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 Yhwh.

480 years after the Israeli people left Egypt, during the fourth year that Solomon ruled Israel, early in May, Solomon’s workers began to build the temple.

2 And the house which king Solomon built for Yhwh, the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits.

Inside, [the main part of] the temple was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high.

3 And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.

The entrance room was 15 feet long and 30 feet wide, just as wide as the main part of the temple.

4 And for the house he made windows of narrow lights.

There were windows in [the walls of] the temple. The windows were narrower on the outside than on the inside.

5 And against the wall of the house he built chambers round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle: and he made chambers round about:

Against the two sides and against the back of the temple walls, they built a structure/building that had rooms in it. [This structure had three levels/stories and each was 7-1/2 feet high].

6 The nethermost chamber was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad: for without in the wall of the house he made narrowed rests round about, that the beams should not be fastened in the walls of the house.

[Each room in] the lowest level/story was 7-1/2 feet wide. [Each room in] the middle level/story was nine feet wide. [The rooms in] the top level/story were 10-1/2 feet wide. The wall of the temple at the top level/story was thinner than the wall at the middle level/story, and the wall of the middle level/story was thinner than the wall at the bottom level/story. The result was that the rooms could be supported by the wall underneath them, and did not require wooden beams to support them.

7 And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone 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 in building.

The huge stones for [the foundation of] the temple were cut and shaped at the quarry [to become very smooth]. The result was that while the workers were building the temple there was no noise, because they did not use hammers or chisels or any other iron tools there.

8 The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third.

The entrance to the bottom level/story [of that attached structure] was on the south side of the temple. There were stairs from the bottom level/story to the middle and top level/story.

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

So Solomon’s [workers] finished building the [framework of the] temple. They made the ceiling from cedar beams and boards.

10 And then he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.

They built the structure that had three levels/stories, that was against the walls of the temple. Each level/story was 7-1/2 feet high, and was joined to the temple with cedar beams.

11 And the word of Yhwh came to Solomon, saying,

Then Yahweh said this to Solomon:

12 Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father:

“[I want to tell you] about this temple that you are building. If you continually obey all my statutes and laws and commands, I will do for you what I promised to your father David.

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

I will live among the Israeli people, [in this temple, ] and I will never abandon them.”

14 So Solomon built the house, and finished it.

Solomon’s [workers] finished building the temple.

15 And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls of the cieling: and he covered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir.

On the inside, they lined/covered the walls with cedar boards. They lined/covered them from the floor to the ceiling. They made the floor from cypress boards.

16 And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar: he even built them for it within, even for the oracle, even for the most holy place.

Inside the back part of the temple they built an inner room, called the Very Holy Place. It was 30 feet long. All the walls of this room were lined with cedar boards.

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

In front of the Very Holy Place there was a room that was 60 feet long.

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

The cedar [boards on the walls] inside the temple were decorated with carvings of gourds and flowers. [The walls were] completely covered with cedar boards, with the result that the stones [of the walls behind them] could not be seen.

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

At the back of the temple they made the Very Holy Place, where the Sacred Chest would be put.

20 And the oracle in the forepart 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 so covered the altar which was of cedar.

That room was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. They covered the walls with [very thin sheets of] pure gold. [For burning incense] they also made an altar of cedar [boards].

21 So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he made a partition by the chains of gold before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold.

Solomon told them to cover the other walls inside the temple with [very thin sheets of] pure gold and to fasten gold chains across the entrance to the Very Holy Place.

22 And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house: also the whole altar that was by the oracle he overlaid with gold.

They covered all the walls of the temple and the altar that was outside the Very Holy Place with [very thin sheets of] gold.

23 And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten cubits high.

Inside the Very Holy Place, they made from olive tree wood [large statues of] two creatures with wings. Each one was 15 feet tall.

24 And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits.

They each were the same size and had the same shape. They each had two wings [which were spread out]. Each wing was 7-1/2 feet long, with the result that the distance between the outer ends of the two wings was 15 feet.

25 And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubims were of one measure and one size.

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

27 And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, 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 one another in the midst of the house.

They put those statues next to each other in the Very Holy Place so that the wing of the one touched the one wing of the other in the center of the room, and the outer wings touched the walls.

28 And he overlaid the cherubims with gold.

They covered the statues with [very thin sheets of] gold.

29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.

[Solomon told them to] decorate the walls of the main room and the Very Holy Place by carving representations of winged creatures and palm trees and flowers.

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

They also covered the floor of both rooms with [very thin sheets of] gold.

31 And for the entering of the oracle he made doors of olive tree: the lintel and side posts were a fifth part of the wall.

They made a set of doors from olive tree wood, and placed them at the entrance to the Very Holy Place. The doorposts joined at the top to form a pointed arch.

32 The two doors also were of olive tree; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the palm trees.

The doors were decorated by carving on them representations of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers. All of these things were covered with [very thin sheets of] gold.

33 So also made he for the door of the temple posts of olive tree, a fourth part of the wall.

They made a rectangular door frame from olive tree wood, and put it [between the entrance room and] the main room.

34 And the two doors were of fir tree: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.

They made two folding doors from cypress wood [and fastened them to the door frame].

35 And he carved thereon cherubims and palm trees and open flowers: and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work.

The doors were also decorated with wood carvings of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers, and they were also covered evenly with [very thin sheets of] gold.

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

They built a courtyard in front of the temple. The walls around the courtyard were made of cedar and stone; to make the walls, between each layer of cedar beams they put down two layers of stone.

37 In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of Yhwh laid, in the month Zif:

They laid the foundation of the temple of Yahweh in early May, in the fourth year [that Solomon ruled].

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

In the eleventh year [that he ruled], in the middle of October, they finished building the temple and all of its parts, doing exactly what Solomon told them to do. It required seven years to build it.