He designated<n id="1" /> 70,000 as common laborers,<n id="2" /> 80,000 as stonecutters<n id="3" /> in the hills, and 3,600 as supervisors to make sure the people completed the work.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="bodytext">In front of the temple he made two pillars which had a combined length<n id="1" /> of 52½ feet,<n id="2" /> with each having a plated capital seven and one-half feet high.<n id="3" />

<p class="bodytext">Solomon also made these items for God&#8217;s temple: the gold altar, the tables on which the Bread of the Presence<n id="1" /> was kept,

King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; 600 measures<n id="1" /> of hammered gold were used for each shield.

King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned them to the officers of the royal guard<n id="1" /> who protected the entrance to the royal palace.

Zedekiah son of Kenaanah made iron horns and said, &#8220;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8216;With these you will gore Syria until they are destroyed!&#8217;&#8221;

He followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel, just as Ahab&#8217;s dynasty had done, for he married Ahab&#8217;s daughter.<n id="1" /> He did evil in the sight of<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc>.

He did evil in the sight of<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> like Ahab&#8217;s dynasty because, after his father&#8217;s death, they<n id="2" /> gave him advice that led to his destruction.

He did what the <sc>Lordsc> approved, just as his father Uzziah had done.<n id="1" /> (He did not, however, have the audacity to enter the temple.)<n id="2" /> Yet the people were still sinning.p>

He did evil in the sight of<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc>, just like his father Manasseh had done. He offered sacrifices to all the idols his father Manasseh had made, and worshiped<n id="2" /> them.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem.<n id="1" /> He did evil in the sight of<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc> his God.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Jehoiachin was eighteen<n id="1" /> years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem.<n id="2" /> He did evil in the sight of<n id="3" /> the <sc>Lordsc>.

<p class="bodytext">He made the most holy place;<n id="1" /> its length was 30 feet,<n id="2" /> corresponding to the width of the temple, and its width 30 feet.<n id="3" /> He plated it with 600 talents<n id="4" /> of fine gold.

He also made the big bronze basin called &#8220;The Sea.&#8221;<n id="1" /> It measured 15 feet<n id="2" /> from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood seven and one-half feet<n id="3" /> high. Its circumference was 45 feet.<n id="4" />

He made ten washing basins; he put five on the south side and five on the north side. In them they rinsed the items used for burnt sacrifices; the priests washed in &#8220;The Sea.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">Huram Abi<n id="1" /> made the pots, shovels, and bowls. He finished all the work on God&#8217;s temple he had been assigned by King Solomon.<n id="2" />

At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival for seven days. This great assembly included people from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Brook of Egypt in the south.<n id="1" />

With the timber the king made steps<n id="1" /> for the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and royal palace as well as stringed instruments<n id="2" /> for the musicians. No one had seen anything like them in the land of Judah prior to that.<n id="3" />)

In Jerusalem he made war machines carefully designed to shoot arrows and large stones from the towers and corners of the walls. He became very famous, for he received tremendous support and became powerful.<n id="1" />p>

Ahaz gathered the items in God&#8217;s temple and removed them. He shut the doors of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and erected altars on every street corner in Jerusalem.