Solomon Builds the Temple

6 Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord. It was 480 years after the Israelites came out of Egypt. It was in the fourth year of Solomon’s rule over Israel. He started in the second month. That was the month of Ziv.

² The temple King Solomon built for the Lord was 90 feet long. It was 30 feet wide. And it was 45 feet high. ³ The temple had a porch in front of the main hall. The porch was as wide as the temple itself. It was 30 feet wide. It came out 15 feet from the front of the temple. ⁴ Solomon made narrow windows high up in the temple walls. ⁵ He built side rooms around the temple. They were built against the walls of the main hall and the Most Holy Room. ⁶ On the first floor the side rooms were seven and a half feet wide. On the second floor they were nine feet wide. And on the third floor they were ten and a half feet wide. Solomon made the walls of the temple thinner as they went up floor by floor. The result was ledges along the walls. So the floor beams of the side rooms rested on the ledges. The beams didn’t go into the temple walls.

⁷ All the stones used for building the temple were shaped where they were cut. So hammers, chisels and other iron tools couldn’t be heard where the temple was being built.

⁸ The entrance to the first floor was on the south side of the temple. A stairway led up to the second floor. From there it went on up to the third floor. ⁹ So Solomon built the temple and finished it. He made its roof out of beams and cedar boards. ¹⁰ He built side rooms all along the temple. Each room was seven and a half feet high. They were joined to the temple by cedar beams.

¹¹ A message came to Solomon from the Lord. The Lord said, ¹² “You are now building this temple. Follow my orders. Keep my rules. Obey all my commands. Then I will make the promise I gave your father David come true. I will do it through you. ¹³ I will live among my people Israel. I will not desert them.”

¹⁴ So Solomon built the temple and finished it. ¹⁵ He put cedar boards on its inside walls. He covered them from floor to ceiling. He covered the temple floor with juniper boards. ¹⁶ He put up a wall 30 feet from the back of the temple. He made it with cedar boards from floor to ceiling. That formed a room inside the temple. It was the Most Holy Room. ¹⁷ The main hall in front of the room was 60 feet long. ¹⁸ The inside of the temple was covered with cedar wood. Gourds and open flowers were carved on the wood. Everything was cedar. There wasn’t any stone showing anywhere.

¹⁹ Solomon prepared the Most Holy Room inside the temple. That’s where the ark of the covenant of the Lord would be placed. ²⁰ The Most Holy Room was 30 feet long. It was 30 feet wide. And it was 30 feet high. Solomon covered the inside of it with pure gold. He prepared the cedar altar for burning incense. He covered it with gold. ²¹ Solomon covered the inside of the main hall with pure gold. He placed gold chains across the front of the Most Holy Room. That room was covered with gold. ²² So Solomon covered the inside of the whole temple with gold. He also covered the altar for burning incense with gold. It was right in front of the Most Holy Room.

²³ For the Most Holy Room Solomon made a pair of cherubim. He made them out of olive wood. Each cherub was 15 feet high. ²⁴ One wing of the first cherub was seven and a half feet long. The other wing was also seven and a half feet long. So the wings measured 15 feet from tip to tip. ²⁵ The second cherub’s wings also measured 15 feet from tip to tip. The two cherubim had the same size and shape. ²⁶ Each cherub was 15 feet high. ²⁷ Solomon placed the cherubim inside the Most Holy Room in the temple. Their wings were spread out. The wing tip of one cherub touched one wall. The wing tip of the other touched the other wall. The tips of their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. ²⁸ Solomon covered the cherubim with gold.

²⁹ On the walls all around the temple he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers. He carved them on the walls of the Most Holy Room and the main hall. ³⁰ He also covered the floors of those two rooms with gold.

³¹ For the entrance to the Most Holy Room he made two doors out of olive wood. Each door was one-fifth of the width of the Most Holy Room. ³² On the two olive wood doors he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers. He covered the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold. ³³ In the same way he made olive wood doorposts for the entrance to the main hall. Each doorpost was one-fourth of the width of the hall. ³⁴ He also made two doors out of juniper wood. Each door had two parts. They turned in bases shaped like cups. ³⁵ He carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers on the doors. He covered the doors with gold. He hammered the gold evenly over the carvings.

³⁶ He used blocks of stone to build a wall around the inside courtyard. The first three layers of the wall were made out of stone. The top layer was made out of beautiful cedar wood.

³⁷ The foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid in Solomon’s fourth year. It was in the month of Ziv. ³⁸ The temple was finished in his 11th year. It was in the month of Bul. That was the eighth month. Everything was finished just as the plans required. Solomon had spent seven years building the temple.