The One Year Bible TLB (127 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
June 10Then Solomon built his own palace, which took thirteen years to construct.
2
One of the rooms in the palace was called the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon. It was huge—measuring 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. The great cedar ceiling beams rested upon four rows of cedar pillars.
3-4
There were forty-five windows in the hall, set in three tiers, one tier above the other, five to a tier, facing each other from three walls.
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Each of the doorways and windows had a square frame.
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Another room was called the Hall of Pillars. It was seventy-five feet long and forty-five feet wide, with a porch in front covered by a canopy that was supported by pillars.
7
There was also the Throne Room or Judgment Hall, where Solomon sat to hear legal matters; it was paneled with cedar from the floor to the rafters.
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His cedar-paneled living quarters surrounded a courtyard behind this hall. (He designed similar living quarters, the same size, in the palace that he built for Pharaoh’s daughter—one of his wives.)
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These buildings were constructed entirely from huge, expensive stones, cut to measure.
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The foundation stones were twelve to fifteen feet across.
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The huge stones in the walls were also cut to measure and were topped with cedar beams.
12
The Great Court had three courses of hewn stone in its walls, topped with cedar beams, just like the inner court of the Temple and the porch of the palace.
13
King Solomon then asked for a man named Hiram to come from Tyre, for he was a skilled craftsman in bronze work.
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He was half Jewish, being the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father had been a foundry worker from Tyre. So he came to work for King Solomon.
15
He cast two hollow bronze pillars, each twenty-seven feet high and eighteen feet around, with three-inch-thick walls.
16-22
At the tops of the pillars he made two lily-shaped capitals from molten bronze, each 7
1
/
2
feet high. The upper part of each capital was shaped like a lily, six feet high. Each capital was decorated with seven sets of bronze, chain-designed lattices and four hundred pomegranates in two rows. Hiram set these pillars at the entrance of the Temple. The one on the south was named the Jachin Pillar,
*
and the one on the north, the Boaz Pillar.
23
Then Hiram cast a round bronze tank, 7
1
/
2
feet high and 15 feet from brim to brim; 45 feet in circumference.
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On the underside of the rim were two rows of ornaments an inch or two apart,
*
which were cast along with the tank.
25
It rested on twelve bronze
*
oxen standing tail to tail, three facing north, three west, three south, and three east.
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The sides of the tank were four inches thick; its brim was shaped like a goblet, and it had a twelve thousand gallon capacity.
27-30
Then he made ten four-wheeled movable stands, each 6 feet square and 4
1
/
2
feet high. They were constructed with undercarriages braced with square
*
crosspieces. These crosspieces were decorated with carved lions, oxen, and Guardian Angels. Above and below the lions and oxen were wreath decorations. Each of these movable stands had four bronze wheels and bronze axles, and at each corner of the stands were supporting posts made of bronze and decorated with wreaths on each side.
31
The top of each stand was a round piece 1
1
/
2
feet high. Its center was concave, 2
1
/
4
feet deep, decorated on the outside with wreaths. Its panels were square, not round.
32
The stands rode on four wheels which were connected to axles that had been cast as part of the stands. The wheels were twenty-seven inches high
33
and were similar to chariot wheels. All the parts of the stands were cast from molten bronze, including the axles, spokes, rims, and hubs.
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There were supports at each of the four corners of the stands, and these, too, were cast with the stands.
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A nine-inch rim surrounded the tip of each stand, banded with lugs. All was cast as one unit with the stand.
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Guardian Angels, lions, and palm trees surrounded by wreaths were engraved on the borders of the band wherever there was room.
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All ten stands were the same size and were made alike, for each was cast from the same mold.
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Then he made ten brass vats, and placed them on the stands. Each vat was six feet square and contained 240 gallons of water.
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Five of these vats were arranged on the left and five on the right-hand side of the room. The tank was in the southeast corner, on the right-hand side of the room.
40
Hiram also made the necessary pots, shovels, and basins and at last completed the work in the Temple of the Lord that had been assigned to him by King Solomon.
41-46
Here is a list of the items he made:
Two pillars;
A capital at the top of each pillar;
Latticework covering the bases of the capitals of each pillar;
Four hundred pomegranates in two rows on the latticework, to cover the bases of the two capitals;
Ten movable stands holding ten vats;
One large tank and twelve oxen supporting it;
Pots;
Shovels;
Basins.
All these items were made of burnished bronze and were cast at the plains of the Jordan River between Succoth and Zarethan.
47
The total weight of these pieces was not known because they were too heavy to weigh!
48
All the utensils and furniture used in the Temple were made of solid gold. This included the altar, the table where the Bread of the Presence of God was displayed,
49
the lampstands (five on the right-hand side and five on the left, in front of the Most Holy Place), the flowers, lamps, tongs,
50
cups, snuffers, basins, spoons, firepans, the hinges of the doors to the Most Holy Place, and the main entrance doors of the Temple. Each of these was made of solid gold.
51
When the Temple was finally finished, Solomon took into the treasury of the Temple the silver, the gold, and all the vessels dedicated for that purpose by his father David.
“Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an Angel appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush.
31
Moses saw it and wondered what it was, and as he ran to see, the voice of the Lord called out to him,
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‘I am the God of your ancestors—of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses shook with terror and dared not look.
33
“And the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your shoes, for you are standing on holy ground.
34
I have seen the anguish of my people in Egypt and have heard their cries. I have come down to deliver them. Come, I will send you to Egypt.’
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And so God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected by demanding, ‘Who made
you
a ruler and judge over us?’ Moses was sent to be their ruler and savior.
36
And by means of many remarkable miracles he led them out of Egypt and through the Red Sea, and back and forth through the wilderness for forty years.
37
“Moses himself told the people of Israel, ‘God will raise up a Prophet much like me
*
from among your brothers.’
38
How true this proved to be, for in the wilderness, Moses was the go-between—the mediator between the people of Israel and the Angel who gave them the Law of God—the Living Word—on Mount Sinai.
39
“But our fathers rejected Moses and wanted to return to Egypt.
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They told Aaron, ‘Make idols for us, so that we will have gods to lead us back; for we don’t know what has become of this Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.’
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So they made a calf idol and sacrificed to it, and rejoiced in this thing they had made.
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“Then God turned away from them and gave them up, and let them serve the sun, moon, and stars as their gods! In the book of Amos’ prophecies the Lord God asks, ‘Was it to me you were sacrificing during those forty years in the desert, Israel?
43
No, your real interest was in your heathen gods—Sakkuth, and the star god Kaiway, and in all the images you made. So I will send you into captivity far away beyond Babylon.’
44
“Our ancestors carried along with them a portable Temple, or Tabernacle, through the wilderness. In it they kept the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments written on them. This building was constructed in exact accordance with the plan shown to Moses by the Angel.
45
Years later, when Joshua led the battles against the Gentile nations, this Tabernacle was taken with them into their new territory, and used until the time of King David.
46
“God blessed David greatly, and David asked for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for the God of Jacob.
47
But it was Solomon who actually built it.
48-49
However, God doesn’t live in temples made by human hands. ‘The heaven is my throne,’ says the Lord through his prophets, ‘and earth is my footstool. What kind of home could you build?’ asks the Lord. ‘Would I stay in it?
50
Didn’t I make both heaven and earth?’”
Blessings on all who reverence and trust the Lord—on all who obey him!
2
Their reward shall be prosperity and happiness.
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Your wife shall be contented in your home. And look at all those children! There they sit around the dinner table as vigorous and healthy as young olive trees.
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That is God’s reward to those who reverence and trust him.
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May the Lord continually bless you with heaven’s blessings
*
as well as with human joys.
6
May you live to enjoy your grandchildren! And may God bless Israel!
White hair is a crown of glory and is seen most among the godly.
32
It is better to be slow-tempered than famous; it is better to have self-control than to control an army.
33
We toss the coin,
*
but it is the Lord who controls its decision.
June 11Then Solomon called a convocation at Jerusalem of all the leaders of Israel—the heads of the tribes and clans—to observe the transferring of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from the Tabernacle in Zion, the City of David, to the Temple.
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This celebration occurred at the time of the Tabernacle Festival in the month of October.
3-4
During the festivities the priests carried the Ark to the Temple, along with all the sacred vessels that had previously been in the Tabernacle.
5
King Solomon and all the people gathered before the Ark, sacrificing uncounted sheep and oxen.
6
Then the priests took the Ark into the inner sanctuary of the Temple—the Most Holy Place—and placed it under the wings of the statues of the Guardian Angels.
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The Angels had been constructed in such a manner that their wings spread out over the spot where the Ark would be placed; so now their wings overshadowed the Ark and its carrying poles.
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The poles were so long that they stuck out past the Angels and could be seen from the next room, but not from the outer court; and they remain there to this day.
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There was nothing in the Ark at that time except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed there at Mount Horeb at the time the Lord made his covenant with the people of Israel after they left Egypt.
10
Look! As the priests are returning from the inner sanctuary, a bright cloud fills the Temple!
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The priests have to go outside because the glory of the Lord is filling the entire building!
12-13
Now King Solomon prayed this invocation:
“The Lord has said that he would live in the thick darkness;
But, O Lord, I have built you a lovely home on earth, a place for you to live forever.”
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Then the king turned around and faced the people as they stood before him, and blessed them.
15
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,” he said, “who has done today what he promised my father David:
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for he said to him, ‘When I brought my people from Egypt, I didn’t appoint a place for my Temple, but I appointed a man to be my people’s leader.’
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This man was my father David. He wanted to build a Temple for the Lord God of Israel,
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but the Lord told him not to. ‘I am glad you want to do it,’ he said,
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‘but your son is the one who shall build my Temple.’
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And now the Lord has done what he promised; for I have followed my father as king of Israel, and now this Temple has been built for the Lord God of Israel.
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And I have prepared a place in the Temple for the Ark that contains the covenant made by the Lord with our fathers, at the time that he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
22-23
Then, as all the people watched, Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord with his hands spread out toward heaven and said, “O Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or earth, for you are loving and kind and you keep your promises to your people if they do their best to do your will.
24
Today you have fulfilled your promise to my father David, who was your servant;
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and now, O Lord God of Israel, fulfill your further promise to him: that if his descendants follow your ways and try to do your will as he did, one of them shall always sit upon the throne of Israel.
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Yes, O God of Israel, fulfill this promise too.
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“But is it possible that God would really live on earth? Why, even the skies and the highest heavens cannot contain you, much less this Temple I have built!
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And yet, O Lord my God, you have heard and answered my request:
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Please watch over this Temple night and day—this place you have promised to live in—and as I face toward the Temple and pray, whether by night or by day, please listen to me and answer my requests.
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Listen to every plea of the people of Israel whenever they face this place to pray; yes, hear in heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive.
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“If a man is accused of doing something wrong and then, standing here before your altar, swears that he didn’t do it,
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hear him in heaven and do what is right; judge whether or not he did it.
33-34
“And when your people sin and their enemies defeat them, hear them from heaven and forgive them if they turn to you again and confess that you are their God. Bring them back again to this land which you have given to their fathers.
35-36
“And when the skies are shut up and there is no rain because of their sin, hear them from heaven and forgive them when they pray toward this place and confess your name. And after you have punished them, help them to follow the good ways in which they should walk, and send rain upon the land that you have given your people.
37
“If there is a famine in the land caused by plant disease or locusts or caterpillars, or if Israel’s enemies besiege one of her cities, or if the people are struck by an epidemic or plague—or whatever the problem is—
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then when the people realize their sin and pray toward this Temple,
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hear them from heaven and forgive and answer all who have made an honest confession; for you know each heart.
40
In this way they will always learn to reverence you as they continue to live in this land that you have given their fathers.
41-42
“And when foreigners hear of your great name and come from distant lands to worship you (for they shall hear of your great name and mighty miracles) and pray toward this Temple,
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hear them from heaven and answer their prayers. And all the nations of the earth will know and fear your name just as your own people Israel do; and all the earth will know that this is your Temple.
44
“When you send your people out to battle against their enemies and they pray to you, looking toward your chosen city of Jerusalem and toward this Temple that I have built in your name,
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hear their prayer and help them.
46
“If they sin against you (and who doesn’t?) and you become angry with them and let their enemies lead them away as captives to some foreign land, whether far or near,
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and they come to their senses and turn to you and cry to you saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong’;
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if they honestly return to you and pray toward this land that you have given their fathers, and toward this city of Jerusalem that you have chosen, and toward this Temple that I have built for your name,
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hear their prayers and pleadings from heaven where you live, and come to their assistance.
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“Forgive your people for all of their evil deeds, and make their captors merciful to them;
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for they are your people—your inheritance that you brought out from the Egyptian furnace.
52
May your eyes be open and your ears listening to their pleas. O Lord, hear and answer them whenever they cry out to you,
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for when you brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, you told your servant Moses that you had chosen Israel from among all the nations of the earth to be your own special people.”
54-55
Solomon had been kneeling with his hands outstretched toward heaven. As he finished this prayer, he rose from before the altar of Jehovah and cried out this blessing upon all the people of Israel:
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“Blessed be the Lord who has fulfilled his promise and given rest to his people Israel; not one word has failed of all the wonderful promises proclaimed by his servant Moses.
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May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers; may he never forsake us.
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May he give us the desire to do his will in everything, and to obey all the commandments and instructions he has given our ancestors.
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And may these words of my prayer be constantly before him day and night, so that he helps me and all of Israel in accordance with our daily needs.
60
May people all over the earth know that the Lord is God and that there is no other god at all.
61
O my people, may you live good and perfect lives before the Lord our God; may you always obey his laws and commandments, just as you are doing today.”
62-63
Then the king and all the people dedicated the Temple by sacrificing peace offerings to the Lord—a total of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep and goats!
64
As a temporary measure the king sanctified the court in front of the Temple for the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: for the bronze altar was too small to handle so much.
65
The celebration lasted for fourteen days, and a great crowd came from one end of the land to the other.
66
Afterwards Solomon sent the people home, happy for all the goodness that the Lord had shown to his servant David and to his people Israel. And they blessed the king.
“You stiff-necked heathen! Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? But your fathers did, and so do you!
52
Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered.
53
Yes, and you deliberately destroyed God’s laws, though you received them from the hands of angels.”
*
54
The Jewish leaders were stung to fury by Stephen’s accusation and ground their teeth in rage.
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But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily upward into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at God’s right hand.
56
And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and Jesus the Messiah
*
standing beside God, at his right hand!”
57
Then they mobbed him, putting their hands over their ears, and drowning out his voice with their shouts,
58
and dragged him out of the city to stone him. The official witnesses—the executioners—took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Paul.
*
59
And as the murderous stones came hurtling at him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
60
And he fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” and with that, he died.
8:
1
Paul was in complete agreement with the killing of Stephen.
And a great wave of persecution of the believers began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem, and everyone except the apostles fled into Judea and Samaria.
2
(But some godly Jews
*
came and with great sorrow buried Stephen.)
3
Paul was like a wild man, going everywhere to devastate the believers, even entering private homes and dragging out men and women alike and jailing them.
4
But the believers
*
who had fled Jerusalem went everywhere preaching the Good News about Jesus!
5
Philip, for instance, went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about Christ.
6
Crowds listened intently to what he had to say because of the miracles he did.
7
Many evil spirits were cast out, screaming as they left their victims, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed,
8
so there was much joy in that city!
9-11
A man named Simon had formerly been a sorcerer there for many years; he was a very influential, proud man because of the amazing things he could do—in fact, the Samaritan people often spoke of him as the Messiah.
*
12
But now they believed Philip’s message that Jesus was the Messiah, and his words concerning the Kingdom of God; and many men and women were baptized.
13
Then Simon himself believed and was baptized and began following Philip wherever he went, and was amazed by the miracles he did.
Persecuted from my earliest youth (Israel is speaking),
2
and faced with never-ending discrimination—but not destroyed! My enemies have never been able to finish me off!
3-4
Though my back is cut to ribbons with their whips, the Lord is good. For he has snapped the chains that evil men had bound me with.
5
May all who hate the Jews be brought to ignominious defeat.
6-7
May they be as grass in shallow soil, turning sere and yellow when half grown, ignored by the reaper, despised by the binder.
8
And may those passing by refuse to bless them by saying, “Jehovah’s blessings be upon you; we bless you in Jehovah’s name.”