1 Kings 7

7 ¹But Solomon spent thirteen years building his own palace, until he had finished all of it. ²He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon: about 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, 45 feet high, on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams atop them. ³Above, it was roofed with cedar over the chambers that rested on the pillars, forty-five in all, fifteen to a row. ⁴There were window frames in three rows, with window facing window in three tiers. ⁵All the doorways and doorposts had rectangular frames, with window facing window in three tiers. ⁶He made the Hall of Pillars, about seventy-five feet long and forty-five wide, with a porch in front, pillars, and a canopy before them. ⁷He made the Hall of the Throne, where he judged—the Hall of Justice—paneled in cedar from floor to ceiling. ⁸His residence, in the other courtyard behind the hall, matched that workmanship. Solomon also built a similar house for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had married. ⁹All these were costly stones, cut to measure and sawed inside and outside, from foundation to coping, and outward to the great courtyard. ¹⁰The foundation was costly stones, huge stones, some about fifteen feet long, some about twelve feet long. ¹¹Above were costly stones, cut to size, and cedar timber. ¹²The great courtyard, all around, had three rows of dressed stone and a row of cut cedar beams, like the inner courtyard of our Father's house and its portico.

Bronze for the Father's House

¹³King Solomon sent to Tyre and brought back Hiram. ¹⁴His mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali; his father, a Tyrian craftsman in bronze. Hiram was full of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge to do all bronze work. He came to King Solomon and did all the king's work. ¹⁵He cast two bronze pillars, each about twenty-seven feet high, with a cord of about eighteen feet around each. ¹⁶He made two cast-bronze capitals to top the pillars, each about seven and a half feet high. ¹⁷Latticework nets and chain-wreaths adorned each pillar's capital—seven on one, seven on the other. ¹⁸He made the pillars, two rows of pomegranates around each network, covering the capitals on top—same for both capitals. ¹⁹Capitals atop the pillars in the porch were shaped like lilies, about six feet high. ²⁰On both pillars' capitals, above the curve beside the network, were 200 pomegranates in rows around each capital. ²¹He set up the pillars at the temple porch, naming the south one Jachin and the north one Boaz. ^a a v21 The name Jachin means "he establishes," and Boaz means "in him is strength" — the two pillars stood at the entrance as a witness that our Father secures and upholds his dwelling. ²²On top of the pillars was the lily design. So the work of the pillars was finished.

²³He made the Sea of cast metal, round, about fifteen feet from rim to rim, about seven and a half feet high; a forty-five-foot line circled it. ²⁴Below the rim, gourds encircled it, ten per foot and a half, all around the Sea; cast in two rows, one piece with it. ²⁵The Sea stood on twelve oxen: three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, three facing east, hindquarters inward. ²⁶It was about three inches thick; its rim, like a cup's, flared like a lily blossom. It held about 12,000 gallons.

²⁷He made ten bronze stands, each about six feet long, about six feet wide, about four and a half feet high. ²⁸This was how the stands were made: they had panels set between the uprights. ²⁹On the panels between the uprights were lions, oxen, and cherubim, with hammered wreaths above and below the lions and oxen. ³⁰Each stand had four bronze wheels and bronze axles; its four legs had supports cast beneath the basin, with wreaths beside each one. ³¹Its opening was inside the crown, rising about a foot and a half above it, round, shaped like a pedestal, about two feet wide, carved around it; its panels were square, not round. ³²Four wheels sat beneath the panels; their axles were joined to the stand—each wheel about twenty-seven inches high. ³³The wheels were made like chariot wheels: axles, rims, spokes, hubs—all cast metal. ³⁴Each stand had four handles, one at each corner, projecting from the stand itself. ³⁵At the top of each stand was a round rim about nine inches deep; at its top, the supports and panels were one piece with it. ³⁶On the supports' surfaces and panels he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, wherever there was space, with wreaths all around. ³⁷That is how he made the ten stands: one casting, one size, one shape for all.

³⁸He made ten bronze basins, each holding about 240 gallons and about six feet across—one for each of the ten stands. ³⁹He put five stands on the temple's south side, five on the north, and the Sea at its southeast corner.

⁴⁰Hiram made the pots, shovels, and bowls. He finished all the work he did for King Solomon on the house of our Father: ⁴¹the two pillars; the two bowl-shaped capitals atop the pillars; the two networks covering the two bowl-shaped capitals atop the pillars; ⁴²400 pomegranates for the two lattices, two rows each, covering the two bowl-shaped capitals atop the pillars. ⁴³The ten stands with their ten basins; ⁴⁴the one Sea with the twelve oxen beneath it. ⁴⁵The pots, shovels, and bowls—all these objects Hiram made for King Solomon, for the house of our Father—were polished bronze. ⁴⁶The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan plain, between Succoth and Zarethan. ⁴⁷Solomon left all the objects unweighed—there were so many—the bronze's weight was never determined.

⁴⁸Solomon made all the furnishings for the house of our Father: the golden altar and the golden table holding the bread of the Presence. ⁴⁹The lampstands—five on the south, five on the north, before the inner sanctuary—of pure gold; the flowers, lamps, and tongs, of gold. ⁵⁰Basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes, and firepans of pure gold; gold sockets for the doors of the innermost room, the Most Holy Place, and for the doors of the main hall of the temple.

⁵¹When King Solomon finished all the work for the house of our Father, he brought in what his father David had dedicated—the silver, gold, and furnishings—and put them in the storerooms of the house of our Father.