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2 Chronicles 3
International Children’s Bible
2 Chronicles 3
International Children’s Bible
Solomon Builds the Temple
3 Solomon began to build the Temple of the Lord. He built it in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah. This was where the Lord had appeared to David, Solomon’s father. Solomon built the Temple on the place David had prepared. This place was the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 2 Solomon began building in the second month of the fourth year he ruled Israel.
3 Solomon used these measurements for building the Temple of God. It was 90 feet long and 30 feet wide. (Solomon used the old measurement.) 4 The porch in front of the Temple was 30 feet long and 30 feet high.
Solomon covered the inside of the porch with pure gold. 5 He put panels of pine on the walls of the main room. Then he covered them with pure gold. And he put designs of palm trees and chains in the gold. 6 He put gems in the Temple for beauty. And he used gold from Parvaim.[a] 7 Solomon put gold on the Temple’s ceiling beams, doorposts, walls and doors. And he carved creatures with wings on the walls.
8 Then Solomon made the Most Holy Place. It was 30 feet long and 30 feet wide. It was as wide as the Temple. He covered its walls with about 46,000 pounds of pure gold. 9 The gold nails weighed over a pound. Solomon also covered the upper rooms with gold.
10 He made two creatures with wings for the Most Holy Place. He made them out of hot liquid gold. 11 The wings of the gold creatures were spread out. Together, they were 30 feet across. One wing of one creature touched the Temple wall. The wing was 7½ feet long. The creature’s other wing touched a wing of the second creature. This wing was also 7½ feet long. 12 One wing of the second creature touched the other side of the room. It was also 7½ feet long. The second creature’s other wing touched the first creature’s wing. This wing was also 7½ feet long. 13 Together, the creatures’ wings were 30 feet across. The creatures stood on their feet. They looked inside toward the main room.
14 Solomon made the curtain of blue, purple and red thread and expensive linen. And he put designs of creatures with wings in it.
15 Solomon made two pillars to stand in front of the Temple. They were about 52 feet tall. The capital of each pillar was over 7 feet tall. 16 Solomon made a net of chains. He put them on the tops of the pillars. He made 100 pomegranates and put them on the chains. 17 Then Solomon put the pillars up in front of the Temple. One pillar stood on the south side. The other stood on the north. He named the south pillar He Establishes. And he named the north pillar In Him Is Strength.
Footnotes
- 3:6 Parvaim There was much gold there. It may have been in the country of Ophir.
2 Chronicles 3
English Standard Version
2 Chronicles 3
English Standard Version
Solomon Builds the Temple
3 (A)Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem (B)on Mount Moriah, where the Lord[a] had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, (C)on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2 He began to build in the second month of the fourth year of his reign. 3 These are Solomon's (D)measurements[b] for building the house of God: (E)the length, in cubits[c] of the old standard, was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. 4 The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house,[d] and its height was 120 cubits. He overlaid it on the inside with pure gold. 5 (F)The nave he lined with cypress and covered it with fine gold (G)and made palms and chains on it. 6 He adorned the house with settings of precious stones. The gold was gold of Parvaim. 7 So he lined the house with gold—its beams, its thresholds, its walls, and its doors—(H)and he carved cherubim on the walls.
8 (I)And he made the Most Holy Place. Its length, corresponding to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and its breadth was twenty cubits. He overlaid it with 600 talents[e] of fine gold. 9 The weight of gold for the nails was fifty shekels.[f] And he overlaid (J)the upper chambers with gold.
10 (K)In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim of wood[g] and overlaid[h] them with gold. 11 The wings of the cherubim together extended twenty cubits: one wing of the one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub; 12 and of this cherub, one wing, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and the other wing, also of five cubits, was joined to the wing of the first cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits. The cherubim[i] stood on their feet, (L)facing the nave. 14 (M)And he made the veil of blue and purple and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and he worked cherubim on it.
15 (N)In front of the house he made two pillars thirty-five cubits high, with a capital of five cubits on the top of each. 16 He made chains like a necklace[j] and put them on the tops of the pillars, and he made a hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains. 17 (O)He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the south, the other on the north; that on the south he called Jachin, and that on the north Boaz.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 3:1 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks the Lord
- 2 Chronicles 3:3 Syriac; Hebrew foundations
- 2 Chronicles 3:3 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
- 2 Chronicles 3:4 Compare 1 Kings 6:3; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- 2 Chronicles 3:8 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms
- 2 Chronicles 3:9 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
- 2 Chronicles 3:10 Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- 2 Chronicles 3:10 Hebrew they overlaid
- 2 Chronicles 3:13 Hebrew they
- 2 Chronicles 3:16 Hebrew chains in the inner sanctuary
2 Chronicles 3
New International Version
2 Chronicles 3
New International Version
Solomon Builds the Temple(A)
3 Then Solomon began to build(B) the temple of the Lord(C) in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah[a](D) the Jebusite, the place provided by David. 2 He began building on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.(E)
3 The foundation Solomon laid for building the temple of God was sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wide[b](F) (using the cubit of the old standard). 4 The portico at the front of the temple was twenty cubits[c] long across the width of the building and twenty[d] cubits high.
He overlaid the inside with pure gold. 5 He paneled the main hall with juniper and covered it with fine gold and decorated it with palm tree(G) and chain designs. 6 He adorned the temple with precious stones. And the gold he used was gold of Parvaim. 7 He overlaid the ceiling beams, doorframes, walls and doors of the temple with gold, and he carved cherubim(H) on the walls.
8 He built the Most Holy Place,(I) its length corresponding to the width of the temple—twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. He overlaid the inside with six hundred talents[e] of fine gold. 9 The gold nails(J) weighed fifty shekels.[f] He also overlaid the upper parts with gold.
10 For the Most Holy Place he made a pair(K) of sculptured cherubim and overlaid them with gold. 11 The total wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits[g] long and touched the temple wall, while its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the other cherub. 12 Similarly one wing of the second cherub was five cubits long and touched the other temple wall, and its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the first cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim(L) extended twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, facing the main hall.[h]
14 He made the curtain(M) of blue, purple and crimson yarn and fine linen, with cherubim(N) worked into it.
15 For the front of the temple he made two pillars,(O) which together were thirty-five cubits[i] long, each with a capital(P) five cubits high. 16 He made interwoven chains[j](Q) and put them on top of the pillars. He also made a hundred pomegranates(R) and attached them to the chains. 17 He erected the pillars in the front of the temple, one to the south and one to the north. The one to the south he named Jakin[k] and the one to the north Boaz.[l]
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 3:1 Hebrew Ornan, a variant of Araunah
- 2 Chronicles 3:3 That is, about 90 feet long and 30 feet wide or about 27 meters long and 9 meters wide
- 2 Chronicles 3:4 That is, about 30 feet or about 9 meters; also in verses 8, 11 and 13
- 2 Chronicles 3:4 Some Septuagint and Syriac manuscripts; Hebrew and a hundred and twenty
- 2 Chronicles 3:8 That is, about 23 tons or about 21 metric tons
- 2 Chronicles 3:9 That is, about 1 1/4 pounds or about 575 grams
- 2 Chronicles 3:11 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters; also in verse 15
- 2 Chronicles 3:13 Or facing inward
- 2 Chronicles 3:15 That is, about 53 feet or about 16 meters
- 2 Chronicles 3:16 Or possibly made chains in the inner sanctuary; the meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
- 2 Chronicles 3:17 Jakin probably means he establishes.
- 2 Chronicles 3:17 Boaz probably means in him is strength.
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English Standard Version (ESV) 
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