1 Kings 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 Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of Jehovah.

1In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites left Egypt, during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv (the second month), Solomon began to build the house of the LORD.

2And the house which king Solomon built for Jehovah, the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits.

2The temple that King Solomon built for the LORD was ninety feet long, thirty feet wide, and forty-five feet high.

3And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.

3The entrance room in front of the main hall of the temple was thirty feet wide, matching the width of the temple, and it reached fifteen feet out from the front of the temple.

4And for the house he made windows of fixed lattice-work.

4He made recessed, latticed windows for the temple walls.

5And against the wall of the house he built stories round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle; and he made side-chambers round about.

5Against the outside walls of the main hall and the inner sanctuary, he built an annex with several stories of side rooms all around.

6The nethermost story was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad; for on the outside he made offsets in the wall of the house round about, that the beams should not have hold in the walls of the house.

6The bottom floor was seven and a half feet wide, the middle floor was nine feet wide, and the third floor was ten and a half feet wide. He built ledges into the outside of the temple wall so that the support beams would not have to be inserted into the temple walls themselves.

7And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready at the quarry; and there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.

7The temple was built with finished stones prepared at the quarry, so that no hammer, chisel, or any other iron tool was heard at the building site while it was being constructed.

8The door for the middle side-chambers was in the right side of the house: and they went up by winding stairs into the middle story, and out of the middle into the third.

8The entrance to the bottom floor was on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the middle floor and from there to the third floor.

9So he built the house, and finished it; and he covered the house with beams and planks of cedar.

9So Solomon finished building the temple structure and roofed it with beams and planks made of cedar.

10And he built the stories against all the house, each five cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.

10The annex he built along the entire temple was seven and a half feet high for each story, and it was attached to the temple by cedar beams.

11And the word of Jehovah came to Solomon, saying,

11Then the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying:

12Concerning this house which thou art building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute mine ordinances, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I establish my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father.

12'Regarding this temple you are building—if you follow my decrees, carry out my regulations, and obey all my commands by living according to them, I will fulfill the promise I made to your father David through you.

13And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.

13I will live among the Israelites and I will never abandon my people Israel.'

14So Solomon built the house, and finished it.

14So Solomon finished building the temple.

15And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar: from the floor of the house unto the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the house with boards of fir.

15He lined the interior walls with cedar boards, covering them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and he covered the floor of the temple with planks of pine.

16And he built twenty cubits on the hinder part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor unto the walls of the ceiling: he built them for it within, for an oracle, even for the most holy place.

16He partitioned off thirty feet at the back of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to create an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.

17And the house, that is, the temple before the oracle, was forty cubits long.

17The main hall in front of this inner sanctuary was sixty feet long.

18And there was cedar on the house within, carved with knops and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen.

18The cedar inside the temple was carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone could be seen.

19And he prepared an oracle in the midst of the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of Jehovah.

19He prepared the inner sanctuary inside the temple to house the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD.

20And within the oracle was a space of 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 covered the altar with cedar.

20The inner sanctuary was thirty feet long, thirty feet wide, and thirty feet high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the cedar altar.

21So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he drew chains of gold across before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold.

21Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was also overlaid with gold.

22And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until all the house was finished: also the whole altar that belonged to the oracle he overlaid with gold.

22He covered the entire interior of the temple with gold until it was finished. He also overlaid with gold the entire altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.

23And in the oracle he made two cherubim of olive-wood, each ten cubits high.

23Inside the inner sanctuary, he made two cherubim out of olive wood, each fifteen feet tall.

24And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits.

24Each wing of the first cherub was seven and a half feet long—fifteen feet from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other.

25And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubim were of one measure and one form.

25The second cherub was also fifteen feet wide. Both cherubim were identical in size and shape.

26The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub.

26Each cherub stood fifteen feet tall.

27And he set the cherubim within the inner house; and the wings of the cherubim were stretched forth, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house.

27He placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple. Their wings were spread out so that a wing of one touched one wall and a wing of the other touched the opposite wall, while their other wings met in the center of the room.

28And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

28He overlaid the cherubim with gold.

29And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm-trees and open flowers, within and without.

29He carved the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, with figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.

30And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.

30He also covered the floor of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold.

31And for the entrance of the oracle he made doors of olive-wood: the lintel and door-posts were a fifth part of the wall.

31For the entrance of the inner sanctuary, he made doors of olive wood; the doorframes had five sides.

32So he made two doors of olive-wood; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubim and palm-trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread the gold upon the cherubim, and upon the palm-trees.

32On the two olive wood doors, he carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and he overlaid them with gold, hammering the gold onto the carvings.

33So also made he for the entrance of the temple door-posts of olive-wood, out of a fourth part of the wall;

33In the same way, he made four-sided doorframes of olive wood for the entrance to the main hall.

34and two doors of fir-wood: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.

34He made two doors out of pine; each door had two folding panels.

35And he carved thereon cherubim and palm-trees and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold fitted upon the graven work.

35He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold, fitted evenly over the carvings.

36And he built the inner court with three courses of hewn stone, and a course of cedar beams.

36He built the inner courtyard with three rows of finished stone and one row of trimmed cedar beams.

37In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of Jehovah laid, in the month Ziv.

37The foundation of the LORD's temple was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv.

38And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it.

38In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul (the eighth month), the temple was finished in every detail according to all its plans. He spent seven years building it.