Solomon Builds His Palace

1 Solomon was ^xbuilding his own house thirteen years, and he finished his entire house.

2 He built ^ythe House of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was a hundred cubits¹ and its breadth fifty cubits and its height thirty cubits, and it was built on four² rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars. 3 And it was covered with cedar above the chambers that were on the forty-five pillars, fifteen in each row. 4 There were window frames in three rows, and window opposite window in three tiers. 5 All the doorways and windows³ had square frames, and window was opposite window in three tiers.

6 And he made ^zthe Hall of Pillars; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits. There was a porch in front with pillars, and ^aa canopy in front of them.

7 And he made the Hall of the Throne where he was to pronounce judgment, even the Hall of Judgment. ^bIt was finished with cedar from floor to rafters.⁴

8 His own house where he was to dwell, in the other court at the back of the hall, was of like workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter ^cwhom he had taken in marriage.

9 All these were made of costly stones, cut according to measure, sawed with saws, back and front, even from the foundation to the coping, and from the outside to the great court. 10 The foundation was of costly stones, huge stones, stones of eight and ten cubits. 11 And above were costly stones, cut according to measurement, and cedar. 12 ^dThe great court had three courses of cut stone all around, and a course of cedar beams; so had the inner court of the house of the Lord and ^ethe vestibule of the house.

The Temple Furnishings

13 And King Solomon sent and brought ^fHiram from Tyre. 14 He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze. And ^ghe was full of wisdom, understanding, and skill for making any work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his work.

15 ^hHe cast ⁱtwo pillars of bronze. ^jEighteen cubits was the height of one pillar, and a line of twelve cubits measured its circumference. It was hollow, and its thickness was four fingers. The second pillar was the same.⁵ 16 He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of the one capital was five cubits, and ^jthe height of the other capital was five cubits. 17 There were lattices of checker work with wreaths of chain work for the capitals on the tops of the pillars, a lattice⁶ for the one capital and a lattice for the other capital. 18 Likewise he made pomegranates⁷ in two rows around the one latticework to cover the capital that was on the top of the pillar, and he did the same with the other capital. 19 Now the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars in the vestibule were of lily-work, four cubits. 20 The capitals were on the two pillars and also above the rounded projection which was beside the latticework. There were ^ktwo hundred pomegranates in two rows all around, and so with the other capital. 21 ^lHe set up the pillars at the vestibule of the temple. He set up the pillar on the south and called its name Jachin, and he set up the pillar on the north and called its name Boaz. 22 And on the tops of the pillars was lily-work. Thus the work of the pillars was finished.

23 ^mThen he made ⁿthe 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. 24 Under its brim were ^ogourds, for ten cubits, compassing the sea all around. The gourds were in two rows, cast with it when it was cast. 25 It stood on ^ptwelve 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. 26 Its thickness was a handbreadth,⁸ and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It held two thousand baths.⁹

27 He also made the ^qten stands of bronze. Each stand was four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high. 28 This was the construction of the stands: they had panels, and the panels were set in the frames, 29 and on the panels that were set in the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the frames, both above and below the lions and oxen, there were wreaths of beveled work. 30 Moreover, each stand had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze, and at the four corners were supports for a basin. The supports were cast with wreaths at the side of each. 31 Its opening was within a crown that projected upward one cubit. Its opening was round, as a pedestal is made, a cubit and a half deep. At its opening there were carvings, and its panels were square, not round. 32 And the four wheels were underneath the panels. The axles of the wheels were of one piece with the stands, and the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half. 33 The wheels were made like a chariot wheel; their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast. 34 There were four supports at the four corners of each stand. The supports were of one piece with the stands. 35 And on the top of the stand there was a round band half a cubit high; and on the top of the stand its stays and its panels were of one piece with it. 36 And on the surfaces of its stays and on its panels, he carved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the space of each, with wreaths all around. 37 After this manner he made ^qthe ten stands. All of them were cast alike, of the same measure and the same form.

38 And he made ^rten basins of bronze. Each basin held forty baths, each basin measured four cubits, and there was a basin for each of the ten stands. 39 And he set the stands, five on the south side of the house, and five on the north side of the house. And he set the sea at the southeast corner of the house.

40 ^sHiram also made ^tthe pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished all the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of the Lord: 41 the two pillars, the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars, and the two ^ulatticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars; 42 and the ^vfour hundred 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; 43 the ten stands, and the ten basins on the stands; 44 and ^wthe one sea, and the twelve oxen underneath the sea.

45 Now ^xthe pots, the shovels, and the basins, all these vessels in the house of the Lord, which Hiram made for King Solomon, were of burnished bronze. 46 In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between ^ySuccoth and ^zZarethan. 47 And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because there were so many of them; ^athe weight of the bronze was not ascertained.

48 So Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of the Lord: ^bthe golden altar, ^cthe golden table for ^dthe bread of the Presence, 49 ^ethe lampstands of pure gold, five on the south side and five on the north, before the inner sanctuary; ^fthe flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of gold; 50 the cups, snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and ^gfire pans, of pure gold; and the sockets of gold, for the doors of the innermost part of the house, ^hthe Most Holy Place, and for the doors of the nave of the temple.

51 Thus all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in ⁱthe things that David his father had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and the vessels, and stored them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.

O God, Do Not Keep Silence

A Song. A Psalm of ^gAsaph.

Warning Against Worldliness

1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions¹ are ^yat war within you?² 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask ^zwrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 ^aYou adulterous people!³ Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? ^bTherefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit ^cthat he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But ^dhe gives more grace. Therefore it says, ^e“God opposes the proud but ^dgives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. ^fResist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 ^gDraw near to God, and he will draw near to you. ^hCleanse your hands, you sinners, and ⁱpurify your hearts, ^jyou double-minded. 9 ^kBe wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 ^lHumble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

11 ^mDo not speak evil against one another, brothers.⁴ The one who speaks against a brother or ⁿjudges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only ^oone lawgiver and ^pjudge, he who is able to save and ^qto destroy. But ^rwho are you to judge your neighbor?

Boasting About Tomorrow

13 Come now, you who say, ^s“Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For ^tyou are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, ^u“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. ^vAll such boasting is evil. 17 ^wSo whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Warning to the Rich

1 Come now, ^xyou rich, weep and howl for the ^ymiseries that are coming upon you. 2 ^zYour riches have rotted and ^zyour garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. ^aYou have laid up treasure ^bin the last days. 4 Behold, ^cthe wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and ^dthe cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of ^ethe Lord of hosts. 5 ^fYou have lived on the earth in luxury and ^gin self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in ^ha day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and ⁱmurdered ^jthe righteous person. He does not resist you.

Patience in Suffering

7 Be patient, therefore, brothers,⁵ until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives ^kthe early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. ^lEstablish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord ^mis at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, ⁿso that you may not be judged; behold, ^othe Judge is standing ^pat the door. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take ^qthe prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of ^rthe steadfastness of Job, and you have seen ^sthe purpose of the Lord, how ^tthe Lord is compassionate and merciful.

12 But above all, my brothers, ^udo not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

The Prayer of Faith

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him ^vsing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, ^wanointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And ^xif he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, ^yconfess your sins to one another and pray for one another, ^zthat you may be healed. ^aThe prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.⁶ 17 Elijah was a man ^bwith a nature like ours, and ^che prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for ^dthree years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 ^eThen he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

19 My brothers, ^fif anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone ^gbrings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering ^hwill save his soul from death and ⁱwill cover a multitude of sins.