The Furnishings for the Temple

4¹ Then he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits its length, and twenty cubits its breadth, and ten cubits its height. ² Also he made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass; and its height was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits encircled it. ³ Under it was the likeness of oxen, which encircled it, for ten cubits, encircling the sea. The oxen were in two rows, cast when it was cast. ⁴ It stood on twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set on them above, and all their hinder parts were inward. ⁵ It was a handbreadth thick; and its brim was worked like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily: it received and held three thousand baths. ⁶ He made also ten basins, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them; such things as belonged to the burnt offering they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in. ⁷ He made the ten lampstands of gold according to the ordinance concerning them; and he set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left. ⁸ He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left. He made one hundred basins of gold. ⁹ Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid the doors of them with brass. ¹⁰ He set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, toward the south.

¹¹ Huram made the pots, and the shovels, and the basins. So Huram made an end of doing the work that he did for king Solomon in the house of God: ¹² the two pillars, and the bowls, and the two capitals which were on the top of the pillars, and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars, ¹³ and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks; two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars. ¹⁴ He made also the bases, and the basins made he on the bases; ¹⁵ one sea, and the twelve oxen under it. ¹⁶ The pots also, and the shovels, and the forks, and all its vessels, did Huram his father make for king Solomon for the house of Yahweh of bright brass. ¹⁷ In the plain of the Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah. ¹⁸ Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance: for the weight of the brass could not be found out. ¹⁹ Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of God, the golden altar also, and the tables with the show bread on them; ²⁰ and the lampstands with their lamps, to burn according to the ordinance before the oracle, of pure gold; ²¹ and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, of gold, and that perfect gold; ²² and the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the fire pans, of pure gold: and as for the entry of the house, the inner doors of it for the most holy place, and the doors of the main hall of the temple were of gold.

5¹ Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of Yahweh was finished. Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, even the silver, and the gold, and all the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of the house of God.

Solomon Brings the Ark into the Temple

² Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers’ houses of the children of Israel, to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh out of the city of David, which is Zion. ³ And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to the king at the feast, which was in the seventh month. ⁴ All the elders of Israel came: and the Levites took up the ark; ⁵ and they brought up the ark, and the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent; these did the priests the Levites bring up. ⁶ King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled to him, were before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle, that could not be counted nor numbered for multitude. ⁷ The priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim. ⁸ For the cherubim spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its poles above. ⁹ The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the ark before the oracle; but they were not seen outside: and there it is to this day. ¹⁰ There was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses put there at Horeb, when Yahweh made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.

¹¹ It happened, when the priests were come out of the holy place, (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, and did not keep their divisions; ¹² also the Levites who were the singers, all of them, even Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and their brothers, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals and stringed instruments and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them one hundred twenty priests sounding with trumpets;) ¹³ it happened, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking Yahweh; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised Yahweh, saying, For he is good; for his loving kindness endures forever; that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of Yahweh, ¹⁴ so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of Yahweh filled the house of God.

The Dedication of the Temple

6¹ Then spoke Solomon, Yahweh has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. ² But I have built you a house of habitation, and a place for you to dwell in forever. ³ The king turned his face, and blessed all the assembly of Israel: and all the assembly of Israel stood. ⁴ He said, Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David my father, and has with his hands fulfilled it, saying, ⁵ Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house in, that my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be prince over my people Israel: ⁶ but I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel. ⁷ Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. ⁸ But Yahweh said to David my father, Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart: ⁹ nevertheless you shall not build the house; but your son who shall come forth out of your body, he shall build the house for my name. ¹⁰ Yahweh has performed his word that he spoke; for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised, and have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. ¹¹ There have I set the ark, in which is the covenant of Yahweh, which he made with the children of Israel.

¹² He stood before the altar of Yahweh in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands ¹³ (for Solomon had made a bronze scaffold, five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and on it he stood, and kneeled down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven;) ¹⁴ and he said, Yahweh, the God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven, or on earth; who keep covenant and loving kindness with your servants, who walk before you with all their heart; ¹⁵ who have kept with your servant David my father that which you promised him: yes, you spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is this day. ¹⁶ Now therefore, Yahweh, the God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, There shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me. ¹⁷ Now therefore, Yahweh, the God of Israel, let your word be verified, which you spoke to your servant David. ¹⁸ But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain you; how much less this house which I have built! ¹⁹ Yet have respect for the prayer of your servant, and to his supplication, Yahweh my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which your servant prays before you; ²⁰ that your eyes may be open toward this house day and night, even toward the place where you have said that you would put your name; to listen to the prayer which your servant shall pray toward this place. ²¹ Listen to the petitions of your servant, and of your people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: yes, hear from your dwelling place, even from heaven; and when you hear, forgive. ²² If a man sin against his neighbor, and an oath is laid on him to cause him to swear, and he comes and swears before your altar in this house; ²³ then hear from heaven, and do, and judge your servants, bringing retribution to the wicked, to bring his way on his own head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. ²⁴ If your people Israel be struck down before the enemy, because they have sinned against you, and shall turn again and confess your name, and pray and make supplication before you in this house; ²⁵ then hear from heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land which you gave to them and to their fathers. ²⁶ When the sky is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; if they pray toward this place, and confess your name, and turn from their sin, when you afflict them: ²⁷ then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on your land, which you have given to your people for an inheritance. ²⁸ If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there be; ²⁹ whatever prayer and supplication be made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who shall know every man his own plague and his own sorrow, and shall spread forth his hands toward this house: ³⁰ then hear from heaven, your dwelling place and forgive, and render to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know; (for you, even you only, know the hearts of the children of men;) ³¹ that they may fear you, to walk in your ways, so long as they live in the land which you gave to our fathers. ³² Moreover concerning the foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, when he shall come from a far country for your great name’s sake, and your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm; when they shall come and pray toward this house: ³³ then hear from heaven, even from your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, and fear you, as does your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your name. ³⁴ If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to you toward this city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name; ³⁵ then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. ³⁶ If they sin against you (for there is no man who doesn’t sin), and you are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive to a land far off or near; ³⁷ yet if they shall repent themselves in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done perversely, and have dealt wickedly; ³⁸ if they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have carried them captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, and the city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your name: ³⁹ then hear from heaven, even from your dwelling place, their prayer and their petitions, and maintain their cause, and forgive your people who have sinned against you. ⁴⁰ Now, my God, let, I beg you, your eyes be open, and let your ears be attentive, to the prayer that is made in this place. ⁴¹ Now therefore arise, Yahweh God, into your resting place, you, and the ark of your strength: let your priests, Yahweh God, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints rejoice in goodness. ⁴² Yahweh God, don’t turn away the face of your anointed: remember your loving kindnesses to David your servant.

²⁴ The Jews therefore came around him and said to him, “How long will you hold us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” ²⁵ Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you don’t believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me. ²⁶ But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you. ²⁷ My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.” ³¹ Therefore Jews took up stones again to stone him. ³² Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?” ³³ The Jews answered him, “We don’t stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy: because you, being a man, make yourself God.” ³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods?’ [1] ³⁵ If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture can’t be broken), ³⁶ do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God?’ ³⁷ If I don’t do the works of my Father, don’t believe me. ³⁸ But if I do them, though you don’t believe me, believe the works; that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”

³⁹ They sought again to seize him, and he went out of their hand. ⁴⁰ He went away again beyond the Jordan into the place where John was baptizing at first, and there he stayed. ⁴¹ Many came to him. They said, “John indeed did no sign, but everything that John said about this man is true.” ⁴² Many believed in him there.