1 Kings 6

1 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.

And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which [is] the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.

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

And the house which the king built to the Lord [was] forty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and its height five and twenty cubits.

3 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.

And the porch in front of the temple—twenty cubits [was] its length according to the breadth of the house in front of the house: and he built the house, and finished it.

4 He made windows of fixed lattice work for the house.

And he made to the house secret windows inclining inward.

5 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.

And against the wall of the house he set chambers round about the temple and the ark.

6 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.

The under side [was] five cubits broad, and the middle [part] six, and the third [was] seven cubits broad; for he formed an interval to the house round about without the house, that they might not touch the walls of the house.

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

And the house was built in the construction of it with rough hewn stones: and there was not heard in the house in the building of it hammer or axe, or any iron tool.

8 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.

And the porch of the under side [was] below the right wing of the house, and [there was] a winding ascent into the middle [chamber], and from the middle to the third story.

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

So he built the house and finished it; and he made the ceiling of the house with cedars.

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

And he made the partitions through all the house, each five cubits high, and enclosed each partition with cedar boards.

11 The LORD’s word came to Solomon, saying,

12 “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 I will dwell amongst the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.”

14 So Solomon built the house and finished it.

15 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.

And he framed the walls of the house within with cedar boards, from the floor of the house and on to the inner walls and to the beams: he lined the parts enclosed with boards within, and compassed the inward parts of the house with planks of fir.

16 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.

And he built the twenty cubits from the top of the wall, one side from the floor to the beams, and he made it from the oracle to the most holy place.

17 In front of the temple sanctuary was forty cubits long.

And the temple was forty cubits [in extent],

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

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

in front of the oracle in the midst of the house within, [in order] to put there the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

20 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.

The length [was] twenty cubits, and the breadth [was] twenty cubits, and the height of it was twenty cubits. And he covered it with perfect gold, and he made an altar in front of the oracle, and covered it with gold.

21 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.

And he covered the whole house with gold, till he had finished [gilding] the whole house.

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

And he made in the oracle two cherubs of ten cubits measured size.

24 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.

And the wing of one cherub was five cubits, and his other wing was five cubits; ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other wing.

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

Thus it was with the other cherub, both were alike finished with one measure.

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

And the height of the one cherub [was] ten cubits, and so [was it] with the second cherub.

27 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.

And both the cherubs [were] in the midst of the innermost part of the house; and they spread out their wings, and one wing touched the wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings in the midst of the house touched each other.

28 He overlaid the cherubim with gold.

And he covered the cherubs with gold.

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

He graved all the walls of the house round about with the graving of cherubs, and [he sculptured] palm trees within and without [the house].

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

And he covered the floor of the house within and without with gold.

31 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.

And for the door-way of the oracle he made doors of juniper wood, [there were] porches in a four-fold way.

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

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.

In both the doors [were] planks of fir; the one door had two leaves and their hinges, and the other door had two leaves and turned [on hinges],

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

being carved with cherubs, and [there were] palm-trees and open flower-leaves, and it [was] overlaid with gold gilt upon the engraving.

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

And he built the inner court, three rows of hewn stones, and a row of wrought cedar round about, and he made the curtain of the court of the porch of the house that was in front of the temple.

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

38 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.