Solomon Builds the Temple^(A)

6 And ^(B)it came to pass in the four hundred and ^[a]eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of ^[b]Ziv, which is the second month, ^(C)that he began to build the house of the Lord. ² Now ^(D)the house which King Solomon built for the Lord, its length was sixty cubits, its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits. ³ The vestibule in front of the ^[c]sanctuary of the house was ^[d]twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the width of ^[e]the vestibule extended ^[f]ten cubits from the front of the house. ⁴ And he made for the house ^(E)windows with beveled frames.

⁵ Against the wall of the ^[g]temple he built ^(F)chambers all around, against the walls of the temple, all around the sanctuary ^(G)and the ^[h]inner sanctuary. Thus he made side chambers all around it. ⁶ The lowest chamber was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for he made narrow ledges around the outside of the temple, so that the support beams would not be fastened into the walls of the ^[i]temple. ⁷ And ^(H)the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built. ⁸ The doorway for the ^[j]middle story was on the right side of the temple. They went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle to the third.

^9 (I)So he built the ^[k]temple and finished it, and he paneled the temple with beams and boards of cedar. ¹⁰ And he built side chambers against the entire temple, each five cubits high; they were attached to the temple with cedar beams.

¹¹ Then the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying: ¹² “Concerning this ^[l]temple which you are building, ^(J)if you walk in My statutes, execute My judgments, keep all My commandments, and walk in them, then I will perform My ^[m]word with you, ^(K)which I spoke to your father David. ¹³ And ^(L)I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not ^(M)forsake My people Israel.”

¹⁴ So Solomon built the temple and finished it. ¹⁵ And he built the inside walls of the temple with cedar boards; from the floor of the temple to the ceiling he paneled the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the temple with planks of cypress. ¹⁶ Then he built the twenty-cubit room at the rear of the temple, from floor to ceiling, with cedar boards; he built it inside as the inner sanctuary, as the ^(N)Most Holy Place. ¹⁷ And in front of it the temple sanctuary was forty cubits long. ¹⁸ The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with ornamental buds and open flowers. All was cedar; there was no stone to be seen.

¹⁹ And he prepared the ^[n]inner sanctuary inside the temple, to set the ark of the covenant of the Lord there. ²⁰ The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. He overlaid it with pure gold, and overlaid the altar of cedar. ²¹ So Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold. He stretched gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. ²² The whole temple he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the temple; also he overlaid with gold ^(O)the entire altar that was by the inner sanctuary.

²³ Inside the inner sanctuary ^(P)he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. ²⁴ One wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub five cubits: ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. ²⁵ And the other cherub was ten cubits; both cherubim were of the same size and shape. ²⁶ The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other cherub. ²⁷ Then he set the cherubim inside the inner ^[o]room; and ^(Q)they stretched out the wings of the cherubim so that the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall. And their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. ²⁸ Also he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

²⁹ Then he carved all the walls of the temple all around, both the inner and outer sanctuaries, with carved ^(R)figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. ³⁰ And the floor of the temple he overlaid with gold, both the inner and outer sanctuaries.

³¹ For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood; the lintel and doorposts were ^[p]one-fifth of the wall. ³² The two doors were of olive wood; and he carved on them figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees. ³³ So for the door of the ^[q]sanctuary he also made doorposts of olive wood, ^[r]one-fourth of the wall. ³⁴ And the two doors were of cypress wood; ^(S)two panels comprised one folding door, and two panels comprised the other folding door. ³⁵ Then he carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on them, and overlaid them with gold applied evenly on the carved work.

³⁶ And he built the ^(T)inner court with three rows of hewn stone and a row of cedar beams.

^37 (U)In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of ^[s]Ziv. ³⁸ And in the eleventh year, in the month of ^[t]Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its details and according to all its plans. So he was ^(V)seven years in building it.

Solomon Builds the Temple^(A)

3 Now ^(B)Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at ^(C)Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where ^[a]the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of ^(D)Ornan^[b] the Jebusite. ² And he began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.

³ This is the foundation ^(E)which Solomon laid for building the house of God: The length was sixty cubits (by cubits according to the former measure) and the width twenty cubits. ⁴ And the ^(F)vestibule that was in front of ^[c]the sanctuary was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the height was ^[d]one hundred and twenty. He overlaid the inside with pure gold. ^5 (G)The larger ^[e]room he ^(H)paneled with cypress which he overlaid with fine gold, and he carved palm trees and chainwork on it. ⁶ And he decorated the house with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was gold from Parvaim. ⁷ He also overlaid the house—the beams and doorposts, its walls and doors—with gold; and he carved cherubim on the walls.

⁸ And he made the ^(I)Most Holy Place. Its length was according to the width of the house, twenty cubits, and its width twenty cubits. He overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold. ⁹ The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold; and he overlaid the upper ^(J)area with gold. ^10 (K)In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim, fashioned by carving, and overlaid them with gold. ¹¹ The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits in overall length: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub; ¹² one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing also was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub. ¹³ The wings of these cherubim spanned twenty cubits overall. They stood on their feet, and they faced inward. ¹⁴ And he made the ^(L)veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and wove cherubim into it.

¹⁵ Also he made in front of the ^[f]temple ^(M)two pillars ^[g]thirty-five cubits ^[h]high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. ¹⁶ He made wreaths of chainwork, as in the inner sanctuary, and put them on top of the pillars; and he made ^(N)one hundred pomegranates, and put them on the wreaths of chainwork. ¹⁷ Then he ^(O)set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left; he called the name of the one on the right hand ^[i]Jachin, and the name of the one on the left ^[j]Boaz.

A Song of Praise to the Sovereign Lord

Greeting

1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, ^(A)called to be an apostle, ^(B)separated to the gospel of God ^2 (C)which He promised before ^(D)through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, ³ concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who ^[a]was ^(E)born of the seed of David according to the flesh, ⁴ and ^(F)declared to be the Son of God with power according ^(G)to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. ⁵ Through Him ^(H)we have received grace and apostleship for ^(I)obedience to the faith among all nations ^(J)for His name, ⁶ among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;

⁷ To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, ^(K)called to be saints:

^(L)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Desire to Visit Rome

⁸ First, ^(M)I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that ^(N)your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. ⁹ For ^(O)God is my witness, ^(P)whom I serve ^[b]with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that ^(Q)without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, ¹⁰ making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. ¹¹ For I long to see you, that ^(R)I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established— ¹² that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by ^(S)the mutual faith both of you and me.

¹³ Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but ^(T)was hindered until now), that I might have some ^(U)fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. ¹⁴ I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. ¹⁵ So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.

The Just Live by Faith

¹⁶ For ^(V)I am not ashamed of the gospel ^[c]of Christ, for ^(W)it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, ^(X)for the Jew first and also for the Greek. ¹⁷ For ^(Y)in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ^(Z)“The just shall live by faith.”

God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness

^18 (AA)For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and ^(AB)unrighteousness of men, who ^[d]suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because ^(AC)what may be known of God is ^[e]manifest ^[f]in them, for ^(AD)God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world ^(AE)His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and ^[g]Godhead, so that they are without excuse, ²¹ because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but ^(AF)became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ^22 (AG)Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and changed the glory of the ^(AH)incorruptible ^(AI)God into an image made like ^[h]corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

^24 (AJ)Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, ^(AK)to dishonor their bodies ^(AL)among themselves, ²⁵ who exchanged ^(AM)the truth of God ^(AN)for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

²⁶ For this reason God gave them up to ^(AO)vile passions. For even their ^[i]women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. ²⁷ Likewise also the ^[j]men, leaving the natural use of the ^[k]woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

²⁸ And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things ^(AP)which are not fitting; ²⁹ being filled with all unrighteousness, ^[l]sexual immorality, wickedness, ^[m]covetousness, ^[n]maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, ³⁰ backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, ^31 [o]undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, ^[p]unforgiving, unmerciful; ³² who, ^(AQ)knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things ^(AR)are deserving of death, not only do the same but also ^(AS)approve of those who practice them.