Solomon Builds the Temple

6 So Solomon began to build the Temple. This was 480 years after the people of Israel had left Egypt. (This was the fourth year of King Solomon’s rule over Israel.) It was the second month, the month of Ziv.

² The Temple was 90 feet long and 30 feet wide. It was 45 feet high. ³ The porch in front of the main room of the Temple was 15 feet deep and 30 feet wide. The room ran along the front of the Temple itself. Its width was equal to the width of the Temple. ⁴ There were narrow windows in the Temple. These windows were narrow on the outside and larger on the inside. ⁵ Then Solomon built some side rooms against the walls of the main room of the Temple. These rooms were built on top of each other. ⁶ The rooms on the bottom floor were 7½ feet wide. The rooms on the middle floor were 9 feet wide. The rooms above that were 10½ feet wide. The Temple wall which made the side of each room was thinner than the wall in the room below. The rooms were pushed against the wall but did not have their main beams built into the wall.

⁷ The stones were prepared at the same place they were cut from the ground. Only these stones were used to build the Temple. So there was no noise of hammers, axes or any other iron tools at the Temple.

⁸ The entrance to the bottom rooms built beside the Temple was on the south side. From there, stairs went up to the second floor rooms. And from there, they went on to the third floor rooms. ⁹ Solomon put a roof made from beams and cedar boards on the Temple. So he finished building the Temple. ¹⁰ He also finished building the bottom floor that was beside the Temple. It was 7½ feet high. It was attached to the Temple by cedar beams.

¹¹ The Lord spoke his word to Solomon: ¹² “Obey all my laws and commands. If you do, I will do for you what I promised your father David. ¹³ And I will live among the children of Israel in this Temple you are building. I will never leave the people of Israel.”

¹⁴ So Solomon finished building the Temple. ¹⁵ The inside walls were covered from floor to ceiling with cedar boards. The floor was made from pine boards. ¹⁶ A room 30 feet long was built in the back part of the Temple. It was divided from the rest of the Temple by cedar boards reaching from floor to ceiling. It was called the Most Holy Place. ¹⁷ The main room, the room in front of the Most Holy Place, was 60 feet long. ¹⁸ Inside the Temple was cedar. It was carved with pictures of flowers and plants. Everything inside was covered with cedar. So a person could not see the stones of the wall.

¹⁹ He prepared the inner room at the back of the Temple to keep the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord. ²⁰ This inner room was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide and 30 feet high. Solomon covered this room with pure gold. He built an altar of cedar and covered it also. ²¹ He covered the inside of the Temple with pure gold. And he placed gold chains across the front of the inner room. It was covered with gold. ²² So all the inside of the Temple was covered with gold. Also the altar in the Most Holy Place was covered with gold.

²³ Solomon made two creatures with wings from olive wood. Each creature was 15 feet tall. They were put in the Most Holy Place. ²⁴ Each creature had two wings. Each wing was 7½ feet long. So it was 15 feet from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing. ²⁵ The creatures were the same size and shape. ²⁶ And each was 15 feet tall. ²⁷ These creatures were put beside each other in the Most Holy Place. Their wings were spread out. So one creature’s wing touched one wall. The other creature’s wing touched the other wall. And their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. ²⁸ The two creatures were covered with gold.

²⁹ All the walls around the Temple were carved. They were carved with pictures of creatures with wings, palm trees and flowers. This was true for both the main room and the inner room. ³⁰ The floors of both rooms were covered with gold.

³¹ Doors made from olive wood were put at the entrance to the Most Holy Place. The doors were made to fit into an area with five sides. ³² Creatures with wings, palm trees and flowers were carved on the two olive wood doors. Then the doors were covered with gold. And the creatures and the palm trees were covered with gold. ³³ At the entrance to the main room there was a door frame. It was square and was made of olive wood. ³⁴ Two doors were made from pine. Each door had two parts so that the doors folded. ³⁵ The doors were covered with pictures of creatures with wings, palm trees and flowers. And all of the carvings were covered with gold. The gold was smoothed over the carvings.

³⁶ The inner courtyard was built and enclosed with walls. The walls were made of three rows of cut stones and one row of cedar boards.

³⁷ Work began on the Temple in Ziv, the second month. This was during the fourth year Solomon ruled over Israel. ³⁸ The Temple was finished during the eleventh year Solomon ruled. It was finished in the eighth month, the month of Bul. It was finished exactly as it was planned. Solomon had worked seven years to build the Temple.