2Ch 3-5 | ESV | STEP | Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah , where the Lord had appeared to David his father , at the place that David had appointed , on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite .

1 ^aThen Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem ^bon Mount Moriah, where the Lord ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew lacks the Lord} had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, ^don the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2 He began to build in the second month of the fourth year of his reign. 3 These are Solomon’s ^emeasurements ^{▼▼Syriac; Hebrew foundations} for building the house of God: ^gthe length, in cubits ^{▼▼A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters} of the old standard, was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. 4 The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, ^{▼▼Compare 1 Kings 6:3; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain} and its height was 120 cubits. He overlaid it on the inside with pure gold. 5 ^jThe nave he lined with cypress and covered it with fine gold ^kand made palms and chains on it. 6 He adorned the house with settings of precious stones. The gold was gold of Parvaim. 7 So he lined the house with gold—its beams, its thresholds, its walls, and its doors— ^land he carved cherubim on the walls.

8 ^mAnd he made the Most Holy Place. Its length, corresponding to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and its breadth was twenty cubits. He overlaid it with 600 talents ^{▼▼A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms} of fine gold. 9 The weight of gold for the nails was fifty shekels. ^{▼▼A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams} And he overlaid ^pthe upper chambers with gold.

10 ^qIn the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim of wood ^{▼▼Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain} and overlaid ^{▼▼Hebrew they overlaid} them with gold. 11 The wings of the cherubim together extended twenty cubits: one wing of the one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub; 12 and of this cherub, one wing, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and the other wing, also of five cubits, was joined to the wing of the first cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits. The cherubim ^{▼▼Hebrew they} stood on their feet, ^ufacing the nave. 14 ^vAnd he made the veil of blue and purple and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and he worked cherubim on it.

15 ^wIn front of the house he made two pillars thirty-five cubits high, with a capital of five cubits on the top of each. 16 He made chains like a necklace ^{▼▼Hebrew chains in the inner sanctuary} and put them on the tops of the pillars, and he made a hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains. 17 ^yHe set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the south, the other on the north; that on the south he called Jachin, and that on the north Boaz.

2 Chronicles 4

The Temple’s Furnishings

1 He made ^zan altar of bronze, twenty cubits ^{▼▼A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters} long and twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high. 2 ^abThen he made the sea of cast metal. It was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. 3 Under it were figures of gourds, ^{▼▼Compare 1 Kings 7:24; Hebrew oxen; twice in this verse} for ten cubits, compassing the sea all around. The gourds were in two rows, cast with it when it was cast. 4 It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The sea was set on them, and all their rear parts were inward. 5 Its thickness was a handbreadth. ^{▼▼A handbreadth was about 3 inches or 7.5 centimeters} And its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. ^aeIt held 3,000 baths. ^{▼▼A bath was about 6 gallons or 22 liters} 6 ^agHe also made ten basins in which to wash, and set five on the south side, and five on the north side. In these they were to rinse off what was used for the burnt offering, and the sea was for the priests to wash in.

7 And he made ten golden lampstands ^ahas prescribed, and set them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. 8 ^aiHe also made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. And he made a hundred basins of gold. 9 He made ^ajthe court of the priests ^akand the great court and doors for the court and overlaid their doors with bronze. 10 ^alAnd he set the sea at the southeast corner of the house.

11 ^am, ^anHiram also made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. ^aoSo Hiram finished the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of God: 12 the two pillars, ^apthe bowls, and the two capitals on the top of the pillars; and the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; 13 ^aqand the 400 pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars. 14 ^arHe made the stands also, and the basins on the stands, 15 and the one sea, and the twelve oxen underneath it. 16 The pots, the shovels, ^asthe forks, and all the equipment for these ^at, ^auHuram-abi made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord. 17 In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah. ^{▼▼Spelled Zarethan in 1 Kings 7:46} 18 ^awSolomon made all these things in great quantities, for the weight of the bronze was not sought.

19 So Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of God: the golden altar, ^axthe tables for the bread of the Presence, 20 the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold ^ayto burn before the inner sanctuary, as prescribed; 21 the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of purest gold; 22 the snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and fire pans, of pure gold, and the sockets ^{▼▼Compare 1 Kings 7:50; Hebrew the entrance of the house} of the temple, for the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and for the doors of the nave of the temple were of gold.

2 Chronicles 5

1 ^baThus all the work that Solomon did for the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, and stored the silver, the gold, and all the vessels in the treasuries of the house of God.

The Ark Brought to the Temple

2 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of ^bbthe city of David, which is Zion. 3 And all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the feast that is in the seventh month. 4 And all the elders of Israel came, ^bcand the Levites took up the ark. 5 And they brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; ^bdthe Levitical priests brought them up. 6 And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. 7 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. 8 The cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering above the ark and its poles. 9 And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen ^befrom the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside. And they are ^{▼▼Hebrew it is} there to this day. 10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets ^bgthat Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of Egypt. 11 And when the priests came out of the Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves, without regard to ^bhtheir divisions, 12 and all the Levitical ^bisingers, ^bjAsaph, ^bkHeman, and Jeduthun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with ^blcymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with 120 ^bmpriests who were trumpeters; 13 and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord), and when the song was raised, ^bnwith trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord,

^bo“For he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever,”
the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, ^bpfor the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.