Chronological

5 ^(4:21) Shlomo ruled over all the kingdoms from the [Euphrates] River through the land of the P’lishtim to the border of Egypt; they paid tribute and served Shlomo as long as he lived. ^2 (4:22) Shlomo’s provisions for one day consisted of 150 bushels of fine flour, 310 bushels of meal, ^3 (4:23) ten fattened oxen, twenty pasture-fed oxen and one hundred sheep, in addition to deer, gazelles, roebucks and fattened poultry. ^4 (4:24) For he ruled all the area this side of the [Euphrates] River, from Tifsach to ‘Azah. He was over all the kings on this side of the River; and he had peace all around him, on every side. ^5 (4:25) From Dan to Be’er-Sheva, Y’hudah and Isra’el lived securely, every man under his vine and fig tree, throughout the lifetime of Shlomo. ^6 (4:26) Shlomo also had 40,000 stalls for the horses used with his chariots and 12,000 horsemen.

^7 (4:27) Those officers [named above] supplied food and other materials for King Shlomo and for everyone for whom Shlomo provided. Each was responsible for his month’s supplies; they saw to it that nothing was lacking. ^8 (4:28) They also made sure there was barley and straw where it was needed for the horses and draft animals; each filled his quota.

^9 (4:29) God gave Shlomo exceptional wisdom and understanding, as well as a heart as vast as the sandy beach by the sea. ^10 (4:30) Shlomo’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of the people from the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. ^11 (4:31) For he was wiser than everyone — wiser than Eitan the Ezrachi and wiser than Heiman, Kalkol and Darda the sons of Machol; so that his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. ^12 (4:32) He composed 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs. ^13 (4:33) He could discuss trees, from the cedar in the L’vanon to the hyssop growing out of the wall; he could discuss wild animals, poultry, reptiles and fish. ^14 (4:34) People from all nations came to hear the wisdom of Shlomo, including kings from all over the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

^15 (1) Hiram king of Tzor sent his servants to Shlomo, because he had heard that they had anointed him king in his father’s place, and Hiram had always loved David. ^16 (2) Shlomo returned this message to Hiram: ^17 (3) “You know that David my father wasn’t able to build a house for the name of Adonai his God, because of the wars that beset him from every side, until Adonai put his enemies under the soles of my feet. ^18 (4) But now Adonai my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor calamity. ^19 (5) So now I intend to build a house for the name of Adonai my God, in keeping with what Adonai said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, will be the one to build the house for my name.’ ^20 (6) Therefore, order your people to cut down cedar trees from the L’vanon for me. My servants will be with your servants. I will pay your servants according to everything you say; for you know that we have no one among us as skilled in felling trees as the Tzidonim.”

^21 (7) When Hiram heard Shlomo’s message, he was very happy and said, “Blessed be Adonai today, who has given David a wise son to rule this great people.” ^22 (8) Then Hiram sent Shlomo this message: “I have heard the message you sent me, and I will do everything you want concerning cedar logs and cypress logs. ^23 (9) My servants will bring them down from the L’vanon to the sea. I will make them into rafts to go by sea to whatever place you tell me and will have them broken up there, and you will receive them. You will compensate me by providing food for my household.”

^24 (10) So Hiram gave Shlomo all the cedar logs and cypress logs he wanted; ^25 (11) and Shlomo gave Hiram 100,000 bushels of wheat as food for his household and a thousand gallons of oil from pressed olives — this is what Shlomo gave Hiram each year. ^26 (12) Adonai gave Shlomo wisdom, as he had promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Shlomo — the two of them formed an alliance together.

^27 (13) King Shlomo conscripted 30,000 men from all Isra’el for forced labor. ^28 (14) He sent them to the L’vanon in monthly relays of 10,000; they would stay a month in the L’vanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor.

^29 (15) Shlomo had 70,000 men to carry loads and another 80,000 stonecutters in the hills, ^30 (16) besides Shlomo’s 3,300 supervisors who were in charge of the people doing the work. ^31 (17) The king gave orders; and they quarried large stones, expensive stones, to lay the foundation of the house with cut stone. ^32 (18) Shlomo’s and Hiram’s builders, along with the men from G’val, worked the stones and prepared the timber and stones for building the house.

6 It was in the 480th year after the people of Isra’el had left the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Shlomo’s reign over Isra’el, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of Adonai. ² The house which King Shlomo built for Adonai was 105 feet long, thirty-five feet wide and fifty-two-and-a-half feet high. ³ The hall fronting the temple of the house was thirty-five feet long, the same as the width of the house itself, so that its seventeen-and-a-half-foot width extended frontward from the house. ⁴ The windows he made for the house were wide on the inside and narrow on the outside. ⁵ Against the wall of the house he built an annex all the way around; it went all the way around the walls of the house, including both the temple and the sanctuary. ⁶ The lowest floor of the annex was eight-and-three-quarters feet wide, the middle floor ten-and-a-half feet wide and the third floor twelve-and-a-quarter feet wide; for he had made the outer part of the wall of the house step-shaped, so that the beams of the annex would not have to be attached to the house walls. ⁷ For the house, when under construction, was built of stone prepared at the quarry; so that no hammer, chisel or iron tool of any kind was heard in the house while it was being built. ⁸ The entrance to the lowest floor was on the south side of the house; a spiral staircase went up to the middle floor and on to the third. ⁹ So he built the house, and after finishing it, he put its roof on — cedar planks over beams. ¹⁰ Each floor of the annex surrounding the house was eight-and-three-quarters feet high and was attached to the house with beams of cedar.

¹¹ Then this word of Adonai came to Shlomo: ¹² “Concerning this house which you are building: if you will live according to my regulations, follow my rulings and observe all my mitzvot and live by them, then I will establish with you my promise that I made to David your father — ¹³ I will live in it among the people of Isra’el, and I will not abandon my people Isra’el.”

¹⁴ So Shlomo finished building the house. ¹⁵ The insides of the walls of the house he built with boards of cedar: from the floor of the house to the joists of the ceiling he covered them on the inside with wood, and he covered the floor of the house with boards of cypress. ¹⁶ The thirty-five-foot back portion of the house he built with boards of cedar from the floor to the joists and reserved this part of the house to be a sanctuary, the Especially Holy Place; ¹⁷ while the rest of the house, that is, the temple in front, was seventy feet long. ¹⁸ The cedar covering the house was carved with gourds and open flowers; all was cedar; no stone was visible. ¹⁹ In the inner part of the house he set up the sanctuary, so that the ark for the covenant of Adonai could be placed there. ²⁰ This sanctuary was thirty-five feet long, wide and high; and it was overlaid with pure gold. In front of it he set an altar, which he covered with cedar. ²¹ Shlomo overlaid the interior of the house with pure gold and had chains of gold placed before the sanctuary, which itself he overlaid with gold. ²² The entire house he overlaid with gold until it was completely covered with it. He also overlaid with gold the entire altar that belonged to the sanctuary.

²³ Inside the sanctuary he made two k’ruvim of olive-wood, each seventeen-and-a-half feet high. ²⁴ Each of the two wings of one of the k’ruvim was eight-and-three quarters feet long, so that the distance from the end of one wing to the end of the other was seventeen-and-a-half feet. ²⁵ Likewise the [wingspread of the] other keruv was seventeen-and-a-half feet; both k’ruvim were identical in shape and size. ²⁶ The height of the one keruv was seventeen-and-a-half feet, likewise that of the other. ²⁷ He set the k’ruvim in the inner house; the wings of the k’ruvim were stretched out, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other keruv touched the other wall; their wings touched each other in the middle of the house. ²⁸ He overlaid the k’ruvim with gold. ²⁹ All around the walls of the house, both inside the sanctuary and outside it, he carved figures of k’ruvim, palm trees and open flowers. ³⁰ He overlaid the floor of the house with gold, both inside the sanctuary and outside it.

³¹ For the entrance to the sanctuary he made doors of olive-wood, set within a five-sided door-frame. ³² On the two olive-wood doors he carved figures of k’ruvim, palm trees and open flowers. He overlaid the doors with gold, forcing the gold into the shapes of the k’ruvim and palm trees as well. ³³ For the entrance to the temple he also made doorposts of olive-wood, set within a rectangular door-frame, ³⁴ and two doors of cypress-wood; the two leaves of the one door were folding, as were the two leaves of the other. ³⁵ On them he carved k’ruvim, palm trees and open flowers, overlaying them with gold fitted to the carved work. ³⁶ He built the inner courtyard with three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams.

³⁷ The foundation of the house of Adonai was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv. ³⁸ In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, all parts of the house were completed exactly as designed. Thus he was seven years building it.

2 ⁽²⁾ Shlomo enlisted 70,000 men who carried loads, another 80,000 men who were stonecutters in the hills and 3,600 supervising them. ^2 (3) Then Shlomo sent this message to Huram the king of Tzor: “[Deal with me] as you dealt with David my father when you sent him cedar logs, so that he could build himself a palace to live in. ^3 (4) Here, I am about to build a house for the name of Adonai my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before Him incense made of sweet spices; the house will also be for the continuing showbread and for the burnt offerings presented every morning and evening, on the shabbats, at every Rosh-Hodesh, and at the designated times of Adonai our God. This is a perpetual regulation for Isra’el. ^4 (5) The house I will build will be great, because our God is greater than all gods. ^5 (6) But who is equal to building him a house? Why, heaven itself, even the heaven of heavens, cannot contain him; so who am I to build him a house, except to offer sacrifices before him?

^6 (7) “Now, therefore, send me a man skilled at working with gold, silver, bronze and iron; dealing with purple, crimson, and blue dyed materials; and capable of doing all kinds of engraving. He will be with the skilled craftsmen I have with me in Y’hudah and Yerushalayim, whom David my father provided. ^7 (8) Also send me cedar, cypress and sandalwood logs from the L’vanon; for I know that your servants are skilled in cutting timber in the L’vanon. I will have my servants work together with your servants ^8 (9) to prepare me an abundant supply of timber, for the house I am about to build must be magnificent and wonderful. ^9 (10) I will give your servants, the woodcutters who cut the timber, 100,000 bushels of cracked wheat, 100,000 bushels of barley, 100,000 gallons of wine, and 100,000 gallons of olive oil.”

^10 (11) Huram the king of Tzor wrote this answer and sent it to Shlomo: “Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you king over them.” ^11 (12) Huram continued, “Blessed be Adonai, the God of Isra’el, who made heaven and earth, who has given David the king a wise, knowledgeable son with common sense to build a house for Adonai and a royal palace for himself. ^12 (13) Now I am sending a man of skill and understanding, my master craftsman Huram, ^13 (14) the son of a woman who was one of the daughters of Dan, while his father was a man from Tzor. He is skilled in working gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and timber, as well as purple and blue dyed materials, fine linen and crimson material; he can do any kind of engraving; and he can make all the equipment necessary to accomplish any task assigned to him, with the help of your craftsmen and those of my lord David your father. ^14 (15) Therefore let my lord send his servants the wheat, barley, oil and wine he has spoken of; ^15 (16) and we will cut wood from the L’vanon, as much as you need; we will float it to you as rafts by sea to Yafo, and you will take it up to Yerushalayim.”

^16 (17) Shlomo took a census of all the foreigners in the land of Isra’el, following the pattern of the census of David his father; they were found to number 153,600. ^17 (18) He appointed 70,000 of them to carry loads, 80,000 to be stonecutters in the hills and 3,600 as supervisors to assign the people their work.

3 Then Shlomo began to build the house of Adonai in Yerushalayim on Mount Moriyah, where Adonai had appeared to David his father. Provision had been made for this at the place David had chosen, the threshing-floor of Ornan the Y’vusi. ² He began building in the fourth year of his reign, on the second day of the second month.

³ These are the foundations Shlomo laid for building the house of God: the length in old-standard cubits was sixty cubits [105 feet] and the width twenty cubits [thirty-five feet]. ⁴ The length of the hall fronting the house was the same as the house’s width, thirty-five feet and the height 210 [feet]; and he overlaid it with pure gold.

⁵ The larger house he covered with cypress-wood, which he overlaid with fine gold and embossed with palm trees and chains. ⁶ He also decorated the building with precious stones and gold from Parvayim, ⁷ overlaying the house and its beams, thresholds, walls and doors with gold and carving k’ruvim on the walls.

⁸ Then he made the Especially Holy Place; its length matched the width of the house, thirty-five feet, and its width was thirty-five feet. He overlaid it with twenty tons of fine gold. ⁹ The weight of the nails was one-and-a-quarter pounds of gold, and he overlaid the upper rooms with gold.

¹⁰ Inside the Especially Holy Place he made two k’ruvim of cast metal, and they overlaid them with gold. ¹¹ The wings of the k’ruvim were thirty-five feet long — the wing of the one keruv was eight-and-three-quarters feet long and touched the wall of the house; the other wing was also eight-and-three-quarters feet long, so that it touched the wing of the other keruv. ¹² The wing of the other keruv was eight-and-three-quarters feet long, touching the wall of the house; and the other wing was also eight-and-three-quarters feet long, touching the wing of the first keruv. ¹³ The wings of these k’ruvim spread out over thirty-five feet. They stood on their feet with their faces turned inward.

¹⁴ He made the curtain of blue, purple and crimson material and of fine linen, with a design of k’ruvim worked into it.

¹⁵ In front of the house he made two columns sixty-one-and-a-quarter feet high, with a capital of eight-and-three-quarters feet on top of each. ¹⁶ He made chains in the sanctuary and added them to the tops of the columns, and he made a hundred pomegranates and attached them to the chains. ¹⁷ He erected the columns in front of the temple, one on the right and the other on the left; the one on the right he called Yakhin, and the one on the left he called Bo‘az.