Equipment for the Temple
1 King Solomon had a bronze altar made, which was 30 feet square and 15 feet high.The Covenant Box Is Brought to the Temple
2 He also made a round tank of bronze, 7˝ feet deep, 15 feet in diameter, and 45 feet in circumference. * 3 All around the outer edge of the rim of the tank were two rows of decorations, one above the other. The decorations were in the shape of bulls, which had been cast all in one piece with the rest of the tank. 4 The tank rested on the backs of twelve bronze bulls that faced outward, three facing in each direction. 5 The sides of the tank were 3 inches thick. Its rim was like the rim of a cup, curving outward like the petals of a flower. The tank held about 15,000 gallons. 6 They also made ten basins, five to be placed on the south side of the Temple and five on the north side. They were to be used to rinse the parts of the animals that were burned as sacrifices. The water in the large tank was for the priests to use for washing. 7 -8 They made ten gold lampstands according to the usual pattern, and ten tables, and placed them in the main room of the Temple, five lampstands and five tables on each side. They also made a hundred gold bowls. 9 They made an inner courtyard for the priests, and also an outer courtyard. The doors in the gates between the courtyards were covered with bronze. 10 The tank was placed near the southeast corner of the Temple.The Glory of the \nd Lord\nd*
11 -16 Huram also made pots, shovels, and bowls. He completed all the objects that he had promised King Solomon he would make for the Temple:The two columns
The two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the columns
The design of interwoven chains on each capital
The 400 bronze pomegranates arranged in two rows around the design of each capital
The ten carts
The ten basins
The tank
The twelve bulls supporting the tank
The pots, shovels, and forks Huram the master metalworker made all these objects out of polished bronze, as King Solomon had commanded, for use in the Temple of the Lord. 17 The king had them all made in the foundry between Sukkoth and Zeredah in the Jordan Valley. * 18 So many objects were made that no one determined the total weight of the bronze used. 19 King Solomon also had gold furnishings made for the Temple: the altar and the tables for the bread offered to God; 20 the lampstands and the lamps of fine gold that were to burn in front of the Most Holy Place, according to plan; 21 the flower decorations, the lamps, and the tongs; 22 the lamp snuffers, the bowls, the dishes for incense, and the pans used for carrying live coals. All these objects were made of pure gold. The outer doors of the Temple and the doors to the Most Holy Place were overlaid with gold.
Equipment for the Temple
1 When King Solomon finished all the work on the Temple, he placed in the Temple storerooms all the things that his father David had dedicated to the Lord—the silver, gold, and other articles.The Covenant Box Is Brought to the Temple
2 Then King Solomon summoned all the leaders of the tribes and clans of Israel to assemble in Jerusalem, in order to take the Lord's Covenant Box from Zion, David's City, to the Temple. * 3 They all assembled at the time of the Festival of Shelters. 4 When all the leaders had gathered, then the Levites lifted the Covenant Box 5 and carried it to the Temple. The priests and the Levites also moved the Tent of the Lord's presence and all its equipment to the Temple. 6 King Solomon and all the people of Israel assembled in front of the Covenant Box and sacrificed a large number of sheep and cattle—too many to count. 7 Then the priests carried the Covenant Box of the Lord into the Temple and put it in the Most Holy Place, beneath the winged creatures. 8 Their outstretched wings covered the Box and the poles it was carried by. 9 The ends of the poles could be seen by anyone standing directly in front of the Most Holy Place, but from nowhere else. (The poles are still there today.) 10 There was nothing inside the Covenant Box except the two stone tablets which Moses had placed there at Mount Sinai, when the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel as they were coming from Egypt.The Glory of the \nd Lord\nd*
11 -14 All the priests present, regardless of the group to which they belonged, had consecrated themselves. And all the Levite musicians—Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, and the members of their clans—were wearing linen clothing. The Levites stood near the east side of the altar with cymbals and harps, and with them were 120 priests playing trumpets. The singers were accompanied in perfect harmony by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, as they praised the Lord singing:“Praise the Lord, because he is good,
And his love is eternal.” As the priests were leaving the Temple, it was suddenly filled with a cloud shining with the dazzling light of the Lord's presence, and they could not continue the service of worship.
© 1992 American Bible Society