1 Kings 6

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1. 1480 years after the children of Israel came out of Egypt, in the 4th year of Solomon's reign over Israel, during the month of Zif — the 2nd month — he began building the house of the LORD.
2. 2The house that King Solomon built for the LORD was 60 cubits long, 20 cubits wide, and 30 cubits tall.
3. 3The entrance porch in front of the main hall was 20 cubits wide, matching the width of the house, and it extended 10 cubits out from the front.
4. 4He installed windows with narrow frames throughout the house.
5. 5Along the outside walls of the house — around both the main hall and the inner sanctuary — he built a structure of side rooms on every side.
6. 6The lowest level of rooms was 5 cubits wide, the middle level was 6 cubits wide, and the top level was 7 cubits wide. He built ledges into the outer wall of the house at each level so that the support beams wouldn't have to be inserted into the temple walls themselves.
7. 7The house was built using stones that were prepared before they were brought there, so no hammer, axe, or any iron tool was heard in the house while it was being built.
8. 8The door to the middle chamber was on the right side of the house. They went up with winding stairs to the middle chamber, and from there to the third level.
9. 9He built the house and completed it, covering it with cedar beams and boards.
10. 10He also completed the side rooms that ran along the entire house, each standing 5 cubits high and attached to the house with cedar timbers.
11. 11Then the word of the LORD came to Solomon:
12. 12Regarding this house you are building, if you follow my statutes, carry out my judgments, and keep all my commandments by living according to them, then I will fulfill the word I spoke to David your father.
13. 13I will live among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel.
14. 14So Solomon built the house and completed it.
15. 15He lined the interior walls with cedar boards, covering both the floor and the walls up to the ceiling with wood. He also laid the floor with fir planks.
16. 16He built twenty cubits at the back of the house, covering both the floor and the walls with cedar boards. This was for the inner sanctuary, the most holy place.
17. 17The main hall in front of the inner sanctuary was 40 cubits long.
18. 18The cedar paneling inside the house was carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was covered in cedar — not a single stone was visible.
19. 19He prepared the inner sanctuary deep within the house as the place where the ark of the covenant of the LORD would rest.
20. 20The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. He overlaid it with pure gold and also covered the cedar altar with gold.
21. 21Solomon overlaid the entire interior of the house with pure gold. He stretched gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary and covered that area with gold as well.
22. 22He covered every part of the house with gold until the whole structure was finished. He also overlaid the entire altar that stood before the inner sanctuary with gold.
23. 23Inside the inner sanctuary, he made 2 cherubim out of olive wood, each standing 10 cubits tall.
24. 24One wing of the cherub was 5 cubits, and the other wing of the cherub was 5 cubits. From the tip of one wing to the tip of the other wing was 10 cubits.
25. 25The second cherub also measured 10 cubits across. Both cherubim were identical in size and shape.
26. 26The height of the one cherub was 10 cubits, and so was the height of the other cherub.
27. 27He placed the cherubim inside the inner sanctuary with their wings spread wide. One wing of the first cherub touched one wall, and one wing of the second cherub touched the opposite wall, while their other wings met each other in the center of the room.
28. 28He overlaid both cherubim with gold.
29. 29On every wall throughout the house — both in the inner and outer rooms — he carved designs of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.
30. 30He overlaid the floors with gold in both the inner and outer rooms.
31. 31For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, he made doors of olive wood. The lintel and doorposts took up a 5th of the wall.
32. 32The 2 olive wood doors were carved with cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, then overlaid with gold. He pressed gold over the carved cherubim and palm trees.
33. 33For the entrance to the main hall, he made doorposts of olive wood that took up a 4th of the wall.
34. 34The two doors were made of fir wood. The two leaves of one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.
35. 35He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers into them, then covered the carvings evenly with gold.
36. 36He built the inner courtyard with 3 rows of cut stone topped by a row of cedar beams.
37. 37The foundation of the LORD's house was laid in the 4th year of Solomon's reign, during the month of Zif.
38. 38In the 11th year, during the month of Bul — the 8th month — the house was completed in every detail, exactly as planned. It took Solomon 7 years to build it.