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1 Kings 6
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.

23 (Q)And in the inner sanctuary he made two [s]cherubim of olive wood, each [t]ten cubits high. 24 The one wing of the first cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the first cherub was five cubits; from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing were ten cubits. 25 The second cherub was ten cubits; both of the cherubim were of the same measurement and the same form. 26 The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was that of the other cherub. 27 He placed the cherubim in the midst of the inner house, and (R)the wings of the cherubim spread out so that the wing of the one was touching the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub was touching the other wall. And their wings were touching [u]end to [v]end in the center of the house. 28 He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

29 Then he carved all the surrounding walls of the house with engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, for the inner and outer sanctuaries. 30 And he overlaid the floor of the house with gold, for the inner and outer sanctuaries.

31 And for the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood, the lintel, and five-sided doorposts. 32 So he made two doors of olive wood, and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he overlaid the cherubim and the palm trees with gold.

33 So too he made for the entrance of the main room four-sided doorposts of olive wood, 34 and (S)two doors of juniper wood; the two leaves of the one door turned on pivots, and the two [w]leaves of the other door turned on pivots. 35 He carved on it cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold plated on the carved work. 36 And (T)he built the inner courtyard with three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams.

37 (U)In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of Ziv. 38 And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, that is, the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts and in accordance with all its plans. So he was seven years in building it.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 6:1 Lit built
  2. 1 Kings 6:2 About 90 ft. long, 30 ft. wide, and 45 ft. high or 27 m, 9 m, and 14 m
  3. 1 Kings 6:3 About 30 ft. long and 15 ft. deep or 9 m and 4.6 m
  4. 1 Kings 6:3 Lit its length
  5. 1 Kings 6:3 Lit on the face of
  6. 1 Kings 6:5 I.e., Most Holy Place
  7. 1 Kings 6:6 About 7.5 ft. wide, 9 ft. wide, and 11 ft. wide or 2.3 m, 2.7 m, and 3.3 m
  8. 1 Kings 6:6 Lit gave
  9. 1 Kings 6:6 Lit take hold
  10. 1 Kings 6:8 As in LXX and ancient versions; MT middle
  11. 1 Kings 6:9 Or rows
  12. 1 Kings 6:10 About 7.5 ft. or 2.3 m
  13. 1 Kings 6:10 Lit took hold
  14. 1 Kings 6:15 Lit walls of the ceiling
  15. 1 Kings 6:16 About 30 ft. or 9 m
  16. 1 Kings 6:16 Lit walls
  17. 1 Kings 6:17 About 60 ft. or 18 m
  18. 1 Kings 6:20 Lit Before the
  19. 1 Kings 6:23 Heb plural of cherub
  20. 1 Kings 6:23 About 15 ft. or 4.6 m
  21. 1 Kings 6:27 Lit wing
  22. 1 Kings 6:27 Lit wing
  23. 1 Kings 6:34 As in LXX; MT curtains
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1 Kings 6
Common English Bible

Solomon builds the temple

6 In the four hundred eightieth year after the Israelites left Egypt, in the month of Ziv, the second month,[a] in the fourth year of Solomon’s rule over Israel, he built the Lord’s temple. 2 The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was ninety feet long, thirty feet wide, and forty-five feet high. 3 The porch in front of the temple’s main hall was thirty feet long. It ran across the whole width of the temple and extended fifteen feet in front of the temple. 4 He made recessed and latticed windows[b] for the temple 5 and built side rooms against the temple walls around both the main hall and the most holy place. 6 The lower walls were seven and a half feet wide. At the second floor the walls were nine feet wide, and at the third floor they were ten and a half feet wide. He made niches around the outside of the temple so the beams wouldn’t be inserted into the temple walls.[c] 7 When the temple was built, they did all the stonecutting at the quarry. No hammers, axes, or any iron tools were heard in the temple during its construction. 8 The door to the stairs was at the south side of the temple. Winding stairs went up to the second floor and from there to the third floor. 9 He completed the temple with a roof of cedar beams and cross-planks.[d] 10 Then he built the side rooms all around the temple. They were seven and a half feet high. He attached them to the temple with cedarwood.

11 The Lord’s word came to Solomon, 12 Regarding this temple that you are building: If you follow my laws, enact my regulations, and keep all my commands faithfully, then I will fulfill for you my promise that I made to your father David. 13 I will live among the Israelites. I won’t abandon my people Israel.

14 So Solomon constructed the temple and completed it. 15 He built the walls within the temple with cedar planks, paneled from the floor to the ceiling. He overlaid the floor of the temple with pine planks. 16 At the back of the temple he built thirty feet of cedar panels from the floor to the ceiling. Solomon built the inner sanctuary, the most holy place. 17 In front of this, the main hall was sixty feet. 18 The cedar inside the temple was carved with gourds and blossoming flowers. The whole thing was cedar. No stone was seen. 19 He set up the inner sanctuary inside the temple so that he could put the chest containing the Lord’s covenant there. 20 The inner sanctuary was thirty feet in length, width, and height. Solomon overlaid it with pure gold and covered the altar with cedar.[e] 21 Solomon covered the temple’s interior with pure gold. He placed gold chains in front of the inner sanctuary and covered it with gold. 22 He overlaid the whole temple inside with gold until the temple was completely covered. He covered the whole altar that was in the inner sanctuary with gold. 23 He made two winged creatures of olive wood for the inner sanctuary, each fifteen feet high. 24 The wings of the first winged creature were each seven and a half feet long. It was fifteen feet from the end of one wing to the end of the other. 25 The second winged creature also measured fifteen feet. Both winged creatures had identical measurements and form. 26 The height of both winged creatures was fifteen feet. 27 Solomon placed the winged creatures inside the temple. Their wings spread out so that the wing of the one touched one wall and the wing of the other touched the other wall. In the middle of the temple, the wings of the two winged creatures touched each other. 28 He covered the winged creatures with gold.

29 Solomon carved all the walls of the temple—inner and outer rooms—with engravings of winged creatures, palm trees, and blossoming flowers. 30 He also covered the floor of the temple with gold, in both the inner and the outer rooms. 31 He made the doors of the inner sanctuary from olive wood and carved the doorframes with five recesses.[f] 32 He overlaid the two olive-wood doors with gold-plated carvings of winged creatures, palm trees, and blossoming flowers. 33 He made the door of the main hall with doorframes of olive wood with four recesses.[g] 34 The two doors of pinewood each pivoted on a socket. 35 Solomon carved winged creatures, palm trees, and blossoming flowers, and covered them with gold. 36 He built the inner courtyard with three rows of cut stone followed by one row of trimmed cedar.

37 Solomon laid the foundation of the Lord’s temple in the fourth year in the month of Ziv.[h] 38 He finished the temple in all its details and measurements in the eleventh year during the eighth month, the month of Bul.[i] He built it in seven years.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 6:1 April–May, Iyar; Ziv is a month from a Canaanite calendar.
  2. 1 Kings 6:4 Heb architectural and decorative terminology in 6:4-6 and elsewhere in chaps 6–7 is often uncertain.
  3. 1 Kings 6:6 Heb uncertain; Heb lacks the beams.
  4. 1 Kings 6:9 Heb uncertain
  5. 1 Kings 6:20 Heb uncertain
  6. 1 Kings 6:31 Heb uncertain
  7. 1 Kings 6:33 Heb uncertain
  8. 1 Kings 6:37 April–May, Iyar; Ziv is a month in the Canaanite calendar.
  9. 1 Kings 6:38 October–November, Heshvan; Bul is a month in the Canaanite calendar.
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