The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday June 10, 2020 (NIV)

1 Kings 7

Solomon's Palace

Solomon also built a palace for himself, and it took him thirteen years. 2-3 The Hall of the Forest of Lebanon[a] was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. It had three[b] rows of cedar pillars, 15 in each row, with cedar beams resting on them. The ceiling was of cedar, extending over storerooms, which were supported by the pillars. On each of the two side walls there were three rows of windows. The doorways and the windows[c] had rectangular frames, and the three rows of windows in each wall faced the opposite rows.

The Hall of Columns was 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. It had a covered porch, supported by columns.

The Throne Room, also called the Hall of Judgment, where Solomon decided cases, had cedar panels from the floor to the rafters.[d]

(A)Solomon's own quarters, in another court behind the Hall of Judgment, were made like the other buildings. He also built the same kind of house for his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt.

All these buildings and the great court were made of fine stones from the foundations to the eaves. The stones were prepared at the quarry and cut to measure, with their inner and outer sides trimmed with saws. 10 The foundations were made of large stones prepared at the quarry, some of them twelve feet long and others fifteen feet long. 11 On top of them were other stones, cut to measure, and cedar beams. 12 The palace court, the inner court of the Temple, and the entrance room of the Temple had walls with one layer of cedar beams for every three layers of cut stones.

Huram's Task

13 King Solomon sent for a man named Huram, a craftsman living in the city of Tyre, who was skilled in bronze work. 14 His father, who was no longer living, was from Tyre, and had also been a skilled bronze craftsman; his mother was from the tribe of Naphtali. Huram was an intelligent and experienced craftsman. He accepted King Solomon's invitation to be in charge of all the bronze work.

The Two Bronze Columns(B)

15 Huram cast two bronze columns, each one 27 feet tall and 18 feet in circumference,[e] and placed them at the entrance of the Temple. 16 He also made two bronze capitals, each one 7½ feet tall, to be placed on top of the columns. 17 The top of each column was decorated with a design of interwoven chains[f] 18 and two rows of bronze pomegranates.

19 The capitals were shaped like lilies, 6 feet tall, 20 and were placed on a rounded section which was above the chain design. There were 200 pomegranates in two rows around each[g] capital.

21 Huram placed these two bronze columns in front of the entrance of the Temple: the one on the south side was named Jachin[h] and the one on the north was named Boaz.[i] 22 The lily-shaped bronze capitals were on top of the columns.

And so the work on the columns was completed.

The Bronze Tank(C)

23 Huram made a round tank of bronze, 7½ feet deep, 15 feet in diameter, and 45 feet in circumference. 24 All around the outer edge of the rim of the tank[j] were two rows of bronze gourds, which had been cast all in one piece with the rest of the tank. 25 The tank rested on the backs of twelve bronze bulls that faced outward, three facing in each direction. 26 The sides of the tank were 3 inches thick. Its rim was like the rim of a cup, curving outward like the petals of a lily. The tank held about 10,000 gallons.

The Bronze Carts

27 Huram also made ten bronze carts; each was 6 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 4½ feet high. 28 They were made of square panels which were set in frames, 29 with the figures of lions, bulls, and winged creatures on the panels; and on the frames, above and underneath the lions and bulls, there were spiral figures in relief. 30 Each cart had four bronze wheels with bronze axles. At the four corners were bronze supports for a basin; the supports were decorated with spiral figures in relief. 31 There was a circular frame on top for the basin. It projected upward 18 inches from the top of the cart and 7 inches down into it. It had carvings around it. 32 The wheels were 25 inches high; they were under the panels, and the axles were of one piece with the carts. 33 The wheels were like chariot wheels; their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all of bronze. 34 There were four supports at the bottom corners of each cart, which were of one piece with the cart. 35 There was a 9-inch band around the top of each cart; its supports and the panels were of one piece with the cart. 36 The supports and panels were decorated with figures of winged creatures, lions, and palm trees, wherever there was space for them, with spiral figures all around. 37 This, then, is how the carts were made; they were all alike, having the same size and shape.

38 (D)Huram also made ten basins, one for each cart. Each basin was 6 feet in diameter and held 200 gallons. 39 He placed five of the carts on the south side of the Temple, and the other five on the north side; the tank he placed at the southeast corner.

Summary List of Temple Furnishings(E)

40-45 Huram also made pots, shovels, and bowls. He completed all his work for King Solomon for the Lord's Temple. This is what he made:

The two columns
The two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the columns
The design of interwoven chains on each capital
The 400 bronze pomegranates, in two rows of 100 each around the design on each capital
The ten carts
The ten basins
The tank
The twelve bulls supporting the tank
The pots, shovels, and bowls

All this equipment for the Temple, which Huram made for King Solomon, was of polished bronze. 46 The king had it all made in the foundry between Sukkoth and Zarethan, in the Jordan Valley. 47 Solomon did not have these bronze objects weighed, because there were too many of them, and so their weight was never determined.

48 (F)Solomon also had gold furnishings made for the Temple: the altar, the table for the bread offered to God, 49 (G)the ten lampstands that stood in front of the Most Holy Place, five on the south side and five on the north; the flowers, lamps, and tongs; 50 the cups, lamp snuffers, bowls, dishes for incense, and the pans used for carrying live coals; and the hinges for the doors of the Most Holy Place and of the outer doors of the Temple. All these furnishings were made of gold.

51 (H)When King Solomon finished all the work on the Temple, he placed in the Temple storerooms all the things that his father David had dedicated to the Lord—the silver, gold, and other articles.

Footnotes:

  1. 1 Kings 7:2 A large ceremonial hall in the palace, probably so called because it was paneled in cedar.
  2. 1 Kings 7:2 One ancient translation three; Hebrew four.
  3. 1 Kings 7:5 One ancient translation windows; Hebrew doorposts.
  4. 1 Kings 7:7 Some ancient translations rafters; Hebrew floor.
  5. 1 Kings 7:15 Some ancient translations each one … circumference; Hebrew the first column was 27 feet tall and the second column was 18 feet in circumference.
  6. 1 Kings 7:17 Verse 17 in Hebrew is unclear.
  7. 1 Kings 7:20 One ancient translation each; Hebrew the second.
  8. 1 Kings 7:21 This name sounds like the Hebrew for “he (God) establishes.”
  9. 1 Kings 7:21 This name sounds like the Hebrew for “by his (God's) strength.”
  10. 1 Kings 7:24 Probable text All around … tank; Hebrew unclear.
Good News Translation (GNT)

Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society

Acts 7:30-50

30 (A)“After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 Moses was amazed by what he saw, and went near the bush to get a better look. But he heard the Lord's voice: 32 ‘I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and dared not look. 33 The Lord said to him, ‘Take your sandals off, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have seen the cruel suffering of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans, and I have come down to set them free. Come now; I will send you to Egypt.’

35 (B)“Moses is the one who was rejected by the people of Israel. ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?’ they asked. He is the one whom God sent to rule the people and set them free with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush. 36 (C)He led the people out of Egypt, performing miracles and wonders in Egypt and at the Red Sea and for forty years in the desert. 37 (D)Moses is the one who said to the people of Israel, ‘God will send you a prophet, just as he sent me,[a] and he will be one of your own people.’ 38 (E)He is the one who was with the people of Israel assembled in the desert; he was there with our ancestors and with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and he received God's living messages to pass on to us.

39 “But our ancestors refused to obey him; they pushed him aside and wished that they could go back to Egypt. 40 (F)So they said to Aaron, ‘Make us some gods who will lead us. We do not know what has happened to that man Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.’ 41 (G)It was then that they made an idol in the shape of a bull, offered sacrifice to it, and had a feast in honor of what they themselves had made. 42 (H)So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the stars of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

‘People of Israel! It was not to me
that you slaughtered and sacrificed animals
for forty years in the desert.
43 It was the tent of the god Molech that you carried,
and the image of Rephan, your star god;
they were idols that you had made to worship.
And so I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’

44 (I)“Our ancestors had the Tent of God's presence with them in the desert. It had been made as God had told Moses to make it, according to the pattern that Moses had been shown. 45 (J)Later on, our ancestors who received the tent from their fathers carried it with them when they went with Joshua and took over the land from the nations that God drove out as they advanced. And it stayed there until the time of David. 46 (K)He won God's favor and asked God to allow him to provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.[b] 47 (L)But it was Solomon who built him a house.

48 “But the Most High God does not live in houses built by human hands; as the prophet says,

49 (M)‘Heaven is my throne, says the Lord,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house would you build for me?
Where is the place for me to live in?
50 Did not I myself make all these things?’

Footnotes:

  1. Acts 7:37 just as he sent me; or like me.
  2. Acts 7:46 the God of Jacob; some manuscripts have the people of Israel.
Good News Translation (GNT)

Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society

Psalm 128

The Reward of Obedience to the Lord

128 Happy are those who obey the Lord,
who live by his commands.

Your work will provide for your needs;
you will be happy and prosperous.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine in your home,
and your children will be like young olive trees around your table.
A man who obeys the Lord
will surely be blessed like this.

May the Lord bless you from Zion!
May you see Jerusalem prosper
all the days of your life!
May you live to see your grandchildren!

Peace be with Israel!

Good News Translation (GNT)

Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society

Proverbs 16:31-33

31 Long life is the reward of the righteous; gray hair is a glorious crown.

32 It is better to be patient than powerful. It is better to win control over yourself than over whole cities.

33 People cast lots to learn God's will, but God himself determines the answer.

Good News Translation (GNT)

Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society