1 Kings 6

1 And so it came to pass, in the four hundred and eightieth year, by the coming forth of the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year (in the month of Zif, the same, being the second month) of the reign of Solomon over Israel, that he began to build the house unto Yahweh.

Then it happened that, in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel departed from the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of the reign of Solomon over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, the house of the Lord began to be built.

2 Now, the house which King Solomon built unto Yahweh, was sixty cubits in length, and twenty in breadth, —and thirty cubits in height.

Now the house, which king Solomon was building to the Lord, was sixty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in width, and thirty cubits in height.

3 And, the porch in front of the temple of the house, was twenty cubits in length, according to the breadth of the house, —ten cubits in breadth, in front of the house.

And a portico was before the temple, of twenty cubits in length, in accord with the measure of the width of the temple. And it had ten cubits of width before the face of the temple.

4 And he made to the house windows, with closed bars.

And he made oblique windows in the temple.

5 And he built—by the wall of the house—a gallery, round about, against the walls of the house, round about, both to the temple, and to the shrine, —and he made side chambers round about.

And upon the wall of the temple, he built panels on all sides, in the walls of the house around the temple and the oracle. And he made side chambers all around.

6 The, lowest gallery, was five cubits broad, and, the middle, six cubits broad, and, the third, seven cubits broad, —for he put, ledges, against the house round about, on the outer side, so as not to make fastenings in the walls of the house.

The flooring on the bottom level held five cubits in width, and the middle floor was six cubits in width, and the third floor held seven cubits in width. Then he positioned beams on the house all around the outside, in such a way that they would not be fastened to the walls of the temple.

7 Now, the house, when it was in building, with whole quarry-stones, was built, —neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tools of iron, was heard in the house, when it was in building.

Now the house, while it was being built, was made from cut and finished stones. And so, neither mallet, nor chisel, nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built.

8 The entrance of the lowest story, was on the right side of the house, —and, by winding stairs, went they up unto the middle [story], and, out of the middle, into, the third.

The door at the side of the middle section was to the right of the house. And they would ascend along winding stairs to the middle level, and from the middle level to the third level.

9 So he built the house, and finished it, —and ceiled the house with planks and beams of cedar;

And he built the house, and finished it. And he overlaid the house with boards of cedar.

10 and built the gallery against all the house, five cubits in height, —and so fastened the house, with timber of cedar.

And he built a paneling over the entire house, five cubits in height, and he covered the house with cedar wood.

11 Then came the word of Yahweh unto Solomon, saying:

And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying:

12 Concerning this house, which thou art building, If thou wilt walk in my statutes, and, my regulations, wilt practise, and so observe all my commandments, by walking in them, Then will I establish my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father;

“Concerning this house, which you are building: if you will walk in my precepts, and carry out my judgments, and keep all my commandments, advancing by them, I will confirm my word to you, which I spoke to your father David.

13 and will make my habitation in the midst of the sons of Israel, —and will not forsake my people Israel.

And I will dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel, and I will not forsake my people Israel.”

14 Thus Solomon built the house, and finished it;

And so, Solomon built the house, and finished it.

15 and he built the walls of the house on the inside, with boards of cedar, from the floor of the house, unto the cross-beams of the ceiling, he overlaid it with wood, on the inside, —and he overlaid the floor of the house with boards of fir.

And he built the walls of the house, on the interior, with panels of cedar, from the floor of the house, to the top of the walls, and even to the ceiling. He covered it with cedar wood on the interior. And he overlaid the floor of the house with panels of spruce.

16 And he built twenty cubits, at the hinder part of the house, with boards of cedar, from the floor as far as the cross-beams, —and he built it within, for a shrine, even for the holy of holies;

And he built panels of cedar, of twenty cubits, at the back part of the temple, from the floor even to the top. And he made the inner house of the oracle as the Holy of Holies.

17 but, forty cubits, was the house itself, —the same, was the temple, before the oracle.

And the temple itself, before the doors of the oracle, was forty cubits.

18 And, the cedar for the house within, was carved with colocynths, and with festoons of flowers, —the whole, was cedar, there was no stone to be seen.

And the entire house was clothed with cedar on the interior, having its turnings and junctures artfully wrought, with carvings projecting outward. Everything was clothed with panels of cedar. And no stone at all was able to be seen in the wall.

19 And, the shrine in the midst of the house within, made he ready, —for placing there, the ark of the covenant of Yahweh.

Now he made the oracle in the middle of the house, in the inner part, so that he might station the ark of the covenant of the Lord there.

20 And, the interior of the shrine, was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in height, and he overlaid it, with pure gold, —and overlaid the altar with cedar.

And the oracle held twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height. And he covered and clothed it with the purest gold. Then, too, he clothed the altar in cedar.

21 Thus then did Solomon overlay the house within, with pure gold, —and he drew chains of gold across the front of the shrine, and overlaid it with gold;

Also, the house before the oracle, he covered with the purest gold, and he fastened the plates with nails of gold.

22 yea, all the house, overlaid he with gold, until he had made all the house into one whole, —even all the altar that was by the shrine, overlaid he with gold.

And there was nothing in the temple that was not covered with gold. Moreover, the entire altar of the oracle he overlaid with gold.

23 And he made, within the shrine, two cherubim of wild olive wood, —ten cubits in height;

And he made in the oracle two cherubim from wood of the olive tree, of ten cubits in height.

24 and, five cubits, was the one wing of the cherub, and, five cubits, the second wing of the cherub, —ten cubits, from the one end of his wings unto the other end of his wings.

One wing of a cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of a cherub was five cubits, that is, having ten cubits from the summit of one wing even to the summit of the other wing.

25 Ten cubits, also was the second cherub, —of one size and one shape, were the two cherubim.

Likewise, the second cherub was ten cubits. And the measure was equal and the work was one, in the two cherubim,

26 The height of the one cherub, was ten cubits, —and, so, of the second cherub.

that is, one cherub had a height of ten cubits, and similarly the second cherub.

27 And he placed the cherubim in the midst of the inner house, and the cherubim stretched forth their wings, —so that the wing of the one touched the [one] wall, and the wing of the other cherub, was touching the other wall, —and, their wings in the midst of the house, were touching, wing to wing.

And he stationed the cherubim in the middle of the inner temple. And the cherubim extended their wings, and the wing of the one was touching the wall, and the wing of the second cherub was touching the other wall. But the other wings, in the middle of the temple, were touching each another.

28 And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

29 And, all the walls of the house round about, carved he with figures of cherubim, and palm-trees, and festoons of flowers, —within and without.

And all the walls of the temple all around he engraved with diverse carvings and turnings. And he made in them cherubim, and palm trees, and various images, as if these were projecting out, and going forth from, the wall.

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

Then, too, the floor of the house he overlaid with gold within and without.

31 And, the entrance of the shrine, made he with doors, of wild olive-wood, the pillars and posts being a fifth.

And at the entrance of the oracle, he made little doors, from wood of the olive tree, with posts of five corners.

32 The two doors, also were of olive-wood, and he carved upon them carvings of cherubim, and palm-trees, and festoons of flowers, and overlaid them with gold, —yea he spread out, over the cherubim and over the palm-trees, the gold.

And there were two doors, from wood of the olive tree. And he carved upon them pictures of cherubim, and images of palm trees, and very prominent figures. And he overlaid these with gold. And he covered the cherubim, as well as the palm trees and the other things, with gold.

33 So, also, made he for the entrance of the temple, with posts of wild olive-wood, —a fourth part.

And he made, at the entrance of the temple, posts from wood of the olive tree, with four corners,

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

and two doors, from wood of the spruce tree, on the other side. And each door was double, and so it opened by folding upon itself.

35 And he carved cherubim, and palm-trees, and festoons of flowers, and overlaid them with gold, smoothed out on the carved work.

And he carved cherubim, and palm trees, and very prominent engravings. And he covered everything with gold plates, worked to be perfectly square.

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

And he built the inner atrium with three rows of polished stones, and one row of cedar wood.

37 In the fourth year, was laid the foundation of the house of Yahweh, —in the month Zif;

In the fourth year, the house of the Lord was founded, in the month of Ziv.

38 and, in the eleventh year, in the month Bul—the same, is the eighth month, was the house finished, as to all the particulars thereof, and as to all the appointments thereof, —so then he built it in seven years.

And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was perfected in all its works and in all its equipment. And he built it for seven years.