The Furnishings for the Temple
(1 Kings 7.23-51)1 Solomon had a bronze altar made that was nine meters square and four and a half meters high. 2 He also gave orders to make a large metal bowl called the Sea. It was 4.5 meters across, just over two meters deep, and 13.5 meters around. 3 Its outer edge was decorated with two rows of carvings of bulls, ten bulls to about every 45 centimeters, all made from the same piece of metal as the bowl. 4 The bowl itself sat on top of twelve bronze bulls, with three bulls facing outward in each of four directions. 5 The sides of the bowl were 75 millimeters thick, and its rim was in the shape of a cup that curved outward like flower petals. The bowl held about 60,000 liters.
6 He also made ten small bowls and put five on each side of the large bowl. The small bowls were used to wash the animals that were burned on the altar as sacrifices, and the priests used the water in the large bowl to wash their hands.
7 Ten gold lampstands were also made according to the plans. Solomon placed these lampstands inside the temple, five on each side of the main room. 8 He also made ten tables and placed them in the main room, five on each side. And he made 100 small gold sprinkling bowls.
9 Solomon gave orders to build two courtyards: a smaller one that only priests could use and a larger one. The doors to these courtyards were covered with bronze. 10 The large bowl called the Sea was placed near the southeast corner of the temple.
11 Huram made shovels, sprinkling bowls, and pans for hot ashes. Here is a list of the other furnishings he made for God's temple: 12 two columns, two bowl-shaped caps for the tops of these columns, two chain designs on the caps, 13 400 pomegranates in two rows for the chain designs, 14 the stands and the small bowls, 15 the large bowl and the twelve bulls that held it up, 16 pans for hot ashes, as well as shovels and meat forks.
Huram made all these things out of polished bronze 17 by pouring melted bronze into the clay molds he had set up near the Jordan River, between Succoth and Zeredah.
18 There were so many bronze furnishings that no one ever knew how much bronze it took to make them.
19 Solomon also gave orders to make the following temple furnishings out of gold: the altar, the tables that held the sacred loaves of bread, 20 the lampstands and the lamps that burned in front of the most holy place, 21 flower designs, lamps and tongs, 22 lamp snuffers, small sprinkling bowls, ladles, fire pans, and the doors to the most holy place and the main room of the temple.
Equipment for the Temple
(1 Kings 7.23-51)1 King Solomon had a bronze altar made, which was 30 feet square and 15 feet high. 2 He also made a round tank of bronze, 7½ 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.
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.
