Chronological

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

5 Now King Hiram was the king of Tyre. He had always been a friend of David. Hiram heard that Solomon had been made king in David’s place. So he sent his messengers to Solomon. ² Then Solomon sent this message back to King Hiram: ³ “You remember that my father David had to fight many wars with the countries around him. So he was never able to build a temple for worship to the Lord his God. David was waiting until the Lord allowed him to defeat all his enemies. ⁴ But now the Lord my God has given me peace. There is peace on all sides of my country. I have no enemies now. My people are in no danger.

⁵ “The Lord made a promise to my father David. The Lord said, ‘I will make your son king after you. And he will build a temple for worship to me.’ Now, I plan to build that temple for worship to the Lord my God. ⁶ And so I ask for your help. Send your men to cut down cedar trees for me from Lebanon. My servants will work with yours. I will pay your servants whatever wages you decide. We don’t have anyone who can cut down trees as well as the people of Sidon can.”

⁷ When Hiram heard what Solomon asked, he was very happy. He said, “I thank the Lord today! He has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation!” ⁸ Then Hiram sent back this message to Solomon: “I received the message you sent. I will give you all the cedar and pine trees you want. ⁹ My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea. There I will tie them together. Then I will float them down the shore to the place you choose. There I will separate the logs, and you can take them away. In return you will give food to all those who live with me.” ¹⁰ So Hiram gave Solomon as much cedar and pine as he wanted. ¹¹ And Solomon gave Hiram about 125,000 bushels of wheat each year. It was to feed all those who lived with Hiram. And Solomon gave him about 115,000 gallons of pure olive oil every year.

¹² The Lord gave wisdom to Solomon as he had promised. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon. These two kings made a treaty between themselves.

¹³ King Solomon forced 30,000 men of Israel to help in this work. ¹⁴ He put a man named Adoniram over them. Solomon sent a group of 10,000 men each month to Lebanon. So each group worked in Lebanon one month. Then it went home for two months. ¹⁵ Solomon forced 80,000 men to work in the hill country, cutting stone. And he had 70,000 men to carry the stones. ¹⁶ There were also 3,300 men who directed the workers. ¹⁷ King Solomon commanded them to cut large blocks of fine stone. These were to be used for the foundation of the Temple. ¹⁸ Solomon’s and Hiram’s builders and the men from Byblos carved the stones. They prepared the stones and the logs for building the Temple.

Solomon Builds the Temple

6 So Solomon began to build the Temple. This was 480 years after the people of Israel had left Egypt. (This was the fourth year of King Solomon’s rule over Israel.) It was the second month, the month of Ziv.

² The Temple was 90 feet long and 30 feet wide. It was 45 feet high. ³ The porch in front of the main room of the Temple was 15 feet deep and 30 feet wide. The room ran along the front of the Temple itself. Its width was equal to the width of the Temple. ⁴ There were narrow windows in the Temple. These windows were narrow on the outside and larger on the inside. ⁵ Then Solomon built some side rooms against the walls of the main room of the Temple. These rooms were built on top of each other. ⁶ The rooms on the bottom floor were 7½ feet wide. The rooms on the middle floor were 9 feet wide. The rooms above that were 10½ feet wide. The Temple wall which made the side of each room was thinner than the wall in the room below. The rooms were pushed against the wall but did not have their main beams built into the wall.

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

⁸ The entrance to the bottom rooms built beside the Temple was on the south side. From there, stairs went up to the second floor rooms. And from there, they 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 He also finished building the bottom floor that was beside the Temple. It was 7½ feet high. It was attached to the Temple by cedar beams.

¹¹ The Lord spoke his word to Solomon: ¹² “Obey all my laws and commands. If you do, I will do for you what I promised your father David. ¹³ And I will live among the children of Israel in this Temple you are building. I will never leave the people of 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 30 feet long was built in the back part of the Temple. It was divided from the rest of the Temple by cedar boards reaching from floor to ceiling. It was called the Most Holy Place. ¹⁷ The main room, the room in front of the Most Holy Place, was 60 feet long. ¹⁸ Inside the Temple was cedar. It was carved with pictures of flowers and plants. Everything inside was covered with cedar. So a person could not see the stones of the wall.

¹⁹ He prepared the inner room at the back of the Temple to keep the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord. ²⁰ This inner room was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide and 30 feet high. Solomon covered this room with pure gold. He built an altar of cedar and covered it also. ²¹ He covered the inside of the Temple with pure gold. And he placed gold chains across the front of the inner room. It was covered with gold. ²² So all the inside of the Temple was covered with gold. Also the altar in the Most Holy Place was covered with gold.

²³ Solomon made two creatures with wings from olive wood. Each creature was 15 feet tall. They were put in the Most Holy Place. ²⁴ Each creature had two wings. Each wing was 7½ feet long. So it was 15 feet from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing. ²⁵ The creatures were the same size and shape. ²⁶ And each was 15 feet tall. ²⁷ These creatures were put beside each other in the Most Holy Place. Their wings were spread out. So one creature’s wing touched one wall. The other creature’s wing touched the other wall. And their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. ²⁸ The two creatures were covered with gold.

²⁹ All the walls around the Temple were carved. They were carved with pictures of creatures with wings, 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 put at the entrance to the Most Holy Place. The doors were made to fit into an area with five sides. ³² Creatures with wings, palm trees and flowers were carved on the two olive wood doors. Then the doors were covered with gold. And the creatures and the palm trees were covered with gold. ³³ At the entrance to the main room there was a door frame. It was square and was made of olive wood. ³⁴ Two doors were made from pine. Each door had two parts so that the doors folded. ³⁵ The doors were covered with pictures of creatures with wings, palm trees and flowers. And all of the carvings were covered with gold. The gold was smoothed over the carvings.

³⁶ The inner courtyard was built and enclosed with walls. The walls 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. This was during the fourth year Solomon ruled over Israel. ³⁸ The Temple was finished during the eleventh year Solomon ruled. It was finished in the eighth month, the month of Bul. It was finished exactly as it was planned. Solomon had worked seven years to build the Temple.

Solomon Prepares for the Temple

2 Solomon decided to build a temple as a place to worship the Lord. He also decided to build a palace for himself. ² He chose 70,000 men to carry things. He chose 80,000 men to cut stone in the mountains. And he chose 3,600 men to direct the workers.

³ Then Solomon sent a message to Hiram king of the city of Tyre. Solomon said:

¹¹ Then Hiram king of Tyre answered Solomon with this letter:

¹² Hiram also said:

¹⁷ Solomon counted all the foreigners living in Israel. This was after the time his father David had counted the people. There were 153,600 foreigners in the country. ¹⁸ Solomon chose 70,000 of them to carry things. He chose 80,000 of them to cut stone in the mountains. And he chose 3,600 of them to direct the workers. They were to keep the people working.

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.