And it was in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv — that is, the second month — of Solomon’s reign over Israel, that he built the house for the LORD.
And the house that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits in its length, and twenty in its width, and thirty cubits in its height.
And the porch in front of the main hall of the house was twenty cubits in its length, across the width of the house; ten cubits was its depth, in front of the house.
And he made for the house windows with recessed frames.
The Chambers
And he built against the wall of the house a structure all around — against the walls of the house all around, both the main hall and the inner sanctuary; and he made side chambers all around.
The lowest story was five cubits in its width, and the middle six cubits in its width, and the third seven cubits in its width — for he made offsets in the wall of the house all around on the outside, so that nothing would be fastened into the walls of the house.
And the house, when it was being built, was built of stone finished at the quarry; and no hammer or axe — any tool of iron — was heard in the house while it was being built.
The entrance to the middle side chamber was on the south shoulder of the house; and by winding stairs they would go up to the middle story, and from the middle to the third.
So he built the house and finished it; and he roofed the house with beams and rows of cedar.
And he built the structure against the whole house, five cubits in its height; and it was fastened to the house with cedar timber.
God’s Promise to Solomon
And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying:
“This house that you are building — if you walk in my statutes and carry out my judgments, and keep all my commandments, to walk in them, then I will raise up my word with you, which I spoke to David your father.
And I will dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel, and I will not abandon my people Israel.”
The Temple’s Interior
And Solomon built the house and finished it.
And he built the walls of the house on the inside with boards of cedar — from the floor of the house up to the walls of the ceiling he overlaid it with wood on the inside; and he overlaid the floor of the house with boards of cypress.
And he built the twenty cubits at the rear of the house with boards of cedar, from the floor up to the walls; and he built it within as an inner sanctuary, as the holy of holies.
And the house — that is, the main hall in front — was forty cubits.
And the cedar on the house within was carved with gourds and open flowers; everything was cedar — no stone was seen.
And he prepared an inner sanctuary in the middle of the house, on the inside, to set there the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
And the front of the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in its height; and he overlaid it with pure gold, and he overlaid the altar with cedar.
And Solomon overlaid the house on the inside with pure gold; and he drew chains of gold across the front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold.
And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until all the house was finished; and the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.
The Cherubim
And in the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, ten cubits in height.
And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the second wing of the cherub — ten cubits from the tip of its wings to the tip of its wings.
And the second cherub was ten cubits; one measure and one form for the two cherubim.
The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the second cherub.
And he set the cherubim in the middle of the inner house; and the wings of the cherubim were spread out, so that the wing of the one touched the wall, and the wing of the second cherub was touching the second wall — and their wings toward the middle of the house were touching, wing to wing.
And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.
And all the walls of the house all around he carved with engraved carvings of cherubim, and palm trees, and open flowers — within and without.
And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.
The Doors
And for the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood; the lintel and doorposts were a fifth of the wall.
And on the two doors of olive wood he carved carvings of cherubim, and palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he hammered the gold down onto the cherubim and onto the palm trees.
And so he made for the entrance of the main hall doorposts of olive wood, a fourth of the wall,
and two doors of cypress wood: the two leaves of the one door turned on pivots, and the two leaves of the second door turned on pivots.
And he carved cherubim, and palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carved work.
The Courtyard
And he built the inner court: three rows of dressed stone, and a row of cut cedar beams.
In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid, in the month of Ziv;
and in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul — that is, the eighth month — the house was finished in all its parts and according to all its specifications. So he built it in seven years.
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