7
He made the throne room the Hall of Justice, where he would judge. It was covered with cedar from the lower to the upper levels.
8
The royal residence where Solomon lived was behind this hall. It had a similar design. Solomon also made a similar palace for his wife, Pharaoh's daughter.
9
He built all these with the best stones cut to size, sawed with saws, back and front, from the foundation to the highest points and from the outer boundary to the great courtyard.
10
The foundation was laid with large stones of high quality, some of fifteen feet and some of twelve feet.
11
Above them were high-quality stones cut to measure, as well as cedar.
12
The surrounding great courtyard had three rows of cut stones and a row of trimmed cedar just like the inner courtyard of the LORD's temple and its porch.
Solomon’s temple equipment
13 Then King Solomon sent a message and brought Hiram from Tyre.
14
Hiram's mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali. His father was a Tyrian skilled in bronze work. He was amazingly skillful in the techniques and knowledge for doing all kinds of work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his work.
15
He cast two bronze pillars. Each one was twenty-seven feet high and required a cord of eighteen feet to reach around it.
16
He made two capitals of cast bronze for the tops of the columns. They were each seven and a half feet high.
17
He made an intricate network of chains for the capitals on top of the columns, seven for each capital.