CHAPTER 6
In the four
hundred
and eightieth
year
after the Israelites
had come
out of the land
of Egypt,
in the month
of Ziv,
the second
month
of the fourth
year
of Solomon's reign
over
Israel,
he
began to build
the house
of the LORD.
The house
that
King
Solomon
built
for the LORD
was sixty
cubits
long,
twenty cubits
wide,
and thirty
cubits
high.
The portico
at
the front
of the main hall
of the temple
was twenty
cubits
long,
extending across
the width
of the temple
and projecting out
ten
cubits
in
front
of the temple.
Against
the walls
of the temple
and the inner sanctuary,
Solomon built
a chambered structure
all around
the temple,
in which
he constructed
the side rooms.
The bottom
floor was
five
cubits
wide,
the middle floor
six
cubits,
and the third floor
seven
cubits.
He also placed
offset ledges
all around
the outside
of the temple,
so that nothing
would be inserted
into its
walls.
The temple
was constructed
using
finished
stones
cut at the quarry,
so that no
hammer,
chisel,
or any
iron
tool
was heard
in the temple
while it was being built.
The entrance
to the bottom
floor
was on
the south
side
of the temple.
A stairway
led up
to
the middle level,
and from
there
to
the third floor.
He built
chambers
all along
the temple,
each five
cubits
high
and attached
to the temple
with beams
of cedar.
“As for this
temple
you
are building,
if
you walk
in
My statutes,
carry out
My ordinances,
and keep
all
My commandments
by walking in them,
I will fulfill
through you
the promise
I made
to
your father
David.
He lined
the interior
walls
with cedar
paneling
from the floor
of the temple
to
the ceiling,
and he covered
the floor
with cypress
boards.
He partitioned off
the twenty
cubits
at
the rear
of the temple
with cedar
boards
from floor
to
ceiling
to form
within the temple
and inner sanctuary,
the Most Holy Place.
The cedar
paneling inside
the temple
was carved
with gourds
and open
flowers.
Everything
was cedar;
not
a stone
could be seen.
Solomon also prepared
the inner sanctuary
within
the temple
to set
the ark
of the covenant
of the LORD
there.
The inner
sanctuary
was twenty
cubits
long,
twenty
cubits
wide,
and twenty
cubits
high.
He overlaid the inside
with pure
gold,
and he also overlaid
the altar
of cedar.
So Solomon
overlaid
the inside
of the temple
with pure
gold,
and he extended
gold
chains
across the front
of the inner sanctuary,
which was overlaid
with gold.
So he overlaid
with gold
the whole interior
of the temple,
until
everything
was completely finished.
He also overlaid
with gold
the entire
altar
that belonged to
the inner sanctuary.
One wing
of the first
cherub
was five
cubits long,
and the other
wing
five
cubits as well.
So the full
wingspan
was ten
cubits.
And he placed
the cherubim
inside
the innermost room
of the temple.
Since their
wings
were spread out,
the wing
of the first cherub
touched
one wall,
while the wing
of the second
cherub
touched
the other
wall,
and in
the middle
of the room
their wingtips
touched.
Then he carved
the walls
all
around
the temple,
in both the inner
and outer sanctuaries,
with carved
engravings
of cherubim,
palm trees,
and open
flowers.
For the entrance
of the inner sanctuary,
Solomon constructed
doors
of olive
wood
with five-sided
doorposts.
The double
doors
were made of olive
wood,
and he carved
into them
cherubim,
palm trees,
and open
flowers
and overlaid
the cherubim
and palm trees
with hammered gold.
And he carved into them
cherubim,
palm trees,
and open
flowers
and overlaid them
with gold
hammered evenly
over
the carvings.
Solomon built
the inner
courtyard
with three
rows
of dressed stone
and one row
of trimmed cedar
beams.
The foundation of the house
of the LORD
was laid
in the fourth
year of Solomon's reign,
in the month
of Ziv.
In his eleventh
year
and eighth
month,
the month
of Bul,
the temple
was finished
in every
detail
and according to every
specification.
So he built the temple
in seven
years.