1 Kings 6

1 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of Jehovah.

In the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year that Solomon was king of Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, the building of the Lord's house was started.

2 And the house that king Solomon built for Jehovah was sixty cubits in length, and twenty in breadth, and thirty cubits in height.

The house which Solomon made for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.

3 And the porch, in front of the temple of the house, was twenty cubits in length, in front of the house broadways, [and] ten cubits was its breadth, in front of the house.

The covered way before the Temple of the house was twenty cubits long, as wide as the house, and ten cubits wide in front of the house.

4 And for the house he made closed windows with fixed lattices.

And for the house he made windows, with network across.

5 And against the wall of the house he built floors round about, [against] the walls of the house, round about the temple and the oracle; and he made side-chambers round about.

And against the walls all round, and against the walls of the Temple and of the inmost room, he put up wings, with side rooms all round:

6 The lowest floor was five cubits broad, and the middle one was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad; for in the [thickness of the wall of] the house he made resets round about outside, that nothing should be fastened in the walls of the house.

The lowest line of them being five cubits wide, the middle six cubits wide and the third seven cubits; for there was a space all round the outside walls of the house so that the boards supporting the rooms did not have to be fixed in the walls of the house.

7 And the house, when it was being built, was built of stone entirely made ready before it was brought thither; so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was being built.

(And the stones used in the building of the house were squared at the place where they were cut out; there was no sound of hammer or axe or any iron instrument while they were building the house.)

8 The entrance to the side-chambers of the middle [floor] was in the right side of the house; and they went up by winding stairs into the middle [floor], and out of the middle into the third.

The door to the lowest side rooms was in the right side of the house; and they went up by twisting steps into the middle rooms, and from the middle into the third.

9 And he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar.

So he put up the house and made it complete, roofing it with boards of cedar-wood.

10 And he built the floors against all the house, five cubits high; and they held to the house by the timbers of cedar.

And he put up the line of side rooms against the walls of the house, fifteen cubits high, resting against the house on boards of cedar-wood.

11 And the word of Jehovah came to Solomon saying,

(And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying,

12 As to this house which thou art building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and practise mine ordinances, and keep all my commandments to walk in them, then will I perform my word as to thee which I spoke unto David thy father;

About this house which you are building: if you will keep my laws and give effect to my decisions and be guided by my rules, I will give effect to my word which I gave to David your father.

13 and I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.

And I will be ever among the children of Israel, and will not go away from my people.

14 And Solomon built the house and finished it.

So Solomon made the building of the house complete.)

15 And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, from the floor of the house to the walls of the roof; he overlaid [them] on the inside with wood, and overlaid the floor of the house with boards of cypress.

The walls of the house were covered inside with cedar-wood boards; from the floor to the roof of the house they were covered inside with wood; and the floor was covered with boards of cypress-wood.

16 And he built twenty cubits of the innermost part of the house, both floor and walls, with boards of cedar; and he built [them] for it within, to [be] the oracle, the most holy place.

And at the back of the house a further space of twenty cubits was shut in with boards of cedar-wood, for the inmost room.

17 And the house, that is, the temple before it, was forty cubits [long].

And the house, that is, the Temple, in front of the holy place was forty cubits long.

18 And the cedar of the house within was carved with colocynths and half-open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen.

(All the inside of the house was cedar-wood, ornamented with designs of buds and flowers; no stonework was to be seen inside.)

19 And he prepared the oracle in the midst of the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of Jehovah.

And he made ready an inmost room in the middle of the house, in which to put the ark of the agreement of the Lord.

20 And the oracle within was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof; and he overlaid it with pure gold; and he overlaid the cedar-wood altar —

And the inmost room was twenty cubits square and twenty cubits high, plated over with clear gold, and he made an altar of cedar-wood, plating it with gold.

21 and Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold, and shut off the oracle in front with chains of gold, and overlaid it with gold.

Solomon had all the inside of the house covered with gold, and he put chains of gold across in front of the inmost room, which itself was covered with gold.

22 And the whole house he overlaid with gold, the whole house entirely; also the whole altar that was by the oracle he overlaid with gold.

Plates of gold were put all through the house till it was covered completely (and the altar in the inmost room was all covered with gold).

23 And he made in the oracle two cherubim of olive-wood, ten cubits high;

In the inmost room he made two winged beings of olive-wood, ten cubits high;

24 and one wing of the cherub was five cubits, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub, ten cubits from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing;

With outstretched wings five cubits wide; the distance from the edge of one wing to the edge of the other was ten cubits.

25 and the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubim were of one measure and one form.

The two winged ones were ten cubits high, of the same size and form.

26 The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so of the other cherub.

The two of them were ten cubits high.

27 And he set the cherubim in the midst of the inner house; and the wings of the cherubim were stretched forth, so that the wing of the one touched the wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched, wing to wing, in the midst of the house.

These were placed inside the inner house, their outstretched wings touching the walls of the house, one touching one wall and one the other, while their other wings were touching in the middle.

28 And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

These winged ones were plated over with gold.

29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved sculptures of cherubim, and palm-trees, and half-open flowers, within and without.

And all the walls of the house inside and out were ornamented with forms of winged ones and palm-trees and open flowers.

30 And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.

And the floor of the house was covered with gold, inside and out.

31 And for the entrance of the oracle he made doors of olive-wood: the lintel [and] side posts were the fifth part [of the breadth of the house].

For the way into the inmost room he made doors of olive-wood, the arch and the door supports forming a five-sided opening.

32 The two doors were of olive-wood; and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, and palm-trees and half-open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm-trees.

On the olive-wood doors were cut designs of winged ones and palm-trees and open flowers, all of them, with the doors, plated with gold.

33 And he also made for the doorway of the temple posts of olive-wood, of the fourth part [of the breadth of the house].

Then he made pillars of olive-wood for the way into the Temple; the pillars were square:

34 And the two folding-doors were of cypress-wood: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.

And two folding doors of cypress-wood, with two leaves.

35 And he carved on them cherubim, and palm-trees, and half-open flowers; and overlaid them with gold fitted on the carved work.

These were ornamented with designs of winged ones and palm-trees and open flowers, plated over with gold.

36 And he built the inner court of three rows of hewn stone, and a row of cedar-beams.

And the inner space was walled with three lines of squared stones and a line of cedar-wood boards.

37 In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of Jehovah laid, in the month Zif;

In the fourth year the base of the house was put in its place, in the month Ziv.

38 and in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished in all its parts, and according to all the fashion of it. So he was seven years in building it.

And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the building of the house was complete in every detail, as it had been designed. So he was seven years building it.