¹But Solomon took thirteen years to build his own house; so he finished all his house. ²He also built the House of the Forest of Lebanon; its length was one hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, with four rows of cedar pillars, and cedar beams on the pillars. ³And it was paneled with cedar above the beams that were on forty-five pillars, fifteen to a row. ⁴There were windows with beveled frames in three rows, and window was opposite window in three tiers. ⁵And all the doorways and doorposts had rectangular frames; and window was opposite window in three tiers. ⁶He also made the Hall of Pillars: its length was fifty cubits, and its width thirty cubits; and in front of them was a portico with pillars, and a canopy was in front of them. ⁷Then he made a hall for the throne, the Hall of Judgment, where he might judge; and it was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling. ⁸And the house where he dwelt had another court inside the hall, of like workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had taken as wife. ⁹All these were of costly stones cut to size, trimmed with saws, inside and out, from the foundation to the eaves, and also on the outside to the great court. ¹⁰The foundation was of costly stones, large stones, some ten cubits and some eight cubits. ¹¹And above were costly stones, hewn to size, and cedar wood. ¹²The great court was enclosed with three rows of hewn stones and a row of cedar beams. So were the inner court of the house of the Lᴏʀᴅ and the vestibule of the temple. ¹³Now King Solomon sent and brought Huram from Tyre. ¹⁴He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a bronze worker; he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill in working with all kinds of bronze work. So he came to King Solomon and did all his work. ¹⁵And he cast two pillars of bronze, each one eighteen cubits high, and a line of twelve cubits measured the circumference of each. ¹⁶Then he made two capitals of cast bronze, to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits. ¹⁷He made a lattice network, with wreaths of chainwork, for the capitals which were on top of the pillars: seven chains for one capital and seven for the other capital. ¹⁸So he made the pillars, and two rows of pomegranates above the network all around to cover the capitals that were on top; and thus he did for the other capital. ¹⁹The capitals which were on top of the pillars in the hall were in the shape of lilies, four cubits. ²⁰The capitals on the two pillars also had pomegranates above, by the convex surface which was next to the network; and there were two hundred such pomegranates in rows on each of the capitals all around. ²¹Then he set up the pillars by the vestibule of the temple; he set up the pillar on the right and called its name Jachin, and he set up the pillar on the left and called its name Boaz. ²²The tops of the pillars were in the shape of lilies. So the work of the pillars was finished. ²³And he made the Sea of cast bronze, ten cubits from one brim to the other; it was completely round. Its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. ²⁴Below its brim were ornamental buds encircling it all around, ten to a cubit, all the way around the Sea. The ornamental buds were cast in two rows when it was cast. ²⁵It stood on twelve oxen: three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; the Sea was set upon them, and all their back parts pointed inward. ²⁶It was a handbreadth thick; and its brim was shaped like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It contained two thousand baths. ²⁷He also made ten carts of bronze; four cubits was the length of each cart, four cubits its width, and three cubits its height. ²⁸And this was the design of the carts: They had panels, and the panels were between frames; ²⁹on the panels that were between the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim. And on the frames was a pedestal on top. Below the lions and oxen were wreaths of plaited work. ³⁰Every cart had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze, and its four feet had supports. Under the laver were supports of cast bronze beside each wreath. ³¹Its opening inside the crown at the top was one cubit in diameter; and the opening was round, shaped like a pedestal, one and a half cubits in outside diameter; and also on the opening were engravings, but the panels were square, not round. ³²Under the panels were the four wheels, and the axles of the wheels were joined to the cart. The height of a wheel was one and a half cubits. ³³The workmanship of the wheels was like the workmanship of a chariot wheel; their axle pins, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all of cast bronze. ³⁴And there were four supports at the four corners of each cart; its supports were part of the cart itself. ³⁵On the top of the cart, at the height of half a cubit, it was perfectly round. And on the top of the cart, its flanges and its panels were of the same casting. ³⁶On the plates of its flanges and on its panels he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, wherever there was a clear space on each, with wreaths all around. ³⁷Thus he made the ten carts. All of them were of the same mold, one measure, and one shape. ³⁸Then he made ten lavers of bronze; each laver contained forty baths, and each laver was four cubits. On each of the ten carts was a laver. ³⁹And he put five carts on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house. He set the Sea on the right side of the house, toward the southeast. ⁴⁰Huram made the lavers and the shovels and the bowls. So Huram finished doing all the work that he was to do for King Solomon for the house of the Lᴏʀᴅ: ⁴¹the two pillars, the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the two pillars; the two networks covering the two bowl-shaped capitals which were on top of the pillars; ⁴²four hundred pomegranates for the two networks (two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the pillars); ⁴³the ten carts, and ten lavers on the carts; ⁴⁴one Sea, and twelve oxen under the Sea; ⁴⁵the pots, the shovels, and the bowls. All these articles which Huram made for King Solomon for the house of the Lᴏʀᴅ were of burnished bronze. ⁴⁶In the plain of Jordan the king had them cast in clay molds, between Succoth and Zaretan. ⁴⁷And Solomon did not weigh all the articles, because there were so many; the weight of the bronze was not determined. ⁴⁸Thus Solomon had all the furnishings made for the house of the Lᴏʀᴅ: the altar of gold, and the table of gold on which was the showbread; ⁴⁹the lampstands of pure gold, five on the right side and five on the left in front of the inner sanctuary, with the flowers and the lamps and the wick-trimmers of gold; ⁵⁰the basins, the trimmers, the bowls, the ladles, and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner room (the Most Holy Place) and for the doors of the main hall of the temple. ⁵¹So all the work that King Solomon had done for the house of the Lᴏʀᴅ was finished; and Solomon brought in the things which his father David had dedicated: the silver and the gold and the furnishings. He put them in the treasuries of the house of the Lᴏʀᴅ.

¹I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, ²with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, ³endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. ⁷But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” ⁹(Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) ¹¹And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹²for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; ¹⁴that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ¹⁵but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— ¹⁶from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. ¹⁷This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, ¹⁸having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; ¹⁹who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. ²⁰But you have not so learned Christ, ²¹if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: ²²that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, ²³and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. ²⁵Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. ²⁶“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, ²⁷nor give place to the devil. ²⁸Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. ²⁹Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. ³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. ³²And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.

¹The hand of the Lᴏʀᴅ came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lᴏʀᴅ, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. ²Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. ³And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lᴏʀᴅ God, You know.” ⁴Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ! ⁵Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. ⁶I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lᴏʀᴅ.” ‘ ” ⁷So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. ⁹Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ” ¹⁰So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. ¹¹Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ ¹²Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ God: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. ¹³Then you shall know that I am the Lᴏʀᴅ, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. ¹⁴I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lᴏʀᴅ, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lᴏʀᴅ.’ ” ¹⁵Again the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ came to me, saying, ¹⁶“As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: ‘For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.’ Then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.’ ¹⁷Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand. ¹⁸“And when the children of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Will you not show us what you mean by these?’— ¹⁹say to them, ‘Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ God: “Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.” ’ ²⁰And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. ²¹Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ God: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; ²²and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. ²³They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God. ²⁴“David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. ²⁵Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever. ²⁶Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. ²⁷My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people. ²⁸The nations also will know that I, the Lᴏʀᴅ, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.” ‘ ”

¹A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A Song. His foundation is in the holy mountains. ²The Lᴏʀᴅ loves the gates of Zion More than all the dwellings of Jacob. ³Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God! Selah ⁴“I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to those who know Me; Behold, O Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia: ‘This one was born there.’ ” ⁵And of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one were born in her; And the Most High Himself shall establish her.” ⁶The Lᴏʀᴅ will record, When He registers the peoples: “This one was born there.” Selah ⁷Both the singers and the players on instruments say, “All my springs are in you.”

¹A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. To the Chief Musician. Set to ‘Mahalath Leannoth.’ A Contemplation of Heman the Ezrahite. O Lᴏʀᴅ, God of my salvation, I have cried out day and night before You. ²Let my prayer come before You; Incline Your ear to my cry. ³For my soul is full of troubles, And my life draws near to the grave. ⁴I am counted with those who go down to the pit; I am like a man who has no strength, ⁵Adrift among the dead, Like the slain who lie in the grave, Whom You remember no more, And who are cut off from Your hand. ⁶You have laid me in the lowest pit, In darkness, in the depths. ⁷Your wrath lies heavy upon me, And You have afflicted me with all Your waves. Selah ⁸You have put away my acquaintances far from me; You have made me an abomination to them; I am shut up, and I cannot get out; ⁹My eye wastes away because of affliction. Lᴏʀᴅ, I have called daily upon You; I have stretched out my hands to You. ¹⁰Will You work wonders for the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise You? Selah ¹¹Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave? Or Your faithfulness in the place of destruction? ¹²Shall Your wonders be known in the dark? And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? ¹³But to You I have cried out, O Lᴏʀᴅ, And in the morning my prayer comes before You. ¹⁴Lᴏʀᴅ, why do You cast off my soul? Why do You hide Your face from me? ¹⁵I have been afflicted and ready to die from my youth; I suffer Your terrors; I am distraught. ¹⁶Your fierce wrath has gone over me; Your terrors have cut me off. ¹⁷They came around me all day long like water; They engulfed me altogether. ¹⁸Loved one and friend You have put far from me, And my acquaintances into darkness.