished bronze.

46 The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Sukkoth and Zarethan.

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

48 Solomon 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;

49 the 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;

50 the 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.

51 When 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.

1 Kings 7: 1-51

🍁 1 Kings 7: 1-12
Solomon’s Other Buildings

Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished his entire house

He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon
Its length was a hundred cubits and its breadth fifty cubits and its height thirty cubits, and it was built on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars
And it was covered with cedar above the chambers that were on the forty-five pillars, fifteen in each row
There were window frames in three rows, and window opposite window in three tiers
All the doorways and windows had square frames, and window was opposite window in three tiers

And he made the Hall of Pillars; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits
There was a porch in front with pillars, and a canopy in front of them

And he made the Hall of the Throne where he was to pronounce judgment, even the Hall of Judgment. It was finished with cedar from floor to rafters

His own house where he was to dwell, in the other court back of the hall, was of like workmanship
Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter whom he had taken in marriage

All these were made of costly stones, cut according to measure, sawed with saws, back and front, even from the foundation to the coping, and from the outside to the great court
The foundation was of costly stones, huge stones, stones of eight and ten cubits
And above were costly stones, cut according to measurement, and cedar
The great court had three courses of cut stone all around, and a course of cedar beams; so had the inner court of the house of the Lord and the vestibule of the house

🍁 1 Kings 7: 13-14
Hiram the Craftsman

And King Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre
He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze
And he was full of wisdom, understanding, and skill for making any work in bronze
He came to King Solomon and did all his work

🍁 1 Kings 7: 15-22
The Bronze Pillars for the Temple

He cast two pillars of bronze Eighteen cubits was the height of one pillar, and a line of twelve cubits measured its circumference
It was hollow, and its thickness was four fingers
The second pillar was the same
He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars
The height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits
There were lattices of checker work with wreaths of chain work for the capitals on the tops of the pillars, a lattice for the one capital and a lattice for the other capital
Likewise he made pomegranates in two rows around the one latticework to cover the capital that was on the top of the pillar, and he did the same with the other capital
Now the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars in the vestibule were of lily-work, four cubits
The capitals were on the two pillars and also above the rounded projection which was beside the latticework There were two hundred pomegranates in two rows all around, and so with the other capital
He set up the pillars at the vestibule of the temple
He set up the pillar on the south and called its name Jachin, and he set up the pillar on the north and called its name Boaz
And on the tops of the pillars was lily-work
Thus the work of the pillars was finished

🍁 1 Kings 7: 23-26
The Sea and the Oxen

Then he made the sea of cast metal It was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference

Under its brim were gourds, for ten cubits, compassing the sea all around
The gourds were in two rows, cast with it when it was cast
It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east
The sea was set on them, and all their rear parts were inward
Its thickness was a handbreadth, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily
It held two thousand baths

🍁 1 Kings 7: 27-39
The Carts and the Lavers

He also made the ten stands of bronze
Each stand was four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high
This was the construction of the stands: they had panels, and the panels were set in the frames, and on the panels that were set in the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim
On the frames, both above and below the lions and oxen, there were wreaths of beveled work

Moreover, each stand had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze, and at the four corners were supports for a basin
The supports were cast with wreaths at the side of each
Its opening was within a crown that projected upward one cubit
Its opening was round, as a pedestal is made, a cubit and a half deep
At its opening there were carvings, and its panels were square, not round
And the four wheels were underneath the panels
The axles of the wheels were of one piece with the stands, and the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half
The wheels were made like a chariot wheel; their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast
There were four supports at the four corners of each stand
The supports were of one piece with the stands
And on the top of the stand there was a round band half a cubit high; and on the top of the stand its stays and its panels were of one piece with it
And on the surfaces of its stays and on its panels, he carved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the space of each, with wreaths all around
After this manner he made the ten stands
All of them were cast alike, of the same measure and the same form

And he made ten basins of bronze Each basin held forty baths, each basin measured four cubits, and there was a basin for each of the ten stands
And he set the stands, five on the south side of the house, and five on the north side of the house
And he set the sea at the southeast corner of the house

🍁 1 Kings 7: 40-51
Furnishings of the Temple

Hiram also made the pots, the shovels, and the basins
So Hiram finished all the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of the Lord: the the two pillars, the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars, and the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars; and the four hundred pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars; the ten stands, and the ten basins on the stands; and the one sea, and the twelve oxen underneath the sea

Now the pots, the shovels, and the basins, all these vessels in the house of the Lord, which Hiram made for King Solomon, were of burnished bronze
In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan
And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because there were so many of them; the weight of the bronze was not ascertained

So Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of the Lord: the golden altar, the golden table for the bread of the Presence, the lampstands of pure gold, five on the south side and five on the north, before the inner sanctuary; the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of gold; the cups, snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and fire pans, of pure gold; and the sockets of gold, for the doors of the innermost part of the house, the Most Holy Place, and for the doors of the nave of the temple

Thus all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the Lord was finished
And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and the vessels, and stored them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord