1 Kings 6
6
Solomon Builds the Temple
1It was in midspring, in the month of Ziv,#6:1 Hebrew It was in the month of Ziv, which is the second month. This month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar usually occurs within the months of April and May. during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, that he began to construct the Temple of the Lord. This was 480 years after the people of Israel were rescued from their slavery in the land of Egypt.
2The Temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high.#6:2 Hebrew 60 cubits [27.6 meters] long, 20 cubits [9.2 meters] wide, and 30 cubits [13.8 meters] high. 3The entry room at the front of the Temple was 30 feet#6:3a Hebrew 20 cubits [9.2 meters]; also in 6:16, 20. wide, running across the entire width of the Temple. It projected outward 15 feet#6:3b Hebrew 10 cubits [4.6 meters]. from the front of the Temple. 4Solomon also made narrow recessed windows throughout the Temple.
5He built a complex of rooms against the outer walls of the Temple, all the way around the sides and rear of the building. 6The complex was three stories high, the bottom floor being 7-1/2 feet wide, the second floor 9 feet wide, and the top floor 10-1/2 feet wide.#6:6 Hebrew the bottom floor being 5 cubits [2.3 meters] wide, the second floor 6 cubits [2.8 meters] wide, and the top floor 7 cubits [3.2 meters] wide. The rooms were connected to the walls of the Temple by beams resting on ledges built out from the wall. So the beams were not inserted into the walls themselves.
7The stones used in the construction of the Temple were finished at the quarry, so there was no sound of hammer, ax, or any other iron tool at the building site.
8The entrance to the bottom floor#6:8 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads middle floor. was on the south side of the Temple. There were winding stairs going up to the second floor, and another flight of stairs between the second and third floors. 9After completing the Temple structure, Solomon put in a ceiling made of cedar beams and planks. 10As already stated, he built a complex of rooms along the sides of the building, attached to the Temple walls by cedar timbers. Each story of the complex was 7-1/2 feet#6:10 Hebrew 5 cubits [2.3 meters]. high.
11Then the Lord gave this message to Solomon: 12“Concerning this Temple you are building, if you keep all my decrees and regulations and obey all my commands, I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father, David. 13I will live among the Israelites and will never abandon my people Israel.”
The Temple’s Interior
14So Solomon finished building the Temple. 15The entire inside, from floor to ceiling, was paneled with wood. He paneled the walls and ceilings with cedar, and he used planks of cypress for the floors. 16He partitioned off an inner sanctuary—the Most Holy Place—at the far end of the Temple. It was 30 feet deep and was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling. 17The main room of the Temple, outside the Most Holy Place, was 60 feet#6:17 Hebrew 40 cubits [18.4 meters]. long. 18Cedar paneling completely covered the stone walls throughout the Temple, and the paneling was decorated with carvings of gourds and open flowers.
19He prepared the inner sanctuary at the far end of the Temple, where the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant would be placed. 20This inner sanctuary was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. He overlaid the inside with solid gold. He also overlaid the altar made of cedar.#6:20 Or overlaid the altar with cedar. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain. 21Then Solomon overlaid the rest of the Temple’s interior with solid gold, and he made gold chains to protect the entrance#6:21 Or to draw curtains across. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain. to the Most Holy Place. 22So he finished overlaying the entire Temple with gold, including the altar that belonged to the Most Holy Place.
23He made two cherubim of wild olive#6:23a Or pine; Hebrew reads oil tree; also in 6:31, 33. wood, each 15 feet#6:23b Hebrew 10 cubits [4.6 meters]; also in 6:24, 26. tall, and placed them in the inner sanctuary. 24The wingspan of each of the cherubim was 15 feet, each wing being 7-1/2 feet#6:24 Hebrew 5 cubits [2.3 meters]. long. 25The two cherubim were identical in shape and size; 26each was 15 feet tall. 27He placed them side by side in the inner sanctuary of the Temple. Their outspread wings reached from wall to wall, while their inner wings touched at the center of the room. 28He overlaid the two cherubim with gold.
29He decorated all the walls of the inner sanctuary and the main room with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. 30He overlaid the floor in both rooms with gold.
31For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, he made double doors of wild olive wood with five-sided doorposts.#6:31 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain. 32These double doors were decorated with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. The doors, including the decorations of cherubim and palm trees, were overlaid with gold.
33Then he made four-sided doorposts of wild olive wood for the entrance to the Temple. 34There were two folding doors of cypress wood, and each door was hinged to fold back upon itself. 35These doors were decorated with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers—all overlaid evenly with gold.
36The walls of the inner courtyard were built so that there was one layer of cedar beams between every three layers of finished stone.
37The foundation of the Lord’s Temple was laid in midspring, in the month of Ziv,#6:37 Hebrew was laid in the month of Ziv. This month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar usually occurs within the months of April and May. during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign. 38The entire building was completed in every detail by midautumn, in the month of Bul,#6:38 Hebrew by the month of Bul, which is the eighth month. This month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar usually occurs within the months of October and November. during the eleventh year of his reign. So it took seven years to build the Temple.
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1 Kings 6: NLT
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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1 Kings 6
6
1 Then it happened that, in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel departed from the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of the reign of Solomon over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, the house of the Lord began to be built.
2 Now the house, which king Solomon was building to the Lord, was sixty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in width, and thirty cubits in height.
3 And a portico was before the temple, of twenty cubits in length, in accord with the measure of the width of the temple. And it had ten cubits of width before the face of the temple.
4 And he made oblique windows in the temple.
5 And upon the wall of the temple, he built panels on all sides, in the walls of the house around the temple and the oracle. And he made side chambers all around.
6 The flooring on the bottom level held five cubits in width, and the middle floor was six cubits in width, and the third floor held seven cubits in width. Then he positioned beams on the house all around the outside, in such a way that they would not be fastened to the walls of the temple.
7 Now the house, while it was being built, was made from cut and finished stones. And so, neither mallet, nor chisel, nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built.
8 The door at the side of the middle section was to the right of the house. And they would ascend along winding stairs to the middle level, and from the middle level to the third level.
9 And he built the house, and finished it. And he overlaid the house with boards of cedar.
10 And he built a paneling over the entire house, five cubits in height, and he covered the house with cedar wood.
11 And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying:
12 "Concerning this house, which you are building: if you will walk in my precepts, and carry out my judgments, and keep all my commandments, advancing by them, I will confirm my word to you, which I spoke to your father David.
13 And I will dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel, and I will not forsake my people Israel."
14 And so, Solomon built the house, and finished it.
15 And he built the walls of the house, on the interior, with panels of cedar, from the floor of the house, to the top of the walls, and even to the ceiling. He covered it with cedar wood on the interior. And he overlaid the floor of the house with panels of spruce.
16 And he built panels of cedar, of twenty cubits, at the back part of the temple, from the floor even to the top. And he made the inner house of the oracle as the Holy of Holies.
17 And the temple itself, before the doors of the oracle, was forty cubits.
18 And the entire house was clothed with cedar on the interior, having its turnings and junctures artfully wrought, with carvings projecting outward. Everything was clothed with panels of cedar. And no stone at all was able to be seen in the wall.
19 Now he made the oracle in the middle of the house, in the inner part, so that he might station the ark of the covenant of the Lord there.
20 And the oracle held twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height. And he covered and clothed it with the purest gold. Then, too, he clothed the altar in cedar.
21 Also, the house before the oracle, he covered with the purest gold, and he fastened the plates with nails of gold.
22 And there was nothing in the temple that was not covered with gold. Moreover, the entire altar of the oracle he overlaid with gold.
23 And he made in the oracle two cherubim from wood of the olive tree, of ten cubits in height.
24 One wing of a cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of a cherub was five cubits, that is, having ten cubits from the summit of one wing even to the summit of the other wing.
25 Likewise, the second cherub was ten cubits. And the measure was equal and the work was one, in the two cherubim,
26 that is, one cherub had a height of ten cubits, and similarly the second cherub.
27 And he stationed the cherubim in the middle of the inner temple. And the cherubim extended their wings, and the wing of the one was touching the wall, and the wing of the second cherub was touching the other wall. But the other wings, in the middle of the temple, were touching each another.
28 He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.
29 And all the walls of the temple all around he engraved with diverse carvings and turnings. And he made in them cherubim, and palm trees, and various images, as if these were projecting out, and going forth from, the wall.
30 Then, too, the floor of the house he overlaid with gold within and without.
31 And at the entrance of the oracle, he made little doors, from wood of the olive tree, with posts of five corners.
32 And there were two doors, from wood of the olive tree. And he carved upon them pictures of cherubim, and images of palm trees, and very prominent figures. And he overlaid these with gold. And he covered the cherubim, as well as the palm trees and the other things, with gold.
33 And he made, at the entrance of the temple, posts from wood of the olive tree, with four corners,
34 and two doors, from wood of the spruce tree, on the other side. And each door was double, and so it opened by folding upon itself.
35 And he carved cherubim, and palm trees, and very prominent engravings. And he covered everything with gold plates, worked to be perfectly square.
36 And he built the inner atrium with three rows of polished stones, and one row of cedar wood.
37 In the fourth year, the house of the Lord was founded, in the month of Ziv.
38 And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was perfected in all its works and in all its equipment. And he built it for seven years.
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