Chapter 61

6:29. And all the walls of the temple round about he carved with divers figures and carvings: and he made in them cherubims and palm trees, and divers representations, as it were standing out, and coming forth from the wall.

6:30. And the floor of the house he also overlaid with gold within and without.

6:31. And in the entrance of the oracle, he made little doors of olive tree, and posts of five corners,

6:32. And two doors of olive tree: and he carved upon them figures of cherubims, and figures of palm trees, and carvings very much projecting; and he overlaid them with gold: and he covered both the cherubims and the palm trees, and the other things, with gold.

6:33. And he made in the entrance of the temple posts of olive tree foursquare:

6:34. And two doors of fir tree, one of each side: and each door was double, and so opened with folding leaves.

6:35. And he carved cherubims, and palm trees, and carved work standing very much out: and he overlaid all with golden plates in square work by rule.

6:36. And he built the inner court with three rows of polished stones, and one row of beams of cedar.

6:37. In the fourth year was the house of the Lord founded, in the month Zio:

6:38. And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul. (which is the eighth month) the house was finished in all the works thereof, and in all the appurtenances thereof: and he was seven years in building it.

3 Kings Chapter 7

Solomon's palace, his house in the forest, and the queen's house: the work of the two pillars: the sea (or laver) and other vessels.

7:1. And Solomon built his own house in thirteen years, and brought it to perfection.

7:2. He built also the house of the forest of Libanus; the length of it was a hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty cubits, and the height thirty cubits: and four galleries between pillars of cedar: for he had cut cedar trees into pillars.

7:3. And he covered the whole vault with boards of cedar, and it was held up with five and forty pillars. And one row had fifteen pillars,

7:4. Set one against another,

7:5. And looking one upon another, with equal space between the pillars, and over the pillars were square beams in all things equal.

7:6. And he made a porch of pillars of fifty cubits in length, and thirty cubits in breadth: and another porch before the greater porch, and pillars, and chapiters upon the pillars.

7:7. He made also the porch of the throne wherein is the seat of judgment; and covered it with cedar wood from the floor to the top.

7:8. And in the midst of the porch, was a small house, where he sat in judgment of the like work. He made also a house for the daughter of Pharao (whom Solomon had taken to wife) of the same work, as this porch;

7:9. All of costly stones, which were sawed by a certain rule and measure, both within and without: from the foundation to the top of the walls, and without, unto the great court.

7:10. And the foundations were of costly stones, great stones of ten cubits or eight cubits.

7:11. And above there were costly stones of equal measure hewed, and in like manner planks of cedar.

7:12. And the great court was made round with three rows of hewed stones, and one row of planks of cedar, which also was observed in the inner court of the house of the Lord, and in the porch of the house.

7:13. And king Solomon sent, and brought Hiram from Tyre,

7:14. The son of a widow woman, of the tribe of Nephthali, whose father was a Tyrian, an artificer in brass, and full of wisdom, and understanding, and skill to work all work in brass. And when he was come to king Solomon, he wrought all his work.

7:15. And he cast two pillars in brass, each pillar was eighteen cubits high: and a line of twelve cubits compassed both the pillars.

7:16. He made also two chapiters of molten brass, to be set upon the tops of the pillars: the height of one chapiter was five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter was five cubits:

7:17. And a kind of network, and chain work wreathed together with wonderful art. Both the chapiters of the pillars were cast: seven rows of nets were on one chapiter, and seven nets on the other chapiter.

7:18. And he made the pillars, and two rows round about each network to cover the chapiters, that were upon the top, with pomegranates: and in like manner did he to the other chapiter.

7:19. And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars, were of lily work, in the porch of four cubits.

7:20. And again there were other chapiters on the top of the pillars above, according to the measure of the pillar over against the network: and of pomegranates there were two hundred, in rows round about the other chapiter.

7:21. And he set up the two pillars in the porch of the temple: and when he had set up the pillar on the right hand, he called the name thereof Jachin: in like manner he set up the second pillar, and called the name thereof Booz.

Jachin. . .That is, firmly established.--Ibid. Booz. . .That is, in its strength. By recording these names in holy writ, the spirit of God would have us understand the invincible firmness and strength of the pillars on which the true temple of God, which is the church, is established.

7:22. And upon the tops of the pillars he made lily work: so the work of the pillars was finished.

7:23. He made also a molten sea, of ten cubits, from brim to brim, round all about; the height of it was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits compassed it round about.

7:24. And a graven work, under the brim of it, compassed it for ten cubits going about the sea: there were two rows cast of chamfered sculptures.

7:25. And it stood upon twelve oxen, of which three looked towards the north, and three towards the west, and three towards the south, and three towards the east: and the sea was above upon them, and their hinder parts were all hid within.

7:26. And the laver was a hand breadth thick: and the brim thereof was like the brim of a cup, or the leaf of a crisped lily: it contained two thousand bates.

Two thousand bates. . .That is, about ten thousand gallons. This was the quantity of water which was usually put into it: but it was capable, if brimful, of holding three thousand. See 2 Par. 4.5.

7:27. And he made ten bases of brass, every base was four cubits in length, and four cubits in breadth, and three cubits high.

7:28. And the work itself of the bases, was intergraven: and there were gravings between the joinings.

7:29. And between the little crowns and the ledges, were lions, and oxen, and cherubims; and in the joinings likewise above: and under the lions and oxen, as it were bands of brass hanging down.

7:30. And every base had four wheels, and axletrees of brass: and at the four sides were undersetters, under the laver molten, looking one against another.

7:31. The mouth also of the laver within, was in the top of the chapiter: and that which appeared without, was of one cubit all round, and together it was one cubit and a half: and in the corners of the pillars were divers engravings: and the spaces between the pillars were square, not round.

7:32. And the four wheels, which were at the four corners of the base, were joined one to another under the base: the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half.

7:33. And they were such wheels as are used to be made in a chariot: and their axletrees, and spokes, and strakes, and naves, were all cast.

7:34. And the four undersetters, that were at every corner of each base, were of the base itself, cast and joined together.

7:35. And on the top of the base, there was a round compass of half a cubit, so wrought that the laver might be set thereon, having its gravings, and divers sculptures of itself.

7:36. He engraved also in those plates, which were of brass, and in the corners, cherubims, and lions, and palm trees, in likeness of a man standing, so that they seemed not to be engraven, but added round about.

7:37. After this manner, he made ten bases, of one casting and measure, and the like graving.

7:38. He made also ten lavers of brass: one laver contained four bates, and was of four cubits: and upon every base, in all ten, he put as many lavers.

7:39. And he set the ten bases, five on the right side of the temple, and five on the left: and the sea he put on the right side of the temple, over against the east southward.

7:40. And Hiram made cauldrons, and shovels, and basins, and finished all the work of king Solomon in the temple of the Lord.

7:41. The two pillars and the two cords of the chapiters, upon the chapiters of the pillars: and the two networks, to cover the two cords, that were upon the top of the pillars.

7:42. And four hundred pomegranates for the two networks: two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the cords of the chapiters, which were upon the tops of the pillars.

7:43. And the ten bases, and the ten lavers on the bases.

7:44. And one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea.

7:45. And the cauldrons, and the shovels, and the basins. All the vessels that Hiram made for king Solomon, for the house of the Lord, were of fine brass.

7:46. In the plains of the Jordan, did the king cast them in a clay ground, between Socoth and Sartham.

7:47. And Solomon placed all the vessels: but for its exceeding great multitude the brass could not be weighed.

7:48. And Solomon made all the vessels for the house of the Lord: the altar of gold, and the table of gold, upon which the loaves of proposition should be set:

7:49. And the golden candlesticks, five on the right hand, and five on the left, over against the oracle, of pure gold: and the flowers like lilies, and the lamps over them of gold: and golden snuffers,

7:50. And pots, and fleshhooks, and bowls, and mortars, and censers, of most pure gold: and the hinges for the doors of the inner house of the holy of holies, and for the doors of the house of the temple, were of gold.

7:51. And Solomon finished all the work that he made in the house of the Lord, and brought in the things that David, his father, had dedicated, the silver and the gold, and the vessels, and laid them up in the treasures of the house of the Lord.

3 Kings Chapter 8

The dedication of the temple: Solomon's prayer and sacrifices.

8:1. Then all the ancients of Israel, with the princes of the tribes, and the heads of the families of the children of Israel, were assembled to king Solomon, in Jerusalem: that they might carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, out of the city of David, that is, out of Sion.

8:2. And all Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon, on the festival day, in the month of Ethanim, the same is the seventh month.

8:3. And all the ancients of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark,

8:4. And carried the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the covenant, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, that were in the tabernacle: and the priests and the Levites carried them.

8:5. And king Solomon, and all the multitude of Israel, that were assembled unto him, went with him before the ark, and they sacrificed sheep and oxen, that could not be counted or numbered.

8:6. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord into its place, into the oracle of the temple, into the holy of holies, under the wings of the cherubims.

8:7. For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and covered the ark, and the staves thereof above.

8:8. And whereas the staves stood out, the ends of them were seen without, in the sanctuary before the oracle, but were not seen farther out, and there they have been unto this day.

8:9. Now in the ark there was nothing else but the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

Nothing else, etc. . .There was nothing else but the tables of the law within the ark: but on the outside of the ark, or near the ark were also the rod of Aaron, and a golden urn with manna, Heb. 9.4.

8:10. And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the sanctuary, that a cloud filled the house of the Lord,

8:11. And the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.

8:12. Then Solomon said: The Lord said that he would dwell in a cloud.

8:13. Building, I have built a house for thy dwelling, to be thy most firm throne for ever.

8:14. And the king turned his face, and blessed all the assembly of Israel: for all the assembly of Israel stood.

8:15. And Solomon said: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David, my father, and with his own hands hath accomplished it, saying:

8:16. Since the day that I brought my people Israel, out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel, for a house to be built, that my name might be there: but I chose David to be over my people Israel.

8:17. And David, my father, would have built a house to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel:

8:18. And the Lord said to David, my father: Whereas, thou hast thought in thy heart to build a house to my name, thou hast done well in having this same thing in thy mind.

8:19. Nevertheless, thou shalt not build me a house, but thy son, that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build a house to my name.

8:20. The Lord hath performed his word which he spoke. And I stand in the room of David, my father, and sit upon the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised: and have built a house to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

8:21. And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

8:22. And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, in the sight of the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands towards heaven,

8:23. And said: Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on the earth beneath: who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants, that have walked before thee with all their heart:

8:24. Who hast kept with thy servant David, my father, what thou hast promised him: with thy mouth thou didst speak, and with thy hands thou hast performed, as this day proveth.

8:25. Now, therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David, my father, what thou hast spoken to him, saying: There shall not be taken away of thee a man in my sight, to sit on the throne of Israel: yet so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked in my sight.

8:26. And now, Lord God of Israel, let thy words be established, which thou hast spoken to thy servant David, my father.

8:27. Is it then to be thought that God should indeed dwell upon earth? for if heaven, and the heavens of heavens, cannot contain thee, how much less this house which I have built?

8:28. But have regard to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplications, O Lord, my God: hear the hymn and the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee this day:

8:29. That thy eyes may be open upon this house, night and day: upon the house of which thou hast said: My name shall be there: that thou mayst hearken to the prayer which thy servant prayeth, in this place to thee:

8:30. That thou mayst hearken to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, whatsoever they shall pray for in this place, and hear them in the place of thy dwelling in heaven; and when thou hearest, shew them mercy.

8:31. If any man trespass against his neighbour, and have an oath upon him, wherewith he is bound, and come, because of the oath, before thy altar, to thy house,

8:32. Then hear thou in heaven: and do and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, and bringing his way upon his own head, and justifying the just, and rewarding him according to his justice.

8:33. If thy people Israel shall fly before their enemies (because they will sin against thee) and doing penance, and confessing to thy name, shall come and pray, and make supplications to thee in this house:

8:34. Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them back to the land which thou gavest to their fathers.

8:35. If heaven shall be shut up, and there shall be no rain, because of their sins, and they, praying in this place, shall do penance to thy name, and shall be converted from their sins, by occasion of their afflictions:

8:36. Then hear thou them in heaven, and forgive the sins of thy servants, and of thy people Israel: and shew them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people in possession.

8:37. If a famine arise in the land, or a pestilence, or corrupt air, or blasting, or locust, or mildew; if their enemy afflict them, besieging the gates, whatsoever plague, whatsoever infirmity,

8:38. Whatsoever curse or imprecation shall happen to any man of thy people Israel: when a man shall know the wound of his own heart, and shall spread forth his hands in this house;

8:39. Then hear thou in heaven, in the place of thy dwelling, and forgive, and do so as to give to every one according to his ways, as thou shalt see his heart (for thou only knowest the heart of all the children of men)

8:40. That they may fear thee all the days that they live upon the face of the land, which thou hast given to our fathers.

8:41. Moreover also the stranger, who is not of thy people Israel, when he shall come out of a far country for thy name's sake, (for they shall hear every where of thy great name, and thy mighty hand,

8:42. And thy stretched out arm) so when he shall come, and shall pray in this place,

8:43. Then hear thou in heaven, in the firmament of thy dwelling place, and do all those things, for which that stranger shall call upon thee: that all the people of the earth may learn to fear thy name, as do thy people Israel, and may prove that thy name is called upon on this house, which I have built.

8:44. If thy people go out to war against their enemies, by what way soever thou shalt send them, they shall pray to thee towards the way of the city, which thou hast chosen, and towards the house, which I have built to thy name:

8:45. And then hear thou in heaven their prayers, and their supplications, and do judgment for them.

8:46. But if they sin against thee, (for there is no man who sinneth not) and thou being angry, deliver them up to their enemies, so that they be led away captives into the land of their enemies, far or near;

8:47. Then if they do penance in their heart, in the place of captivity, and being converted, make supplication to thee in their captivity, saying: We have sinned, we have done unjustly, we have committed wickedness:

8:48. And return to thee with all their heart, and all their soul, in the land of their enemies, to which they have been led captives: and pray to thee towards the way of their land, which thou gavest to their fathers, and of the city which thou hast chosen, and of the temple which I have built to thy name:

8:49. Then hear thou in heaven, in the firmament of thy throne, their prayers, and their supplications, and do judgment for them:

8:50. And forgive thy people, that have sinned against thee, and all their iniquities, by which they have transgressed against thee: and give them mercy before them that have made them captives, that they may have compassion on them.

8:51. For they are thy people, and thy inheritance, whom thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron.

8:52. That thy eyes may be open to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, to hear them in all things for which they shall call upon thee.

8:53. For thou hast separated them to thyself for an inheritance, from amongst all the people of the earth, as thou hast spoken by Moses, thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.

8:54. And it came to pass, when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, that he rose from before the altar of the Lord: for he had fixed both knees on the ground, and had spread his hands towards heaven.

8:55. And he stood, and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying:

8:56. Blessed be the Lord, who hath given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed so much as one word of all the good things that he promised by his servant Moses.

8:57. The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers, and not leave us, nor cast us off:

8:58. But may he incline our hearts to himself, that we may walk in all his ways, and keep his commandments, and his ceremonies, and all his judgments, which he commanded our fathers.

8:59. And let these my words, wherewith I have prayed before the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that he may do judgment for his servant, and for his people Israel, day by day:

8:60. That all the people of the earth may know, that the Lord he is God, and there is no other besides him.

8:61. Let our hearts also be perfect with the Lord our God, that we may walk in his statutes, and keep his commandments, as at this day.

8:62. And the king, and all Israel with him, offered victims before the Lord.

8:63. And Solomon slew victims of peace offerings, which he sacrificed to the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep so the king, and all the children of Israel, dedicated the temple of the Lord.

8:64. In that day the king sanctified the middle of the court, that was before the house of the Lord for there he offered the holocaust, and sacrifice, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brazen altar that was before the Lord, was too little to receive the holocaust, and sacrifice, and the fat of the peace offerings.

8:65. And Solomon made at the same time a solemn feast, and all Israel with him, a great multitude, from the entrance of Emath to the river of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days, that is, fourteen days.

8:66. And on the eighth day, he sent away the people: and they blessed the king, and went to their dwellings, rejoicing, and glad in heart, for all the good things that the Lord had done for David, his servant, and for Israel, his people.

3 Kings Chapter 9

The Lord appeareth again to Solomon: he buildeth cities: he sendeth a fleet to Ophir.

9:1. And it came to pass when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all that he desired and was pleased to do,

9:2. That the Lord appeared to him the second time, as he had appeared to him in Gabaon.

9:3. And the Lord said to him: I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, which thou hast made before me: I have sanctified this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and my eyes, and my heart, shall be there always.

9:4. And if thou wilt walk before me, as thy father walked, in simplicity of heart, and in uprightness: and wilt do all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my ordinances, and my judgments,

As thy father walked, in simplicity of heart. . .That is, in the sincerity and integrity of a single heart, as opposite to all double dealing and deceit.

9:5. I will establish the throne of thy kingdom over Israel for ever, as I promised David, thy father, saying: There shall not fail a man of thy race upon the throne of Israel.

9:6. But if you and your children, revolting, shall turn away from following me, and will not keep my commandments, and my ceremonies, which I have set before you, but will go and worship strange gods, and adore them:

9:7. I will take away Israel from the face of the land which I have given them; and the temple which I have sanctified to my name, I will cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb, and a byword among all people.