1 Kings 6:1-38

1 Kings 6:1-38

In the four hundred and eightieth 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.

2 The temple that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high.

3 The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits, and projected ten cubits from the front of the temple. 4 He made narrow windows high up in the temple walls.

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

6 The lowest floor was five cubits wide, the middle floor six cubits 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.

7 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.

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

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

10 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.

11 The word of the LORD came to Solomon:

12 “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.

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

14 So Solomon built the temple and completed it.

15 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.

16 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.

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

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

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

20 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.

21 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.

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

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

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

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

26 The height of each cherub was ten cubits.

27 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.

28 He overlaid the cherubim with gold.

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

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

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

32 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.

33 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.

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

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

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

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

38 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.

1 KINGS 6: 1-38

🍁 Solomon Builds the Temple

In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people 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, he began to build the house of the Lord
The house that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high
The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, and ten cubits deep in front of the house
And he made for the house windows with recessed frames

He also built a structure against the wall of the house, running around the walls of the house, both the nave and the inner sanctuary
And he made side chambers all around
The lowest story was five cubits broad, the middle one was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad
For around the outside of the house he made offsets on the wall in order that the supporting beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house
When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built
The entrance for the lowest story was on the south side of the house, and one went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle story to the third

So he built the house and finished it, and he made the ceiling of the house of beams and planks of cedar
He built the structure against the whole house, five cubits high, and it was joined to the house with timbers of cedar

Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon, “Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father
And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel

So Solomon built the house and finished it
He lined the walls of the house on the inside with boards of cedar. From the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood, and he covered the floor of the house with boards of cypress
He built twenty cubits of the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the walls, and he built this within as an inner sanctuary, as the Most Holy Place
The house, that is, the nave in front of the inner sanctuary, was forty cubits long
The cedar within the house was carved in the form of gourds and open flowers
All was cedar; no stone was seen

The inner sanctuary he prepared in the innermost part of the house, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord
The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high, and he overlaid it with pure gold
He also overlaid an altar of cedar
And Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold, and he drew chains of gold across, in front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold
And he overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished
Also the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold

In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olivewood, each ten cubits high
Five cubits was the length of one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the length of the other wing of the cherub; it was ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other
The other cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim had the same measure and the same form
The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was that of the other cherub
He put the cherubim in the innermost part of the house
And the wings of the cherubim were spread out so that a wing of one touched the one wall, and a wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; their other wings touched each other in the middle of the house
And he overlaid the cherubim with gold

Around all the walls of the house he carved engraved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, in the inner and outer rooms
The floor of the house he overlaid with gold in the inner and outer rooms

For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors of olivewood; the lintel and the doorposts were five-sided
He covered the two doors of olivewood with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers
He overlaid them with gold and spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees
So also he made for the entrance to the nave doorposts of olivewood, in the form of a square, 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
On them he carved cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and he overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the carved work

He built the inner court with three courses of cut stone and one course of cedar beams

In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of Ziv
And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts, and according to all its specifications
He was seven years in building it