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.
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 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 Temple King Solomon built for the Lord measured sixty cubits long by twenty cubits wide by 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 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 he makes frames of narrowing windows for the house.
He had latticed windows made to be placed high up 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.
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 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 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, 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.
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 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 ground floor was on the south side of the Temple. Stairs led to the first floor, and then on to the second floor.
9 And he builds the house, and completes it, and covers the house [with] beams and rows of cedars.
So Solomon finished building the Temple, covering it with a roof made of cedar rafters and planks.
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 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 YHWH is to Solomon, saying,
The Lord sent this message to Solomon, telling him,
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 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 have dwelt in the midst of the sons of Israel, and do not forsake My people Israel.”
I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon Israel, my people.”
14 And Solomon builds the house and completes it;
Solomon finished building the Temple.
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 walls with cedar panels from floor to ceiling and he covered the floor of the Temple 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 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 [this area of] the house was forty by the cubit; it [is the area of] the temple before My face.
The main Temple in front of this room measured 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 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 he has prepared the oracle in the midst of the house within, to put the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH there.
He also had the inner sanctuary made within the Temple where the Ark of the Lord's Agreement would be placed.
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 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 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 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 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.
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 he makes two cherubim of the oil-tree within the oracle; their height [is] ten cubits;
He had two cherubim made out of olive wood for the inner sanctuary, each one ten cubits tall.
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;
Both wings of the cherub measured five cubits, making a total wingspan of ten cubits.
25 and the second cherub [is] ten by the cubit; one measure and one form [are] of the two cherubim,
The other cherub was also ten cubits tall, since they were identical both in size and shape.
26 the height of the first cherub [is] ten by the cubit, and so [is] the second cherub;
Both cherubs were ten cubits tall.
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;
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 overlays the cherubim with gold,
The cherubim were also covered with a gold coating.
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.
He had all the Temple walls, both the inner and outer sanctuaries, carved with designs of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.
30 And he has overlaid the floor of the house with gold, inside and outside;
He also had the floor of the Temple floor covered with gold, 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].
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 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.
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 And so he has made for the opening of the temple, doorposts of the oil-tree, from the fourth [of the wall].
Similarly he had four-sided doorposts of olive wood made for the entrance to the sanctuary.
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.
Its doors were made of cypress wood, each with two hinged panels.
35 And he has carved cherubim, and palms, and openings of flowers, and overlaid the carved work with straightened gold.
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 builds the inner court, three rows of hewn work, and a row of beams of cedar.
Solomon had the inner courtyard built with three courses of dressed stone and one of cedar beams.
37 In the fourth year the house of YHWH has been founded, in the month of Ziv,
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 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.
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.
