1 Kings 6
6
The Outside of the Temple Is Completed
1Solomon's workers started building the temple during Ziv,#6.1 Ziv: The second month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-April to mid-May. the second month of the year. It had been 4 years since Solomon became king of Israel, and 480 years since the people of Israel left Egypt.
2The inside of the Lord's temple was 27 meters long, 9 meters wide, and 13.5 meters high. 3A four-and-a-half-meter porch went all the way across the front of the temple. 4The windows were narrow on the outside but wide on the inside.
5-6Along the sides and back of the temple, there were three levels of storage rooms. The rooms on the bottom level were just over two meters wide, the rooms on the middle level were over two and a half meters wide, and those on the top level were just over three meters wide. There were ledges on the outside of the temple that supported the beams of the storage rooms, so that nothing was built into the temple walls.
7Solomon did not want the noise of hammers and axes to be heard at the place where the temple was being built. So he gave orders for the workers to shape the blocks of stone at the quarry.
8The entrance to the bottom storage rooms was on the south side of the building, and stairs to the other rooms were also there. 9The roof of the temple was made out of beams and cedar boards.
The workers finished building the outside of the temple. 10Storage rooms just over two meters high were all around the temple, and they were attached to the temple by cedar beams.
11The Lord told Solomon:
12-13If you obey my commands and do what I say, I will keep the promise I made to your father David. I will live among my people Israel in this temple you are building, and I will not desert them.
14So Solomon's workers finished building the temple.
The Inside of the Temple Is Furnished
(2 Chronicles 3.8-14)
15The floor of the temple was made out of pine, and the walls were lined with cedar from floor to ceiling.#6.15 from floor to ceiling: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
16 #
Ex 26.31-34. The most holy place was in the back of the temple, and it was nine meters square. Cedar boards standing from floor to ceiling#6.16 standing … ceiling: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. separated it from the rest of the temple. 17The temple's main room was 18 meters long, and it was in front of the most holy place.
18The inside walls were lined with cedar to hide the stones, and the cedar was decorated with carvings of gourds and flowers.
19The sacred chest was kept in the most holy place. 20-22#Ex 30.1-3. This room was nine meters long, nine meters wide, and nine meters high, and it was lined with pure gold. There were also gold chains across the front of the most holy place. The inside of the temple, as well as the cedar altar in the most holy place, was covered with gold.
23 #
Ex 25.18-20. Solomon had two statues of winged creatures#6.23 statues of winged creatures: These were symbols of the Lord's throne on earth (see Exodus 25.18-22). made from olive wood to put in the most holy place. Each creature was four and a half meters tall 24-26and four and a half meters across. They had two wings, and the wings were just over two meters long. 27Solomon put them next to each other in the most holy place. Their wings were spread out and reached across the room. 28The creatures were also covered with gold.
29The walls of the two rooms were decorated with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures. 30Even the floor was covered with gold.
31-32The two doors to the most holy place were made out of olive wood and were decorated with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures. The doors and the carvings were covered with gold. The door frame came to a point at the top.
33-34The two doors to the main room of the temple were made out of pine, and each one had two sections#6.33,34 two sections: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. so they could fold open. The door frame was shaped like a rectangle and was made out of olive wood. 35The doors were covered with gold and were decorated with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures.
36The inner courtyard of the temple had walls made out of three layers of cut stones with one layer of cedar beams.
37Work began on the temple during Ziv,#6.37 Ziv: See the note at 6.1. the second month of the year, four years after Solomon became king of Israel. 38Seven years later the workers finished building it during Bul,#6.38 Bul: The eighth month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-October to mid-November. the eighth month of the year. It was built exactly as it had been planned.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
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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