Luke 1:57-66
[57]
Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. [58]
And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great
mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. [59] And on the eighth day
they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him
Zechariah after his father, [60] but his mother answered, “No; he shall
be called John.” [61] And they said to her, “None of your relatives is
called by this name.” [62] And they made signs to his father, inquiring
what he wanted him to be called. [63] And he asked for a writing tablet
and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered. [64] And
immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke,
blessing God. [65] And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these
things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, [66] and
all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then
will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.
Ephesians 2:11-22
[11]
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called
“the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made
in the flesh by hands—[12] remember that you were at that time separated
from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to
the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
[13] But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought
near by the blood of Christ. [14] For he himself is our peace, who has
made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of
hostility [15] by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in
ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the
two, so making peace, [16] and might reconcile us both to God in one
body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. [17] And he came
and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were
near. [18] For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the
Father. [19] So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are
fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
[20] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus
himself being the cornerstone, [21] in whom the whole structure, being
joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. [22] In him you
also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the
Spirit.
Psalm 119:25-32
[25] My soul clings to the dust;
give me life according to your word!
[26] When I told of my ways, you answered me;
teach me your statutes!
[27] Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
[28] My soul melts away for sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word!
[29] Put false ways far from me
and graciously teach me your law!
[30] I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
I set your rules before me.
[31] I cling to your testimonies, O LORD;
let me not be put to shame!
[32] I will run in the way of your commandments
when you enlarge my heart!
1 Kings 6
[1]
In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came
out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over
Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to
build the house of the LORD. [2] The house that King Solomon built for
the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits
high. [3] The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty
cubits long, equal to the width of the house, and ten cubits deep in
front of the house. [4] And he made for the house windows with recessed
frames. [5] He also built a structure against the wall of the house,
running around the walls of the house, both the nave and the inner
sanctuary. And he made side chambers all around. [6] The lowest story
was five cubits broad, the middle one was six cubits broad, and the
third was seven cubits broad. For around the outside of the house he
made offsets on the wall in order that the supporting beams should not
be inserted into the walls of the house.
[7]
When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so
that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house
while it was being built.
[8]
The entrance for the lowest story was on the south side of the house,
and one went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle story
to the third. [9] So he built the house and finished it, and he made
the ceiling of the house of beams and planks of cedar. [10] He built the
structure against the whole house, five cubits high, and it was joined
to the house with timbers of cedar.
[11]
Now the word of the LORD came to Solomon, [12] “Concerning this house
that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules
and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my
word with you, which I spoke to David your father. [13] And I will
dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people
Israel.”
[14]
So Solomon built the house and finished it. [15] He lined the walls of
the house on the inside with boards of cedar. From the floor of the
house to the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with
wood, and he covered the floor of the house with boards of cypress. [16]
He built twenty cubits of the rear of the house with boards of cedar
from the floor to the walls, and he built this within as an inner
sanctuary, as the Most Holy Place. [17] The house, that is, the nave in
front of the inner sanctuary, was forty cubits long. [18] The cedar
within the house was carved in the form of gourds and open flowers. All
was cedar; no stone was seen. [19] The inner sanctuary he prepared in
the innermost part of the house, to set there the ark of the covenant of
the LORD. [20] The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty
cubits wide, and twenty cubits high, and he overlaid it with pure gold.
He also overlaid an altar of cedar. [21] And Solomon overlaid the inside
of the house with pure gold, and he drew chains of gold across, in
front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. [22] And he
overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished.
Also the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid
with gold.
[23]
In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olivewood, each ten
cubits high. [24] Five cubits was the length of one wing of the cherub,
and five cubits the length of the other wing of the cherub; it was ten
cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. [25] The other
cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim had the same measure and
the same form. [26] The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was
that of the other cherub. [27] He put the cherubim in the innermost part
of the house. And the wings of the cherubim were spread out so that a
wing of one touched the one wall, and a wing of the other cherub touched
the other wall; their other wings touched each other in the middle of
the house. [28] And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.
[29]
Around all the walls of the house he carved engraved figures of
cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, in the inner and outer rooms.
[30] The floor of the house he overlaid with gold in the inner and outer
rooms.
[31]
For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors of olivewood; the
lintel and the doorposts were five-sided. [32] He covered the two doors
of olivewood with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.
He overlaid them with gold and spread gold on the cherubim and on the
palm trees.
[33]
So also he made for the entrance to the nave doorposts of olivewood, in
the form of a square, [34] and two doors of cypress wood. The two
leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other
door were folding. [35] On them he carved cherubim and palm trees and
open flowers, and he overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the
carved work. [36] He built the inner court with three courses of cut
stone and one course of cedar beams.
[37]
In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid, in
the month of Ziv. [38] And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul,
which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts, and
according to all its specifications. He was seven years in building it.
1 Kings 7
[1] Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished his entire house.
[2]
He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was a hundred
cubits and its breadth fifty cubits and its height thirty cubits, and it
was built on four 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 windows had square frames, and window was opposite
window in three tiers.
[6]
And he made the Hall of Pillars; its length was fifty cubits, and its
breadth thirty cubits. There was a porch in front with pillars, and a
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. It was finished with cedar from floor to
rafters.
[8]
His own house where he was to dwell, in the other court back of the
hall, was of like workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall
for Pharaoh’s daughter whom 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] The 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 the vestibule
of the house.
[13]
And King Solomon sent and brought Hiram 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 he was full of wisdom, understanding, and skill
for making any work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his
work.
[15]
He cast two pillars of bronze. Eighteen 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. [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 the
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 lattice for the one capital and a lattice for the other
capital. [18] Likewise he made pomegranates 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 two
hundred pomegranates in two rows all around, and so with the other
capital. [21] He 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]
Then he made the 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 gourds, 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 twelve 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, and its brim was made like the brim of a
cup, like the flower of a lily. It held two thousand baths.
[27]
He also made the ten 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 the ten stands. All of them were cast
alike, of the same measure and the same form.
[38]
And he made ten 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]
Hiram also made the 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 latticeworks to cover the two bowls
of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars; [42] and the four
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 the one sea, and the twelve oxen underneath the sea.
[45]
Now the 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 Succoth and Zarethan. [47] And Solomon left all the
vessels unweighed, because there were so many of them; the weight of the
bronze was not ascertained.
[48]
So Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of the LORD: the
golden altar, the golden table for the bread of the Presence, [49] the
lampstands of pure gold, five on the south side and five on the north,
before the inner sanctuary; the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of
gold; [50] the cups, snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and fire
pans, of pure gold; and the sockets of gold, for the doors of the
innermost part of the house, the 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 the 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.
