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 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 for the LORD, the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits.
The Temple King Solomon built for the Lord measured sixty cubits long by twenty cubits wide by thirty cubits 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 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 for the house he made windows of narrow lights.
He had latticed windows made to be placed high up in the Temple.
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:
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 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.
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 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.
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 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 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 covered the house with beams and boards of cedar.
So Solomon finished building the Temple, covering it with a roof made of cedar rafters and planks.
10 And then he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high: and they rested on 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 Concerning this house which you are in building, if you will walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with you, which I spoke unto David your 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 among 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 within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls of the ceiling: and he covered them on the inside with wood, and 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 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.
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 house, that is, the temple before it, was forty cubits long.
The main Temple in front of this room measured forty cubits 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 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 the oracle he prepared in the house within, 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 And the oracle in the front part 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.
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 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 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 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.
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 within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten cubits high.
He had two cherubim made out of olive wood for the inner sanctuary, each one ten cubits 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.
Both wings of the cherub measured five cubits, making a total wingspan of ten cubits.
25 And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubims were of one measure and one size.
The other cherub was also ten cubits tall, since they were identical both in size and shape.
26 The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub.
Both cherubs were ten cubits tall.
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.
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 he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.
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 floors of the house he 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 for the entering of the oracle he made doors of olive tree: the lintel and side posts were a fifth part of the wall.
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 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.
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 So also made he for the door of the temple posts of olive tree, a fourth part of the wall.
Similarly he had four-sided doorposts of olive wood made for the entrance to the sanctuary.
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.
Its doors were made of cypress wood, each with two hinged panels.
35 And he carved thereon cherubims and palm trees and open flowers: and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work.
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 hewed stone, and a row of cedar beams.
Solomon had the inner courtyard built with three courses of dressed stone and one of cedar beams.
37 In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, in the month Zif:
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, 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.
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.
