< 1 Kings 6 >
1 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of Jehovah.
Four hundred and eighty years after the Israelites left Egypt, in the fourth year of King Solomon's reign, in the month of Ziv, Solomon began building the Temple of the Lord.
2 And the house which king Solomon built for Jehovah, the length of it was sixty cubits, and the breadth of it twenty, and the height of it thirty cubits,
The Temple King Solomon built for the Lord measured sixty cubits long by twenty cubits wide by thirty cubits high.
3 and the porch in front of the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length of it, according to the breadth of the house, and ten cubits was the breadth of it in front of the house.
The entrance room at the front of the Temple was twenty cubits wide. It ran the whole width of the Temple and projected out ten cubits in front of the Temple.
4 And he made windows of fixed lattice-work for the house.
He had latticed windows made to be placed high up in the Temple.
5 And against the wall of the house he built stories round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle. And he made side-chambers round about.
He also had a structure built against the outer wall of the Temple, both the outer and the inner sanctuary, to provide a series of side rooms.
6 The lowest story was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad, for on the outside he made offsets in the wall of the house round about, that the beams should not be fastened in the walls of the house.
The ground floor measured five cubits wide, the first floor six cubits, and the second floor seven cubits. In addition he had offset ledges placed all the way around the outside, so that beams would not have to be inserted into the Temple walls.
7 And the house, when it was being built, was built of stone made ready at the quarry. And there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was being built.
When the Temple was built the stones were finished at the quarry so that no noise from any hammer, ax, or any iron tool was heard in the Temple during construction.
8 The door for the middle side-chambers was in the right side of the house. And they went up by winding stairs into the middle story, and out of the middle into the third.
The entrance to the ground floor was on the south side of the Temple. Stairs led to the first floor, and then on to the second floor.
9 So he built the house, and finished it. And he covered the house with beams and planks of cedar.
So Solomon finished building the Temple, covering it with a roof made of cedar rafters and planks.
10 And he built the stories against all the house, each five cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.
He built the external structure along the whole of the Temple. It was five cubits high, joined to the Temple with cedar joists.
11 And the word of Jehovah came to Solomon, saying,
The Lord sent this message to Solomon, telling him,
12 Concerning this house that thou are building, if thou will walk in my statutes, and execute my ordinances, and keep all my commandments to walk in them, then I will establish my word with thee, which I spoke to David thy father.
“About this Temple you are building: if you follow what I have said, fulfilling my requirements and keeping my commandments in what you do, I will keep the promise I made to your father David through you.
13 And I will dwell among the sons of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.
I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon Israel, my people.”
14 So Solomon built the house, and finished it.
Solomon finished building the Temple.
15 And he built the walls of the house inside with boards of cedar. From the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood. And he covered the floor of the house with boards of fir.
He lined the walls with cedar panels from floor to ceiling and he covered the floor of the Temple with cypress boards.
16 And he built twenty cubits on the hinder part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the walls of the ceiling. He built them for it inside, for an oracle, even for the most holy place.
He sectioned off twenty cubits at the rear of the Temple with boards of cedar from floor to ceiling, making an inner sanctuary as the Most Holy Place.
17 And the house, that is, the temple in front of the oracle, was forty cubits long.
The main Temple in front of this room measured forty cubits long.
18 And there was cedar on the house inside, carved with knops and open flowers. All was cedar; there was no stone seen.
The cedar panels inside the Temple were decorated with carvings of gourds and open flowers. Everything was lined with cedar—none of the stone was visible.
19 And he prepared an oracle in the midst of the house inside, to set there the ark of the covenant of Jehovah.
He also had the inner sanctuary made within the Temple where the Ark of the Lord's Agreement would be placed.
20 And inside the oracle was a space of twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height of it. And he overlaid it with pure gold. And he covered the altar with cedar.
The inner sanctuary measured twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. He had the interior covered with a coating with pure gold, as well as the altar of cedar.
21 So Solomon overlaid the house inside with pure gold. And he drew chains of gold across before the oracle, and he overlaid it with gold.
Solomon had the whole of the inside of the Temple covered with pure gold, He had gold chains stretched across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was also covered with gold.
22 And the whole house he overlaid with gold until all the house was finished. Also the whole altar that belonged to the oracle he overlaid with gold.
He covered the whole inside of the Temple with a coating of gold until it was all finished. He also covered with gold the entire altar for the inner sanctuary.
23 And in the oracle he made two cherubim of olive-wood, each ten cubits high.
He had two cherubim made out of olive wood for the inner sanctuary, each one ten cubits tall.
24 And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub. From the outermost part of the one wing to the outermost part of the other were ten cubits.
Both wings of the cherub measured five cubits, making a total wingspan of ten cubits.
25 And the other cherub was ten cubits; both of the cherubim were of one measure and one form.
The other cherub was also ten cubits tall, since they were identical both in size and shape.
26 The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so it was of the other cherub.
Both cherubs were ten cubits tall.
27 And he set the cherubim inside the inner house. And the wings of the cherubim were stretched forth, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall. And their wings touched each another in the middle of the house.
He had the cherubim placed inside the inner sanctuary of the Temple. Since their wings were fully spread, a wing of the first cherub touched one wall, a wing of the second cherub touched the other wall, and in the middle of the Temple their wings touched.
28 And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.
The cherubim were also covered with a gold coating.
29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, inside and outside.
He had all the Temple walls, both the inner and outer sanctuaries, carved with designs of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.
30 And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, inside and outside.
He also had the floor of the Temple floor covered with gold, both the inner and outer sanctuaries.
31 And for the entrance of the oracle he made doors of olive-wood. The lintel and door-posts were a fifth part of the wall.
He had doors of olive wood made for the entrance to the inner sanctuary, together with a lintel and doorposts that had five sides.
32 So he made two doors of olive-wood. And he carved upon them carvings of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold. And he spread the gold upon the cherubim, and upon the palm trees.
These olive wood double doors had carved into them designs of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. The cherubim and palm trees carvings were covered with beaten gold.
33 So he also made for the entrance of the temple door-posts of olive-wood out of a fourth part of the wall,
Similarly he had four-sided doorposts of olive wood made for the entrance to the sanctuary.
34 and two doors of fir-wood. The two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.
Its doors were made of cypress wood, each with two hinged panels.
35 And he carved thereon cherubim and palm trees and open flowers. And he overlaid them with gold fitted upon the graven work.
He had them carved with designs of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and covered them with gold beaten evenly over the carvings.
36 And he built the inner court with three courses of hewn stone, and a course of cedar beams.
Solomon had the inner courtyard built with three courses of dressed stone and one of cedar beams.
37 In the fourth year the foundation of the house of Jehovah was laid, in the month Ziv.
The foundation of the Lord's Temple was laid in the fourth year of Solomon's reign, in the month of Ziv.
38 And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all the parts of it, and according to all the fashion of it. So he was seven years in building it.
The Temple was finished exactly as specified and planned in Solomon's eleventh year, in the eighth month, the month of Bul. So it took him seven years to build the Temple.