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.

So Solomon began to build the temple of Yahweh. This happened in the 480th year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month.

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 temple that King Solomon built for Yahweh 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 portico in front of the temple's main hall was twenty cubits in length, equal to the width of the temple, and ten cubits deep in front of the temple.

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

For the house he made windows with frames that made them more narrow at the outside than on the inside.

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.

Against the walls of the main chamber he built rooms around it, around both the outer room and the inner room. He built rooms all around the sides.

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 story was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide. For on the outside he made offsets in the wall of the house all around so that the beams would not be inserted 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.

The house was built of stones prepared at the quarry. No hammer, ax, or any iron tool was heard in the house while it was being built.

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.

On the south side of the temple there was an entrance at the ground level, then one went up by stairs to the middle level, and from the middle to the third level.

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

So Solomon built the temple and finished it; he covered the house with beams and planks of cedar.

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

He built the side rooms against the inner chambers of the temple, each side five cubits high; they were joined to the house with timbers of cedar.

11 And the word of Jehovah came to Solomon saying,

The word of Yahweh 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;

“Concerning this temple which you are building, if you walk in my statutes and do justice, keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will confirm my promise with you that I had made to David your father.

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

I will live among the people of Israel and will not forsake them.”

14 And Solomon built the house and finished it.

So Solomon built the house and finished it.

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.

Then he built the interior walls of the house with boards of cedar. From the floor of the house to the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood, and he covered the floor of the house with cypress boards.

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.

He built twenty cubits onto the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the ceiling. He built this room to be the inner room, the most holy place.

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

The main hall, that is, the holy place that was in front of the most 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.

There was cedar inside the house, carved in the shape of gourds and open flowers. All was cedar inside. No stonework was visible on the inside.

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

Solomon prepared the inner room inside the house in order to place the ark of the covenant of Yahweh there.

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 —

The inner room was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height. Solomon overlaid the walls with pure gold and covered the altar with cedar wood.

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 overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he placed chains of gold across the front of the inner room, and overlaid the front 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.

He overlaid the entire interior with gold until all the temple was finished. He also overlaid with gold the whole altar that belonged to the inner room.

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

Solomon made two cherubim of olivewood, each ten cubits high, for the inner room.

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;

One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long and its other wing was also five cubits long. So from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other there was a distance of ten cubits.

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

The other cherub also had a wingspan ten cubits. Both the cherubim were of the same dimensions and shape.

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

The height of one cherub was ten cubits and the other cherub was the same.

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.

Solomon placed the cherubim in the innermost room. The wings of the cherubim were stretched out so that the wing of one touched one wall and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall. Their wings touched one another in the middle of the most holy place.

28 And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

Solomon overlaid the cherubim 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.

He carved all the walls of the house around about with figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, in the outer and inner rooms.

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

Solomon overlaid the floor of the house with gold, in both the outer and inner rooms.

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].

Solomon made doors of olivewood for the entrance to the inner room. The lintel and doorposts had five indented sections.

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.

So he made two doors of olivewood, and he made on them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. He overlaid them with gold and he spread the gold on the cherubim and palm trees.

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].

In this way, Solomon also made for the temple entrance doorposts of olive wood having four indented sections

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 doors of cypress wood. The two leaves of the one door were folding and the two leaves of the other door were folding.

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

He carved on them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and he evenly overlaid gold on the carved work.

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

He built the inner courtyard with three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams.

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

The foundation of the house of Yahweh was laid in the fourth year, in the month of 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.

In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts and conforming to all its specifications. Solomon took seven years to build the temple.