1 Kings 6
6
1And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of Jehovah. 2And the house that king Solomon built for Jehovah was sixty cubits in length, and twenty in breadth, and thirty cubits in height. 3And the porch, in front of the temple of the house, was twenty cubits in length, in front of the house broadways, and ten cubits was its breadth, in front of the house. 4And for the house he made closed windows with fixed lattices. 5And against the wall of the house he built floors round about, against the walls of the house, round about the temple and the oracle; and he made side-chambers round about. 6The lowest floor was five cubits broad, and the middle one was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad; for in the thickness of the wall of the house he made resets round about outside, that nothing should be fastened in the walls of the house. 7And the house, when it was being built, was built of stone entirely made ready before it was brought thither; so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was being built. 8The entrance to the side-chambers of the middle floor was in the right side of the house; and they went up by winding stairs into the middle floor, and out of the middle into the third. 9And he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar. 10And he built the floors against all the house, five cubits high; and they held to the house by the timbers of cedar.
11And the word of Jehovah came to Solomon saying, 12As to this house which thou art building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and practise mine ordinances, and keep all my commandments to walk in them, then will I perform my word as to thee which I spoke unto David thy father; 13and I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel. 14And Solomon built the house and finished it.
15And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, from the floor of the house to the walls of the roof; he overlaid them on the inside with wood, and overlaid the floor of the house with boards of cypress. 16And he built twenty cubits of the innermost part of the house, both floor and walls, with boards of cedar; and he built them for it within, to be the oracle, the most holy place. 17And the house, that is, the temple before it, was forty cubits long. 18And the cedar of the house within was carved with colocynths and half-open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen. 19And he prepared the oracle in the midst of the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of Jehovah. 20And the oracle within was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof; and he overlaid it with pure gold; and he overlaid the cedar-wood altar — 21and Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold, and shut off the oracle in front with chains of gold, and overlaid it with gold. 22And the whole house he overlaid with gold, the whole house entirely; also the whole altar that was by the oracle he overlaid with gold. 23And he made in the oracle two cherubim of olive-wood, ten cubits high; 24and one wing of the cherub was five cubits, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub, ten cubits from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing; 25and the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubim were of one measure and one form. 26The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so of the other cherub. 27And he set the cherubim in the midst of the inner house; and the wings of the cherubim were stretched forth, so that the wing of the one touched the wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched, wing to wing, in the midst of the house. 28And he overlaid the cherubim with gold. 29And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved sculptures of cherubim, and palm-trees, and half-open flowers, within and without. 30And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without. 31And for the entrance of the oracle he made doors of olive-wood: the lintel and side posts were the fifth part of the breadth of the house. 32The two doors were of olive-wood; and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, and palm-trees and half-open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm-trees. 33And he also made for the doorway of the temple posts of olive-wood, of the fourth part of the breadth of the house. 34And the two folding-doors were of cypress-wood: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding. 35And he carved on them cherubim, and palm-trees, and half-open flowers; and overlaid them with gold fitted on the carved work. 36And he built the inner court of three rows of hewn stone, and a row of cedar-beams. 37In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of Jehovah laid, in the month Zif; 38and in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished in all its parts, and according to all the fashion of it. So he was seven years in building it.
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
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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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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