Kings III 6
1 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.
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 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.
The Temple King Solomon built for the Lord measured sixty cubits long by twenty cubits wide by thirty cubits high.
3 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.
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 And he made to the house secret windows inclining inward.
He had latticed windows made to be placed high up in the Temple.
5 And against the wall of the house he set chambers round about the temple and the ark.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 he built the house and finished it; and he made the ceiling of the house with cedars.
So Solomon finished building the Temple, covering it with a roof made of cedar rafters and planks.
10 And he made the partitions through all the house, each five cubits high, and enclosed each partition with cedar boards.
He built the external structure along the whole of the Temple. It was five cubits high, joined to the Temple with cedar joists.
The Lord sent this message to Solomon, telling him,
“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.
I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon Israel, my people.”
Solomon finished building the Temple.
15 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.
He lined the walls with cedar panels from floor to ceiling and he covered the floor of the Temple with cypress boards.
16 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.
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 And the temple was forty cubits [in extent],
The main Temple in front of this room measured forty cubits long.
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 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.
He also had the inner sanctuary made within the Temple where the Ark of the Lord's Agreement would be placed.
20 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.
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 And he covered the whole house with gold, till he had finished [gilding] the whole house.
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.
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 And he made in the oracle two cherubs of ten cubits measured size.
He had two cherubim made out of olive wood for the inner sanctuary, each one ten cubits tall.
24 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.
Both wings of the cherub measured five cubits, making a total wingspan of ten cubits.
25 Thus it was with the other cherub, both were alike finished with one measure.
The other cherub was also ten cubits tall, since they were identical both in size and shape.
26 And the height of the one cherub [was] ten cubits, and so [was it] with the second cherub.
Both cherubs were ten cubits tall.
27 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.
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 And he covered the cherubs with gold.
The cherubim were also covered with a gold coating.
29 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].
He had all the Temple walls, both the inner and outer sanctuaries, carved with designs of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.
30 And he covered the floor of the house within and without with gold.
He also had the floor of the Temple floor covered with gold, both the inner and outer sanctuaries.
31 And for the door-way of the oracle he made doors of juniper wood, [there were] porches in a four-fold way.
He had doors of olive wood made for the entrance to the inner sanctuary, together with a lintel and doorposts that had five sides.
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.
Similarly he had four-sided doorposts of olive wood made for the entrance to the sanctuary.
34 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],
Its doors were made of cypress wood, each with two hinged panels.
35 being carved with cherubs, and [there were] palm-trees and open flower-leaves, and it [was] overlaid with gold gilt upon the engraving.
He had them carved with designs of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and covered them with gold beaten evenly over the carvings.
36 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.
Solomon had the inner courtyard built with three courses of dressed stone and one of cedar beams.
The foundation of the Lord's Temple was laid in the fourth year of Solomon's reign, in the month of Ziv.
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.
