4
The furnishings for the temple
1 Solomon’s workers made a square bronze altar that was 10 yards wide on each side, and it was 5 yards high. 2 They also made a very large round tank that was made of metal and cast in a clay mold. It was 10 yards wide/across, and 5 yards high. It was 15 yards around it. 3 Below the outer rim there were two rows of small figures of bulls that were part of the metal of the basin. Each row had 300 figures of bulls.
4 The basin was set on twelve statues of bulls. There were three statues that faced north, three that faced west, three that faced south, and three that faced east. 5 The sides of the tank were 3 inches thick, and its rim was shaped like a cup that curved outward like the petals of flowers. The basin held about 16,500 gallons of water.
6 They also made ten basins for washing the animals that were to be sacrificed. The priests used the very large tank for washing themselves.
7 They also made ten gold lampstands according to what Solomon had instructed them. They put them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north side.
8 They made ten tables and put them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north side. They also made 100 gold bowls.
9 They also constructed one courtyard for the priests, and a larger courtyard for the other people. They made doors for the courtyards and covered them with thin sheets of bronze. 10 They placed the very large tank on the south side of the temple, at the southeast corner.
11 They also made pots and shovels for the ashes of the altar, and other small bowls.
So Huram and his workers finished the work that King Solomon had given him to do at the temple of God. 12 These were the things that they made:
the two large pillars,
the two bowl-shaped top parts on top of the pillars,
the two sets of carvings that resembled chains to decorate the tops of the two pillars,
13 the 400 carvings that resembled pomegranates that were placed in two rows, that decorated the bowl-shaped tops of the two pillars,
14 the stands, and the basins that were placed on them,
15 the very large tank, and the statues of twelve bulls underneath it,
16 the pots, shovels, meat forks, and all the other things needed for the work at the altar.
All those things that Huram and his workers made for King Solomon were made of polished bronze. 17 They made them by pouring melted bronze into the clay molds that Huram had set up near the Jordan river between Succoth and Zarethan cities. 18 All of those things that Solomon told them to make used a very large amount of bronze; no one tried to weigh it all.
19 Solomon’s workers also made all these things that were put at the temple:
the golden altar,
the tables on which the priests put the sacred bread,
20 the pure gold lampstands and the pure gold lamps, in which the priests put oil to burn in front of the Most Holy Place as God had told Moses that the priests should do,
21 the pure gold decorations that resembled flowers, and the lamps and tongs,
22 the pure gold wick trimmers and bowls for sprinkling, and dishes and lamp snuffers,
the gold doors of the temple
and the doors to the main hall.