Solomon Builds the Temple

6 Solomon began to build the Temple four hundred eighty years after the people of Israel had left Egypt. This was during the fourth year of King Solomon’s rule over Israel. It was the second month, the month of Ziv.

² The Temple was ninety feet long, thirty feet wide, and forty-five feet high. ³ The porch in front of the main room of the Temple was fifteen feet deep and thirty feet wide. This room ran along the front of the Temple itself. Its width was equal to that of the Temple. ⁴ The Temple also had windows that opened and closed. ⁵ Solomon also built some side rooms against the walls of the main room and the inner room of the Temple. He built rooms all around. ⁶ The rooms on the bottom floor were seven and one-half feet wide. Those on the middle floor were nine feet wide, and the rooms above them were ten and one-half feet wide. The Temple wall that formed the side of each room was thinner than the wall in the room below. These rooms were pushed against the Temple wall, but they did not have their main beams built into this wall.

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

⁸ The entrance to the lower rooms beside the Temple was on the south side. From there, stairs went up to the second-floor rooms. And from there, stairs 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 as well as the bottom floor that was beside the Temple. This bottom floor was seven and one-half feet high and was attached to the Temple by cedar beams.

¹¹ The Lord said to Solomon: ¹² “If you obey all my laws and commands, I will do for you what I promised your father David. ¹³ I will live among the Israelites in this Temple, and I will never leave my people 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 thirty feet long was built in the back part of the Temple. This room, called the Most Holy Place, was separated from the rest of the Temple by cedar boards which reached from floor to ceiling. ¹⁷ The main room, the one in front of the Most Holy Place, was sixty feet long. ¹⁸ Everything inside the Temple was covered with cedar, which was carved with pictures of flowers and plants. A person could not see the stones of the wall, only the cedar.

¹⁹ Solomon prepared the inner room at the back of the Temple to keep the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord. ²⁰ This inner room was thirty feet long, thirty feet wide, and thirty feet high. He covered this room with pure gold, and he also covered the altar of cedar. ²¹ He covered the inside of the Temple with pure gold, placing gold chains across the front of the inner room, which was also covered with gold. ²² So all the inside of the Temple, as well as the altar of the Most Holy Place, was covered with gold.

²³ Solomon made two creatures from olive wood and placed them in the Most Holy Place. Each creature was fifteen feet tall ²⁴ and had two wings. Each wing was seven and one-half feet long, so it was fifteen feet from the end of one wing to the end of the other. ²⁵ The creatures were the same size and shape; ²⁶ each was fifteen feet tall. ²⁷ These creatures were put beside each other in the Most Holy Place with their wings spread out. One creature’s wing touched one wall, and the other creature’s wing touched the other wall with their wings touching each other in the middle of the room. ²⁸ These two creatures were covered with gold.

²⁹ All the walls around the Temple were carved with pictures of creatures with wings, as well as 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 placed at the entrance to the Most Holy Place. These doors had five-sided frames. ³² Creatures with wings, as well as palm trees and flowers, were also carved on the two olive wood doors that were covered with gold. The creatures and the palm trees on the doors were covered with gold as well. ³³ At the entrance to the main room there was a square door frame made of olive wood. ³⁴ Two doors were made from pine. Each door had two parts so the doors folded. ³⁵ The doors were covered with pictures of creatures with wings, as well as palm trees and flowers. All of the carvings were covered with gold, which was evenly spread over them.

³⁶ The inner courtyard was enclosed by walls, which 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, during the fourth year Solomon was king over Israel. ³⁸ The Temple was finished during the eleventh year he was king, in the eighth month, the month of Bul. It was built exactly as it was planned. Solomon had spent seven years building it.