2 Chronicles

Moreover he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof.

1Solomon made an altar out of bronze. An altar is a table where gifts are given to God. It was about 30 feet long and 30 feet wide. It was about 15 feet tall.

2Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.

2He also made a huge round bowl called the Sea. It was made by pouring hot metal into a mold. It was about 15 feet across and about 7 feet deep. A line around the outside would measure about 45 feet.

NoteA cubit was about 18 inches, the length from a grown-up's elbow to fingertips. The measurements here are turned into feet and gallons so they are easier to picture.

3And under it was the similitude of oxen, which did compass it round about: ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about. Two rows of oxen were cast, when it was cast.

3Below the top edge were metal shapes of oxen. Oxen are big strong farm animals like cattle. They went all the way around the bowl. There were ten in every 18 inches. They were made in two rows as part of the bowl itself.

4It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward.

4The Sea sat on top of twelve metal oxen. Three faced north, and three faced west. Three faced south, and three faced east. The bowl rested on their backs. Their back ends all pointed toward the middle.

5And the thickness of it was an handbreadth, and the brim of it like the work of the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies; and it received and held three thousand baths.

5The metal was about as thick as a hand is wide. The top edge curved out like the rim of a cup. It looked like a lily flower opening up. The bowl could hold about 17,000 gallons of water.

6He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them: such things as they offered for the burnt offering they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in.

6He also made ten smaller bowls for washing. Five sat on the south side, and five on the north. The parts of the burnt gifts were rinsed in them. But the priests used the big Sea to wash themselves.

7And he made ten candlesticks of gold according to their form, and set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left.

7He made ten gold lampstands, just as the plans said. He set them inside the temple. Five stood on the south side, and five on the north.

8He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left. And he made an hundred basons of gold.

8He also made ten tables and put them in the temple. Five stood on the south side, and five on the north. He also made a hundred gold bowls.

9Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid the doors of them with brass.

9He made the yard where the priests worked. He also made the big outer yard and its doors. He covered those doors with bronze.

10And he set the sea on the right side of the east end, over against the south.

10He put the big Sea on the south side. It stood near the southeast corner.

11And Huram made the pots, and the shovels, and the basons. And Huram finished the work that he was to make for king Solomon for the house of God;

11Huram also made the pots, the shovels, and the sprinkling bowls. So Huram finished all the work he had promised. He did it for King Solomon, for God's house.

12To wit, the two pillars, and the pommels, and the chapiters which were on the top of the two pillars, and the two wreaths to cover the two pommels of the chapiters which were on the top of the pillars;

12Here is what he made. He made the two tall pillars. He made the two bowl-shaped tops that sat on the pillars. He made two sets of woven metal to cover those tops.

13And four hundred pomegranates on the two wreaths; two rows of pomegranates on each wreath, to cover the two pommels of the chapiters which were upon the pillars.

13He made four hundred metal pomegranates for the woven covers. A pomegranate is a round red fruit. There were two rows of them on each cover. They went around the bowl-shaped tops of the pillars.

14He made also bases, and lavers made he upon the bases;

14He made the stands. He made the washing bowls that sat on the stands.

15One sea, and twelve oxen under it.

15He made the big Sea. He made the twelve oxen that held it up.

16The pots also, and the shovels, and the fleshhooks, and all their instruments, did Huram his father make to king Solomon for the house of the LORD of bright brass.

16He made the pots, the shovels, and the big meat forks. He made all the other tools too. Huram, the skilled worker, made these for King Solomon. They were all for the LORD's house, made of polished bronze.

17In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredathah.

17The king had them made out in the flat land near the Jordan River. The workers poured the hot metal into molds of clay. This was done between the towns of Succoth and Zeredah.

18Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance: for the weight of the brass could not be found out.

18Solomon made so many of these things that no one counted them. Nobody ever found out how much all the bronze weighed.

19And Solomon made all the vessels that were for the house of God, the golden altar also, and the tables whereon the shewbread was set;

19Solomon also made everything else for God's house. He made the gold altar. He made the tables that held the special bread kept before God.

20Moreover the candlesticks with their lamps, that they should burn after the manner before the oracle, of pure gold;

20He made the lampstands and their lamps out of pure gold. They burned in front of the inner room, just as the rules said.

NoteThe "inner room" is the innermost part of the temple, also called the Most Holy Place. The KJV calls it the "oracle."

21And the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, made he of gold, and that perfect gold;

21He made the flower shapes, the lamps, and the tongs out of gold. It was the purest gold there was.

22And the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers, of pure gold: and the entry of the house, the inner doors thereof for the most holy place, and the doors of the house of the temple, were of gold.

22He made the wick trimmers, the sprinkling bowls, the dishes, and the incense pans. All were made of the purest gold. The doors of the temple were gold too. That included the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and the doors to the main hall.

Note"Snuffers" in the KJV are not for putting lamps out. They are small tools for trimming the burnt part of a lamp wick.