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 children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year that Solomon was king of Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, the building of the Lord's house was started.

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 which Solomon made 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 covered way before the Temple of the house was twenty cubits long, as wide as the house, and ten cubits wide in front of the house.

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

And for the house he made windows, with network across.

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.

And against the walls all round, and against the walls of the Temple and of the inmost room, he put up wings, with side rooms all round:

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 lowest line of them being five cubits wide, the middle six cubits wide and the third seven cubits; for there was a space all round the outside walls of the house so that the boards supporting the rooms did not have to be fixed in the walls of the house.

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.

(And the stones used in the building of the house were squared at the place where they were cut out; there was no sound of hammer or axe or any iron instrument while they were building the house.)

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 door to the lowest side rooms was in the right side of the house; and they went up by twisting steps into the middle rooms, and from the middle into the third.

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

So he put up the house and made it complete, roofing it with boards of cedar-wood.

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.

And he put up the line of side rooms against the walls of the house, fifteen cubits high, resting against the house on boards of cedar-wood.

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

(And 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,

About this house which you are building: if you will keep my laws and give effect to my decisions and be guided by my rules, I will give effect to my word which I gave to David your father.

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

And I will be ever among the children of Israel, and will not go away from my people.

14 And Solomon builds the house and completes it;

So Solomon made the building of the house complete.)

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.

The walls of the house were covered inside with cedar-wood boards; from the floor to the roof of the house they were covered inside with wood; and the floor was covered with boards of cypress-wood.

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.

And at the back of the house a further space of twenty cubits was shut in with boards of cedar-wood, for the inmost room.

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

And the house, that is, the Temple, in front of the holy place 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.

(All the inside of the house was cedar-wood, ornamented with designs of buds and flowers; no stonework was to be seen inside.)

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

And he made ready an inmost room in the middle of the house, in which to put the ark of the agreement of the Lord.

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.

And the inmost room was twenty cubits square and twenty cubits high, plated over with clear gold, and he made an altar of cedar-wood, plating it with gold.

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.

Solomon had all the inside of the house covered with gold, and he put chains of gold across in front of the inmost room, which itself was covered 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.

Plates of gold were put all through the house till it was covered completely (and the altar in the inmost room was all covered with gold).

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

In the inmost room he made two winged beings of olive-wood, ten cubits high;

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;

With outstretched wings five cubits wide; the distance from the edge of one wing to the edge of the other was ten cubits.

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

The two winged ones were ten cubits high, of the same size and form.

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

The two of them were ten cubits high.

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;

These were placed inside the inner house, their outstretched wings touching the walls of the house, one touching one wall and one the other, while their other wings were touching in the middle.

28 and he overlays the cherubim with gold,

These winged ones were plated over 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.

And all the walls of the house inside and out were ornamented with forms of winged ones and palm-trees and open flowers.

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

And the floor of the house was covered with gold, inside and out.

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 way into the inmost room he made doors of olive-wood, the arch and the door supports forming a five-sided opening.

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.

On the olive-wood doors were cut designs of winged ones and palm-trees and open flowers, all of them, with the doors, plated with gold.

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

Then he made pillars of olive-wood for the way into the Temple; the pillars were square:

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.

And two folding doors of cypress-wood, with two leaves.

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

These were ornamented with designs of winged ones and palm-trees and open flowers, plated over with gold.

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

And the inner space was walled with three lines of squared stones and a line of cedar-wood boards.

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

In the fourth year the base of the house was put in its place, in the month 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.

And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the building of the house was complete in every detail, as it had been designed. So he was seven years building it.