1 Kings 6
1 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.
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.
2 The Temple King Solomon built for the Lord measured sixty cubits long by twenty cubits wide by thirty cubits high.
The house which King Solomon built for the LORD had a length of sixty cubits, and its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits.
3 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.
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.
4 He had latticed windows made to be placed high up in the Temple.
He made windows of fixed lattice work for the house.
5 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.
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.
6 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.
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.
7 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.
The house, when it was under construction, was built of stone prepared at the quarry; and no hammer or ax or any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was under construction.
8 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.
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.
9 So Solomon finished building the Temple, covering it with a roof made of cedar rafters and planks.
So he built the house and finished it; and he covered the house with beams and planks of cedar.
10 He built the external structure along the whole of the Temple. It was five cubits high, joined to the Temple with cedar joists.
He built the floors all along the house, each five cubits high; and they rested on the house with timbers of cedar.
11 The Lord sent this message to Solomon, telling him,
The LORD’s word came to Solomon, saying,
12 “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.
“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 live among the Israelites and will not abandon Israel, my people.”
I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.”
14 Solomon finished building the Temple.
So Solomon built the house and finished it.
15 He lined the walls with cedar panels from floor to ceiling and he covered the floor of the Temple with cypress boards.
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.
16 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.
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.
17 The main Temple in front of this room measured forty cubits long.
In front of the temple sanctuary was forty cubits long.
18 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.
There was cedar on the house within, carved with buds and open flowers. All was cedar. No stone was visible.
19 He also had the inner sanctuary made within the Temple where the Ark of the Lord's Agreement would be placed.
He prepared an inner sanctuary in the middle of the house within, to set the ark of the LORD’s covenant there.
20 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.
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.
21 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.
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.
22 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.
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 He had two cherubim made out of olive wood for the inner sanctuary, each one ten cubits tall.
In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high.
24 Both wings of the cherub measured five cubits, making a total wingspan of ten cubits.
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.
25 The other cherub was also ten cubits tall, since they were identical both in size and shape.
The other cherub was ten cubits. Both the cherubim were of one measure and one form.
26 Both cherubs were ten cubits tall.
One cherub was ten cubits high, and so was the other cherub.
27 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.
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.
28 The cherubim were also covered with a gold coating.
He overlaid the cherubim with gold.
29 He had all the Temple walls, both the inner and outer sanctuaries, carved with designs of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.
He carved all the walls of the house around with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, inside and outside.
30 He also had the floor of the Temple floor covered with gold, both the inner and outer sanctuaries.
He overlaid the floor of the house with gold, inside and outside.
31 He had doors of olive wood made for the entrance to the inner sanctuary, together with a lintel and doorposts that had five sides.
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.
32 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.
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 Similarly he had four-sided doorposts of olive wood made for the entrance to the sanctuary.
He also made the entrance of the temple door posts of olive wood, out of a fourth part of the wall,
34 Its doors were made of cypress wood, each with two hinged panels.
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.
35 He had them carved with designs of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and covered them with gold beaten evenly over the carvings.
He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold fitted on the engraved work.
36 Solomon had the inner courtyard built with three courses of dressed stone and one of cedar beams.
He built the inner court with three courses of cut stone and a course of cedar beams.
37 The foundation of the Lord's Temple was laid in the fourth year of Solomon's reign, in the month of Ziv.
The foundation of the LORD’s house was laid in the fourth year, in the month Ziv.
38 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.
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.
