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.

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

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

The house which King Solomon built for the LORD had a length of sixty cubits, and its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits.

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.

The porch in front of the temple of the house had a length of twenty cubits, which was along the width of the house. Ten cubits was its width in front of the house.

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

He made windows of fixed lattice work for the house.

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.

Against the wall of the house, he built floors all around, against the walls of the house all around, both of the temple and of the inner sanctuary; and he made side rooms 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 lowest floor was five cubits wide, and the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for on the outside he made offsets in the wall of the house all around, that the beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house.

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.

The house, when it was under construction, was built of stone prepared at the quarry; and no hammer or ax or any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was under construction.

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 for the middle side rooms was in the right side of the house. They went up by winding stairs into the middle floor, and out of the middle into the third.

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

So he built the house and finished it; and he covered the house with beams and planks of cedar.

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

He built the floors all along the house, each five cubits high; and they rested on the house with timbers of cedar.

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

The LORD’s word 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 statutes, and execute my ordinances, and keep all my commandments to walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father.

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

I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.”

14 Thus Solomon built the house, and finished it;

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.

He built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood. He covered the floor of the house with cypress boards.

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;

He built twenty cubits of the back part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the ceiling. He built this within, for an inner sanctuary, even for the most holy place.

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

In front of the temple sanctuary was forty cubits long.

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.

There was cedar on the house within, carved with buds and open flowers. All was cedar. No stone was visible.

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

He prepared an inner sanctuary in the middle of the house within, to set the ark of the LORD’s covenant 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.

Within the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in its height. He overlaid it with pure gold. He covered the altar with 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;

So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold. He drew chains of gold across before the inner sanctuary, and he overlaid it with 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.

He overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. He also overlaid the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary with gold.

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

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

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.

Five cubits was the length of one wing of the cherub, and five cubits was the length of the other wing of the cherub. From the tip of one wing to the tip of the other was ten cubits.

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

The other cherub was ten cubits. Both the cherubim were of one measure and one form.

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

One cherub was ten cubits high, and so was the other 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.

He set the cherubim within the inner house. The wings of the cherubim were stretched out, 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 middle of the house.

28 And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

He 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.

He carved all the walls of the house around with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, inside and outside.

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

He overlaid the floor of the house with gold, inside and outside.

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

For the entrance of the inner sanctuary, he made doors of olive wood. The lintel and door posts were a fifth part of the wall.

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.

So he made two doors of olive wood; and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold. He spread the gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees.

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

He also made the entrance of the temple door posts of olive wood, out of a fourth part of the wall,

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 of cypress wood. The two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.

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

He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold fitted on the engraved work.

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

He built the inner court with three courses of cut stone and a course of cedar beams.

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

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

In the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts and according to all its specifications. So he spent seven years building it.