1 Kings 7

New King James Version

Solomon’s Other Buildings

7 But Solomon took^(A)thirteen years to build his own house; so he finished all his house.

² He also built the^(B)House of the Forest of Lebanon; its lengthwas^[a]one hundred cubits, its width^[b]fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, with four rows of cedar pillars, and cedar beams on the pillars.³ Andit waspaneled with cedar above the beams thatwereon forty-five pillars, fifteentoa row.⁴ There werewindowswith beveled frames inthree rows, and windowwasopposite windowinthree tiers.⁵ And all the doorways and doorpostshadrectangular frames; and windowwasopposite windowinthree tiers.

⁶ He also made the Hall of Pillars: its lengthwasfifty cubits, and its width thirty cubits; and in front of themwasa portico with pillars, and a canopywasin front of them.

⁷ Then he made a hall for the throne, the Hall of Judgment, where he might judge; andit waspaneled with cedar from floor to^[c]ceiling.

⁸ And the house where he dwelthadanother court inside the hall, of like workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter,^(C)whom he had takenas wife.

⁹ All thesewere ofcostly stones cut to size, trimmed with saws, inside and out, from the foundation to the eaves, and also on the outside to the great court.¹⁰ The foundationwas ofcostly stones, large stones, some ten cubits and some eight cubits.¹¹ And abovewerecostly stones, hewn to size, and cedar wood.¹² The great courtwasenclosed with three rows of hewn stones and a row of cedar beams. So were the^(D)inner court of the house of theLord^(E)and the vestibule of the temple.

Hiram the Craftsman

¹³ Now King Solomon sent and brought^[d]Huram from Tyre.^14 (F)Hewasthe son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and^(G)his fatherwasa man of Tyre, a bronze worker;^(H)he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill in working with all kinds of bronze work. So he came to King Solomon and did all his work.

The Bronze Pillars for the Temple^(I)

¹⁵ And he^[e]cast^(J)two pillars of bronze, each one eighteen cubits high, and a line of twelve cubits measured the circumference of each.¹⁶ Then he made two capitalsofcast bronze, to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of one capitalwasfive cubits, and the height of the other capitalwasfive cubits.¹⁷ He madea lattice network, with wreaths of chainwork, for the capitals whichwereon top of the pillars: seven chains for one capital and seven for the other capital.¹⁸ So he made the pillars, and two rows of pomegranates above the network all around to cover the capitals thatwereon top; and thus he did for the other capital.

¹⁹ The capitals whichwereon top of the pillars in the hallwerein the shape of lilies, four cubits.²⁰ The capitals on the two pillars alsohad pomegranatesabove, by the convex surface whichwasnext to the network; and therewere^(K)two hundred such pomegranates in rows on each of the capitals all around.

^21 (L)Then he set up the pillars by the vestibule of the temple; he set up the pillar on the right and called its name^[f]Jachin, and he set up the pillar on the left and called its name^[g]Boaz.²² The tops of the pillars were in the shape of lilies. So the work of the pillars was finished.

The Sea and the Oxen

²³ And he made^(M)the Sea of cast bronze, ten cubits from one brim to the other;it wascompletely round. Its heightwasfive cubits, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference.

²⁴ Below its brimwereornamental buds encircling it all around, ten to a cubit,^(N)all the way around the Sea. The ornamental budswerecast in two rows when it was cast.²⁵ It stood on^(O)twelve oxen: three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; the Seawas setupon them, and all their back partspointedinward.²⁶ Itwasa handbreadth thick; and its brim was shaped like the brim of a cup,likea lily blossom. It contained^[h]two thousand baths.

The Carts and the Lavers

²⁷ He also made ten^[i]carts of bronze; four cubitswasthe length of each cart, four cubits its width, and three cubits its height.²⁸ And thiswasthe design of the carts: They had panels, and the panelswerebetween frames;²⁹ on the panels thatwerebetween the frameswerelions, oxen, and cherubim. And on the frameswasa pedestal on top. Below the lions and oxenwerewreaths of plaited work.³⁰ Every cart had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze, and its four feet had supports. Under the laverweresupports of castbronzebeside each wreath.³¹ Its opening inside the crown at the topwasone cubit in diameter; and the openingwasround, shapedlikea pedestal, one and a half cubits in outside diameter; and also on the openingwereengravings, but the panels were square, not round.³² Under the panelswerethe four wheels, and the axles of the wheelswere joinedto the cart. The height of a wheelwasone and a half cubits.³³ The workmanship of the wheelswaslike the workmanship of a chariot wheel; their axle pins, their rims, their spokes, and their hubswereall of castbronze.³⁴ Andthere werefour supports at the four corners of each cart; its supportswerepart of the cart itself.³⁵ On the top of the cart, at the height of half a cubit,it wasperfectly round. And on the top of the cart, its flanges and its panelswereof the same casting.³⁶ On the plates of its flanges and on its panels he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, wherever there was a clear space on each, with wreaths all around.³⁷ Thus he made the ten carts. All of them were of^[j]the same mold, one measure,andone shape.

³⁸ Then^(P)he made ten lavers of bronze; each laver contained^[k]forty baths,andeach laverwasfour cubits. On each of the ten cartswasa laver.³⁹ And he put five carts on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house. He set the Sea on the right side of the house, toward the southeast.

Furnishings of the Temple^(Q)

^40 (R)Huram^[l]made the lavers and the shovels and the bowls. So Huram finished doing all the work that he was to do for King Solomonforthe house of theLord:⁴¹ the two pillars, thetwobowl-shaped capitals thatwereon top of the two pillars; the two^(S)networks covering the two bowl-shaped capitals whichwereon top of the pillars;^42 (T)four hundred pomegranates for the two networks (two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowl-shaped capitals thatwereon top of the pillars);⁴³ the ten carts, and ten lavers on the carts;⁴⁴ one Sea, and twelve oxen under the Sea;^45 (U)the pots, the shovels, and the bowls.

All these articles which^[m]Huram made for King Solomonforthe house of theLordwere ofburnished bronze.^46 (V)In the plain of Jordan the king had them cast in clay molds, between^(W)Succoth and^(X)Zaretan.⁴⁷ And Solomon did not weigh all the articles, becausethere wereso many; the weight of the bronze was not^(Y)determined.

⁴⁸ Thus Solomon had all the furnishings made for the house of theLord:^(Z)the altar of gold, and^(AA)the table of gold on whichwas^(AB)the showbread;⁴⁹ the lampstands of pure gold, five on the rightsideand five on the left in front of the inner sanctuary, with the flowers and the lamps and the wick-trimmers of gold;⁵⁰ the basins, the trimmers, the bowls, the ladles, and the^[n]censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold,bothfor the doors of the inner room (the Most HolyPlace)andfor the doors of the main hall of the temple.

⁵¹ So all the work that King Solomon had done for the house of theLordwas finished; and Solomon brought in the things^(AC)which his father David had dedicated: the silver and the gold and the furnishings. He put them in the treasuries of the house of theLord.