2
He laid the foundations for the high double walls, the high retaining walls for the temple enclosure.
3
In his days a cistern for water was quarried out, a reservoir like the sea in circumference.
4
He considered how to save his people from ruin, and fortified the city to withstand a seige.
5
How glorious he was when the people gathered round him as he came out of the inner sanctuary!
6
Like the morning star among the clouds, like the moon when it is full;
7
like the sun shining upon the temple of the Most High, and like the rainbow gleaming in glorious clouds;
8
like roses in the days of the first fruits, like lilies by a spring of water, like a green shoot on Lebanon on a summer day;
9
like fire and incense in the censer, like a vessel of hammered gold adorned with all kinds of precious stones;
10
like an olive tree putting forth its fruit, and like a cypress towering in the clouds.
11
When he put on his glorious robe and clothed himself with superb perfection and went up to the holy altar, he made the court of the sanctuary glorious.
12
And when he received the portions from the hands of the priests, as he stood by the hearth of the altar with a garland of brethren around him, he was like a young cedar on Lebanon; and they surrounded him like the trunks of palm trees,