2 Chronicles 3
1 Then Solomon’s workers started to build the temple for Yahweh in Jerusalem. They built it on Moriah Hill, where [an angel from] Yahweh had appeared to his father David. They built it on the ground that Araunah, a descendant of the Jebus people-group, had sold to David and where David said that it should be built.
And Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem in the mount of Amoria, where the Lord appeared to his father David, in the place which David had prepared in the threshing floor of Orna the Jebusite.
2 They began the work in April, when Solomon had been ruling almost four years.
And he began to build in the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.
3 The foundation of the temple was about 90 feet long and 30 feet wide.
And thus Solomon began to build the house of God: the length in cubits—even the first measurement from end to end, was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.
4 The entrance room across the front of the temple was 30 feet wide and 30 feet high.
And the portico in front of the house, its length in front of the breadth of the house [was] twenty cubits, and its height a hundred and twenty cubits: and he gilded it within with pure gold.
5 Solomon’s workers used [panels/boards of] pine [wood] to line the main hall of the temple. Then they covered those panels with [very thin sheets of] pure gold. Then they decorated the walls with [carved images of] palm trees and designs that resembled chains.
And he lined the great house with cedar wood, and gilded it with pure gold, and carved upon it palm-trees and chains.
6 They decorated the temple with very valuable stones. The gold that they used was from [the land of] Parvaim.
And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty; and he gilded it with gold of the gold from Pharuim.
7 They covered the ceiling beams, the door frames, the walls and the doors of the temple with [very thin sheets of] gold. They also carved [statues of] winged creatures on the walls.
And he gilded the house, and its [inner] walls, and the door-posts, and the roofs, and the doors with gold; and he carved cherubs on the walls.
8 They also built the Very Holy Place [inside the temple]. It was 30 feet wide and 30 feet long. They covered its walls with sheets of pure gold that altogether weighed 23 tons.
And he built the holy of holies, its length was according to the front [of the other house], the breadth of the house [was] twenty cubits, and the length twenty cubits: and he gilded [it] with pure gold for cherubs, to [the amount of] six hundred talents.
9 They used 1-1/4 pounds of gold to [cover the heads of] the nails. They also covered the walls of the upper rooms with sheets of gold.
And the weight of the nails, [even] the weight of each was fifty shekels of gold: and he gilded the upper chamber with gold.
10 Solomon’s workers made two statues of creatures with wings to put inside the Very Holy Place. They covered those statues with [very thin sheets of] gold.
And he made two cherubs in the most holy house, wood-work, and he gilded them with gold.
11 [Each statue had two long wings]. One wing of each statue touched one of the walls of the Temple. The other wing of each statue touched a wing of the other statue. It was 7-1/2 feet from the outer tip of one wing to the outer tip of the other wing. The inner wings of the two statues touched each other.
And the wings of the cherubs were twenty cubits in length: and one wing of five cubits touched the wall of the house: and the other wing of five cubits touched the wing of the other cherub.
13 It was 30 feet from the outer wing of the one statue to the outer wing of the other statue. The statues faced the doorway to the main room.
And the wings of these cherubs expanded were of the length of twenty cubits: and they stood upon their feet, and their faces were toward the house.
14 Solomon’s workers made a curtain [to separate the main room from the Very Holy Place]. It was made of blue, purple, and red thread and fine linen. There were figures of winged creatures that were embroidered on the curtain.
And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and wove cherubs in it.
15 They made two [bronze] pillars and put them at the entrance of the temple. They were each 27 feet high. Each had a top over it that was 7-1/2 feet high.
Also he made in front of the house two pillars, in height thirty-five cubits, and their chapters of five cubits.
16 The workers made [carvings that resembled] chains and put them on top of the pillars. They made [carvings that resembled] pomegranates and attached them to the chains.
And he made chains, [as] in the oracle, and put [them] on the heads of the pillars; and he made a hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains.
17 They set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the south side [of the entrance] and the other on the north side. The one on the south side was named Jakin and the one on the north side was named Boaz.
And he set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left: and he called the name of the one on the right hand 'Stability,' and the name of the one on the left 'Strength.'
