1 Kings 5-6

American Standard Version

5 And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David. ² And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, ³ Thou knowest how that David my father could not build a house for the name of Jehovah his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until Jehovah put them under the soles of his feet. ⁴ But now Jehovah my God hath given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary, nor evil occurrence. ⁵ And, behold, I purpose to build a house for the name of Jehovah my God, as Jehovah spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build the house for my name. ⁶ Now therefore command thou that they cut me cedar-trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants; and I will give thee hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt say: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that knoweth how to cut timber like unto the Sidonians.

⁷ And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be Jehovah this day, who hath given unto David a wise son over this great people. ⁸ And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have heard the message which thou hast sent unto me: I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of ^[a]fir. ⁹ My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea; and I will make them into rafts to go by sea unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be broken up there, and thou shalt ^[b]receive them; and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household. ¹⁰ So ^[c]Hiram gave Solomon timber of cedar and timber of fir according to all his desire. ¹¹ And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand ^[d]measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of ^[e]pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year. ¹² And Jehovah gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together.

¹³ And king Solomon raised a ^[f]levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men. ¹⁴ And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses; a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home: and Adoniram was over the men subject to taskwork. ¹⁵ And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand that were hewers in the mountains; ¹⁶ besides Solomon’s chief officers that were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, who bare rule over the people that wrought in the work. ¹⁷ And the king commanded, and they ^[g]hewed out great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with wrought stone. ¹⁸ And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites did fashion them, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house.

6 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, that he ^[h]began to build the house of Jehovah. ² And the house which king Solomon built for Jehovah, the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits. ³ And the porch before ^[i]the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house. ⁴ And for the house he made ^[j]windows of fixed lattice-work. ⁵ And against the wall of the house he built stories round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of ^[k]the oracle; and he made side-chambers round about. ⁶ The nethermost story was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad; for on the outside he made offsets in the wall of the house round about, that the beams should not have hold in the walls of the house. ⁷ And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready ^[l]at the quarry; and there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building. ⁸ The door for the middle side-chambers was in the right ^[m]side of the house: and they went up by winding stairs into the middle story, and out of the middle into the third. ⁹ So he built the house, and finished it; and he covered the house with beams and ^[n]planks of cedar. ¹⁰ And he built the stories against all the house, each five cubits high: and ^[o]they rested on the house with timber of cedar.

¹¹ And the word of Jehovah came to Solomon, saying, ¹² Concerning this house which thou art building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute mine ordinances, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I establish my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father. ¹³ And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.

¹⁴ So Solomon built the house, and finished it. ¹⁵ And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar: ^[p]from the floor of the house unto the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the house with boards of ^[q]fir. ¹⁶ And he built twenty cubits on the hinder part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor unto the walls of the ceiling: he built them for it within, for an oracle, even for the most holy place. ¹⁷ And the house, that is, the temple before the oracle, was forty cubits long. ¹⁸ And there was cedar on the house within, carved with ^[r]knops and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen. ¹⁹ And he prepared an oracle in the midst of the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of Jehovah. ²⁰ And within the oracle was a space of twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof; and he overlaid it with pure gold: ^[s]and he covered the altar with cedar. ²¹ So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he drew chains of gold across before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold. ²² And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until all the house was finished: also the whole altar that belonged to the oracle he overlaid with gold.

²³ And in the oracle he made two cherubim of olive-wood, each ten cubits high. ²⁴ And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits. ²⁵ And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubim were of one measure and one form. ²⁶ The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub. ²⁷ And he set the cherubim within the inner house; and the wings of the cherubim were stretched forth, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house. ²⁸ And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

²⁹ And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm-trees and open flowers, within and without. ³⁰ And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without. ³¹ And for the entrance of the oracle he made doors of olive-wood: the ^[t]lintel and door-posts were a fifth part of the wall. ³² So he made two doors of olive-wood; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubim and palm-trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread the gold upon the cherubim, and upon the palm-trees. ³³ So also made he for the entrance of the temple door-posts of olive-wood, out of a fourth part of the wall; ³⁴ and two doors of ^[u]fir-wood: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding. ³⁵ And he carved thereon cherubim and palm-trees and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold fitted upon the graven work. ³⁶ And he built the inner court with three courses of hewn stone, and a course of cedar beams.

³⁷ In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of Jehovah laid, in the month Ziv. ³⁸ And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished ^[v]throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it.