1 Kings 6

1 So Solomon began to build the temple of Yahweh. This happened in the 480th year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month.

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 The temple that King Solomon built for Yahweh was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high.

The Temple King Solomon built for the Lord measured sixty cubits long by twenty cubits wide by thirty cubits high.

3 The portico in front of the temple's main hall was twenty cubits in length, equal to the width of the temple, and ten cubits deep in front of the temple.

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 For the house he made windows with frames that made them more narrow at the outside than on the inside.

He had latticed windows made to be placed high up in the Temple.

5 Against the walls of the main chamber he built rooms around it, around both the outer room and the inner room. He built rooms all around the sides.

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 story was five cubits wide, 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 so that the beams would not be inserted in 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 The house was built of stones prepared at the quarry. No hammer, ax, or any iron tool was heard in the house while it was 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 On the south side of the temple there was an entrance at the ground level, then one went up by stairs to the middle level, and from the middle to the third level.

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

So Solomon finished building the Temple, covering it with a roof made of cedar rafters and planks.

10 He built the side rooms against the inner chambers of the temple, each side five cubits high; they were joined to the house with timbers of cedar.

He built the external structure along the whole of the Temple. It was five cubits high, joined to the Temple with cedar joists.

11 The word of Yahweh came to Solomon, saying,

The Lord sent this message to Solomon, telling him,

12 “Concerning this temple which you are building, if you walk in my statutes and do justice, keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will confirm my promise with you that I had made to David your father.

“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 I will live among the people of Israel and will not forsake them.”

I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon Israel, my people.”

14 So Solomon built the house and finished it.

Solomon finished building the Temple.

15 Then he built the interior walls of the house with boards of cedar. From the floor of the house to the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood, and he covered the floor of the house with cypress boards.

He lined the walls with cedar panels from floor to ceiling and he covered the floor of the Temple with cypress boards.

16 He built twenty cubits onto the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the ceiling. He built this room to be the inner room, the most holy place.

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 The main hall, that is, the holy place that was in front of the most holy place, was forty cubits long.

The main Temple in front of this room measured forty cubits long.

18 There was cedar inside the house, carved in the shape of gourds and open flowers. All was cedar inside. No stonework was visible on the inside.

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 Solomon prepared the inner room inside the house in order to place the ark of the covenant of Yahweh there.

He also had the inner sanctuary made within the Temple where the Ark of the Lord's Agreement would be placed.

20 The inner room was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height. Solomon overlaid the walls with pure gold and covered the altar with cedar wood.

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 Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he placed chains of gold across the front of the inner room, and overlaid the front 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 He overlaid the entire interior with gold until all the temple was finished. He also overlaid with gold the whole altar that belonged to the inner room.

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 Solomon made two cherubim of olivewood, each ten cubits high, for the inner room.

He had two cherubim made out of olive wood for the inner sanctuary, each one ten cubits tall.

24 One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long and its other wing was also five cubits long. So from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other there was a distance of ten cubits.

Both wings of the cherub measured five cubits, making a total wingspan of ten cubits.

25 The other cherub also had a wingspan ten cubits. Both the cherubim were of the same dimensions and shape.

The other cherub was also ten cubits tall, since they were identical both in size and shape.

26 The height of one cherub was ten cubits and the other cherub was the same.

Both cherubs were ten cubits tall.

27 Solomon placed the cherubim in the innermost room. The wings of the cherubim were stretched out so that the wing of one touched one wall and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall. Their wings touched one another in the middle of the most holy place.

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 Solomon overlaid the cherubim with gold.

The cherubim were also covered with a gold coating.

29 He carved all the walls of the house around about with figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, in the outer and inner rooms.

He had all the Temple walls, both the inner and outer sanctuaries, carved with designs of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.

30 Solomon overlaid the floor of the house with gold, in both the outer and inner rooms.

He also had the floor of the Temple floor covered with gold, both the inner and outer sanctuaries.

31 Solomon made doors of olivewood for the entrance to the inner room. The lintel and doorposts had five indented sections.

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 So he made two doors of olivewood, and he made on them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. He overlaid them with gold and he spread the gold on the cherubim and 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 In this way, Solomon also made for the temple entrance doorposts of olive wood having four indented sections

Similarly he had four-sided doorposts of olive wood made for the entrance to the sanctuary.

34 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.

Its doors were made of cypress wood, each with two hinged panels.

35 He carved on them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and he evenly overlaid gold on the carved work.

He had them carved with designs of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and covered them with gold beaten evenly over the carvings.

36 He built the inner courtyard with three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams.

Solomon had the inner courtyard built with three courses of dressed stone and one of cedar beams.

37 The foundation of the house of Yahweh was laid in the fourth year, 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 In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts and conforming to all its specifications. Solomon took seven years to build the temple.

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.