Solomon Builds his Palace

1And Solomon was thirteen years building his own house; and he finished all his house. 2And 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, upon four rows of cedar-pillars, with cedar-beams upon the pillars; 3and it was covered with cedar above upon the side-chambers, which were on forty-five pillars, fifteen in a row. 4And there were cross-beams in three rows, and window was against window in three ranks. 5And all the doors and posts were square, with an architrave; and window was against window in three ranks.

6And he made the porch of pillars; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits; and there was a porch in front of them; and there were pillars, and steps in front of them.

7And he made the porch for the throne where he judged, the porch of judgment; and it was covered with cedar from floor to floor.

8And his house where he dwelt had another court within the porch, which was of the like work. And he made, like to this porch, a house for Pharaoh's daughter, whom Solomon had taken.

9All these [buildings] were of costly stones, hewn stones, according to the measures, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation to the coping, and on the outside as far as the great court.

10And the foundations were of costly stones, great stones, stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits. 11And above were costly stones, hewn stones, according to the measures, and cedar. 12And the great court round about had three rows of hewn stones, and a row of cedar-beams; and so it was for the inner court of the house of Jehovah, and the porch of the house.

The Work of Hiram

(2 Chronicles 4:1-5)

13And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre. 14He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass; and he was full of wisdom and understanding and knowledge, to do all kinds of works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and made all his work.

15And he formed the two pillars of brass; the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a line of twelve cubits encompassed the second pillar. 16And he made two capitals of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars; the height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits; 17[and] nets of checker-work, wreaths of chain-work, for the capitals which were upon the top of the pillars; seven for the one capital and seven for the other capital. 18And he made pomegranates, namely two rows round about upon the one network, to cover the capitals that were upon the top of the pillars; and so he did for the other capital. 19And the capitals that were upon the top of the pillars were of lily-work [as] in the porch, four cubits. 20And the capitals upon the two pillars, above also, close to the enlargement which was behind the network, had two hundred pomegranates in rows round about, [also] on the other capital. 21And he set up the pillars for the porch of the temple; and he set up the right pillar, and called its name Jachin; and he set up the left pillar, and called its name Boaz. 22And upon the top of the pillars was lily-work; and the work of the pillars was finished.

The Sea of Cast Metal

23And he made the sea, molten, ten cubits from brim to brim, round all about; and its height was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits encompassed it round about. 24And under the brim of it round about there were colocynths, encompassing it, ten in a cubit enclosing the sea round about; two rows of colocynths, cast when it was cast. 25It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; and the sea was above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward. 26And its thickness was a hand-breadth, and its brim was like the work of the brim of a cup, with lily-blossoms; it held two thousand baths.

The Ten Bases

27And he made ten bases of brass: four cubits was the length of one base, and the breadth four cubits, and the height three cubits. 28And the work of the bases was this: they had panels, and the panels were between the fillets. 29And on the panels that were between the fillets were lions, oxen and cherubim; and over the fillets there was a base above; and beneath the lions and oxen were garlands of festoon-work. 30And every base had four wheels of brass, and axles of brass; and on its four corners were shoulder-pieces: under the laver were shoulder-pieces molten, behind every garland. 31And the mouth of it within the crown and above was a cubit; and its mouth was rounded, [as] the work of the base, a cubit and a half; and also upon its mouth was sculpture; but their panels were square, not round. 32And the four wheels were under the panels; and the supports of the wheels were in the base; and the height of a wheel was a cubit and half a cubit. 33And the work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel: their supports, and their rims, and their spokes and their naves were all molten. 34And there were four shoulder-pieces to the four corners of one base; of the base itself were its shoulder-pieces. 35And in the top of the base there was a circular elevation of half a cubit round about; and on the top of the base its stays and its panels were of the same. 36And he engraved on the plates of its stays and on its panels cherubim, lions and palm-trees, according to the space upon each; and garlands were round about. 37After this [manner] he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure, one form.

The Ten Bronze Basins

(2 Chronicles 4:6-8)

38And he made ten lavers of brass: one laver contained forty baths; every laver was four cubits; upon every one of the ten bases one laver. 39And he put the bases, five on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house; and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, over against the south.

The Vessels

(2 Chronicles 4:11-18)

40And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the bowls. So Hiram ended doing all the work that he made for king Solomon [for] the house of Jehovah: 41two pillars, and the globes of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars, two; and the two networks, to cover the two globes of the capitals which were on the top of the pillars; 42and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for one network, to cover the two globes of the capitals which were upon the pillars; 43and the ten bases, and the ten lavers on the bases; 44and one sea, and the twelve oxen under the sea; 45and the pots, and the shovels, and the bowls. And all these things, which Hiram made king Solomon for the house of Jehovah, were of bright brass. 46In the plain of the Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay-ground between Succoth and Zaretan. 47And Solomon left all the vessels [unweighed] from their exceeding number; the weight of the brass was not ascertained.

48And Solomon made all the vessels that were [in] the house of Jehovah: the golden altar; and the table of gold, whereon was the shewbread; 49and the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right, and five on the left, before the oracle; and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold, 50and the basons, and the knives, and the bowls, and the cups, and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, for the folding-doors of the inner house, the most holy place, [and] for the doors of the house, of the temple.

51And all the work was finished that king Solomon made for the house of Jehovah. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated; the silver and the gold and the vessels he put among the treasures of the house of Jehovah.