The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday July 21, 2018 (NIV)

The Altar, Reservoir, and Basins

4 He made a bronze altar^(A) 30 feet^[a] long, 30 feet wide, and 15 feet^[b] high.

² Then he made the cast metal basin,^[c](B) 15 feet from brim to brim, perfectly round. It was 7½ feet^[d] high and 45 feet^[e] in circumference. ³ The likeness of oxen^[f] was below it, completely encircling it, ten every half yard,^[g] completely surrounding the basin. The oxen were cast in two rows when the basin was cast. ⁴ It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The basin was on top of them and all their hindquarters were toward the center. ⁵ The basin was three inches^[h] thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup or a lily blossom. It could hold eleven thousand gallons.^[i]

⁶ He made ten basins for washing and he put five on the right and five on the left.^(C) The parts of the burnt offering were rinsed in them,^(D) but the basin was used by the priests for washing.

The Lampstands, Tables, and Courts

⁷ He made the ten gold lampstands according to their specifications and put them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left.^{(E) 8} He made ten tables and placed them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left.^(F) He also made a hundred gold bowls.

⁹ He made the courtyard^(G) of the priests and the large court, and doors for the court. He overlaid the doors with bronze. ¹⁰ He put the basin on the right side, toward the southeast.^{(H) 11} Then Huram^[j](I) made^(J) the pots, the shovels, and the bowls.

Completion of the Bronze Furnishings

So Huram finished doing the work that he was doing for King Solomon in God’s temple: ¹² two pillars; the bowls and the capitals on top of the two pillars; the two gratings for covering both bowls of the capitals that were on top of the pillars; ¹³ the four hundred pomegranates for the two gratings (two rows of pomegranates for each grating covering both capitals’ bowls on top of the pillars^(K)). ¹⁴ He also made the water carts^[k](L) and the basins on the water carts. ¹⁵ The one basin and the twelve oxen underneath it, ¹⁶ the pots, the shovels, the forks, and all their utensils—Huram-abi^[l](M) made them for King Solomon for the Lord’s temple. All these were made of polished bronze. ¹⁷ The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zeredah. ¹⁸ Solomon made all these utensils in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.

Completion of the Gold Furnishings

¹⁹ Solomon also made all the equipment in God’s temple: the gold altar; the tables on which to put the Bread of the Presence;^{(N) 20} the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn in front of the inner sanctuary according to specifications;^{(O) 21} the flowers, lamps, and gold tongs—of purest gold; ²² the wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, ladles,^[m] and firepans—of purest gold; and the entryway to the temple, its inner doors to the most holy place, and the doors of the temple sanctuary—of gold.

5 So all the work Solomon did for the Lord’s temple was completed. Then Solomon brought the consecrated things of his father David—the silver, the gold, and all the utensils—and put them in the treasuries of God’s temple.

Preparations for the Temple Dedication

² At that time^(P) Solomon assembled at Jerusalem the elders of Israel—all the tribal heads, the ancestral chiefs of the Israelites—in order to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the city of David,^(Q) that is, Zion. ³ So all the men of Israel were assembled in the king’s presence at the festival; this was in the seventh month.^[n]

⁴ All the elders of Israel came, and the Levites picked up the ark. ⁵ They brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and the holy utensils that were in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁶ King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel who had gathered around him were in front of the ark sacrificing sheep, goats, and cattle that could not be counted or numbered because there were so many. ⁷ The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the most holy place, beneath the wings of the cherubim.^{(R) 8} And the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark so that the cherubim formed a cover above the ark and its poles. ⁹ The poles were so long that their ends were seen from the holy place^[o](S) in front of the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen from outside; they are still there today. ¹⁰ Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had put in it at Horeb,^[p](T) where the Lord had made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of Egypt.

¹¹ Now all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves regardless of their divisions.^(U) When the priests came out of the holy place, ¹² the Levitical singers dressed in fine linen and carrying cymbals, harps, and lyres^(V) were standing east of the altar, and with them were 120 priests blowing trumpets.^(W) The Levitical singers were descendants of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun and their sons^(X) and relatives. ¹³ The trumpeters and singers joined together to praise and thank the Lord with one voice. They raised their voices, accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and musical instruments,^(Y) in praise to the Lord:

The temple, the Lord’s temple, was filled with a cloud.^{(AA) 14} And because of the cloud, the priests were not able to continue ministering, for the glory of the Lord filled God’s temple.^(AB)

Solomon’s Dedication of the Temple

6 Then Solomon said:^(AC)

³ Then the king turned and blessed the entire congregation of Israel while they were standing. ⁴ He said:

An Illustration from Marriage

7 Since I am speaking to those who know the law, brothers and sisters,^(A) don’t you know that the law rules over someone as long as he lives? ² For example, a married woman is legally bound to her husband while he lives.^(B) But if her husband dies, she is released from the law regarding the husband. ³ So then, if she is married to another man while her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law. Then, if she is married to another man, she is not an adulteress.

⁴ Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were put to death^(C) in relation to the law^(D) through the body of Christ^(E) so that you may belong to another. You belong to him who was raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God. ⁵ For when we were in the flesh,^(F) the sinful passions aroused through the law were working in us^[a](G) to bear fruit for death. ⁶ But now we have been released from the law, since we have died to what held us, so that we may serve in the newness of the Spirit^(H) and not in the old letter of the law.

Sin’s Use of the Law

⁷ What should we say then?^(I) Is the law sin? Absolutely not!^(J) On the contrary, I would not have known sin if it were not for the law.^(K) For example, I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, Do not covet.^{[b](L) 8} And sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment,^(M) produced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law sin is dead.^{(N) 9} Once I was alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life again ¹⁰ and I died. The commandment that was meant for life^(O) resulted in death for me. ¹¹ For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me,^(P) and through it killed me. ¹² So then, the law is holy,^(Q) and the commandment is holy and just and good. ¹³ Therefore, did what is good become death to me? Absolutely not!^(R) On the contrary, sin, in order to be recognized as sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment, sin might become sinful beyond measure.

Psalm 17

A Prayer for Protection

A prayer of David.