2 Chronicles 3

1-4 So Solomon broke ground, launched construction of the house of God in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, the place where God had appeared to his father David. The precise site, the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, had been designated by David. He broke ground on the second day in the second month of the fourth year of his rule. These are the dimensions that Solomon set for the construction of the house of God: ninety feet long and thirty feet wide. The porch in front stretched the width of the building, that is, thirty feet; and it was thirty feet high.

5-7  The interior was gold-plated. He paneled the main hall with cypress and veneered it with fine gold engraved with palm tree and chain designs. He decorated the building with precious stones and gold from Parvaim. Everything was coated with gold veneer: rafters, doorframes, walls, and doors. Cherubim were engraved on the walls.

8-9  He made the Holy of Holies a cube, thirty feet wide, long, and high. It was veneered with six hundred talents (something over twenty-two tons) of gold. The gold nails weighed fifty shekels (a little over a pound). The upper rooms were also veneered in gold.

10-13  He made two sculptures of cherubim, gigantic angel-like figures, for the Holy of Holies, both veneered with gold. The combined wingspread of the side-by-side cherubim (each wing measuring seven and a half feet) stretched from wall to wall, thirty feet. They stood erect facing the main hall.

14  He fashioned the curtain of violet, purple, and crimson fabric and worked a cherub design into it.

15-17  He made two huge free-standing pillars, each fifty-two feet tall, their capitals extending another seven and a half feet. The top of each pillar was set off with an elaborate filigree of chains, like necklaces, from which hung a hundred pomegranates. He placed the pillars in front of The Temple, one on the right, and the other on the left. The right pillar he named Jakin (Security) and the left pillar he named Boaz (Stability).

2 Chronicles 3

The Building of the Temple

1 Solomon began building the Lord’s temple in Jerusalems on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. This was the place that David prepared at the threshing floor of Ornant the Jebusite.

2 He began building on the second day of the second month of the fourth year of his reign.s
3 Solomon laid the foundation for God’s temple;t its length (determined according to the old standard of measure) was 90 feet, and its width 30 feet.t4 The porch in front of the main hall was 30 feet long, corresponding to the width of the temple,s and its height was 30 feet.s He plated the inside with pure gold.5 He paneledt the main hallt with boards made from evergreen treest and plated it with fine gold, decorated with palm trees and chains.t6 He decorated the temple with precious stones; the gold he used came from Parvaim.ts

7 He overlaid the temple’s rafters, thresholds, walls and doors with gold; he carved decorative cherubim on the walls.
8 He made the most holy place;t its length was 30 feet,t corresponding to the width of the temple, and its width 30 feet.s He plated it with 600 talentst of fine gold.9 The gold nails weighed 50 shekels; he also plated the upper areas with gold.10 In the most holy place he made two images of cherubim and plated them with gold.11 The combined wing span of the cherubs was 30 feet.t One of the first cherub’s wings was seven and one-half feet long and touched one wall of the temple; its other wing was also seven and one-half feet long and touched one of the second cherub’s wings.t12 Likewise one of the second cherub’s wings was seven and one-half feet long and touched the other wall of the temple; its other wing was also seven and one-half feet long and touched one of the first cherub’s wings.t13 The combined wingspan of these cherubim was 30 feet.t They stood upright, facing inward.t

14 He made the curtain out of violet, purple, crimson, and white fabrics, and embroidered on it decorative cherubim.
15 In front of the temple he made two pillars which had a combined lengths of 52½ feet,s with each having a plated capital seven and one-half feet high.t16 He made ornamental chainst and put them on top of the pillars. He also made one hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments and arranged them within the chains.

17 He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right side and the other on the left.t He named the one on the right Jachin,t and the one on the left Boaz.t