1 Kings 7:13-51 - The Temple Furnishings

13 King Solomon invited and received Hiram from Tyre. 14 He [was] the son of a widow woman from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father [was] a man of Tyre, an artisan of bronze. He was filled with wisdom and with ability and with the knowledge to do all the work with the bronze. And he came to King Solomon, and he did all of his work.

15 He cast the two pillars [out of] bronze; eighteen cubits [was] the height of the first, and a cord of twelve cubits would encircle the second pillar. 16 He made two capitals to place on the tops of the pillars [out of] molten bronze; the first capital [was] five cubits [in] height, and the second capital [was] five cubits [in] height. 17 A network of latticework [and] wreaths of chainwork with small chains [were] for the capitals which [were] on top of the pillars; seven for the first capital and seven for the second capital.

18 He also made the pillars with two rows around on the lattice, each to cover the capitals which [were] on top, [out of] the pomegranate-shaped ornaments, and thus he did for the second capital [as well]. 19 And [on] the capitals which [were] on top of the pillars in the porch [were] works of lilies four cubits [high]. 20 And capitals [were] on the two pillars above near the bulging section which was beside the lattice, and two hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments [were] in rows all around on the second capital. 21 He set up the pillars for the porch of the main hall; he erected the pillar on the right and called its name Jakin, and he set up the pillar on the left and called its name Boaz. 22 On the top of the pillars [was] a work of lilies; and so the work of the pillars [was] finished.

23 He also made the molten sea, ten cubits {in diameter}, and five cubits [was] its height. A measuring line of thirty cubits would encircle it all around. 24 Gourds [were] under its rim surrounding it all around; ten to the cubit, surrounding the sea all around with two rows of gourds, [which] were cast when he cast the metal. 25 [The sea] was standing on twelve oxen, with three facing to the north, three facing to the west, three facing to the south, and three facing to the east. The sea [was] on top of them, with all of their hindquarters [turned] to the inside. 26 Its thickness [was] a handbreadth, but its rim [was] as the work on the brim of a cup, [like the] bud of a lily; it held two thousand baths.

27 He made the ten stands of bronze; each stand [was] four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits in height. 28 Now this [was] the construction of the stands: there [were] frames for them and frames between the crossbars, 29 and on the frames which [were] between the crossbars [were] lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the crossbars both above and beneath the lions and oxen [were] works of cascading wreaths. 30 [There were] four bronze wheels for each of the stands, with bronze axles; the four support pedestals for these [were] under the basin, and the supports [were] decorated on each side [with] wreaths. 31 Its opening from [the] inside of the capital and above [was] a cubit; its pedestal [was] a round work of a cubit and a half; moreover, on its opening [were] the carvings with four-sided frames, not circular. 32 Four of the wheels [were] underneath the frames, and the axles of the wheels [were] on the stands. The height of each wheel [was] a cubit and a half. 33 The construction of the wheel [was] like the construction of the wheel of the chariot; their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their naves [were] all cast. 34 The four supports [were] the four corners of each stand, with the stand supporting it. 35 On top of the stand [was] half a cubit deep, circular all around, and on the top of the stand [were] its supports and its frames. 36 He engraved on the plates, on its supports, and on its frame cherubim, lions and images of a palm tree, according to the space for each, with wreaths all around. 37 He made the ten stands like this in one cast, with the same measurement and shape for each of them.

38 He also made ten bronze basins, [each] holding forty baths; each basin [was] four cubits, one basin on each of the ten stands. 39 He placed five of the stands on the south side of the house and five on the north side of the house, and the sea he set on the southeast side of the house. 40 Hiram also made the basins and the shovels and the bowls for drinking wine; and so Hiram finished doing all of the work {that he was to do} for King Solomon in the house of Yahweh: 41 the two pillars and the bowls of the capitals which [were] atop the two pillars, and the two lattice works to cover the two bowls of the capitals which [were] atop the pillars; 42 and the four hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments for the two lattice works, the two rows of pomegranate-shaped ornaments for each latticework to cover the two bowls of the capitals which [were] on the surface of the pillars; 43 and the ten stands and the ten basins on the stands; 44 and the one sea and the twelve oxen under the sea; 45 and the pots, the shovels, and the bowls for drinking wine. All the vessels of the tent which Hiram had made for King Solomon [for] the house of Yahweh [were] polished bronze. 46 The king had cast them in the plain of the Jordan with the casting mold [set in] the ground between Succoth and Zarethan. 47 Solomon left all of the vessels [unweighed] because of their very great abundance, so the weight of the bronze could not be determined.

48 Solomon also made all of the vessels which [were] in the house of Yahweh: the golden altar and the golden table on which [was] the bread of the presence; 49 as well as the five lampstands of beaten gold at the south and five lampstands at the north before the presence of the inner sanctuary, with the flower-shaped ornaments, the lamps, and the pair of tongs [all of gold]. 50 The cups, the snuffers, the bowls for drinking wine, the bowls for the incense, and the firepans [were made from] beaten gold; the facades for the doors of the inner house, for the {most holy place}, for the doors of the main hall of the temple [were of] gold.

51 [When] all of the work which king Solomon did on the house of Yahweh was completed, Solomon brought out the holy objects of his father David, the silver and the gold and the vessels, [which] he put in the treasury rooms of the house of Yahweh.