1 Kings 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 Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of Jehovah.2 And the house which king Solomon built for Jehovah, the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits.3 And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.4 And for the house he made windows of fixed lattice-work.5 And against the wall of the house he built stories round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle; and he made side-chambers round about.6 The nethermost story was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad; for on the outside he made offsets in the wall of the house round about, that the beams should not have hold in the walls of the house.7 And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready at the quarry; and there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.8 The door for the middle side-chambers was in the right side of the house: and they went up by winding stairs into the middle story, and out of the middle into the third.9 So he built the house, and finished it; and he covered the house with beams and planks of cedar.10 And he built the stories against all the house, each five cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.

11 And the word of Jehovah came to Solomon, saying,12 Concerning this house which thou art building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute mine ordinances, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I establish my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father.13 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.

14 So Solomon built the house, and finished it.15 And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar: from the floor of the house unto the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the house with boards of fir.16 And he built twenty cubits on the hinder part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor unto the walls of the ceiling: he built them for it within, for an oracle, even for the most holy place.17 And the house, that is, the temple before the oracle, was forty cubits long.18 And there was cedar on the house within, carved with knops and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen.19 And he prepared an oracle in the midst of the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of Jehovah.20 And within the oracle was a space of twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof; and he overlaid it with pure gold: and he covered the altar with cedar.21 So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he drew chains of gold across before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold.22 And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until all the house was finished: also the whole altar that belonged to the oracle he overlaid with gold.

23 And in the oracle he made two cherubim of olive-wood, each ten cubits high.24 And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits.25 And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubim were of one measure and one form.26 The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub.27 And he set the cherubim within the inner house; and the wings of the cherubim were stretched forth, 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 midst of the house.28 And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm-trees and open flowers, within and without.30 And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.31 And for the entrance of the oracle he made doors of olive-wood: the lintel and door-posts were a fifth part of the wall.32 So he made two doors of olive-wood; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubim and palm-trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread the gold upon the cherubim, and upon the palm-trees.33 So also made he for the entrance of the temple door-posts of olive-wood, out of a fourth part of the wall;34 and two doors of fir-wood: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.35 And he carved thereon cherubim and palm-trees and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold fitted upon the graven work.36 And he built the inner court with three courses of hewn stone, and a course of cedar beams.

37 In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of Jehovah laid, in the month Ziv.38 And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it.

1 KINGS 6

The Outside of the Temple //Is Completed

1 Solomon's workers started building the temple during Ziv, t the second month of the year. It had been 4 years since Solomon became king of Israel, and 480 years since the people of Israel left Egypt.
2 The inside of the [Lord]'s temple was 27 meters long, 9 meters wide, and 13.5 meters high. 3 A four-and-a-half-meter porch went all the way across the front of the temple.

4 The windows were narrow on the outside but wide on the inside.

5-6 Along the sides and back of the temple, there were three levels of storage rooms. The rooms on the bottom level were just over two meters wide, the rooms on the middle level were over two and a half meters wide, and those on the top level were just over three meters wide. There were ledges on the outside of the temple that supported the beams of the storage rooms, so that nothing was built into the temple walls.

7 Solomon did not want the noise of hammers and axes to be heard at the place where the temple was being built. So he gave orders for the workers to shape the blocks of stone at the quarry.
8 The entrance to the bottom storage rooms was on the south side of the building, and stairs to the other rooms were also there.

9 The roof of the temple was made out of beams and cedar boards.
The workers finished building the outside of the temple.

10 Storage rooms just over two meters high were all around the temple, and they were attached to the temple by cedar beams.

11 The [Lord] told Solomon:

12-13 If you obey my commands and do what I say, I will keep the promise I made to your father David. I will live among my people Israel in this temple you are building, and I will not desert them.

14 So Solomon's workers finished building the temple.

The Inside of the Temple //Is Furnished

(2 Chronicles 3.8-14)

15 The floor of the temple was made out of pine, and the walls were lined with cedar from floor to ceiling.t
16  t The most holy place was in the back of the temple, and it was nine meters square. Cedar boards standing from floor to ceilingt separated it from the rest of the temple.

17 The temple's main room was 18 meters long, and it was in front of the most holy place.

18 The inside walls were lined with cedar to hide the stones, and the cedar was decorated with carvings of gourds and flowers.
19 The sacred chest was kept in the most holy place.

20-22 t This room was nine meters long, nine meters wide, and nine meters high, and it was lined with pure gold. There were also gold chains across the front of the most holy place. The inside of the temple, as well as the cedar altar in the most holy place, was covered with gold.
23  t Solomon had two statues of winged creaturest made from olive wood to put in the most holy place. Each creature was four and a half meters tall 24-26 and four and a half meters across. They had two wings, and the wings were just over two meters long. 27 Solomon put them next to each other in the most holy place. Their wings were spread out and reached across the room.

28 The creatures were also covered with gold.
29 The walls of the two rooms were decorated with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures.

30 Even the floor was covered with gold.

31-32 The two doors to the most holy place were made out of olive wood and were decorated with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures. The doors and the carvings were covered with gold. The door frame came to a point at the top.
33-34 The two doors to the main room of the temple were made out of pine, and each one had two sectionst so they could fold open. The door frame was shaped like a rectangle and was made out of olive wood.

35 The doors were covered with gold and were decorated with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures.

36 The inner courtyard of the temple had walls made out of three layers of cut stones with one layer of cedar beams.
37 Work began on the temple during Ziv, t the second month of the year, four years after Solomon became king of Israel. 38 Seven years later the workers finished building it during Bul, t the eighth month of the year. It was built exactly as it had been planned.