1 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD. 2 And the house which king Solomon built for the LORD, the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits , and the height thereof thirty cubits. 3 And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house. 4 And for the house he made windows of narrow lights.
5 ¶ And against the wall of the house he built chambers round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle: and he made chambers round about: 6 The nethermost chamber was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad: for without in the wall of the house he made narrowed rests round about, that the beams should not be fastened in the walls of the house. 7 And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building. 8 The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber , and out of the middle into the third. 9 So he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar. 10 And then he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.
11 ¶ And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying, 12 Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father: 13 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel. 14 So Solomon built the house, and finished it.
15 And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls of the cieling: and he covered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir. 16 And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar: he even built them for it within, even for the oracle, even for the most holy place . 17 And the house, that is , the temple before it, was forty cubits long . 18 And the cedar of the house within was carved with knops and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen. 19 And the oracle he prepared in the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the LORD. 20 And the oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof: and he overlaid it with pure gold; and so covered the altar which was of cedar. 21 So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he made a partition by the chains of gold before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold. 22 And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house: also the whole altar that was by the oracle he overlaid with gold.
23 ¶ And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten cubits high. 24 And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits. 25 And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubims were of one measure and one size. 26 The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub. 27 And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house. 28 And he overlaid the cherubims with gold. 29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without. 30 And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.
31 ¶ And for the entering of the oracle he made doors of olive tree: the lintel and side posts were a fifth part of the wall . 32 The two doors also were of olive tree; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the palm trees. 33 So also made he for the door of the temple posts of olive tree, a fourth part of the wall . 34 And the two doors were of fir tree: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding. 35 And he carved thereon cherubims and palm trees and open flowers: and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work.
36 ¶ And he built the inner court with three rows of hewed stone, and a row of cedar beams.
37 ¶ In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, in the month Zif: 38 And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it.
Solomon Builds the Temple
1 Four hundred and eighty years after the people of Israel left Egypt, during the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the second month, the month of Ziv, Solomon began work on the Temple. 2 Inside it was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 3 The entrance room was 15 feet deep and 30 feet wide, as wide as the sanctuary itself. 4 The walls of the Temple had openings in them, narrower on the outside than on the inside. 5 Against the outside walls, on the sides and the back of the Temple, a three-storied annex was built, each story 7½ feet high. 6 Each room in the lowest story was 7½ feet wide, in the middle story 9 feet wide, and in the top story 10½ feet wide. The Temple wall on each floor was thinner than on the floor below, so that the rooms could rest on the wall without having their beams built into it.
7 The stones with which the Temple was built had been prepared at the quarry, so that there was no noise made by hammers, axes, or any other iron tools as the Temple was being built.
8 The entrance to the lowest story of the annex was on the south side of the Temple, with stairs leading up to the second and third stories. 9 So King Solomon finished building the Temple. He put in a ceiling made of beams and boards of cedar. 10 The three-storied annex, each story 7½ feet high, was built against the outside walls of the Temple, and was joined to them by cedar beams.
11 The Lord said to Solomon, 12 “If you obey all my laws and commands, I will do for you what I promised your father David. 13 I will live among my people Israel in this Temple that you are building, and I will never abandon them.”
14 So Solomon finished building the Temple.
The Interior Furnishings of the Temple
(2 Chronicles 3.8-14)15 The inside walls were covered with cedar panels from the floor to the ceiling, and the floor was made of pine. 16 An inner room, called the Most Holy Place, was built in the rear of the Temple. It was 30 feet long and was partitioned off by cedar boards reaching from the floor to the ceiling. 17 The room in front of the Most Holy Place was 60 feet long. 18 The cedar panels were decorated with carvings of gourds and flowers; the whole interior was covered with cedar, so that the stones of the walls could not be seen.
19 In the rear of the Temple an inner room was built, where the Lord's Covenant Box was to be placed. 20 This inner room was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high, all covered with pure gold. The altar was covered with cedar panels. 21 The inside of the Temple was covered with gold, and gold chains were placed across the entrance of the inner room, which was also covered with gold. 22 The whole interior of the Temple was covered with gold, as well as the altar in the Most Holy Place.
23 Two winged creatures were made of olive wood and placed in the Most Holy Place, each one 15 feet tall. 24-26 Both were of the same size and shape. Each had two wings, each wing 7½ feet long, so that the distance from one wing tip to the other was 15 feet. 27 They were placed side by side in the Most Holy Place, so that two of their outstretched wings touched each other in the middle of the room, and the other two wings touched the walls. 28 The two winged creatures were covered with gold.
29 The walls of the main room and of the inner room were all decorated with carved figures of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers. 30 Even the floor was covered with gold.
31 A double door made of olive wood was set in place at the entrance of the Most Holy Place; the top of the doorway was a pointed arch. 32 The doors were decorated with carved figures of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers. The doors, the winged creatures, and the palm trees were covered with gold. 33 For the entrance to the main room a rectangular doorframe of olive wood was made. 34 There were two folding doors made of pine 35 and decorated with carved figures of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers, which were evenly covered with gold.
36 An inner court was built in front of the Temple, enclosed with walls which had one layer of cedar beams for every three layers of stone.
37 The foundation of the Temple was laid in the second month, the month of Ziv, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign. 38 In the eighth month, the month of Bul, in the eleventh year of Solomon's reign, the Temple was completely finished exactly as it had been planned. It had taken Solomon seven years to build it.