The First Book of the Kings

⭑ Geneva Bible :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 7 -

Bvt Salomon was building his owne house thirteene yeeres, and finished all his house.

He built also an house called the forest of Lebanon, an hundreth cubites long, and fiftie cubites broad, and thirtie cubites hie, vpon foure rowes of cedar pillars, and cedar beames were layed vpon the pillars.

And it was couered aboue with cedar vpon the beames, that lay on the fourtie and fiue pillars, fifteene in a rowe.

And the windowes were in three rowes, and windowe was against windowe in three rankes.

And all the doores, and the side postes with the windowes were foure square, and windowe was ouer against windowe in three rankes.

And he made a porche of pillars fiftie cubites long, and thirtie cubites broade, and the porch was before them, euen before them were thirtie pillars.

Then he made a porch for the throne, where he iudged, euen a porch of iudgement, and it was sieled with cedar from pauement to pauement.

And in his house, where he dwelt, was an other hall more inwarde then the porche which was of the same worke. Also Salomon made an house for Pharaohs daughter ( whom he had taken to wife) like vnto this porche.

All these were of costly stones, hewed by measure, and sawed with sawes within and without, from the foundation vnto the stones of an hand breadth, and on the outside to the great court.

And the foundation was of costly stones, and great stones, euen of stones of ten cubites, and stones of eight cubites.

Aboue also were costly stones, squared by rule, and boardes of cedar.

And the great court round about was with three rowes of hewed stones, and a rowe of cedar beames: so was it to ye inner court of the house of the Lord, and to the porche of the house.

The Pillars and Capitals

(2 Chronicles 3:14–17)

Then King Salomon sent, and set one Hiram out of Tyrus.

He was a widowes sonne of the tribe of Naphtali, his father being a man of Tyrus, and wrought in brasse: he was full of wisedome, and vnderstanding, and knowledge to worke all maner of worke in brasse: who came to King Salomon, and wrought all his worke.

For he cast two pillars of brasse: ye height of a pillar was eighteene cubites, and a threede of twelue cubites did compasse either of ye pillars.

And he made two chapiters of molten brasse to set on the tops of the pillars: the height of one of the chapiters was fiue cubites, and the height of the other chapiter was fiue cubites.

He made grates like networke, and wrethen worke like chaynes for the chapiters that were on the top of the pillars, euen seuen for the one chapiter, and seuen for the other chapiter.

So he made the pillars and two rowes of pomegranates round about in the one grate to couer the chapiters that were vpon the top. And thus did he for the other chapiter.

And the chapiters that were on the toppe of the pillars were after lilye worke in ye porch, foure cubites.

And the chapiters vpon the two pillars had also aboue, ouer against the belly within the networke pomegranates: for two hudreth pomegranates were in the two rankes about vpon either of the chapiters.

And he set vp the pillars in the porche of the Temple. And when hee had set vp the right pillar, he called the name thereof Iachin: and when he had set vp the left pillar, he called the name thereof Boaz.

And vpon the top of the pillars was worke of lilyes: so was the workemanship of the pillars finished.

The Molten Sea

(2 Chronicles 4:1–5)

And he made a molten sea ten cubites wide from brim to brim, rounde in compasse, and fiue cubites hie, and a line of thirtie cubites did compasse it about.

And vnder the brimme of it were knoppes like wilde cucumers compassing it round about, ten in one cubite, compassing the sea round about: and the two rowes of knoppes were cast, when it was molten.

It stoode on twelue bulles, three looking towarde the North, and three toward the West, and three toward the South, and three towarde the East: and the sea stoode aboue vpon them, and all their hinder partes were inward.

It was an hand bredth thicke, and the brim thereof was like the worke of the brim of a cup with floures of lilyes: it contained two thousad Baths.

The Ten Bronze Stands

And he made tenne bases of brasse, one base was foure cubites long, and foure cubites broad, and three cubites hie.

And the worke of the bases was on this maner, They had borders, and the borders were betweene the ledges:

And on the borders that were betweene the ledges, were lyons, bulles and Cherubims: and vpon the ledges there was a base aboue: and beneath the lyons and bulles, were addicions made of thinne worke.

And euery base had foure brasen wheeles, and plates of brasse: and the foure corners had vndersetters: vnder the caldron were vndersetters molten at the side of euery addicion.

And the mouth of it was within the chapiter and aboue to measure by the cubite: for the mouth thereof was round made like a base, and it was a cubite and halfe a cubite: and also vpon the mouth thereof were grauen workes, whose borders were foure square, and not round.

And vnder the borders were foure wheeles, and the axeltrees of the wheeles ioyned to the base: and the height of a wheele was a cubite and halfe a cubite.

And the facion of the wheeles was like the facion of a charet wheele, their axeltrees, and their naues and their felloes, and their spokes were all molten.

And foure vndersetters were vpon the foure corners of one base: and the vndersetters thereof were of the base it selfe.

And in the toppe of the base was a rounde compasse of halfe a cubite hie round about: and vpon the toppe of the base the ledges thereof and the borders thereof were of the same.

And vpon the tables of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof he did graue Cherubims, lions and palmetrees, on the side of euery one, and addicions round about.

Thus made he the tenne bases, They had all one casting, one measure, and one syse.

The Ten Bronze Basins

(2 Chronicles 4:6–8)

Then made he ten caldrons of brasse, one caldron conteyned fourty Baths: and euery caldron was foure cubites, one caldron was vpon one base throughout the ten bases.

And he set the bases, fiue on the right side of the house, and fiue on the left side of the house. And he set the sea on the right side of the house Eastward toward the South.

Completion of the Bronze Works

(2 Chronicles 4:11–18)

And Hiram made caldrons, and besomes, and basens, and Hiram finished all the worke that he made to King Salomon for the house of ye Lord:

To wit, two pillars and two bowles of the chapiters that were on the toppe of the two pillars, and two grates to couer the two bowles of the chapiters which were vpon the toppe of the pillars,

And foure hundreth pomegranates for the two grates, euen two rowes of pomegranates for euery grate to couer the two bowles of the chapiters, that were vpon the pillars,

And the ten bases, and ten caldrons vpon the bases,

And the sea, and twelue bulles vnder that sea,

And pottes, and besomes and basens: and all these vessels, which Hiram made to King Salomon for the house of the Lord, were of shining brasse.

In the plaine of Iorden did the King cast them in clay betweene Succoth and Zarthan.

And Salomon left to weigh all the vessels because of the exceeding aboundance, neyther could the weight of the brasse be counted.

Completion of the Gold Furnishings

(2 Chronicles 4:19–22)

So Salomon made all the vessels that perteyned vnto the house of the Lord, the golden altar, and the golden table, whereon the shewbread was,

And the candlestickes, fiue at the right side, and fiue at the left, before the oracle of pure gold, and the flowres, and the lampes, and the snuffers of golde,

And the bowles, and the hookes, and the basens, and the spoones, and the ashpannes of pure golde, and the hinges of golde for the doores of the house within, euen for the most holy place, and for the doores of the house, to wit, of the Temple.

So was finished all the worke that King Salomon made for the house of the Lord, and Salomon brought in the things which Dauid his father had dedicated: the siluer and the golde and the vessels, and layed them among the treasures of the house of the Lord.

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

For he built the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was one hundred cubits,(a) its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars.

It was covered with cedar above over the forty-five beams that were on the pillars, fifteen in a row.

There were beams in three rows, and window was facing window in three ranks.

All the doors and posts were made square with beams; and window was facing window in three ranks.

He made the hall of pillars. Its length was fifty cubits and its width thirty cubits, with a porch before them, and pillars and a threshold before them.

He made the porch of the throne where he was to judge, even the porch of judgment; and it was covered with cedar from floor to floor.

His house where he was to dwell, the other court within the porch, was of the same construction. He made also a house for Pharaoh’s daughter (whom Solomon had taken as wife), like this porch.

All these were of costly stones, even 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.

The foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits.

Above were costly stones, even cut stone, according to measure, and cedar wood.

The great court around had three courses of cut stone with a course of cedar beams, like the inner court of the LORD’s house and the porch of the house.

The Pillars and Capitals

(2 Chronicles 3:14–17)

King Solomon sent and brought Hiram out of 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 filled with wisdom and understanding and skill to work all works in bronze. He came to King Solomon and performed all his work.

For he fashioned the two pillars of bronze, eighteen cubits high apiece; and a line of twelve cubits encircled either of them.

He made two capitals of molten 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 nets of checker work and wreaths of chain work for the capitals which were on the top of the pillars: seven for the one capital, and seven for the other capital.

So he made the pillars; and there were two rows of pomegranates around the one network, to cover the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; and he did so for the other capital.

The capitals that were on the top of the pillars in the porch were of lily work, four cubits.

There were capitals above also on the two pillars, close by the belly which was beside the network. There were two hundred pomegranates in rows around the other capital.

He set up the pillars at the porch of the temple. He set up the right pillar and called its name Jachin; and he set up the left pillar and called its name Boaz.

On the tops of the pillars was lily work. So the work of the pillars was finished.

The Molten Sea

(2 Chronicles 4:1–5)

He made the molten sea ten cubits from brim to brim, round in shape. Its height was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits encircled it.

Under its brim around there were buds which encircled it for ten cubits, encircling the sea. The buds were in two rows, cast when it was cast.

It stood on 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 set on them above, and all their hindquarters were inward.

It was a hand width thick. Its brim was worked like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It held two thousand baths.

The Ten Bronze Stands

He made the ten bases of bronze. The length of one base was four cubits, four cubits its width, and three cubits its height.

The work of the bases was like this: they had panels; and there were panels between the ledges;

and on the panels that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and on the ledges there was a pedestal above; and beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work.

Every base had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze; and its four feet had supports. The supports were cast beneath the basin, with wreaths at the side of each.

Its opening within the capital and above was a cubit. Its opening was round like the work of a pedestal, a cubit and a half; and also on its opening were engravings, and their panels were square, not round.

The four wheels were underneath the panels; and the axles of the wheels were in the base. The height of a wheel was a cubit and half a cubit.

The work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel. Their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all of cast metal.

There were four supports at the four corners of each base. Its supports were of the base itself.

In the top of the base there was a round band half a cubit high; and on the top of the base its supports and its panels were the same.

On the plates of its supports and on its panels, he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, each in its space, with wreaths all around.

He made the ten bases in this way: all of them had one casting, one measure, and one form.

The Ten Bronze Basins

(2 Chronicles 4:6–8)

He made ten basins of bronze. One basin contained forty baths.(b) Every basin measured four cubits. One basin was on every one of the ten bases.

He set the bases, five 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 eastward and toward the south.

Completion of the Bronze Works

(2 Chronicles 4:11–18)

Hiram made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished doing all the work that he worked for King Solomon in the LORD’s house:

the two pillars; the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars;

the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks; two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars;

the ten bases; the ten basins on the bases;

the one sea; the twelve oxen under the sea;

the pots; the shovels; and the basins. All of these vessels, which Hiram made for King Solomon in the LORD’s house, were of burnished bronze.

The king cast them in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan.

Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because there were so many of them. The weight of the bronze could not be determined.

Completion of the Gold Furnishings

(2 Chronicles 4:19–22)

Solomon made all the vessels that were in the LORD’s house: the golden altar and the table that the show bread was on, of gold;

and the lamp stands, five on the right side and five on the left, in front of the inner sanctuary, of pure gold; and the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of gold;

the cups, the snuffers, the basins, the spoons, and the fire pans, 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, of the temple, of gold.

Thus all the work that King Solomon did in the LORD’s house was finished. Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated—the silver, the gold, and the vessels—and put them in the treasuries of the LORD’s house.

Footnotes

(a)7:2 A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimeters.

(b)7:38 1 bath is one tenth of a cor, or about 5.6 U. S. gallons or 21 liters, so 40 baths was about 224 gallons or 840 liters.