1 Kings 6
6
Solomon Builds the Temple
1Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord. It was 480 years after the Israelites came out of Egypt. It was in the fourth year of Solomon’s rule over Israel. He started in the second month. That was the month of Ziv.
2The temple King Solomon built for the Lord was 90 feet long. It was 30 feet wide. And it was 45 feet high. 3The temple had a porch in front of the main hall. The porch was as wide as the temple itself. It was 30 feet wide. It came out 15 feet from the front of the temple. 4Solomon made narrow windows high up in the temple walls. 5He built side rooms around the temple. They were built against the walls of the main hall and the Most Holy Room. 6On the first floor the side rooms were seven and a half feet wide. On the second floor they were nine feet wide. And on the third floor they were ten and a half feet wide. Solomon made the walls of the temple thinner as they went up floor by floor. The result was ledges along the walls. So the floor beams of the side rooms rested on the ledges. The beams didn’t go into the temple walls.
7All the stones used for building the temple were shaped where they were cut. So hammers, chisels and other iron tools couldn’t be heard where the temple was being built.
8The entrance to the first floor was on the south side of the temple. A stairway led up to the second floor. From there it went on up to the third floor. 9So Solomon built the temple and finished it. He made its roof out of beams and cedar boards. 10He built side rooms all along the temple. Each room was seven and a half feet high. They were joined to the temple by cedar beams.
11A message came to Solomon from the Lord. The Lord said, 12“You are now building this temple. Follow my orders. Keep my rules. Obey all my commands. Then I will make the promise I gave your father David come true. I will do it through you. 13I will live among my people Israel. I will not desert them.”
14So Solomon built the temple and finished it. 15He put cedar boards on its inside walls. He covered them from floor to ceiling. He covered the temple floor with juniper boards. 16He put up a wall 30 feet from the back of the temple. He made it with cedar boards from floor to ceiling. That formed a room inside the temple. It was the Most Holy Room. 17The main hall in front of the room was 60 feet long. 18The inside of the temple was covered with cedar wood. Gourds and open flowers were carved on the wood. Everything was cedar. There wasn’t any stone showing anywhere.
19Solomon prepared the Most Holy Room inside the temple. That’s where the ark of the covenant of the Lord would be placed. 20The Most Holy Room was 30 feet long. It was 30 feet wide. And it was 30 feet high. Solomon covered the inside of it with pure gold. He prepared the cedar altar for burning incense. He covered it with gold. 21Solomon covered the inside of the main hall with pure gold. He placed gold chains across the front of the Most Holy Room. That room was covered with gold. 22So Solomon covered the inside of the whole temple with gold. He also covered the altar for burning incense with gold. It was right in front of the Most Holy Room.
23For the Most Holy Room Solomon made a pair of cherubim. He made them out of olive wood. Each cherub was 15 feet high. 24One wing of the first cherub was seven and a half feet long. The other wing was also seven and a half feet long. So the wings measured 15 feet from tip to tip. 25The second cherub’s wings also measured 15 feet from tip to tip. The two cherubim had the same size and shape. 26Each cherub was 15 feet high. 27Solomon placed the cherubim inside the Most Holy Room in the temple. Their wings were spread out. The wing tip of one cherub touched one wall. The wing tip of the other touched the other wall. The tips of their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. 28Solomon covered the cherubim with gold.
29On the walls all around the temple he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers. He carved them on the walls of the Most Holy Room and the main hall. 30He also covered the floors of those two rooms with gold.
31For the entrance to the Most Holy Room he made two doors out of olive wood. Each door was one-fifth of the width of the Most Holy Room. 32On the two olive wood doors he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers. He covered the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold. 33In the same way he made olive wood doorposts for the entrance to the main hall. Each doorpost was one-fourth of the width of the hall. 34He also made two doors out of juniper wood. Each door had two parts. They turned in bases shaped like cups. 35He carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers on the doors. He covered the doors with gold. He hammered the gold evenly over the carvings.
36He used blocks of stone to build a wall around the inside courtyard. The first three layers of the wall were made out of stone. The top layer was made out of beautiful cedar wood.
37The foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid in Solomon’s fourth year. It was in the month of Ziv. 38The temple was finished in his 11th year. It was in the month of Bul. That was the eighth month. Everything was finished just as the plans required. Solomon had spent seven years building the temple.
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1 Kings 6: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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1 Kings 6
6
The Temple Built in Seven Years
(2 Chronicles 3:1–14)
1Solomon began to build the Lord’s temple 480 years after Israel left Egypt. He began building in the month of Ziv (the second month) of the fourth year of his reign over Israel. 2The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 3The entrance hall in front of the main room of the temple was the same length as the shorter side of the temple. It extended 15 feet in front of the temple. 4He also made latticed windows for the temple.
5He built an annex containing side rooms all around the temple. This annex was next to the walls of the main building and the inner sanctuary. 6The ⌞interior of⌟ the lowest story of the annex was 7½ feet wide, the second story was 9 feet wide, and the third story was 10½ feet wide. Solomon made ledges all around the temple so that this annex would not be fastened to the walls of the temple.
7The temple was built with stone blocks that were finished at the quarry. No hammer, chisel, or any other iron tool made a sound at the temple construction site.
8The entrance to the first story #6:8 Greek, Targum; Masoretic Text “second story.” was on the south side of the temple. A staircase went up to the middle story and then to the third story.
9When he had finished building the walls, he roofed the temple with rows of cedar beams and planks. 10He built ⌞each story of the⌟ annex 7½ feet high alongside the entire temple. Its cedar beams were attached to the temple.
11The Lord spoke to Solomon, saying, 12“This concerns the temple you are building: If you live by my laws, follow my rules, and keep my commands, I will fulfill the promise I made about you to your father David. 13I will live among the Israelites and never abandon my people.”
14When Solomon had finished building the temple’s ⌞frame⌟, 15he began to line the inside walls of the temple with cedar boards. He paneled the inside of the temple with wood from floor to ceiling. He covered the floor of the temple with cypress planks.
16He sectioned off a 30-foot-long room at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from the floor to the rafters. He built it to serve as an inner room, the most holy place. 17The 60-foot-long room at the front of the temple served as the main hall. 18Gourds and flowers were carved into the cedar paneling inside the temple. Everything was ⌞covered with⌟ cedar. No stone could be seen.
19He prepared the inner room of the temple in order to put the ark of the Lord’s promise there. 20The inner room was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. Solomon covered it and the cedar altar with pure gold. 21He covered the inside of the temple with pure gold. He put golden chains across the front of the inner room which was covered with gold. 22He covered the entire inside of the temple with gold. He also covered the entire altar in the inner room with gold.
23In the inner room he made two 15-foot-tall angels #6:23 Or “cherubim.” out of olive wood. 24Each wing of the angels was 7½ feet long. The distance from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other was 15 feet. 25Both angels had a 15-foot ⌞wingspan⌟. Both had the same measurements and the same shape. 26Each was 15 feet high. 27Solomon put the angels in the inner room of the temple. The wings of the angels extended so that the wing of one of the angels touched the one wall, and the wing of the other touched the other wall. Their remaining wings touched each other in the center of the room. 28He covered the angels with gold.
29He carved angels, palm trees, and flowers into the walls all around the inner and outer rooms of the temple. 30He covered the floor of the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold.
31He made doors for the entrance to the inner room out of olive wood. The doorposts had five sides. 32The two doors were ⌞made out of⌟ olive wood. He carved angels, palm trees, and flowers into them and covered them with gold. The gold was hammered onto the angels and the palm trees.
33In the same way he made square doorposts out of olive wood for the temple’s entrance. 34He made two doors from cypress. Each of the doors had two folding panels. 35On them he carved angels, palm trees, and flowers. He evenly covered them with gold.
36He built the inner courtyard with three courses of finished stones and a course of finished cedar beams.
37In the month of Ziv of the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. 38In the month of Bul (the eighth month) of the eleventh year ⌞of his reign⌟, the temple was finished according to all its plans and specifications. He spent seven years building it.
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