1 KingsChapter 6

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¹Solomon began to build the house of the LORD. It was 480 years after the Israelites came out of Egypt. It was the fourth year that Solomon ruled over Israel. It was in the month of Ziv, the second month. ²King Solomon built the house for the LORD. It was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high.a ³There was a porch at the front of the temple's main hall. It was 30 feet long, as wide as the temple. It stuck out 15 feet from the front of the temple.b ⁴He also made narrow windows high up in the temple walls. ⁵Solomon built a set of rooms against the walls all around the temple. They went around the main hall and the inner room. Inside it he built the side rooms. ⁶The bottom floor of rooms was 7 and a half feet wide. The middle floor was 9 feet wide. The third floor was 10 and a half feet wide. He made ledges that stepped in around the outside of the temple wall. That way, no beams had to be put into the temple walls.c ⁷The temple was built with stones that were cut and shaped at the quarry. So no hammer, chisel, or any other iron tool was heard at the temple while it was being built. ⁸The door to the bottom floor was on the south side of the temple. Stairs went up to the middle floor. From there they went up to the third floor. ⁹So Solomon built the temple and finished it. He made the roof with beams and boards of cedar. ¹⁰He built the side rooms all along the temple. Each room was 7 and a half feet high. They were joined to the temple with cedar beams.d ¹¹Then the LORD spoke his word to Solomon. He said, ¹²"You are building this temple. Now, if you follow my rules, obey my laws, and keep all my commands by living by them, I will keep my promise through you. It is the promise I made to your father David. ¹³I will live among the Israelites. I will not leave my people Israel." ¹⁴So Solomon built the temple and finished it. ¹⁵He covered the inside walls with cedar boards. They went from the floor of the temple up to the ceiling. And he covered the floor with cypress boards. ¹⁶At the back of the temple he walled off a room 30 feet deep. He used cedar boards from the floor to the ceiling. This made an inner room inside the temple. It was the Most Holy Place.e ¹⁷The main hall in front of this room was 60 feet long.f ¹⁸The cedar inside the temple had gourds and open flowers carved into it. Everything was cedar. Not one stone could be seen. ¹⁹Solomon got the inner room of the temple ready. The ark of the LORD's covenant would be placed there. ²⁰The inner room was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. He covered the inside with pure gold. He also covered the cedar altar with gold.g ²¹Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold. He hung gold chains across the front of the inner room. The inner room was covered with gold too. ²²He covered the whole inside of the temple with gold until it was all finished. He also covered with gold the whole altar that belonged to the inner room. ²³In the inner room he made two cherubim out of olive wood. Each one was 15 feet tall.h ²⁴One wing of the first cherub was 7 and a half feet long. Its other wing was 7 and a half feet long too. So its wings were 15 feet from tip to tip.i ²⁵The second cherub also measured 15 feet. Both cherubim were the same size and shape. ²⁶Each cherub was 15 feet tall. ²⁷He put the cherubim inside the inner room of the temple. Their wings were spread out. A wing of the first cherub touched one wall. A wing of the second cherub touched the other wall. And their other wings touched each other in the middle of the room. ²⁸He also covered the cherubim with gold. ²⁹Then he carved the walls all around the temple. He carved both the inner and outer rooms. He carved pictures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. ³⁰He also covered the temple floor with gold in both the inner and outer rooms. ³¹Solomon made doors of olive wood for the doorway of the inner room. The frame around the doorway had five sides. ³²The two doors were made of olive wood. He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on them. He covered the cherubim and palm trees with gold that was hammered thin. ³³In the same way, he made a doorframe of olive wood for the entrance to the main hall. It had four sides. ³⁴The two doors were made of cypress wood. Each door had two parts that folded. ³⁵He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on them. Then he covered them with gold. He hammered it evenly over the carvings. ³⁶Solomon built the inner courtyard. Its walls had three layers of cut stone and one layer of cedar beams. ³⁷The foundation of the house of the LORD was laid in the fourth year Solomon was king. It was in the month of Ziv. ³⁸The temple was finished in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, the eighth month. Every part was done just as it had been planned. So it took Solomon seven years to build the temple.