1 Kings 6

Modern

Literal

Temple Construction Begins

¹In the four hundred and eightieth^a year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv,^b the second month, he began to build the house of the LORD.

¹And it came to pass in the four hundredth year and eightieth year after the going out of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv—it is the second month of the reigning of Solomon over Israel—that he began to build the house of YHWH.

²The house that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high.^a

²And the house that King Solomon built for YHWH, sixty cubits was its length, and twenty its width, and thirty cubits its height.

³The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple was twenty cubits^a long, extending across the width of the temple and projecting out ten cubits^b in front of the temple.

³And the portico was upon the face of the sanctuary of the house, twenty cubits was its length upon the face, the width of the house, and ten by the cubit was its width upon the face of the house.

⁴He also had narrow windows framed high in the temple.

⁴And he made for the house windows with narrowed frames.

The Chambers

⁵Against the walls of the temple and the inner sanctuary, Solomon built a chambered structure around the temple, in which he constructed the side rooms.

⁵And he built against the wall of the house chambers all around, the walls of the house all around, the sanctuary and the inner sanctuary. And he made side chambers all around it.

⁶The bottom floor was five cubits wide,^a the middle floor six cubits,^b and the third floor seven cubits.^c He also placed offset ledges around the outside of the temple, so that nothing would be inserted into its walls.

⁶The lowest couch was five by the cubit wide, and the middle was six by the cubit wide, and the third was seven by the cubit wide. For ledges he gave all around the outside of the temple, so that nothing would be fastened into the walls of the house.

⁷The temple was constructed using finished stones cut at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any other iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.

⁷And the house, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that hammer or chisel or any iron tool was not heard in the house while it was being built.

⁸The entrance to the bottom^a floor was on the south side of the temple. A stairway led up to the middle level, and from there to the third floor.

⁸The doorway for the bottom story was on the right side of the house, and by stairs they went up the middle story, and from the middle to the third.

⁹So Solomon built the temple and finished it, roofing it with beams and planks of cedar.

⁹And he built the house and finished it, and he covered the house with beams and rows of the cedars.

¹⁰He built chambers all along the temple, each five cubits high and attached to the temple with beams of cedar.

¹⁰And he built the couch against all the house, five cubits high, and it was attached to the house with cedar beams.

God’s Promise to Solomon

¹¹Then the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying:

¹¹And the word of YHWH came to Solomon, saying,

¹²“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.

¹²“This house that you are building, if you walk in My statutes, and My ordinances you do, and keep all My commandments and walk in them, then I will cause to stand My word with you, which I spoke to David your father.

¹³And I will dwell among the Israelites and will not abandon My people Israel.”

¹³And I will dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.”

The Temple’s Interior

¹⁴So Solomon built the temple and finished it.

¹⁴And Solomon built the house and completed it.

¹⁵He lined the interior walls with cedar paneling from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and he covered the floor with cypress^a boards.

¹⁵And he built the walls of the house on the inside On the inside with cedar boards from the floor of the house up to the walls of the ceiling. He overlaid with wood the inside, and he covered the floor of the house with sides of cypress.

¹⁶He partitioned off the twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.^a

¹⁶And he built the twenty cubits at the rear of the house with cedar boards from floor to ceiling, and he built it inside, as the inner sanctuary, for the Holy of Holies.

¹⁷And the main hall in front of this room was forty cubits long.^a

¹⁷And forty by the cubit was the sanctuary; it is the house before it.

¹⁸The cedar paneling inside the temple was carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; not a stone could be seen.

¹⁸And the cedar for the house inside was carved with gourds and open flowers. All was cedar; not a stone was seen.

¹⁹Solomon also prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there.

¹⁹And the inner sanctuary in the midst of the house on the inside, he prepared to set there the ark of the covenant of YHWH.

²⁰The 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.^a

²⁰And before the face of the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, and twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. And He overlaid it with pure gold, and he overlaid the altar of cedar.

²¹So Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains^a across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold.

²¹And Solomon overlaid the house inside with pure gold, and He stretched gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, and he overlaid it with gold.

²²So 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.

²²And all the house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house. And all the altar that was for the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.

The Cherubim

²³In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim, each ten cubits high, out of olive wood.

²³And he made inside the inner sanctuary two cherubim of olive wood, ten cubits high.

²⁴One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing was five cubits long as well. So the full wingspan was ten cubits.

²⁴And was five cubits the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the second wing of the cherub—ten cubits from the ends of one wing and to the ends of the other.

²⁵The second cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim had the same size and shape,

²⁵And ten by the cubit was the second cherub, of one size and one shape were the two cherubim.

²⁶and the height of each cherub was ten cubits.

²⁶The height of the one cherub was ten by the cubit, and so the second cherub.

²⁷And 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.

²⁷And he set the cherubim in the midst of the inner room, and they stretched out the wings of the cherubim so that the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the second cherub touched the second wall, and their wings in the middle of the room touched wing against wing.

²⁸He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

²⁸And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

²⁹Then 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.

²⁹And all the walls of the house all around he carved with openings of carvings of cherubim, and palm trees, and open flowers, from inside and to the outside.

³⁰And he overlaid the temple floor with gold in both the inner and outer sanctuaries.

³⁰And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, for inside and for the outside.

The Doors

³¹For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, Solomon constructed doors of olive wood with five-sided doorposts.

³¹And for the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood. The lintel and doorposts were five-sided.

³²The 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.

³²And the two doors were of olive wood, and he carved on them figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and he overlaid them with gold, and he beat out the gold on the cherubim, and on the palm trees.

³³In the same way he made four-sided doorposts of olive wood for the sanctuary entrance.

³³And also he made for the door of the sanctuary doorposts of olive wood with four sides.

³⁴The two doors were made of cypress wood, and each had two folding panels.

³⁴And the two doors were of cypress wood, two panels of the one door were folding, and two panels of the second door were folding.

³⁵He carved into them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and he overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings.

³⁵And he carved cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold applied evenly on the carved work.

The Courtyard

³⁶Solomon built the inner courtyard with three rows of dressed stone and one row of trimmed cedar beams.

³⁶And he built the inner court with three rows of hewn stone, and a row of cut beams of cedar.

³⁷The foundation of the house of the LORD was laid in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, in the month of Ziv.

³⁷In the fourth year of the house of YHWH the foundation was laid, in the month of Ziv.

³⁸In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul,^a the eighth month, the temple was finished in every detail and according to every specification. So he built the temple in seven years.

³⁸And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, that is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its details and according to all its plans. And he built it seven years.