1 Kings 6–7

6TH CHAPTER

The Temple Built in Seven Years—2 Chronicles 3:1–14

¹Solomon began to build the Lord’s temple 480 years after Israel left Egypt. He began building in the month of Ziv (the second month) of the fourth year of his reign over Israel. ²The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. ³The entrance hall in front of the main room of the temple was the same length as the shorter side of the temple. It extended 15 feet in front of the temple. ⁴He also made latticed windows for the temple. 

⁵He built an annex containing side rooms all around the temple. This annex was next to the walls of the main building and the inner sanctuary. ⁶The ⸤interior of⸥ the lowest story of the annex was 7½ feet wide, the second story was 9 feet wide, and the third story was 10½ feet wide. Solomon made ledges all around the temple so that this annex would not be fastened to the walls of the temple. 

⁷The temple was built with stone blocks that were finished at the quarry. No hammer, chisel, or any other iron tool made a sound at the temple construction site. 

⁸The entrance to the first story^awas on the south side of the temple. A staircase went up to the middle story and then to the third story. 

⁹When he had finished building the walls, he roofed the temple with rows of cedar beams and planks.¹⁰He built ⸤each story of the⸥ annex 7½ feet high alongside the entire temple. Its cedar beams were attached to the temple. 

¹¹The Lord spoke to Solomon, saying, ¹²“This concerns the temple you are building: If you live by my laws, follow my rules, and keep my commands, I will fulfill the promise I made about you to your father David. ¹³I will live among the Israelites and never abandon my people.” 

¹⁴When Solomon had finished building the temple’s ⸤frame⸥, ¹⁵he began to line the inside walls of the temple with cedar boards. He paneled the inside of the temple with wood from floor to ceiling. He covered the floor of the temple with cypress planks. 

¹⁶He sectioned off a 30-foot-long room at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from the floor to the rafters. He built it to serve as an inner room, the most holy place. ¹⁷The 60-foot-long room at the front of the temple served as the main hall. ¹⁸Gourds and flowers were carved into the cedar paneling inside the temple. Everything was ⸤covered with⸥ cedar. No stone could be seen. 

¹⁹He prepared the inner room of the temple in order to put the ark of the Lord’s promise there. ²⁰The inner room was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. Solomon covered it and the cedar altar with pure gold. ²¹He covered the inside of the temple with pure gold. He put golden chains across the front of the inner room which was covered with gold. ²²He covered the entire inside of the temple with gold. He also covered the entire altar in the inner room with gold. 

²³In the inner room he made two 15-foot-tall angels^cout of olive wood. ²⁴Each wing of the angels was 7½ feet long. The distance from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other was 15 feet. ²⁵Both angels had a 15-foot ⸤wingspan⸥. Both had the same measurements and the same shape. ²⁶Each was 15 feet high. ²⁷Solomon put the angels in the inner room of the temple. The wings of the angels extended so that the wing of one of the angels touched the one wall, and the wing of the other touched the other wall. Their remaining wings touched each other in the center of the room. ²⁸He covered the angels with gold. 

²⁹He carved angels, palm trees, and flowers into the walls all around the inner and outer rooms of the temple. ³⁰He covered the floor of the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold. 

³¹He made doors for the entrance to the inner room out of olive wood. The doorposts had five sides. ³²The two doors were ⸤made out of⸥ olive wood. He carved angels, palm trees, and flowers into them and covered them with gold. The gold was hammered onto the angels and the palm trees. 

³³In the same way he made square doorposts out of olive wood for the temple’s entrance. ³⁴He made two doors from cypress. Each of the doors had two folding panels. ³⁵On them he carved angels, palm trees, and flowers. He evenly covered them with gold. 

³⁶He built the inner courtyard with three courses of finished stones and a course of finished cedar beams. 

³⁷In the month of Ziv of the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. ³⁸In the month of Bul (the eighth month) of the eleventh year ⸤of his reign⸥, the temple was finished according to all its plans and specifications. He spent seven years building it. 

7TH CHAPTER

The Palace Built in 13 Years

¹Solomon took 13 years to finish building his palace. ²He built a hall ⸤named⸥ the Forest of Lebanon. It was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. It had four rows of cedar pillars supporting cedar beams. ³The hall was covered with cedar above the side rooms, which were supported by 45 pillars (15 per row).⁴The windows were in three rows facing each other on opposite sides ⸤of the palace⸥. ⁵All the doors and doorframes were square. There were three doors facing each other on opposite sides ⸤of the palace⸥. 

⁶Solomon made the Hall of Pillars 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. In front of the hall was an entrance hall with pillars. 

⁷He made the Hall of Justice, where he sat on his throne and served as judge. The hall was covered with cedar from floor to ceiling.^b

⁸His own private quarters were in a different location than the Hall of Justice, but they were similar in design. Solomon also built private quarters like this for his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter. 

⁹From the foundation to the roof, all these buildings, including the large courtyard, were built with high-grade stone blocks. The stone blocks were cut to size and trimmed with saws on their inner and outer faces. ¹⁰The foundation was made with large, high-grade stones (some 12 feet long, others 15 feet long). ¹¹Above ⸤the foundation⸥ were cedar beams and high-grade stone blocks, which had been cut to size. ¹²The large courtyard had three layers of cut stone blocks and a layer of cedar beams, like the inner courtyard of the Lord’s temple and the entrance hall. 

The Temple Furnishings—2 Chronicles 2:13–14; 3:15–5:1

¹³King Solomon had Hiram brought from Tyre. ¹⁴Hiram was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali. His father, a native of Tyre, was a skilled bronze craftsman. Hiram was highly skilled, resourceful, and knowledgeable about all kinds of bronze craftsmanship. He came to King Solomon and did all his ⸤bronze⸥ work. 

¹⁵He made two bronze pillars. Each was 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference. ¹⁶He made two capitals of cast bronze to put on top of the pillars. Each capital was 7½ feet high. ¹⁷He also made seven rows of filigree and chains for each capital. ¹⁸After he made the pillars, he made two rows ⸤of decorations⸥ around the filigree to cover the capitals which were above the pillars.^cHe made the capitals identical to each other. ¹⁹The capitals on top of the pillars in the entrance hall were lily-shaped. ⸤Each⸥ was six feet high. ²⁰Two hundred pomegranates in rows were directly above the bowl-shaped parts around the filigree on the capitals on both pillars. 

²¹Hiram set up the pillars in the temple’s entrance hall. He set up the pillar on the right and named it Jachin ^[He Establishes^[. Then he set up the pillar on the left and named it Boaz ^[In Him Is Strength^[. ²²There were lily-shaped capitals at the top of the pillars. He finished the work on the pillars. 

²³Hiram made a pool from cast metal. It was 15 feet in diameter. It was round, 7½ feet high, and had a circumference of 45 feet. ²⁴Under the rim were two rows of gourds all around the 45-foot circumference of the pool. They were cast in metal when the pool was cast. ²⁵The pool was set on 12 metal bulls. Three bulls faced north, three faced west, three faced south, and three faced east. The pool was set on them, and their hindquarters were toward the center ⸤of the pool⸥. ²⁶The pool was three inches thick. Its rim was like the rim of a cup, shaped like a lily’s bud. It held 12,000 gallons. 

²⁷He made ten bronze stands. Each stand was 6 feet square and 4½ feet high. ²⁸The stands were made this way: They had side panels set in frames. ²⁹On the panels set in frames were lions, oxen, and angels.^dThese were also on the frames. Above and below the lions and the cattle were engraved designs. ³⁰Each stand had four bronze wheels on bronze axles and four supports beneath the basin. The supports were made of cast metal with designs on the sides. ³¹Each had a 1½-foot-deep opening in the center to the circular frame on top. The opening was round, formed like a pedestal, and was two feet ⸤wide⸥. Around the opening there were engravings. But the panels were square, not round. ³²The four wheels were under the panels, and the axles were attached to the stand. Each wheel was two feet high. ³³The wheels were made like chariot wheels. The axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all cast metal. ³⁴The four supports at the four corners of each stand were part of the stand. ³⁵The top of each stand had a round, nine-inch-high band. Above the stand were supports which were part of the panels. ³⁶Hiram engraved angels, lions, palm trees, and designs in every available space on the supports and panels. ³⁷This is the way he made the ten stands. All of them were cast in the same mold, identical in size and shape. 

³⁸Hiram also made ten bronze basins. Each basin held 240 gallons. Every basin was six feet ⸤wide⸥. There was one basin on each of the ten stands. ³⁹He put five stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north side of the temple. He set the pool on the south side of the temple in the southeast ⸤corner⸥. ⁴⁰Hiram also made pots, shovels, and bowls. 

So Hiram finished all the work for King Solomon on the Lord’s temple: ⁴¹2 pillars, the bowl-shaped capitals on top of the 2 pillars, and 2 sets of…