1 Kings 6:1-22

New American Standard Bible

The Building of the Temple

6 ^(A)Now it came about in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, that is, the second month, that he ^[a]began to build the house of the Lord. ² And the house which King Solomon built for the Lord was ^[b]sixty cubits in its length, and twenty cubits in its width, and its height was thirty cubits. ³ The porch in front of the main room of the house was ^[c]twenty cubits in ^[d]length, ^[e]corresponding to the width of the house, and its width along the front of the house was ten cubits. ⁴ Also for the house ^(B)he made windows with artistic frames. ^5 (C)Against the wall of the house he built stories encompassing the walls of the house around both the main room and the ^[f](D)inner sanctuary; so he made ^(E)side chambers all around. ⁶ The lowest story was ^[g]five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for on the outside he ^[h]made offsets in the wall of the house all around so that the beams would not ^[i]be inserted into the walls of the house.

^7 (F)The house, while it was being built, was built of stone finished at the quarry, and neither hammer, nor axe, nor any iron tool was heard in the house while it was being built.

⁸ The doorway for the ^[j]lowest side chamber was on the right side of the house; and they would go up by a winding staircase to the middle story, and from the middle to the third. ⁹ So ^(G)he built the house and finished it; and he covered the house with beams and ^[k]planks of cedar. ¹⁰ He also built the stories against the whole house, each ^[l]five cubits high; and they ^[m]were attached to the house with timbers of cedar.

¹¹ Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying, ¹² “As for this house which you are building, ^(H)if you will walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will fulfill My word with you which I spoke to David your father. ¹³ And ^(I)I will dwell among the sons of Israel, and ^(J)will not abandon My people Israel.”

^14 (K)So Solomon built the house and finished it. ¹⁵ He ^(L)built the walls of the house on the inside with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house to the ^[n]ceiling he paneled the walls on the inside with wood, and he paneled the floor of the house with boards of juniper. ^16 (M)He also built ^[o]twenty cubits on the rear part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the ^[p]ceiling; he built them for it on the inside as an inner sanctuary, as ^(N)the Most Holy Place. ¹⁷ The house, that is, the main room in front of the inner sanctuary, was ^[q]forty cubits long. ¹⁸ There was cedar inside the house, carved in the shape of ^(O)gourds and open flowers; everything was cedar, there was no stone visible. ¹⁹ Then he prepared an inner sanctuary inside the house in order to place there the ark of the covenant of the Lord. ^20 [r]The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height; and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also paneled the altar with cedar. ²¹ So Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold. And he extended chains of gold across the front of the inner sanctuary, and he overlaid it with gold. ²² He overlaid the entire house with gold, until all the house was finished. Also ^(P)the entire altar which was by the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.