Solomon Builds the Temple for Yahweh

6 It happened in the four hundred and eightieth year after the ⌊Israelites⌋a went out from the land of Egypt, in the fourth year ⌊of Solomon’s rule⌋b over Israel, the month of Ziv (that is the second month), that he began to build the house for Yahweh. 2 Now the house that King Solomon built for Yahweh was sixty cubits in its length and twenty cubits in its width and thirty cubits in its height. 3 The vestibule on the face of the main hall of the templec was twenty cubits in its length, and the width of the templed was ten cubits wide on the face of the temple.e 4 And he made for the templef specially designed framed windows, 5 and he built a structure against the wall of the templeg running all along the walls of the house, for the outer sanctuary and for the inner sanctuary, and made side rooms all around. 6 The lower structure was five cubits in its width and the middle was six cubits in its width and the third was seven cubits in its width, for he made niches for the templeh all around to the outside, so that beams would not attach to the walls of the temple.i 7 Now while the templej was being built, it was built with stones finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or stone shaping tool or any instrument of iron was heard in the templek as it was being built. 8 The doorway of the side room in the middle of the side of the templel was on the south; they went up with a stairway to the middle and from the middle to the third floor. 9 So he built the house and finished it. He covered the templem with rafters and wood planks and with the cedars. 10 He also built the structure against all of the templen five cubits in height and fastened it to the templeo with beams of cedar.

11 Then the word of Yahweh came to Solomon, saying, 12 “Regarding this templep that you are building: if you walk in my ordinances and if you do my judgments and you keep all my commandments to walk in them, then I will establish my promise with you which I made to David your father. 13 And I will dwell ⌊among⌋q the ⌊Israelites⌋,r and I will not forsake my people Israel.”

14 So Solomon built the temples and finished it. 15 He lined the walls ⌊of the inside of the house⌋t with boards of cedar; from the floor of the templeu up to the rafters of the ceiling he covered them with wood ⌊on the inside⌋.v He also covered the floor of the templew with cypress boards. 16 He built twenty cubits from the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor up to the ceiling, and he built for it an inner sanctuary on the inside, as the ⌊most holy place⌋.x 17 The main hall of the templey was forty cubits ⌊in front of the inner sanctuary⌋,z 18 with the cedar within the inner house having carvings of gourds and buds of flowers. It was entirely of cedar; there was not a stone visible. 19 Now in the inner sanctuary in the middle of the templea he prepared the inside to place the ark of the covenant of Yahweh there. 20 In front, the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide and twenty cubits high, and he overlaid it with pure gold and covered the altar with cedar. 21 Solomon overlaid the templeb on the inside with pure gold, and he drew across it with golden chains in front of the inner sanctuary, which he overlaid with gold.

22 All of the templec he overlaid with gold until all of the templed was finished; all of the altar which belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold. 23 He made two cherubim of olive wood for the inner sanctuary, ten cubits high. 24 Five cubits was the first wing of the cherub, and five cubits the second wing of the cherub; ten cubits from the tip of his one wing up to the tip of his other wing. 25 The second cherub was ten cubits according to ⌊the same⌋e measurement, and there was one shape for the two cherubim. 26 The height of the first cherub was ten cubits and so was the second cherub.

27 He placed the cherubim in the middle of the inner house, and they spread out the wings of the cherubim; the wing of the first cherub touched against the wall and the wing of the second cherub was touching against the second wall; their wings spread to the middle of the house and were touching wing to wing. 28 He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

29 On all of the walls around the house, he carved engravings of cherubim and palm tree images and budding flowers both inside and out. 30 He overlaid the floor of the house with gold both inside and out. 31 He made doors of olive wood for the doorway of the inner sanctuary, as well as for the doorpost of the fifth doorframe. 32 On the two doors of olive wood he made carvings of cherubim and palm tree images and budding flowers, and he overlaid them with gold ⌊by beating⌋f out the gold on the cherubim and the palm tree images. 33 Thus he made doorframes of olive wood on four sides for the doorway of the main hall 34 and two doors of cypress wood; one door with two folding panels and the second door with two folding panels. 35 He carved cherubim and palm tree images and budding flowers and overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the carved work. 36 Then he built the inner courtyard with three rows of dressed stone and a row of cedar beams. 37 In the fourth year,g the house of Yahweh was founded in the month of Ziv. 38 In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, that is, the eighth month, the house was finished according to all his specifications and according to all his plans. He had built it in seven years.

Solomon Continues to Build

7 Solomon built his house over thirteen years, and he finished all of his house.

2 He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon; one hundred cubits its length, fifty cubits its width, and thirty cubits its height, on four rows of cedar pillars and cedar beams atop the pillars. 3 It was covered with cedar above, and the supporting beams which were on the forty-five pillars, fifteen to the row. 4 There were three rows of specially designed windows; with window to window three times. 5 All of the doorways and the doorframes had four-sided casings, with opening to opposite opening three times.

6 The hall of pillars he made fifty cubits in its length and thirty cubits in its width, and a porch was ⌊in front of them⌋,a with pillars and an overhang ⌊in front of them⌋.b 7 He made the hall of the throne where he would pronounce judgment, the hall of justice, and it was covered with cedar from the floor to the rafters.c 8 His house where he would live in the next courtyard on the inside of the porch was like this work, and he would make a house like this porch for the daughter of Pharaoh whom Solomon had taken as wife. 9 All of these were of precious stones, according to the measurement of dressed stone, sawn with a saw ⌊on all sides⌋;d from the foundation up to the eaves and from the outside up to the great courtyard. 10 The foundation was of precious stones, and large stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits 11 with precious stones above, ⌊just the right size⌋,e and cedar. 12 The great courtyard all around had three rows of dressed stones and a row of cedar beams; for both the courtyard of the inner housef of Yahweh and for the porch of the house.

13 King Solomon invited and received Hiram from Tyre. 14 He was the son of a widow woman from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, an artisan of bronze. He was filled with wisdom and with ability and with the knowledge to do all the work with the bronze. And he came to King Solomon, and he did all of his work. 15 He cast the two pillars out of bronze; eighteen cubits was the height of the first, and a cord of twelve cubits would encircle the second pillar. 16 He made two capitals to place on the tops of the pillars out of molten bronze; the first capital was five cubits in height, and the second capital was five cubits in height. 17 A network of latticework and wreaths of chainwork with small chains were for the capitals which were on top of the pillars; seven for the first capital and seven for the second capital. 18 He also made the pillars with two rows around on the lattice, each to cover the capitals which were on top, out of the pomegranate-shaped ornaments, and thus he did for the second capital as well. 19 And on the capitals which were on top of the pillars in the porch were works of lilies four cubits high. 20 And capitals were on the two pillars above near the bulging section which was beside the lattice, and two hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments were in rows all around on the second capital. 21 He set up the pillars for the porch of the main hall; he erected the pillar on the right and called its name Jakin, and he set up the pillar on the left and called its name Boaz. 22 On the top of the pillars was a work of lilies; and so the work of the pillars was finished.

23 He also made the molteng sea, ten cubits ⌊in diameter⌋,h and five cubits was its height. A measuring line of thirty cubits would encircle it all around. 24 Gourds were under its rim surrounding it all around; ten to the cubit, surrounding the sea all around with two rows of gourds, which were cast when he cast the metal. 25 The sea was standing on twelve oxen, with three facing to the north, three facing to the west, three facing to the south, and three facing to the east. The sea was on top of them, with all of their hindquarters turned to the inside. 26 Its thickness was a handbreadth, but its rim was as the work on the brim of a cup, like the bud of a lily; it held two thousand baths.

27 He made the ten stands of bronze; each stand was four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits in height. 28 Now this was the construction of the stands: there were frames for them and frames between the crossbars, 29 and on the frames which were between the crossbars were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the crossbars both above and beneath the lions and oxen were works of cascading wreaths. 30 There were four bronze wheels for each of the stands, with bronze axles; the four …