1 Also, he made a brass altar of twenty cubits in length, and of twenty cubits in width, and of ten cubits in height,
2 as well as a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in its circumference. It had five cubits in height, and a line of thirty cubits went around it on all sides.
3 Also, under it there was the likeness of oxen. And certain engravings encircled the cavity of the sea, along ten cubits of the outside, as if in two rows. Now the oxen were molten.
4 And the sea itself was placed upon the twelve oxen, three of which were looking toward the north, and another three toward the west, then another three toward the south, and the three that remained toward the east, having the sea imposed upon them. But the posteriors of the oxen were toward the interior, under the sea.
5 Now its thickness had the measure of the palm of a hand, and its brim was like the lip of a cup, or like the outturned petal of a lily. And it held three thousand measures.
6 Also, he made ten basins. And he placed five on the right, and five on the left, so that they might wash in them all the things that they were to offer as holocausts. But the priests were to be washed in the sea.
7 Then he also made ten gold lampstands, according to the form by which they had been ordered to be made. And he set them in the temple, five on the right, and five on the left.
8 Moreover, there were also ten tables. And he placed them in the temple, five on the right, and five on the left. Also, there were one hundred gold bowls.
9 Then too, he made the court of the priests, and a great hall, and doors in the hall, which he covered with brass.
10 Now he placed the sea on the right side, facing the east, toward the south.
11 Then Hiram made cooking pots and hooks and bowls. And he completed every work of the king in the house of God,
12 that is, the two pillars, and the crossbeams, and the heads, and something like a little net, which would cover the heads above the crossbeams,
13 and also four hundred pomegranates, and two little nets, so that two rows of pomegranates were joined to each net, which would cover the crossbeams and the heads of the pillars.
14 He also made bases; and basins that he placed upon the bases;
15 one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea;
16 and cooking pots and hooks and bowls. Hiram, his father, made all the vessels for Solomon, in the house of the Lord, from the purest brass.
17 The king cast these in the region near the Jordan, in the clay soil between Succoth and Zeredah.
18 Now the multitude of the vessels was innumerable, so much so that the weight of the brass was unknown.
19 And Solomon made all the vessels for the house of God, and the gold altar, and the tables upon which were the bread of the presence;
20 and also, of the purest gold, the lampstands with their lamps, to shine before the oracle, according to the rite;
21 and certain flowers, and lamps, and gold tongs. All these were made from the purest gold.
22 Also, the vessels for the perfumes, and the censers, and the bowls, and the little mortars were from the purest gold. And he engraved the doors of the inner temple, that is, for the Holy of Holies. And the doors of the outer temple were of gold. And so, every work was completed that Solomon made in the house of the Lord.
1 Then Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had vowed, the silver, and the gold, and all the vessels, which he placed in the treasuries of the house of God.
2 After this, he gathered together those greater by birth of Israel, and all the leaders of the tribes, and the heads of the families, from the sons of Israel, to Jerusalem, so that they might bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David, which is Zion.
3 And so, all the men of Israel went to the king, on the solemn day of the seventh month.
4 And when all the elders of Israel had arrived, the Levites carried the ark,
5 and they brought it in, along with all the equipment of the tabernacle. Then too, the priests with the Levites carried the vessels of the sanctuary, which were in the tabernacle.
6 Now king Solomon, and the entire assembly of Israel, and all who had gathered together before the ark, were immolating rams and oxen without any number, for so great was the multitude of the victims.
7 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, that is, to the oracle of the temple, in the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim,
8 so that the cherubim extended their wings over the place where the ark was positioned, and they covered the ark itself and its bars.
9 But concerning the bars by which the ark was carried, because they were a little longer, the ends were able to be seen before the oracle. Yet truly, if anyone were a little ways toward the exterior, he would not be able to see them. And so the ark has been in that place, even to the present day.
10 And there was nothing else in the ark, except the two tablets, which Moses had placed there at Horeb when the Lord gave the law to the sons of Israel, at the departure from Egypt.
11 And having gone out from the Sanctuary, the priests (for all the priests who were able to be found there were sanctified, and in that time the turns and orders of the ministries had not yet been divided among them)
12 with both the Levites and the singing men, that is, those who were under Asaph, and those who were under Heman, and those who were under Jeduthun, with their sons and brothers, clothed in fine linen, sounded out with cymbals, and psalteries, and harps, standing toward the eastern side of the altar. And with them were one hundred twenty priests, sounding out with trumpets.
13 And when they all sounded out together, with trumpets, and voice, and cymbals, and pipes, and with various kinds of musical instruments, lifting their voice on high, the sound was heard from far away, so that when they had begun to praise the Lord, and to say, “Confess to the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy is eternal,” the house of God was filled with a cloud.
14 Neither were the priests able to stand and to minister, because of the cloud. For the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.
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14 And in those times, many will rise up against the king of the South. And likewise the sons of the deceivers among your people will extol themselves, so as to fulfill the vision, and they will collapse.
15 And the king of the North will arrive and will transport siege works, and he will seize the most fortified cities. And the arms of the South will not withstand him, and his elect will rise up to resist, but the strength will not.
16 And when he arrives, he will do just as he pleases, and there will be none who stand against his face. And he will stand in the illustrious land, and it will be consumed by his hand.
17 And he will set his face to strive to hold his entire kingdom, and he will make fair conditions with him. And he will give him a daughter among women, so as to overthrow it. But she will not stand, neither will she be for him.
18 And he will turn his face towards the islands, and he will seize many. And he will cause the leader of his reproach to cease, and his reproach will be turned around for him.
19 And he will turn his face to the empire of his own land, and he will strike, and will overthrow, but he will not succeed.
20 And there will stand up in his place one who is most worthless and unworthy of kingly honor. And in a short time, he will be worn out, but not in fury, nor in battle.
21 And there will stand up in his place the despicable one, and he will not be assigned the honor of a king. And he will arrive in secret, and he will obtain the kingdom by deceitfulness.
22 And the arms of the fighting will be assaulted before his face and will be shattered, and, in addition, the leader of the federation.
23 And, after making friends, he will trick him, and he will go up and will overcome with a small people.
24 And he will enter into rich and resourceful cities, and he will do what his fathers never did, nor his fathers’ fathers. He will scatter their spoils, and their prey, and their riches, and will form a plan against the most steadfast, and this until a time.
25 And his strength and his heart will be enraged against the king of the South with a great army. And the king of the South will be provoked into going to war by having many allies and exceedingly good circumstances, and yet these will not stand, for they will form plans against him.
26 And those who eat bread with him will crush him, and his army will be suppressed, and very many will die, having been executed.
27 And the heart of two kings will be similar, to do harm, and they will speak lies at one table, but they will not succeed, because as yet the end is for another time.
28 And he will return to his land with many resources. And his heart will be against the holy testament, and he will act, and he will return to his own land.
29 At the appointed time, he will return, and he will approach the South, but the latter time will not be like the former.
30 And the Greek warships and the Romans will come upon him, and he will be pierced, and will retreat, and will have scorn against the testament of the sanctuary, and he will act. And he will return and will consult their adversaries, who have forsaken the covenant of the sanctuary.
31 And arms will take his side, and they will pollute the sanctuary of the strength, and they will take away the continual sacrifice and will replace it with the abomination of desolation.
32 And the impious within the testament will imitate deceitfully, but the people, knowing their God, will persevere and will act.
33 And the teachers among the people will teach many, but they will be ruined by the sword, and by fire, and by captivity, and by assaults for many days.
1 A psalm for David himself. Sing ye to the Lord anew canticle: because he hath done wonderful things. His right hand hath wrought for him salvation, and his arm is holy.
2 The Lord hath made known his salvation: he hath revealed his justice in the sight of the Gentiles.
3 He hath remembered his mercy his truth toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
4 Sing joyfully to God, all the earth; make melody, rejoice and sing.
5 Sing praise to the Lord on the harp, on the harp, and with the voice of a psalm:
6 With long trumpets, and sound of comet. Make a joyful noise before the Lord our king:
7 Let the sea be moved and the fulness thereof: the world and they that dwell therein.
8 The rivers shall clap their hands, the mountains shall rejoice together
9 At the presence of the Lord: because he cometh to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with justice, and the people with equity.
1 Therefore, I say: Has God driven away his people? Let it not be so! For I, too, am an Israelite of the offspring of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God has not driven away his people, whom he foreknew. And do you not know what Scripture says in Elijah, how he calls upon God against Israel?
3 Lord, they have slain your Prophets. They have overturned your altars. And I alone remain, and they are seeking my life.
4 But what is the Divine response to him? “I have retained for myself seven thousand men, who have not bent their knees before Baal.”
5 Therefore, in the same way, again in this time, there is a remnant that has been saved in accord with the choice of grace.
6 And if it is by grace, then it is not now by works; otherwise grace is no longer free.
7 What is next? What Israel was seeking, he has not obtained. But the elect have obtained it. And truly, these others have been blinded,
8 just as it was written: “God has given them a spirit of reluctance: eyes that do not perceive, and ears that do not hear, even until this very day.”
9 And David says: “Let their table become like a snare, and a deception, and a scandal, and a retribution for them.
10 Let their eyes be obscured, so that they may not see, and so that they may bow down their backs always.”
11 Therefore, I say: Have they stumbled in such a way that they should fall? Let it not be so! Instead, by their offense, salvation is with the Gentiles, so that they may be a rival to them.
12 Now if their offense is the riches of the world, and if their diminution is the riches of the Gentiles, how much more is their fullness?
13 For I say to you Gentiles: Certainly, as long as I am an Apostle to the Gentiles, I will honor my ministry,
14 in such a way that I might provoke to rivalry those who are my own flesh, and so that I may save some of them.
