1 Kings 7 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Solomon spent thirteen years building his own before he finally finished the whole thing.
He built the of the of — a hundred long, fifty wide, and thirty high, with four rows of cedar columns supporting trimmed cedar beams.
It was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the columns — forty-five beams total, fifteen in each row.
There were three rows of and the window openings faced each other in three tiers.
All the doorways and window frames were rectangular, and the openings were arranged facing each other in three tiers.
He also made the of — fifty cubits long and thirty cubits wide — with a covered porch in front of it and a row of with a canopy out front.
Then he made the of the Throne where he would judge — the of — and he covered it with cedar from floor to ceiling.
His own living quarters, in another courtyard set back from the hall, were built the same way. Solomon also built a palace just like this hall for who he had married.
All these structures, from foundation to roofline, from the outside clear through to the great courtyard, were made of precision-sawed to size, and finished on both faces.
The foundation was laid with massive, expensive stones — some fifteen cubits and some twelve cubits long.
Above the foundation were more expensive cut stones, trimmed to size, along with cedar timbers.
The great courtyard was surrounded by three courses of cut stone and one course of cedar beams — the same design used for the inner courtyard of and for the entrance hall of the palace.
King Solomon sent for and brought him from
He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man from Tyre — a bronze craftsman. Hiram was with the and to do every kind of work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his bronze work.
He cast two each one eighteen cubits tall, and it took a measuring line twelve cubits long to go around each one.
He also made two of cast bronze to set on top of the pillars. Each capital was five cubits high.
There were of decorating the capitals on top of the pillars — seven for one capital and seven for the other.
He made the pillars with two rows of around the network, covering the capitals on top. He did the same for both capitals.
The capitals on top of the pillars in the entrance hall were shaped like four cubits across.
The capitals on both pillars also had two hundred pomegranates in rows all around, above the bowl-shaped section next to the network.
He set up the pillars at the entrance hall of the temple. He set up the right pillar and named it and he set up the left pillar and named it
The capitals on top were shaped like lilies. And so the work on the pillars was completed.
Then he made the — a massive cast-metal basin, circular, ten cubits from rim to rim, five cubits high, and thirty cubits around.
Below the rim, encircled it — ten per cubit, going all the way around. The were cast in two rows as part of the basin itself.
The basin stood on — three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, with all their hindquarters pointing inward.
The basin was a thick, and its rim was made like the rim of a cup, shaped like a lily blossom. It held of water.
He also made ten each four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high.
Here is how the stands were made: they had panels set between the frames.
On the panels between the frames were lions, bulls, and On the frames, both above and below the lions and bulls, there were wreath designs hammered into the metal.
Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and its four feet had supports. Below the basin were cast supports with wreath designs on each side.
The opening for the basin inside the crown of the stand was one cubit deep. The opening itself was round, shaped like a pedestal, a cubit and a half across. There was also carving around the opening. The panels of the stands were square, not round.
The four wheels were under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were attached to the stand. Each wheel was a cubit and a half in diameter.
The wheels were made like chariot wheels — their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all cast metal.
There were four supports at the four corners of each stand, formed as one piece with the stand itself.
At the top of each stand was a circular band half a cubit high. The supports and panels at the top of the stand were one piece with it.
On the surfaces of the supports and on the panels, he carved winged creatures, lions, and wherever there was space, with wreath designs all around.
This is how he made the ten stands — all of them cast the same way, the same size, and the same shape.
Then he made ten bronze basins, one for each stand. Each basin held forty baths and was four cubits across.
He placed five stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north side. He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner of the temple.
Hiram also made the and So Hiram finished all the work he had undertaken for King Solomon on Yahweh's temple:
the two pillars, the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars, the two sets of network covering the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars,
the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network — two rows of pomegranates for each network, covering the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars,
the ten stands with the ten basins on them,
the one Sea with the twelve bulls under it,
the pots, shovels, and sprinkling bowls. All these items that Hiram made for King Solomon for Yahweh's temple were of
The king had them cast in in the in the plain between Sukkoth and Zarethan.
Solomon left all these items unweighed because there were so many of them. The weight of the bronze was
Solomon also made all the furnishings for Yahweh's temple: the the table where the of the was placed,
the of pure gold — five on the right side and five on the left, in front of the — with the gold flower decorations, lamps, and tongs,
the cups, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes, and firepans — all of pure gold — and the gold hinges for the doors of the innermost room (the Most and for the doors of the main hall of the temple.