2 Chronicles 3
1 And Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, in mount Moria, which had been shewn to David his father, in the place which David had prepared in the thrashingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
Then Solomon’s workers started to build the temple for Yahweh in Jerusalem. They built it on Moriah Hill, where [an angel from] Yahweh had appeared to his father David. They built it on the ground that Araunah, a descendant of the Jebus people-group, had sold to David and where David said that it should be built.
2 And he began to build in the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.
They began the work in April, when Solomon had been ruling almost four years.
3 Now these are the foundations, which Solomon laid, to build the house of God, the length by the first measure sixty cubits, the breadth twenty cubits.
The foundation of the temple was about 90 feet long and 30 feet wide.
4 And the porch in the front, which was extended in length according to the measure of the breadth of the house, twenty cubits: and the height was a hundred and twenty cubits: and he overlaid it within with pure gold.
The entrance room across the front of the temple was 30 feet wide and 30 feet high.
5 And the greater house he ceiled with deal boards, and overlaid them with plates of fine gold throughout: and he graved in them palm trees, and like little chains interlaced with one another.
Solomon’s workers used [panels/boards of] pine [wood] to line the main hall of the temple. Then they covered those panels with [very thin sheets of] pure gold. Then they decorated the walls with [carved images of] palm trees and designs that resembled chains.
6 He paved also the floor of the temple with most precious marble, of great beauty.
They decorated the temple with very valuable stones. The gold that they used was from [the land of] Parvaim.
7 And the gold of the plates with which he overlaid the house, and the beams thereof, and the posts, and the walls, and the doors was of the finest: and he graved cherubims on the walls.
They covered the ceiling beams, the door frames, the walls and the doors of the temple with [very thin sheets of] gold. They also carved [statues of] winged creatures on the walls.
8 He made also the house of the holy of holies: the length of it according to the breadth of the temple, twenty cubits, and the breadth of it in like manner twenty cubits: and he overlaid it with plates of gold, amounting to about six hundred talents.
They also built the Very Holy Place [inside the temple]. It was 30 feet wide and 30 feet long. They covered its walls with sheets of pure gold that altogether weighed 23 tons.
9 He made also nails of gold, and the weight of every nail was fifty sicles: the upper chambers also he overlaid with gold.
They used 1-1/4 pounds of gold to [cover the heads of] the nails. They also covered the walls of the upper rooms with sheets of gold.
10 He made also in the house of the holy of holies two cherubims of image work: and he overlaid them with gold.
Solomon’s workers made two statues of creatures with wings to put inside the Very Holy Place. They covered those statues with [very thin sheets of] gold.
11 The wings of the cherubims were extended twenty cubits, so that one wing was five cubits long, and reached to the wall of the house: and the other was also five cubits long, and reached to the wing of the other cherub.
[Each statue had two long wings]. One wing of each statue touched one of the walls of the Temple. The other wing of each statue touched a wing of the other statue. It was 7-1/2 feet from the outer tip of one wing to the outer tip of the other wing. The inner wings of the two statues touched each other.
12 In like manner the wing of the other cherub, was five cubits long, and reached to the wall: and his other wing was five cubits long, and touched the wing of the other cherub.
13 So the wings of the two cherubims were spread forth, and were extended twenty cubits: and they stood upright on their feet, and their faces were turned toward the house without.
It was 30 feet from the outer wing of the one statue to the outer wing of the other statue. The statues faced the doorway to the main room.
14 He made also a veil of violet, purple, scarlet, and silk: and wrought in it cherubims.
Solomon’s workers made a curtain [to separate the main room from the Very Holy Place]. It was made of blue, purple, and red thread and fine linen. There were figures of winged creatures that were embroidered on the curtain.
15 He made also before the doors of the temple two pillars, which were five and thirty cubits high: and their chapiters were five cubits.
They made two [bronze] pillars and put them at the entrance of the temple. They were each 27 feet high. Each had a top over it that was 7-1/2 feet high.
16 He made also as it were little chains in the oracle, and he put them on the heads of the pillars: and a hundred pomegranates, which he put between the little chains.
The workers made [carvings that resembled] chains and put them on top of the pillars. They made [carvings that resembled] pomegranates and attached them to the chains.
17 These pillars he put at the entrance of the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left: that which was on the right hand, he called Jachin: and that on the left hand, Boot.
They set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the south side [of the entrance] and the other on the north side. The one on the south side was named Jakin and the one on the north side was named Boaz.
