1 Kings 5–7
1 1aNow Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for bHiram had 2always been a friend of David.
2 Then aSolomon sent word to Hiram, saying,
3 “You know that aDavid my father was unable to build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the wars which surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet.
4 “But now athe Lord my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor 1misfortune.
5 “Behold, aI 1intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spoke to David my father, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he will build the house for My name.’
6 “Now therefore, command that they cut for me acedars from Lebanon, and my servants will be with your servants; and I will give you wages for your servants according to all that you say, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”
7 When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the Lord today, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.”
8 So Hiram sent word to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message which you have sent me; I will do 1what you desire concerning the cedar and cypress timber.
9 “My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea; and I will make them into rafts to go by sea ato the place where you 1direct me, and I will have them broken up there, and you shall carry them away. Then byou shall accomplish my desire by giving food to my household.”
10 So 1Hiram 2gave Solomon 3as much as he desired of the cedar and cypress timber.
11 aSolomon then gave Hiram 20,000 1kors of wheat as food for his household, and twenty 1kors of beaten oil; thus Solomon would give Hiram year by year.
12 aThe Lord gave wisdom to Solomon, just as He 1promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a covenant.
13 Now aKing Solomon 1levied forced laborers from all Israel; and the forced laborers 2numbered 30,000 men.
14 He sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in relays; they were in Lebanon a month and two months at home. And aAdoniram was over the forced laborers.
15 Now aSolomon had 70,000 1transporters, and 80,000 hewers of stone in the mountains,
16 abesides Solomon’s 3,300 chief deputies who were over the 1project and who ruled over the people who were doing the work.
17 Then athe king commanded, and they quarried great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with cut stones.
18 So Solomon’s builders and 1Hiram’s builders and athe Gebalites 2cut them, and prepared the timbers and the stones to build the house.
1 aNow it came about in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv which is the second month, that he 1began to build the house of the Lord.
2 As for the house which King Solomon built for the Lord, its length was sixty 1cubits and its width twenty cubits and its height thirty cubits.
3 The porch in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits 1in length, 2corresponding to the width of the house, and its 3depth along the front of the house was ten cubits.
4 Also for the house ahe made windows with artistic frames.
5 aAgainst the wall of the house he built stories encompassing the walls of the house around both the nave and the binner sanctuary; thus he made cside chambers all around.
6 The lowest story was five cubits wide, and the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for on the outside he 1made offsets in the wall of the house all around in order that the beams would not 2be inserted in the walls of the house.
7 aThe house, while it was being built, was built of stone 1prepared at the quarry, and there was neither hammer nor axe nor any iron tool heard in the house while it was being built.
8 The doorway for the 1lowest side chamber was on the right side of the house; and they would go up by winding stairs to the middle story, and from the middle to the third.
9 So ahe built the house and finished it; and he covered the house with beams and 1planks of cedar.
10 He also built the stories against the whole house, each five 1cubits high; and they 2were fastened to the house with timbers of cedar.
11 Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon saying,
12 “Concerning this house which you are building, aif you will walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will carry out My word with you which I spoke to David your father.
13 “aI will dwell among the sons of Israel, and bwill not forsake My people Israel.”
14 aSo Solomon built the house and finished it.
15 Then he abuilt the walls of the house on the inside with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house to the 1ceiling he overlaid the walls on the inside with wood, and he overlaid the floor of the house with boards of cypress.
16 aHe built twenty cubits on the rear part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the 1ceiling; he built them for it on the inside as an inner sanctuary, even as bthe most holy place.
17 The house, that is, the nave in front of the inner sanctuary, was forty 1cubits long.
18 There was cedar on the house within, carved in the shape of agourds and open flowers; all was cedar, there was no stone seen.
19 Then he prepared an inner sanctuary within the house in order to place there the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
20 1The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height, and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid the altar with cedar.
21 So Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold. And he drew chains of gold across the front of the inner sanctuary, and he overlaid it with gold.
22 He overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. Also athe whole altar which was by the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.
23 aAlso in the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high.
24 Five cubits was the one wing of the cherub and five cubits the other wing of the cherub; from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing were ten cubits.
25 The other cherub was ten cubits; both the cherubim were of the same measure and the same form.
26 The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other cherub.
27 He placed the cherubim in the midst of the inner house, and athe wings of the cherubim were spread out, so that the wing of the one was touching the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub was touching the other wall. So their wings were touching each other in the center of the house.
28 He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.
29 Then he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, inner and outer sanctuaries.
30 He overlaid the floor of the house with gold, inner and outer sanctuaries.
31 For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood, the lintel and five-sided doorposts.
32 So he made two doors of olive wood, and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread the gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees.
33 So also he made for the entrance of the nave four-sided doorposts of olive wood
34 and atwo doors of cypress wood; the two leaves of the one door turned on pivots, and the two 1leaves of the other door turned on pivots.
35 He carved on it cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the engraved work.
36 aHe built the inner court with three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams.
37 aIn the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of Ziv.
38 In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts and according to all its plans. So he was seven years in building it.
1 Now aSolomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.
2 aHe built the house of the forest of Lebanon; its length was 100 1cubits and its width 50 cubits and its height 30 cubits, on four rows of cedar pillars with cedar beams on the pillars.
3 It was paneled with cedar above the side chambers which were on the 45 pillars, 15 in each row.
4 There were artistic window frames in three rows, and window was opposite window in three ranks.
5 All the doorways and doorposts had squared artistic frames, and window was opposite window in three ranks.
6 Then he made athe hall of pillars; its length was 50 cubits and its width 30 cubits, and a porch was in front of them and pillars and a bthreshold in front of them.
7 He made the hall of the athrone where he was to judge, the hall of judgment, and bit was paneled with cedar from floor to floor.
8 His house where he was to live, the other court inward from the hall, was of the same workmanship. aHe also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, bwhom Solomon had married.
9 All these were of costly stones, of stone cut according to measure, sawed with saws, inside and outside; even from the foundation to the coping, and so on the outside to the great court.
10 The foundation was of costly stones, even large stones, stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits.
11 And above were costly stones, stone cut according to measure, and cedar.
12 So athe great court all around had three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams even as the inner court of the house of the Lord, and bthe porch of the house.
13 Now aKing Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre.
14 aHe was a widow’s son from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze; and bhe was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill