The Outside of the Temple Is Completed

6 Solomon's workers started building the temple during Ziv,^[a] 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.

² The inside of the Lord's temple was 27 meters long, 9 meters wide, and 13.5 meters high. ³ A four-and-a-half-meter porch went all the way across the front of the temple. ⁴ The windows were narrow on the outside but wide on the inside.

^5-6 Along 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.

⁷ Solomon 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.

⁸ The entrance to the bottom storage rooms was on the south side of the building, and stairs to the other rooms were also there. ⁹ The roof of the temple was made out of beams and cedar boards.

The workers finished building the outside of the temple. ¹⁰ Storage rooms just over two meters high were all around the temple, and they were attached to the temple by cedar beams.

¹¹ The Lord told Solomon:

^12-13 If 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.

¹⁴ So Solomon's workers finished building the temple.

The Inside of the Temple Is Furnished

(2 Chronicles 3.8-14)

¹⁵ The floor of the temple was made out of pine, and the walls were lined with cedar from floor to ceiling.^[b]

^16 (A) The most holy place was in the back of the temple, and it was nine meters square. Cedar boards standing from floor to ceiling^[c] separated it from the rest of the temple. ¹⁷ The temple's main room was 18 meters long, and it was in front of the most holy place.

¹⁸ The inside walls were lined with cedar to hide the stones, and the cedar was decorated with carvings of gourds and flowers.

¹⁹ The sacred chest was kept in the most holy place. ^20-22 (B) 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 (C) Solomon had two statues of winged creatures^[d] made from olive wood to put in the most holy place. Each creature was four and a half meters tall ^24-26 and four and a half meters across. They had two wings, and the wings were just over two meters long. ²⁷ Solomon put them next to each other in the most holy place. Their wings were spread out and reached across the room. ²⁸ The creatures were also covered with gold.

²⁹ The walls of the two rooms were decorated with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures. ³⁰ Even the floor was covered with gold.

^31-32 The 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.

^33-34 The two doors to the main room of the temple were made out of pine, and each one had two sections^[e] so they could fold open. The door frame was shaped like a rectangle and was made out of olive wood. ³⁵ The doors were covered with gold and were decorated with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures.

³⁶ The inner courtyard of the temple had walls made out of three layers of cut stones with one layer of cedar beams.

³⁷ Work began on the temple during Ziv,^[f] the second month of the year, four years after Solomon became king of Israel. ³⁸ Seven years later the workers finished building it during Bul,^[g] the eighth month of the year. It was built exactly as it had been planned.

The Temple Is Built

(1 Kings 6.1-38)

3 ^1-2 (A) Solomon's workers began building the temple in Jerusalem on the second day of the second month,^[a] four years after Solomon had become king of Israel. It was built on Mount Moriah where the Lord had appeared to David at the threshing place that had belonged to Araunah^[b] from Jebus.

³ The inside of the temple was 27 meters long and 9 meters wide, according to the older standards.^{[c] 4} Across the front of the temple was a porch 9 meters wide and 9 meters^[d] high. The inside walls of the porch were covered with pure gold.

⁵ Solomon had the inside walls of the temple's main room paneled first with pine and then with a layer of gold, and he had them decorated with carvings of palm trees and designs that looked like chains. ⁶ He used precious stones to decorate the temple, and he used gold imported from Parvaim^{[e] 7} to decorate the ceiling beams, the doors, the door frames, and the walls. Solomon also told the workers to carve designs of winged creatures into the walls.

^8 (B) The most holy place was nine meters square, and its walls were covered with over 20 tons of fine gold. ⁹ Five hundred and seventy grams of gold was used to cover the heads of the nails. The walls of the small storage rooms were also covered with gold.^[f]

^10 (C) Solomon had two statues of winged creatures^[g] made to put in the most holy place, and he covered them with gold. ^11-13 Each creature had two wings and was four and a half meters from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other wing. Solomon set them next to each other in the most holy place, facing the doorway. Their wings were spread out and reached all the way across the nine-meter room.

^14 (D) A curtain^[h] was made of fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool, and embroidered with designs of winged creatures.

The Two Columns

(1 Kings 7.15-22)

¹⁵ Two columns were made for the entrance to the temple. Each one was 16 meters tall and had a cap on top that was over 2 meters high. ¹⁶ The top of each column was decorated with designs that looked like chains^[i] and with 100 carvings of pomegranates.^{[j] 17} Solomon had one of the columns placed on the south side of the temple's entrance; it was called Jachin.^[k] The other one was placed on the north side of the entrance; it was called Boaz.^[l]

The Sacred Tent

(Exodus 35.4-9)

25 The Lord said to Moses:

² Tell everyone in Israel who wants to give gifts that they must bring them to you. ³ Here is a list of what you are to collect: Gold, silver, and bronze; ⁴ blue, purple, and red wool; fine linen; goat hair; ⁵ tanned ram skins; fine leather; acacia wood; ⁶ olive oil for the lamp; sweet-smelling spices to mix with the incense and with the oil for dedicating the tent and ordaining the priests; ⁷ and onyx^[a] stones and other gems for the sacred vest and the breastpiece. ⁸ I also want them to build a special place where I can live among my people. ⁹ Make it and its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.

The Sacred Chest

(Exodus 37.1-9)

The Lord said to Moses:

¹⁰ Tell the people to build a chest of acacia wood 110 centimeters long, 66 centimeters wide, and 66 centimeters high. ¹¹ Cover it inside and out with pure gold and put a gold edging around the lid. ¹² Make four gold rings and attach one of them to each of the four legs of the chest. ¹³ Make two poles of acacia wood. Cover them with gold ¹⁴ and put them through the rings, so the chest can be carried by the poles. ¹⁵ Don't ever remove the poles from the rings. ¹⁶ When I give you the Ten Commandments written on two flat stones, put them inside the chest.

^17 (A) Make the lid of the chest out of pure gold. ^18-19 Then hammer out two winged creatures of pure gold and fasten them to the lid at the ends of the chest. ²⁰ The creatures must face each other with their wings spread over the chest. ²¹ Inside it place the two flat stones with the Ten Commandments on them and put the gold lid on top of the chest. ²² I will meet you there^[b] between the two creatures and tell you what my people must do and what they must not do.

The Table for the Sacred Bread

(Exodus 37.10-16)

The Lord said:

²³ Make a table of acacia wood 88 centimeters long, 44 centimeters wide, and 66 centimeters high. ^24-25 Cover it with pure gold and put a gold edging around it with a border 75 millimeters thick.^{[c] 26} Make four gold rings and attach one to each of the legs ^27-28 near the edging. The poles for carrying the table are to be placed through these rings and are to be made of acacia wood covered with gold. ^29-30 (B) The table is to be kept in the holy place, and the sacred loaves of bread must always be on it. All bowls, plates, jars, and cups for wine offerings are to be made of pure gold and set on this table.

The Lampstand

(Exodus 37.17-24)

The Lord said:

³¹ Make a lampstand of pure gold. The whole lampstand, including its decorative flowers, must be made from a single piece of hammered gold ³² with three branches on each of its two sides. ³³ There are to be three decorative almond blossoms on each branch ³⁴ and four on the stem. ³⁵ There must also be a blossom where each pair of branches comes out from the stem. ³⁶ The lampstand, including its branches and decorative flowers, must be made from a single piece of hammered pure gold. ³⁷ The lamp on the top and those at the end of each of its six branches must be made so as to shine toward the front of the lampstand. ³⁸ The tongs and trays for taking care of the lamps are to be made of pure gold. ³⁹ The lampstand and its equipment will require 35 kilograms of pure gold, ^40 (C) and they must be made according to the pattern I showed you on the mountain.