New Living Translation NLT
The Message Bible MSG
1 Solomon also built a palace for himself, and it took him thirteen years to complete the construction.
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It took Solomon another thirteen years to finish building his own palace complex.
2 One of Solomon’s buildings was called the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. It was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. There were four rows of cedar pillars, and great cedar beams rested on the pillars.
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He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred and fifty feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high.
3 The hall had a cedar roof. Above the beams on the pillars were forty-five side rooms, arranged in three tiers of fifteen each.
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There were four rows of cedar columns supporting forty-five cedar beams, fifteen in each row, and then roofed with cedar.
4 On each end of the long hall were three rows of windows facing each other.
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Windows in groupings of three were set high in the walls on either side.
5 All the doorways and doorposts had rectangular frames and were arranged in sets of three, facing each other.
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All the doors were rectangular and arranged symmetrically.
6 Solomon also built the Hall of Pillars, which was 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. There was a porch in front, along with a canopy supported by pillars.
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He built a colonnaded courtyard seventy-five feet long and forty-five wide. It had a roofed porch at the front with ample eaves.
7 Solomon also built the throne room, known as the Hall of Justice, where he sat to hear legal matters. It was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling.
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He built a court room, the Hall of Justice, where he would decide judicial matters, and paneled it with cedar.
8 Solomon’s living quarters surrounded a courtyard behind this hall, and they were constructed the same way. He also built similar living quarters for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.
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He built his personal residence behind the Hall on a similar plan. Solomon also built another one just like it for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had married.
9 From foundation to eaves, all these buildings were built from huge blocks of high-quality stone, cut with saws and trimmed to exact measure on all sides.
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No expense was spared - everything here, inside and out, from foundation to roof was constructed using high-quality stone, accurately cut and shaped and polished.
10 Some of the huge foundation stones were 15 feet long, and some were 12 feet long.
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The foundation stones were huge, ranging in size from twelve to fifteen feet, and of the very best quality.
11 The blocks of high-quality stone used in the walls were also cut to measure, and cedar beams were also used.
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The finest stone was used above the foundation, shaped to size and trimmed with cedar.
12 The walls of the great courtyard were built so that there was one layer of cedar beams between every three layers of finished stone, just like the walls of the inner courtyard of the LORD ’s Temple with its entry room.
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The courtyard was enclosed with a wall made of three layers of stone and topped with cedar timbers, just like the one in the porch of The Temple of God.
13 King Solomon then asked for a man named Huram to come from Tyre.
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King Solomon sent to Tyre and asked Hiram (not the king; another Hiram) to come.
14 He was half Israelite, since his mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father had been a craftsman in bronze from Tyre. Huram was extremely skillful and talented in any work in bronze, and he came to do all the metal work for King Solomon.
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Hiram's mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali. His father was a Tyrian and a master worker in bronze. Hiram was a real artist - he could do anything with bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all the bronze work.
15 Huram cast two bronze pillars, each 27 feet tall and 18 feet in circumference.
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First he cast two pillars in bronze, each twenty-seven feet tall and eighteen feet in circumference.
16 For the tops of the pillars he cast bronze capitals, each 7 feet tall.
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He then cast two capitals in bronze to set on the pillars; each capital was seven and a half feet high
17 Each capital was decorated with seven sets of latticework and interwoven chains.
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and flared at the top in the shape of a lily. Each capital was dressed with an elaborate filigree of seven braided chains and a double row of two hundred pomegranates, setting the pillars off magnificently.
18 He also encircled the latticework with two rows of pomegranates to decorate the capitals over the pillars.
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19 The capitals on the columns inside the entry room were shaped like water lilies, and they were six feet tall.
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20 The capitals on the two pillars had 200 pomegranates in two rows around them, beside the rounded surface next to the latticework.
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21 Huram set the pillars at the entrance of the Temple, one toward the south and one toward the north. He named the one on the south Jakin, and the one on the north Boaz.
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He set the pillars up in the entrance porch to The Temple; the pillar to the south he named Security (Jachin) and the pillar to the north Stability (Boaz).
22 The capitals on the pillars were shaped like water lilies. And so the work on the pillars was finished.
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The capitals were in the shape of lilies.
23 Then Huram cast a great round basin, 15 feet across from rim to rim, called the Sea. It was 7 feet deep and about 45 feet in circumference.
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Hiram's next project was to make the Sea - an immense round basin of cast metal fifteen feet in diameter, seven and a half feet tall, and forty-five feet in circumference.
24 It was encircled just below its rim by two rows of decorative gourds. There were about six gourds per foot all the way around, and they were cast as part of the basin.
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Just under the rim there were two bands of decorative gourds, ten gourds to each foot and a half. The gourds were cast in one piece with the Sea.
25 The Sea was placed on a base of twelve bronze oxen, all facing outward. Three faced north, three faced west, three faced south, and three faced east, and the Sea rested on them.
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The Sea was set on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; the bulls faced outward supporting the Sea on their hindquarters.
26 The walls of the Sea were about three inches thick, and its rim flared out like a cup and resembled a water lily blossom. It could hold about 11,000 gallons of water.
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The Sea was three inches thick and flared at the rim like a cup, or like a lily. It held about 11,500 gallons.
27 Huram also made ten bronze water carts, each 6 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 4 feet tall.
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Hiram also made ten washstands of bronze. Each was six feet square and four and a half feet tall.
28 They were constructed with side panels braced with crossbars.
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They were made like this: Panels were fastened to the uprights.
29 Both the panels and the crossbars were decorated with carved lions, oxen, and cherubim. Above and below the lions and oxen were wreath decorations.
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Lions, bulls, and cherubim were represented on the panels and uprights. Beveled wreath-work bordered the lions and bulls above and below.
30 Each of these carts had four bronze wheels and bronze axles. There were supporting posts for the bronze basins at the corners of the carts; these supports were decorated on each side with carvings of wreaths.
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Each stand was mounted on four bronze wheels with bronze axles. The uprights were cast with decorative relief work.
31 The top of each cart had a rounded frame for the basin. It projected 1 feet above the cart’s top like a round pedestal, and its opening was 2 feet across; it was decorated on the outside with carvings of wreaths. The panels of the carts were square, not round.
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Each stand held a basin on a circular engraved support a foot and a half deep set on a pedestal two and a quarter feet square. The washstand itself was square.
32 Under the panels were four wheels that were connected to axles that had been cast as one unit with the cart. The wheels were 2 feet in diameter
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The axles were attached under the stand and the wheels fixed to them. The wheels were twenty-seven inches in diameter;
33 and were similar to chariot wheels. The axles, spokes, rims, and hubs were all cast from molten bronze.
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they were designed like chariot wheels. Everything - axles, rims, spokes, and hubs - was of cast metal.
34 There were handles at each of the four corners of the carts, and these, too, were cast as one unit with the cart.
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There was a handle at the four corners of each washstand, the handles cast in one piece with the stand.
35 Around the top of each cart was a rim nine inches wide. The corner supports and side panels were cast as one unit with the cart.
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At the top of the washstand there was a ring about nine inches deep. The uprights and handles were cast with the stand.
36 Carvings of cherubim, lions, and palm trees decorated the panels and corner supports wherever there was room, and there were wreaths all around.
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Everything and every available surface was engraved with cherubim, lions, and palm trees, bordered by arabesques.
37 All ten water carts were the same size and were made alike, for each was cast from the same mold.
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The washstands were identical, all cast in the same mold.
38 Huram also made ten smaller bronze basins, one for each cart. Each basin was six feet across and could hold 220 gallons of water.
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He also made ten bronze washbasins, each six feet in diameter with a capacity of 230 gallons, one basin for each of the ten washstands.
39 He set five water carts on the south side of the Temple and five on the north side. The great bronze basin called the Sea was placed near the southeast corner of the Temple.
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He arranged five stands on the south side of The Temple and five on the north. The Sea was placed at the southeast corner of The Temple.
40 He also made the necessary washbasins, shovels, and bowls. So at last Huram completed everything King Solomon had assigned him to make for the Temple of the LORD :
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Hiram then fashioned the various utensils: buckets and shovels and bowls. Hiram completed all the work he set out to do for King Solomon on The Temple of God:
41 the two pillars; the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars; the two networks of interwoven chains that decorated the capitals;
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two pillars; two capitals on top of the pillars; two decorative filigrees for the capitals;
42 the 400 pomegranates that hung from the chains on the capitals (two rows of pomegranates for each of the chain networks that decorated the capitals on top of the pillars);
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four hundred pomegranates for the two filigrees (a double row of pomegranates for each filigree);
43 the ten water carts holding the ten basins;
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ten washstands each with its washbasin; one Sea;
44 the Sea and the twelve oxen under it;
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twelve bulls under the Sea;
45 the ash buckets, the shovels, and the bowls. Huram made all these things of burnished bronze for the Temple of the LORD, just as King Solomon had directed.
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miscellaneous buckets, shovels, and bowls.
46 The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zarethan.
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He cast them in clay in a foundry on the Jordan plain between Succoth and Zarethan.
47 Solomon did not weigh all these things because there were so many; the weight of the bronze could not be measured.
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These artifacts were never weighed - there were far too many! Nobody has any idea how much bronze was used.
48 Solomon also made all the furnishings of the Temple of the LORD : the gold altar; the gold table for the Bread of the Presence;
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Solomon was also responsible for all the furniture and accessories in The Temple of God: the gold Altar; the gold Table that held the Bread of the Presence;
49 the lampstands of solid gold, five on the south and five on the north, in front of the Most Holy Place; the flower decorations, lamps, and tongs—all of gold;
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the pure gold candelabras, five to the right and five to the left in front of the Inner Sanctuary; the gold flowers, lamps, and tongs;
50 the small bowls, lamp snuffers, bowls, ladles, and incense burners—all of solid gold; the doors for the entrances to the Most Holy Place and the main room of the Temple, with their fronts overlaid with gold.
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the pure gold dishes, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, ladles, and censers; the gold sockets for the doors of the Inner Sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, used also for the doors of the Main Sanctuary.
51 So King Solomon finished all his work on the Temple of the LORD . Then he brought all the gifts his father, David, had dedicated—the silver, the gold, and the various articles—and he stored them in the treasuries of the LORD ’s Temple.
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That completed all the work King Solomon did on The Temple of God. He then brought in the items consecrated by his father David, the silver and the gold and the artifacts. He placed them all in the treasury of God's Temple.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.