1 Kings 6

1And it came about in the four hundred eightieth year after the sons of Israel came out from the land of Egypt, in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv (that is, the second month), of Solomon’s reign over Israel, that he built the house for Yahweh.

2The house that King Solomon built for Yahweh was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high.

3The portico in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, across the width of the house, and ten cubits deep in front of the house.

4He made for the house windows with recessed frames.

5He built against the wall of the house a structure all around, against the walls of the house all around, around both the nave and the inner sanctuary; and he made side rooms all around.

6The lowest story was five cubits wide, the middle one six cubits wide, and the third seven cubits wide; for he made offsets around the outside of the temple, so that the beams would not be inserted into the walls of the temple.

7The house, when it was built, was built of finished stone quarried in advance; and no hammer or axe or any iron tool was heard in the house while it was being built.

8The entrance to the middle side chamber was on the right side of the house, and by winding stairs they went up to the middle story, and from the middle to the third.

9So he built the house and finished it, and he covered the house with beams and rows of cedar.

10He built the side structure against the whole house, five cubits high, and it was fastened to the house with cedar timbers.

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

12As for this house that you are building, if you walk in my statutes, carry out my judgments, and keep all my commandments by walking in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father.

13And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and I will not forsake my people Israel.

14So Solomon built the house and finished it.

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

16He built twenty cubits at the rear of the house with cedar boards, from the floor to the walls, and he built it within as an inner sanctuary, as the Most Holy Place.

17And the house, that is, the nave before the inner sanctuary, was forty cubits long.

18The cedar on the inside of the house was carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was visible.

19And he prepared the inner sanctuary within the house, to place there the ark of the covenant of Yahweh.

20In front of the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in its height. He overlaid it with pure gold, and he overlaid the cedar altar.

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

22He overlaid the whole house with gold, until the whole house was finished; and he overlaid with gold the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.

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

24And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the second wing of the cherub; ten cubits from the end of its wings to the end of its wings.

25And the second cherub was ten cubits; both cherubim had one measure and one form.

26The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so it was with the second cherub.

27He placed the cherubim inside the inner house, and the cherubim spread out their wings, so that the wing of the one touched the wall, and the wing of the second cherub touched the other wall; and their wings toward the middle of the house were touching wing to wing.

28And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

29He carved all the walls of the house all around with engraved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, on the inner and outer walls.

30He overlaid the floor of the house with gold, on the inside and on the outside.

31For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olivewood; the doorposts and jambs were five-sided.

32Also, the two doors were of olivewood, and he carved on them engravings of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread the gold over the cherubim and over the palm trees.

33And so he made for the entrance of the nave doorposts of olivewood, four-sided.

34and two doors of cypress wood; the one door had two folding leaves, and the second door had two folding leaves.

35He carved cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, fitted over the carved work.

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

37In the fourth year, the house of Yahweh was founded in the month of Ziv.

38And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul (that is, the eighth month), the house was finished in all its parts and according to all its specifications. So he built it in seven years.