1 Depois, Salomão mandou edificar o seu próprio palácio, que levou treze anos a construir.

2 Uma das salas do palácio chamava-se Salão da Floresta do Líbano. Era uma sala enorme, medindo 50 metros de comprimento por 25 de largo e 15 de altura. Enormes vigas de cedro do tecto repousavam sobre quatro filas de colunas também de cedro. Tinha três ordens de janelas - quarenta e cinco ao todo - em três das paredes; cinco janelas em cada fila. As janelas e as portas da sala tinham o mesmo tipo de ombreiras.

6 Outro era o Salão dos Pilares. Media 25 metros de comprimento e 15 de largo, com um pórtico à entrada e uma abóbada suportada por pilares.

7 Havia também a Sala do Trono ou Sala de Julgamento, onde o monarca se sentava para ouvir os processos jurídicos: era revestida com cedro do chão até ao vigamento do tecto.

8 Os seus aposentos pessoais - tudo em cedro, igualmente - dispunham-se à volta de um pátio, na retaguarda desta última sala. (Alías reservou apartamentos idênticos, com as mesmas medidas, no palácio que mandou construir para a filha de Faraó, uma das suas mulheres.)

9 Todas estas construções foram feitas inteiramente com enormes blocos de pedra, cortados à medida necessária. O custo de cada um desses blocos ficou assim muito elevado. As pedras para os alicerces tinham quatro e cinco metros de largura. Os grandes blocos das paredes, cortados à medida exacta de largura, juntavam-se no alto com as vigas de cedro. O Grande Pátio tinha três correntezas de pedras lavradas nas paredes, que se acoplavam com o travejamento de cedro, tal como acontecia no templo e com o pórtico do palácio.

13 O rei Salomão pediu a um homem de Tiro, chamado Hurão, que viesse trabalhar naquelas obras, porque era um hábil artista em bronze. Ele era meio judeu, sendo filho de uma viúva de Naftali; seu pai fora operário de fundição em Tiro. Esse homem veio trabalhar para o rei Salomão.

15 Fez então duas grandes colunas de bronze, cada uma com nove metros de altura e seis de circunferência, espessas de dez centímetros. No topo desses pilares fez dois capitéis em forma de lírios, com bronze fundido, cada um com dois metros e meio de altura de dois metros de largura. Cada capitel era decorado com sete conjuntos de rosáceas; e quatrocentas romãs, em duas filas, desenhadas, em cadeia, no bronze. Hurão mandou pôr esses pilares à entrada do templo. A um deles, no lado do sul, deram o nome de Pilar Jaquim; ao outro Pilar Boaz .

23 Hurão preparou também um tanque redondo em bronze com dois metros e meio de altura, cinco de diâmetro e quinze de circunferência. Por baixo da borda, por fora, havia duas filas de ornamentos, separadas de alguns centímetros e fundidos juntamente com o tanque.

25 Ficava apoiado sobre doze bois, de pé, juntos pelas caudas, três deles virados para o norte, outros três para o sul, três para leste e três para oeste. Os lados do tanque mediam dez centímetros de espessura. O seu rebordo era como o de uma taça. Tinha capacidade para 54.000 litros.

27 Depois fez dez bases movíveis, com quatro rodas; cada base era quadrada, de dois metros de lado e metro e meio de altura. Estavam montadas sobre um trem rodado feito de peças cruzadas, decoradas com leões incrustados, bois e anjos; acima e abaixo dos leões e dos bois havia decorações de figuras em espiral. Cada uma destas bases movíveis tinha quatro rodas de bronze e eixos de bronze também; em cada canto das bases havia uns postes de bronze, decorados com figuras em espiral, de cada lado. O alto destas bases consistia numa peça redonda de cinquenta centímetros de altura. O seu centro era côncavo, com setenta e cinco centímetros de fundo, decorado no exterior com espirais. As suas paredes de revestimento eram quadradas, não redondas.

32 Estas bases andavam sobre quatro rodas ligadas a eixos que estavam fundidos com as próprias bases. As rodas tinham setenta e cinco centímetros de altura; eram semelhantes às rodas de um carro. Todas as partes das bases tinham sido feitas com bronze fundido, incluindo os eixos, os raios, os arcos e o centro. Havia suportes em cada um dos quatro cantos das bases, os quais também tinham sido fundidos com as bases. Estas tinham também uma bordadura de vinte e três centímetros na parte superior, a que se ligavam umas pegas, tudo fundido de uma só peça com a base. Aos lados, nos espaços onde podia haver decoração, viam-se querubins, leões e palmeiras rodeadas por figuras em espiral. Todas as dez bases eram do mesmo tamanho e feitas da mesma forma, visto que cada uma delas tinha tido o mesmo molde para a sua feitura.

38 Depois mandou fazer dez tinas de cobre e colocou-as sobre as bases. Cada uma delas era quadrada, de dois metros de lado, com capacidade para 1.080 litros de água. Cinco destas tinas foram postas dum lado e cinco do outro, do compartimento. O tanque ficava no canto sul, do lado direito da sala. Hurão fez também o resto dos instrumentos necessários: bacias, pás, tinas. Por fim, a obra para o templo do Senhor, que Salomão lhe encomendara, terminou.

41 Tudo isto foi feito em bronze fundido e preparado nas planícies do rio Jordão, num sítio entre Sucote e Zaretã. O peso total destas peças não se sabe, pois que não havia possibilidade de as pesar!

48 Todos os utensílios e mobiliários do templo foram feitos de ouro puro. Isto incluía o altar, a mesa onde se encontrava exposto o pão da presença de Deus, o candelabro (com cinco luzes à direita e cinco à esquerda, em frente do lugar santíssimo), as flores, as lâmpadas, os espevitadores, as taças, os apagadores, as bacias, os perfumadores, os braseiros, as dobradiças das portas do lugar santíssimo e as da entrada principal do templo. Todos estes objectos eram feitos de ouro puro.

51 Quando o templo se acabou de construir, Salomão pôs no tesouro do templo a prata, o ouro e todos os recipientes consagrados por seu pai David.

1 But, his own house, was Solomon thirteen years in building,so he finished all his house.

2 Yea he built the house of the forest of Lebanon, a hundred cubits, the length thereof, and, fifty cubits, the breadth thereof, and, thirty cubits, the height thereof,upon four rows of pillars of cedar, with beams of cedar, upon the pillars;

3 and it was covered with cedar above upon the joists, that were on forty-five pillars,fifteen in a row.

4 And there were, window spaces, in three rows,and light over against light, three times.

5 And, all the openings and the posts, were square in their frame,and light was over against light, three times.

6 And, a porch of pillars, made he, fifty cubits, in length, and, thirty cubits, in breadth,and, a porch, was on the one front of them, and pillars and threshold, were on the other front of them.

7 And, a porch for the throne, where he should judge, even the porch of judgment, made he, and it was wainscotted with cedar, from floor to ceiling.

8 And, his own house where he should dwell, in the other court within the porch, was, of like workmanship unto this,a house also, made he, for the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Solomon had taken , in a similar porch.

9 All these, were of costly stones, after the dimensions of hewn stones, sawn with saws, within and without,even from the foundation, unto the coping, and without as far as the great court.

10 And, the foundation, was of costly stones, large stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.

11 And, above, were costly stones, after the dimensions of hewn stone, and cedar.

12 And, the great court round about, was of three rows of hewn stone, and a row of beams of cedar,both to the inner court of the house of Yahweh, and to the porch of the house.

13 And King Solomon sent and fetched Hiram, out of Tyre:

14 son of a widow woman, was he of the tribe of Naphtali, but, his father, was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze, and he was filled with wisdom, and discernment, and knowledge, for executing all manner of work in bronze,so he came unto King Solomon, and executed all his work.

15 And he cast two pillars of bronze,eighteen cubits, the height of each pillar, and, a line of twelve cubits, would surround the second pillar.

16 And, two capitals, made he, to set upon the tops of the pillars, of molten bronze,five cubits, was the height of the one capital, and, five cubits, the height of the other capital;

17 with a frame of checker work, wreaths of chain work, for the capitals which were upon the top of the pillars,seven for the one capital, and seven for the other capital.

18 So he made the pillars,and, two rows round about, upon the one frame of checker work, covering the capitals which were upon the top with pomegranates, thus also, did he for the other capital.

19 And, the capitals which were upon the top of the pillars, were of lily work, in span, four cubits.

20 And there were capitals upon the two pillars, above also, close by the belly, which was beside the checker work,and there were two hundred pomegranates, in rows round about, upon either capital.

21 So he reared the pillars for the porch of the temple,yea he reared the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin, and reared the left pillar, and called the name thereof, Boaz.

22 And, upon the top of the pillars, was lily work,which gave finish to the work of the pillars.

23 And he made a molten sea,ten cubits from the one brim to the other, it was round all about, and, five cubits, was the height thereof, and, a line of thirty cubits, would encompass it round about.

24 And, colocynths, were under the brim thereof round about, encompassing it, ten in a cubit, encircling the sea, round about,two rows of colocynths, made in the casting thereof:

25 standing upon twelve oxen, three looking northward, and three looking westward, and three looking southward, and three looking eastward, the sea, being upon them above,all their hinder parts, being, inward.

26 And, the thickness thereof, was a hand breadth, and, the brim thereof, was like the brim-work of a cup, of lily-blossoms,two thousand baths, did it contain.

27 And he made ten stands of bronze,four cubits, the length of each stand, and, four cubits, the breadth thereof, and, three cubits, the height thereof.

28 And, this, was the work of the stand, there were, side walls, to them,and, the side-walls, were between joining ledges;

29 and, upon the side-walls which were between the ledges, were lions, oxen, and cherubim, and, upon the ledges, was a pedestal above, and, beneath the lions and oxen, a wreath of hanging work.

30 And, four wheels of bronze, had each stand, with axles of bronze, and, the four steps thereof, had shoulder pieces,under the laver, were the molten shoulder-pieces, over against each wreath.

31 And, the mouth thereof, within the capital and upwards, was a cubit, and, the mouth thereof, was round, of pedestal work, a cubit and a half,moreover also, upon the mouth thereof, were gravings, with their side-walls four-square, not round.

32 And, four wheels, were beneath the side-walls, the axletrees of the wheels, being in the stands,and, the height of each wheel, was a cubit and a half:

33 and, the work of the wheels, was like the work of a chariot-wheel; and, their axletrees, and their felloes, and their spokes, and their naves, the whole, were molten.

34 And there were, four shoulder-pieces, at the four corners of each stand, of the stand itself, were the shoulder-pieces thereof.

35 And, in the top of the stand, half a cubit in height, was a circular piece round about,and, on the top of the stand, the tenons thereof, and, the side-walls thereof, were of the same.

36 Then carved he, upon the plates of the tenons thereof, and upon the side-walls thereof, cherubim, lions, and palm-trees,according to the open space of each with a wreath round about.

37 Thus, made he the ten stands,one mould, one measure, one shape, had they, all.

38 Then made he ten lavers of bronze,forty baths, would each laver contain, four cubits, was each laver, one laver, was on each of, the ten stands.

39 And he set the stands, five on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house,but, the sea, he set on the right side of the house eastward, over against the south.

40 And Hiram made lavers, and shovels, and bowls,and Hiram ended the doing of all the work which he wrought for King Solomon, for the house of Yahweh:

41 two pillars,and the bowls of the capitals which were upon the top of the two pillars,and the two frames of checker-work, covering the two bowls of the capitals, which were upon the top of the pillars;

42 and the four hundred pomegranates, for the two frames of checker-work,two rows of pomegranates to each frame, for covering the two bowls of the capitals, which were on the face of the pillars;

43 and the ten stands,with the ten lavers upon the stands;

44 and the one sea,with the twelve oxen under the sea;

45 and the pans, and the shovels, and the tossing bowls, and, all these vessels which Hiram made King Solomon, for the house of Yahweh, were of burnished bronze.

46 In the circuit of the Jordan, did the king cast them, in the clay ground,between Succoth and Zarethan.

47 And Solomon let all the vessels be, because of their exceeding great multitude,the weight of the bronze was not found out.

48 And Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of Yahweh,the altar of gold, and the table of gold, whereon was the presence-bread;

49 and the lamp-holdersfive on the right and five on the left, before the shrine, of pure gold,with the blossoms, and the lamps, and the tongs, of gold;

50 and the bowls, and the snuffers, and the tossing bowls, and the spoons, and the censers, of pure gold,and the hinge-holes, for the doors of the inner house, the holy of holies, and for the doors of the house itself, the temple, of, gold.

51 So was completed all the work which King Solomon made for the house of Yahweh, and Solomon brought in the hallowed things of David his fatherthe silver, and the gold, and the vessels, did he put in the treasuries of the house of Yahweh.