1 Kings 6

1 And it comes to pass, in the four hundred and eightieth year of the going out of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, in the fourth year—in the month of Ziv, it [is] the second month—of the reigning of Solomon over Israel, that he builds the house for YHWH.

In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, in the month of Ziv, the second month of the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, he began to build the house of the LORD.

2 As for the house that King Solomon has built for YHWH, its length [is] sixty cubits, and its breadth twenty, and its height thirty cubits.

The house that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high.

3 As for the porch on the front of the temple of the house, its length [is] twenty cubits on the front of the breadth of the house; its breadth [is] ten by the cubit on the front of the house;

The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple was twenty cubits long, extending across the width of the temple and projecting out ten cubits in front of the temple.

4 and he makes frames of narrowing windows for the house.

He also had narrow windows framed high in the temple.

5 And he builds a couch against the wall of the house all around, [even] the walls of the house all around, of the temple and of the oracle, and makes sides all around.

Against the walls of the temple and the inner sanctuary, Solomon built a chambered structure around the temple, in which he constructed the side rooms.

6 The lowest couch, its breadth [is] five by the cubit; and the middle, its breadth [is] six by the cubit; and the third, its breadth [is] seven by the cubit, for he has put withdrawings of the house all around outside—not to lay hold on the walls of the house.

The bottom floor was five cubits wide, the middle floor six cubits, and the third floor seven cubits. He also placed offset ledges around the outside of the temple, so that nothing would be inserted into its walls.

7 And the house, in its being built, has been built of perfect stone [that was] brought; and hammer and the axe—any instrument of iron—was not heard in the house in its being built.

The temple was constructed using finished stones cut at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any other iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.

8 The opening of the middle side [is] at the right shoulder of the house, and with windings they go up on the middle one, and from the middle one to the third.

The entrance to the bottom floor was on the south side of the temple. A stairway led up to the middle level, and from there to the third floor.

9 And he builds the house, and completes it, and covers the house [with] beams and rows of cedars.

So Solomon built the temple and finished it, roofing it with beams and planks of cedar.

10 And he builds the couch against all the house, its breadth [is] five cubits, and it takes hold of the house by cedar-wood.

He built chambers all along the temple, each five cubits high and attached to the temple with beams of cedar.

11 And the word of YHWH is to Solomon, saying,

Then the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying:

12 “This house that you are building—if you walk in My statutes, and do My judgments, indeed, have done all My commands, to walk in them, then I have established My word with you, which I spoke to your father David,

“As for this temple you are building, if you walk in My statutes, carry out My ordinances, and keep all My commandments by walking in them, I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father David.

13 and have dwelt in the midst of the sons of Israel, and do not forsake My people Israel.”

And I will dwell among the Israelites and will not abandon My people Israel.”

14 And Solomon builds the house and completes it;

So Solomon built the temple and finished it.

15 and he builds the walls of the house within with beams of cedar, from the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling; he has overlaid the inside with wood, and covers the floor of the house with ribs of fir.

He lined the interior walls with cedar paneling from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and he covered the floor with cypress boards.

16 And he builds the twenty cubits on the sides of the house with ribs of cedar, from the floor to the walls; and he builds for it within, for the oracle, for the Holy of Holies.

He partitioned off the twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.

17 And [this area of] the house was forty by the cubit; it [is the area of] the temple before My face.

And the main hall in front of this room was forty cubits long.

18 And the cedar for the house within [is] carvings of knobs and openings of flowers; the whole [is] cedar, there is not a stone seen.

The cedar paneling inside the temple was carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; not a stone could be seen.

19 And he has prepared the oracle in the midst of the house within, to put the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH there.

Solomon also prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there.

20 And before the oracle [is] twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and its height [is] twenty cubits; and he overlays it with gold refined, and overlays the altar with cedar.

The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar.

21 And Solomon overlays the house within with gold refined, and causes [it] to pass over in chains of gold before the oracle, and overlays it with gold.

So Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold.

22 And he has overlaid the whole of the house with gold, until the completion of all the house; and the whole of the altar that the oracle has, he has overlaid with gold.

So he overlaid with gold the whole interior of the temple, until everything was completely finished. He also overlaid with gold the entire altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.

23 And he makes two cherubim of the oil-tree within the oracle; their height [is] ten cubits;

In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim, each ten cubits high, out of olive wood.

24 and the first wing of the cherub [is] five cubits, and the second wing of the cherub five cubits—ten cubits from the ends of his wings even to the ends of his wings;

One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing was five cubits long as well. So the full wingspan was ten cubits.

25 and the second cherub [is] ten by the cubit; one measure and one form [are] of the two cherubim,

The second cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim had the same size and shape,

26 the height of the first cherub [is] ten by the cubit, and so [is] the second cherub;

and the height of each cherub was ten cubits.

27 and he sets the cherubim in the midst of the inner house, and they spread out the wings of the cherubim, and a wing of the first comes against the wall, and a wing of the second cherub is coming against the second wall, and their wings [stretched] into the midst of the house, coming wing against wing;

And he placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple. Since their wings were spread out, the wing of the first cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the second cherub touched the other wall, and in the middle of the room their wingtips touched.

28 and he overlays the cherubim with gold,

He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

29 and he has carved all around the walls of the house with engravings of carvings, cherubim, and palm trees, and openings of flowers, inside and outside.

Then he carved the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer sanctuaries, with carved engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.

30 And he has overlaid the floor of the house with gold, inside and outside;

And he overlaid the temple floor with gold in both the inner and outer sanctuaries.

31 as for the opening of the oracle, he made doors of the oil-tree; the lintel [and] doorposts [are] a fifth [of the wall].

For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, Solomon constructed doors of olive wood with five-sided doorposts.

32 And the two doors [are] of the oil-tree, and he has carved on them carvings of cherubim, and palm-trees, and openings of flowers, and overlaid with gold, and he causes the gold to go down on the cherubim and on the palm-trees.

The double doors were made of olive wood, and he carved into them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold.

33 And so he has made for the opening of the temple, doorposts of the oil-tree, from the fourth [of the wall].

In the same way he made four-sided doorposts of olive wood for the sanctuary entrance.

34 And the two doors [are] of fir-tree, the two sides of the first door are revolving, and the two hangings of the second door are revolving.

The two doors were made of cypress wood, and each had two folding panels.

35 And he has carved cherubim, and palms, and openings of flowers, and overlaid the carved work with straightened gold.

He carved into them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold, hammered evenly over the carvings.

36 And he builds the inner court, three rows of hewn work, and a row of beams of cedar.

Solomon built the inner courtyard with three rows of dressed stone and one row of trimmed cedar beams.

37 In the fourth year the house of YHWH has been founded, in the month of Ziv,

The foundation of the house of the LORD was laid in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, in the month of Ziv.

38 and in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul (the eighth month), the house has been finished in all its matters, and in all its ordinances, and he builds it [in] seven years.

In his eleventh year and eighth month, the month of Bul, the temple was finished in every detail and according to every specification. So he built the temple in seven years.