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
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.