The Berean Pursuit
Solomon, however, took thirteen years to complete the construction of his entire palace.
He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high, with four rows of cedar pillars supporting the cedar beams.
The house was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the pillars-forty-five beams, fifteen per row. There were three rows of high windows facing one another in three tiers. All the doorways had rectangular frames, with the openings facing one another in three tiers.
Solomon made his colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty cubits wide, with a portico in front of it and a canopy with pillars in front of the portico.
In addition, he built a hall for the throne, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge. It was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling.
And the palace where Solomon would live, set further back, was of similar construction. He also made a palace like this hall for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had married.
All these buildings were constructed with costly stones, cut to size and trimmed with saws inside and out from the foundation to the eaves, and from the outside to the great courtyard. The foundations were laid with large, costly stones, some ten cubits long and some eight cubits long. Above these were high-grade stones, cut to size, and cedar beams.
The great courtyard was surrounded by three rows of dressed stone and a row of trimmed cedar beams, as were the inner courtyard and portico of the house of the LORD.
Now King Solomon sent to bring Huram from Tyre. He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a craftsman in bronze. Huram had great skill, understanding, and knowledge for every kind of bronze work. So he came to King Solomon and carried out all his work.
He cast two pillars of bronze, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference. He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on top of the pillars, each capital five cubits high. For the capitals on top of the pillars he made a network of lattice, with wreaths of chainwork, seven for each capital.
Likewise, he made the pillars with two rows of pomegranates around each grating to cover each capital atop the pillars. And the capitals atop the pillars in the portico were shaped like lilies, four cubits high. On the capitals of both pillars, just above the rounded projection next to the network, were the two hundred pomegranates in rows encircling each capital.
Thus he set up the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jachin, and the pillar to the north he named Boaz. And the tops of the pillars were shaped like lilies. So the work of the pillars was completed.
He also made the Sea of cast metal. It was circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim, five cubits in height, and thirty cubits in circumference. Below the rim, ornamental buds encircled it, ten per cubit all the way around the Sea, cast in two rows as a part of the Sea.
The Sea stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The Sea rested on them, with all their hindquarters toward the center. It was a handbreadth thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It could hold two thousand baths.
In addition, he made ten movable stands of bronze, each four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high.
This was the design of the stands: They had side panels attached to uprights, and on the panels between the uprights were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the uprights was a pedestal above, and below the lions and oxen were wreaths of beveled work.
Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles and a basin resting on four supports, with wreaths at each side. The opening to each stand inside the crown at the top was one cubit deep, with a round opening like the design of a pedestal, a cubit and a half wide. And around its opening were engravings, but the panels of the stands were square, not round.
There were four wheels under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were attached to the stand; each wheel was a cubit and a half in diameter. The wheels were made like chariot wheels; their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all of cast metal.
Each stand had four handles, one for each corner, projecting from the stand. At the top of each stand was a circular band half a cubit high. The supports and panels were cast as a unit with the top of the stand.
He engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees on the surfaces of the supports and panels, wherever each had space, with wreaths all around. In this way he made the ten stands, each with the same casting, dimensions, and shape.
He also made ten bronze basins, each holding forty baths and measuring four cubits across, one basin for each of the ten stands.
He set five stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north, and he put the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner of the temple.
Additionally, Huram made the pots, shovels, and sprinkling bowls.
So Huram finished all the work that he had undertaken for King Solomon in the house of the LORD:
the two pillars;
the two bowl-shaped capitals atop the pillars;
the two sets of network covering both bowls of the capitals atop the pillars;
the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network covering both the bowl-shaped capitals atop the pillars);
the ten stands;
the ten basins on the stands;
the Sea;
the twelve oxen underneath the Sea;
and the pots, shovels, and sprinkling bowls.
All the articles that Huram made for King Solomon in the house of the LORD were made of burnished bronze. The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan. Solomon left all these articles unweighed, because there were so many. The weight of the bronze could not be determined.
Solomon also made all the furnishings for the house of the LORD:
the golden altar;
the golden table on which was placed the Bread of the Presence;
the lampstands of pure gold in front of the inner sanctuary, five on the right side and five on the left;
the gold flowers, lamps, and tongs;
the pure gold basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, ladles, and censers;
and the gold hinges for the doors of the inner temple (that is, the Most Holy Place) as well as for the doors of the main hall of the temple.
So all the work that King Solomon had performed for the house of the LORD was completed.
Then Solomon brought in the items his father David had dedicated-the silver, the gold, and the furnishings-and he placed them in the treasuries of the house of the LORD.
He made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high.
He also made the Sea of cast metal. It was circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim, five cubits in height, and thirty cubits in circumference. Below the rim, figures of oxen encircled it, ten per cubit all the way around the Sea, cast in two rows as a part of the Sea.
The Sea stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The Sea rested on them, with all their hindquarters toward the center. It was a handbreadth thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It could hold three thousand baths.
He also made ten basins for washing and placed five on the south side and five on the north. The parts of the burnt offering were rinsed in them, but the priests used the Sea for washing.
He made ten gold lampstands according to their specifications and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north.
Additionally, he made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He also made a hundred gold bowls.
He made the courtyard of the priests and the large court with its doors, and he overlaid the doors with bronze.
He put the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner.
Additionally, Huram made the pots, shovels, and sprinkling bowls.
So Huram finished the work that he had undertaken for King Solomon in the house of God:
the two pillars;
the two bowl-shaped capitals atop the pillars;
the two sets of network covering both bowls of the capitals atop the pillars;
the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network covering both the bowl-shaped capitals atop the pillars);
the stands;
the basins on the stands;
the Sea;
the twelve oxen underneath the Sea;
and the pots, shovels, meat forks, and all the other articles.
All these objects that Huram-abi made for King Solomon for the house of the LORD were of polished bronze. The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Succoth and Zeredah. Solomon made all these articles in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze could not be determined.
Solomon also made all the furnishings for the house of God:
the golden altar;
the tables on which was placed the Bread of the Presence;
the lampstands of pure gold and their lamps, to burn in front of the inner sanctuary as prescribed;
the flowers, lamps, and tongs of gold-of purest gold;
the wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, ladles, and censers of purest gold;
and the gold doors of the temple: the inner doors to the Most Holy Place as well as the doors of the main hall.
For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.
We have heard with our ears, O God;
our fathers have told us
the work You did in their days,
in the days of old.
With Your hand You drove out the nations
and planted our fathers there;
You crushed the peoples
and cast them out.
For it was not by their sword that they took the land;
their arm did not bring them victory.
It was by Your right hand,
Your arm, and the light of Your face,
because You favored them.
You are my King, O God,
who ordains victories for Jacob.
Through You we repel our foes;
through Your name we trample our enemies.
For I do not trust in my bow,
nor does my sword save me.
For You save us from our enemies;
You put those who hate us to shame.
In God we have boasted all day long,
and Your name we will praise forever.
Selah
But You have rejected and humbled us;
You no longer go forth with our armies.
You have made us retreat from the foe,
and those who hate us have plundered us.
You have given us up as sheep to be devoured;
You have scattered us among the nations.
You sell Your people for nothing;
no profit do You gain from their sale.
You have made us a reproach to our neighbors,
a mockery and derision to those around us.
You have made us a byword among the nations,
a laughingstock among the peoples.
All day long my disgrace is before me,
and shame has covered my face,
at the voice of the scorner and reviler,
because of the enemy, bent on revenge.
All this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten You
or betrayed Your covenant.
Our hearts have not turned back;
our steps have not strayed from Your path.
But You have crushed us in the lair of jackals;
You have covered us with deepest darkness.
If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
would not God have discovered,
since He knows the secrets of the heart?
Yet for Your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
Wake up, O Lord! Why are You sleeping?
Arise! Do not reject us forever.
Why do You hide Your face
and forget our affliction and oppression?
For our soul has sunk to the dust;
our bodies cling to the earth.
Rise up; be our help!
Redeem us on account of Your loving devotion.
First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone- for kings and all those in authority-so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity. This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all-the testimony that was given at just the right time.
For this reason I was appointed as a preacher, an apostle, and a faithful and true teacher of the Gentiles. I am telling the truth; I am not lying about anything. Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or dissension.
Likewise, I want the women to adorn themselves with respectable apparel, with modesty, and with self-control, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, as is proper for women who profess to worship God.
A woman must learn in quietness and full submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman who was deceived and fell into transgression. Women, however, will be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.