1 Kings 6
1 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of the reign of Solomon over Israel, in the month Zio (the same is the second month), he began to build a house to the Lord.
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 to the Lord, was threescore cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and thirty cubits in height.
The Temple King Solomon built for the Lord measured sixty cubits long by twenty cubits wide by thirty cubits high.
3 And there was a porch before the temple of twenty cubits in length, according to the measure of the breadth of the temple: and it was ten cubits in breadth before the face of the temple.
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 in the temple oblique windows.
He had latticed windows made to be placed high up in the Temple.
5 And upon the wall of the temple he built floors round about, in the walls of the house round about the temple and the oracle, and he made sides 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 floor that was underneath, was five cubits in breadth, and the middle floor was six cubits in breadth, and the third door was seven cubits in breadth. And he put beams in the house round about on the outside, that they might not be fastened in the walls of the temple.
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 in building, was built of stones hewed and made ready: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house when it was in building.
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 was on the right hand of the house: and by winding stairs they went up to the middle room, and from the middle to 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 roofs of cedar.
So Solomon finished building the Temple, covering it with a roof made of cedar rafters and planks.
10 And he built a floor over all the house five cubits in height, and he covered 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 the Lord came to Solomon, saying:
The Lord sent this message to Solomon, telling him,
12 This house, which thou buildest, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments, walking in them, I will fulfill my word to 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 in the midst of the children 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 on the inside, with boards of cedar, from the floor of the house to the top of the walls, and to the roots, he covered it with boards of cedar on the inside: and he covered the floor of the house with planks 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 up twenty cubits with boards of cedar at the hinder part of the temple, from the floor to the top: and made the inner house of the oracle to be the holy of holies.
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 temple itself before the doors of the oracle was forty cubits long.
The main Temple in front of this room measured forty cubits long.
18 And all the house was covered within with cedar, having the turnings, and the joints thereof artfully wrought and carvings projecting out: all was covered with boards of cedar: and no stone could be seen in the wall at all.
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 made the oracle in the midst of the house, in the inner part, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
He also had the inner sanctuary made within the Temple where the Ark of the Lord's Agreement would be placed.
20 Now the oracle was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in height. And he covered and overlaid it with most pure gold. And the altar also he covered 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 And the house before the oracle he overlaid with most pure gold, and fastened on the plates with nails of 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 there was nothing in the temple that was not covered with gold: the whole altar of the oracle he covered also 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 he made in the oracle two cherubims of olive tree, of ten cubits in height.
He had two cherubim made out of olive wood for the inner sanctuary, each one ten cubits tall.
24 One wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub was five cubits: that is, in all ten cubits, from the extremity of one wing to the extremity of the other wing.
Both wings of the cherub measured five cubits, making a total wingspan of ten cubits.
25 The second cherub also was ten cubits: and the measure, and the work was the same in both the cherubims:
The other cherub was also ten cubits tall, since they were identical both in size and shape.
26 That is to say, one cherub was ten cubits high, and in like manner the other cherub.
Both cherubs were ten cubits tall.
27 And he set the cherubims in the midst of the inner temple: and the cherubims stretched forth their wings, and the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall: and the other wings in the midst of the temple touched one another.
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 cherubims with gold.
The cherubim were also covered with a gold coating.
29 And all the walls of the temple round about he carved with divers figures and carvings: and he made in them cherubims and palm trees, and divers representations, as it were standing out, and coming forth from the wall.
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 also overlaid with gold within and without.
He also had the floor of the Temple floor covered with gold, both the inner and outer sanctuaries.
31 And in the entrance of the oracle he made little doors of olive tree, and posts of five corners,
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 And two doors of olive tree: and he carved upon them figures of cherubims, and figures of palm trees, and carvings very much projecting: and he overlaid them with gold: and he covered both the cherubims and the palm trees, and the other things with gold.
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 And he made in the entrance of the temple posts of olive tree foursquare:
Similarly he had four-sided doorposts of olive wood made for the entrance to the sanctuary.
34 And two doors of fir tree, one of each side: and each door was double, and so opened with folding leaves.
Its doors were made of cypress wood, each with two hinged panels.
35 And he carved cherubims, and palm trees, and carved work standing very much out: and he overlaid all with golden plates in square work by rule.
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 rows of polished stones, and one row of beams of cedar.
Solomon had the inner courtyard built with three courses of dressed stone and one of cedar beams.
37 In the fourth year was the house of the Lord founded in the month Zio:
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 in all the works thereof, and in all the appurtenances thereof: and 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.
