1 Kings 6

In the four hundred and eightieth^[a] year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the Lord.

Now it came about in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv which is the second month, that he ^[a]began to build the house of the Lord.

The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high.^[b]

As for the house which King Solomon built for the Lord, its length was sixty ^[b]cubits and its width twenty cubits and its height thirty cubits.

The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits,^[c] and projected ten cubits^[d] from the front of the temple.

The porch in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits ^[c]in length, ^[d]corresponding to the width of the house, and its ^[e]depth along the front of the house was ten cubits.

He made narrow windows high up in the temple walls.

Also for the house he made windows with artistic frames.

Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms.

Against the wall of the house he built stories encompassing the walls of the house around both the nave and the inner sanctuary; thus he made side chambers all around.

The lowest floor was five cubits^[e] wide, the middle floor six cubits^[f] and the third floor seven.^[g] He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls.

The lowest story was five cubits wide, and the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for on the outside he ^[f]made offsets in the wall of the house all around in order that the beams would not ^[g]be inserted in the walls of the house.

In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built.

The house, while it was being built, was built of stone ^[h]prepared at the quarry, and there was neither hammer nor axe nor any iron tool heard in the house while it was being built.

The entrance to the lowest^[h] floor was on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third.

The doorway for the ^[i]lowest side chamber was on the right side of the house; and they would go up by winding stairs to the middle story, and from the middle to the third.

So he built the temple and completed it, roofing it with beams and cedar planks.

So he built the house and finished it; and he covered the house with beams and ^[j]planks of cedar.

And he built the side rooms all along the temple. The height of each was five cubits, and they were attached to the temple by beams of cedar.

He also built the stories against the whole house, each five ^[k]cubits high; and they ^[l]were fastened to the house with timbers of cedar.

The word of the Lord came to Solomon:

Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon saying,

“As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father.

“Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will carry out My word with you which I spoke to David your father.

And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.”

I will dwell among the sons of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.”

So Solomon built the temple and completed it.

So Solomon built the house and finished it.

He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and covered the floor of the temple with planks of juniper.

Then he built the walls of the house on the inside with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house to the ^[m]ceiling he overlaid the walls on the inside with wood, and he overlaid the floor of the house with boards of cypress.

He partitioned off twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.

He built twenty cubits on the rear part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the ^[n]ceiling; he built them for it on the inside as an inner sanctuary, even as the most holy place.

The main hall in front of this room was forty cubits^[i] long.

The house, that is, the nave in front of the inner sanctuary, was forty ^[o]cubits long.

The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen.

There was cedar on the house within, carved in the shape of gourds and open flowers; all was cedar, there was no stone seen.

He prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the Lord there.

Then he prepared an inner sanctuary within the house in order to place there the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty wide and twenty high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar.

^[p]The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height, and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid the altar with cedar.

Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold.

So Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold. And he drew chains of gold across the front of the inner sanctuary, and he overlaid it with gold.

So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.

He overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. Also the whole altar which was by the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.

For the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim out of olive wood, each ten cubits high.

Also in the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high.

One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing five cubits—ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip.

Five cubits was the one wing of the cherub and five cubits the other wing of the cherub; from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing were ten cubits.

The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in size and shape.

The other cherub was ten cubits; both the cherubim were of the same measure and the same form.

The height of each cherub was ten cubits.

The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other cherub.

He placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room.

He placed the cherubim in the midst of the inner house, and the wings of the cherubim were spread out, so that the wing of the one was touching the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub was touching the other wall. So their wings were touching each other in the center of the house.

He overlaid the cherubim with gold.

He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

On the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers.

Then he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, inner and outer sanctuaries.

He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold.

He overlaid the floor of the house with gold, inner and outer sanctuaries.

For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors out of olive wood that were one fifth of the width of the sanctuary.

For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood, the lintel and five-sided doorposts.

And on the two olive-wood doors he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered 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; and he spread the gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees.

In the same way, for the entrance to the main hall he made doorframes out of olive wood that were one fourth of the width of the hall.

So also he made for the entrance of the nave four-sided doorposts of olive wood

He also made two doors out of juniper wood, each having two leaves that turned in sockets.

and two doors of cypress wood; the two leaves of the one door turned on pivots, and the two ^[q]leaves of the other door turned on pivots.

He carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings.

He carved on it cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the engraved work.

And he built the inner courtyard of three courses of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams.

He built the inner court with three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams.

The foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv.

In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of Ziv.

In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple was finished in all its details according to its specifications. He had spent seven years building it.

In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts and according to all its plans. So he was seven years in building it.