The Daily Audio Bible

The Furnishings of the House of Yahweh

4 Then ^(A)he made a bronze altar, ^[a]twenty cubits in length and twenty cubits in width and ten cubits in height. ^2 (B)And he made the sea of cast metal ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and its height was five cubits, and ^[b]thirty cubits in ^[c]its circumference. ³ Now figures like oxen were under it and encircling it, ten cubits, entirely encircling the sea. The oxen were in two rows, cast ^[d]in one piece. ⁴ It stood on twelve oxen, three facing the north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; and the sea was set on top of them, and all their rear parts turned inward. ⁵ And it was a ^[e]handbreadth thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, as a lily blossom; it ^(C)could hold 3,000 baths. ^6 (D)He also made ten lavers and set five on the right side and five on the left, in which to wash things, that is, in which they would rinse things for the burnt offering; but the sea was for the priests to wash in.

⁷ Then ^(E)he made the ten golden lampstands ^[f]in the way prescribed for them and he put them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. ⁸ He also made ^(F)ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made one hundred golden bowls. ⁹ Then he made ^(G)the court of the priests and ^(H)the great court and doors for the court, and overlaid their doors with bronze. ^10 (I)And he put the sea on the right ^[g]side of the house toward the southeast.

^11 (J)And Huram made the pots and the shovels and the bowls. So Huram completed doing the work which he did for King Solomon in the house of God: ¹² the two pillars and the two bowls and the two capitals on top of the pillars, and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on top of the pillars, ¹³ and ^(K)the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for each network to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the pillars. ^14 (L)He also made the stands and he made the lavers on the stands, ¹⁵ and the one sea with the twelve oxen under it. ¹⁶ And the pots and the shovels and the flesh hooks and all its utensils, ^(M)Huram-abi made of polished bronze for King Solomon for the house of Yahweh. ¹⁷ On the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah. ^18 (N)Thus Solomon made all these utensils in great quantities, for the weight of the bronze could not be found out.

¹⁹ Solomon also made all the furniture which was in the house of God: even the golden altar and ^(O)the tables with the bread of the Presence on them, ²⁰ and the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, ^(P)to burn in front of the inner sanctuary ^[h]in the way prescribed; ²¹ and the flowers and the lamps and the tongs of gold, of purest gold; ²² and the snuffers and the bowls and the spoons and the firepans, of pure gold; and the entrance of the house, its inner doors for the Holy of Holies and the doors of the house, that is, of the nave, of gold.

The Ark Brought into the House of Yahweh

5 ^(Q)Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of Yahweh was finished. And Solomon brought in the ^[i](R)things set apart as holy by his father David, even the silver and the gold and all the utensils, and he put them in the treasuries of the house of God.

^2 (S)Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel to Jerusalem, ^(T)to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from the city of David, which is Zion. ^3 (U)And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to the king at ^(V)the feast, that is in the seventh month. ⁴ Then all the elders of Israel came, and ^(W)the Levites carried the ark. ⁵ And they brought up the ark and the tent of meeting and all the holy utensils which were in the tent; the Levitical priests brought them up. ⁶ And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who congregated with him before the ark, were sacrificing ^[j]so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. ⁷ Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim. ⁸ And the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its poles from above. ⁹ But the poles were so long that ^(X)the ends of the poles of the ark could be seen before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; and ^[k]they are there to this day. ^10 (Y)There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, where Yahweh cut a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.

The Glory of Yahweh Fills His House

¹¹ Now it happened that when the priests came out of the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard ^(Z)to divisions), ¹² and all the Levitical singers, ^(AA)Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and relatives, clothed in fine linen, ^(AB)with cymbals, harps, and lyres, standing east of the altar, and with them 120 priests ^(AC)blowing trumpets ¹³ in unison when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to give thanks to Yahweh, and when they lifted up their voice ^(AD)accompanied by trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and when they praised Yahweh saying, “^(AE)He indeed is good for His lovingkindness endures forever,” then the house, the house of Yahweh, was filled with a cloud, ¹⁴ so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for ^(AF)the glory of Yahweh filled the house of God.

Solomon Blesses the People

6 ^(AG)Then Solomon said,

³ Then the king turned his face around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. ⁴ And he said, “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled it by His hands, saying, ⁵ ‘Since the day that I brought My people from the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house that My name might be there, nor did I choose any man for a ruler over My people Israel; ⁶ but ^(AH)I have chosen Jerusalem that My name might be there, and I ^(AI)have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’ ^7 (AJ)And it was ^[l]in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. ⁸ But Yahweh said to my father David, ‘Because it was ^[m]in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was ^[n]in your heart. ⁹ Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who will ^(AK)come forth from your loins, he shall build the house for My name.’ ¹⁰ And Yahweh has established His word which He spoke; and I have been established in place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh ^[o]promised, and have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. ¹¹ And there I have set the ark ^(AL)in which is the covenant of Yahweh, which He cut with the sons of Israel.”

Released from the Law

7 Or do you not know, ^(A)brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is master over a person as long as he lives? ² For ^(B)the married woman has been bound by law to her ^[a]husband while he is living, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law ^[b]concerning the husband. ³ So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.

⁴ So, my brothers, you also were ^(C)made to die ^(D)to the Law ^(E)through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. ⁵ For while we were ^(F)in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were ^(G)aroused by the Law, were at work ^(H)in our members to bear fruit for death. ⁶ But now we have been ^(I)released from the Law, having ^(J)died to that by which we were constrained, so that we serve in ^(K)newness of ^[c](L)the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

^7 (M)What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? ^(N)May it never be! Rather, ^(O)I would not have come to know sin except ^[d]through the Law. For I would not have known about ^[e]coveting if the Law had not said, “^(P)You shall not ^[f]covet.” ⁸ But sin, ^(Q)taking opportunity ^(R)through the commandment, worked out in me ^[g]coveting of every kind. For ^(S)apart ^[h]from the Law sin is dead. ⁹ Now I was once alive apart ^[i]from the Law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died; ¹⁰ and this commandment, which was ^[j](T)to lead to life, was found ^[k]to lead to death for me. ¹¹ For sin, ^(U)taking an opportunity ^(V)through the commandment, ^(W)deceived me and through it killed me. ^12 (X)So, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

The Conflict of Two Natures

¹³ Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? ^(Y)May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by working out my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would ^[l]become utterly sinful.

In the Shadow of Your Wings

A Prayer of David.