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.
Then Solomon began building the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared to his father David. This was the place that David had provided—the former threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
2 They began the work in April, when Solomon had been ruling almost four years.
Solomon began construction on the second day of the second month in his fourth year as king.
3 The foundation of the temple was about 90 feet long and 30 feet wide.
The size of the foundation Solomon laid for the Temple of God was sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wide, (according to the old cubit measurement).
4 The entrance room across the front of the temple was 30 feet wide and 30 feet high.
The front porch that ran across the width of the Temple was twenty cubits long and twenty cubits high. He covered the inside of the porch 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.
He paneled the main room with cypress overlaid with fine gold, with images of palm trees and chains.
6 They decorated the temple with very valuable stones. The gold that they used was from [the land of] Parvaim.
He decorated the Temple with beautiful gems, and with gold he imported from Parvaim.
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.
He covered the beams, thresholds, walls, and doors of the Temple with gold, and he carved cherubim 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.
He made the room of the Most Holy Place to correspond with the width of the Temple—twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. He covered the interior with six hundred talents of fine gold.
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.
The weight of the nails was one shekel for every fifty shekels of 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.
He made for the Most Holy Place two wooden cherubim covered 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.
The wingspan of the cherubim together was twenty cubits. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long and touched one Temple wall, while its other wing, also five cubits long, and touched the second cherub.
In similar fashion, one wing of the second cherub was five cubits long and touched one Temple wall, while its other wing, also five cubits long, and touched the first 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.
So the wingspan of these cherubim together was twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, facing the main room.
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.
He made the veil of blue, purple, and crimson embroidery on fine linen, with images of cherubim on 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.
He made two columns for the front of the Temple, thirty-five cubits, each having a capital five cubits high.
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.
He made chains like in the Most Holy Place and he placed them on top of the columns. He also made one hundred ornamental pomegranates and attached them to each chain.
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.
He set up the columns in front of the Temple, one on the south, and one on the north. The column on the south he named Jachin, and the column on the north he named Boaz.
