< 1 Kings 6 >
1 480 years after the Israeli people left Egypt, during the fourth year that Solomon ruled Israel, early in May, Solomon’s workers began to build the temple.
And in the foure hundreth and foure score yeere (after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt) and in the fourth yere of the reigne of Salomon ouer Israel, in the moneth Zif, (which is the second moneth) he built the house of the Lord.
2 Inside, [the main part of] the temple was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high.
And the house which King Salomon built for the Lord, was three score cubites long, and twentie broade, and thirtie cubites hie.
3 The entrance room was 15 feet long and 30 feet wide, just as wide as the main part of the temple.
And the porch before the Temple of the house was twentie cubites long according to the breadth of the house, and ten cubites broade before the house.
4 There were windows in [the walls of] the temple. The windows were narrower on the outside than on the inside.
And in the house he made windowes, broad without, and narrowe within.
5 Against the two sides and against the back of the temple walls, they built a structure/building that had rooms in it. [This structure had three levels/stories and each was 7-1/2 feet high].
And by the wall of the house hee made galleries round about, euen by the walles of the house round about the Temple and the oracle, and made chambers round about.
6 [Each room in] the lowest level/story was 7-1/2 feet wide. [Each room in] the middle level/story was nine feet wide. [The rooms in] the top level/story were 10-1/2 feet wide. The wall of the temple at the top level/story was thinner than the wall at the middle level/story, and the wall of the middle level/story was thinner than the wall at the bottom level/story. The result was that the rooms could be supported by the wall underneath them, and did not require wooden beams to support them.
The nethermost gallerie was fiue cubites broade, and the middlemost sixe cubites broade, and the third seuen cubites broade: for he made restes round about without the house, that the beames should not be fastened in the walles of the house.
7 The huge stones for [the foundation of] the temple were cut and shaped at the quarry [to become very smooth]. The result was that while the workers were building the temple there was no noise, because they did not use hammers or chisels or any other iron tools there.
And when the house was built, it was built of stone perfite, before it was brought, so that there was neither hammer, nor axe, nor any toole of yron heard in the house, while it was in building.
8 The entrance to the bottom level/story [of that attached structure] was on the south side of the temple. There were stairs from the bottom level/story to the middle and top level/story.
The doore of the middle chamber was in the right side of the house, and men went vp with winding stayres into the middlemost, and out of the middlemost into the third.
9 So Solomon’s [workers] finished building the [framework of the] temple. They made the ceiling from cedar beams and boards.
So he built the house and finished it, and sieled the house being vawted with sieling of cedar trees.
10 They built the structure that had three levels/stories, that was against the walls of the temple. Each level/story was 7-1/2 feet high, and was joined to the temple with cedar beams.
And he built the galleries vpon al the wall of the house of fiue cubites height, and they were ioyned to the house with beames of cedar.
11 Then Yahweh said this to Solomon:
And the worde of the Lord came to Salomon, saying,
12 “[I want to tell you] about this temple that you are building. If you continually obey all my statutes and laws and commands, I will do for you what I promised to your father David.
Cocerning this house which thou buildest, if thou wilt walke in mine ordinances, and execute my iudgements, and keepe al my commadements, to walke in them, then will I performe vnto thee my promise, which I promised to Dauid thy father.
13 I will live among the Israeli people, [in this temple, ] and I will never abandon them.”
And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and wil not forsake my people Israel.
14 Solomon’s [workers] finished building the temple.
So Salomon built the house and finished it,
15 On the inside, they lined/covered the walls with cedar boards. They lined/covered them from the floor to the ceiling. They made the floor from cypress boards.
And built the walles of the house within, with boards of cedar tree from the pauement of the house vnto the walles of the sieling, and within he couered them with wood, and couered the floore of the house with planks of firre.
16 Inside the back part of the temple they built an inner room, called the Very Holy Place. It was 30 feet long. All the walls of this room were lined with cedar boards.
And he built twentie cubites in the sides of the house with boards of cedar, from the floore to the walles, and he prepared a place within it for the oracle, euen the most holy place.
17 In front of the Very Holy Place there was a room that was 60 feet long.
But the house, that is, the Temple before it, was fourtie cubites long.
18 The cedar [boards on the walls] inside the temple were decorated with carvings of gourds and flowers. [The walls were] completely covered with cedar boards, with the result that the stones [of the walls behind them] could not be seen.
And the cedar of the house within was carued with knops, and grauen with floures: all was cedar, so that no stone was seene.
19 At the back of the temple they made the Very Holy Place, where the Sacred Chest would be put.
Also he prepared the place of the oracle in the mids of the house within, to set the Arke of the couenant of the Lord there.
20 That room was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. They covered the walls with [very thin sheets of] pure gold. [For burning incense] they also made an altar of cedar [boards].
And the place of the oracle within was twentie cubites long, and twentie cubites broad, and twentie cubites hie, and hee couered it with pure golde, and couered the altar with cedar.
21 Solomon told them to cover the other walls inside the temple with [very thin sheets of] pure gold and to fasten gold chains across the entrance to the Very Holy Place.
So Salomon couered the house within with pure golde: and he shut the place of the oracle with chaines of gold, and couered it with golde.
22 They covered all the walls of the temple and the altar that was outside the Very Holy Place with [very thin sheets of] gold.
And he ouerlayde all the house with gold, vntill all the house was made perfite. also he couered the whole altar, that was before the oracle, with golde.
23 Inside the Very Holy Place, they made from olive tree wood [large statues of] two creatures with wings. Each one was 15 feet tall.
And within the oracle he made two Cherubims of oliue tree, ten cubites hie.
24 They each were the same size and had the same shape. They each had two wings [which were spread out]. Each wing was 7-1/2 feet long, with the result that the distance between the outer ends of the two wings was 15 feet.
The wing also of the one Cherub was fiue cubites, and the wing of the other Cherub was fiue cubites: from the vttermost part of one of his wings vnto the vttermost part of the other of his wings, were ten cubites.
Also the other Cherub was of ten cubites: both the Cherubims were of one measure and one sise.
For the height of the one Cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other Cherub.
27 They put those statues next to each other in the Very Holy Place so that the wing of the one touched the one wing of the other in the center of the room, and the outer wings touched the walls.
And he put the Cherubims within the inner house, and the Cherubims stretched out their wings, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other Cherub touched the other wall: and their other wings touched one another in the middes of the house.
28 They covered the statues with [very thin sheets of] gold.
And he ouerlaied the Cherubims with golde.
29 [Solomon told them to] decorate the walls of the main room and the Very Holy Place by carving representations of winged creatures and palm trees and flowers.
And he carued all the walles of the house round about with grauen figures of Cherubims and of Palmetrees, and grauen flowres within and without.
30 They also covered the floor of both rooms with [very thin sheets of] gold.
And the floore of the house hee couered with golde within and without.
31 They made a set of doors from olive tree wood, and placed them at the entrance to the Very Holy Place. The doorposts joined at the top to form a pointed arch.
And in the entring of the oracle he made two doores of oliue tree: and the vpper post and side postes were fiue square.
32 The doors were decorated by carving on them representations of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers. All of these things were covered with [very thin sheets of] gold.
The two doores also were of oliue tree, and he graued them with grauing of Cherubims and palme trees, and grauen floures, and couered them with golde, and layed thin golde vpon the Cherubims and vpon the palme trees.
33 They made a rectangular door frame from olive tree wood, and put it [between the entrance room and] the main room.
And so made he for the doore of the Temple, postes of oliue tree foure square.
34 They made two folding doors from cypress wood [and fastened them to the door frame].
But the two doores were of firre tree, the two sides of the one doore were round, and the two sides of the other doore were round.
35 The doors were also decorated with wood carvings of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers, and they were also covered evenly with [very thin sheets of] gold.
And he graued Cherubims, and palme trees, and carued floures and couered the carued worke with golde, finely wrought.
36 They built a courtyard in front of the temple. The walls around the courtyard were made of cedar and stone; to make the walls, between each layer of cedar beams they put down two layers of stone.
And hee built the court within with three rowes of hewed stone, and one rowe of beames of cedar.
37 They laid the foundation of the temple of Yahweh in early May, in the fourth year [that Solomon ruled].
In the fourth yeere was the foundation of the house of the Lord layed in the moneth of Zif:
38 In the eleventh year [that he ruled], in the middle of October, they finished building the temple and all of its parts, doing exactly what Solomon told them to do. It required seven years to build it.
And in the eleuenth yeere in the moneth of Bul, (which is the eight moneth) hee finished the house with all the furniture thereof, and in euery point: so was he seuen yeere in building it.