1 A nd 480 years after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the second month, Ziv, he began to build the Lord’s house.

In the 480th year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s rule over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord.

2 T he length of the house Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits, its breadth twenty, and its height thirty cubits.

The house which King Solomon built for the Lord was as long as thirty long steps, as wide as ten long steps, and eight times taller than a man.

3 T he length of the vestibule in front of the temple was twenty cubits, equal to the width of the house, and its depth in front of the house was ten cubits.

All along the front of the House of God was a porch ten long steps long and five long steps wide. It was as long as the house was wide.

4 F or the house he made narrow windows.

He made windows for the house with beautiful cross-pieces.

5 A gainst the wall of the house he built chambers running round the walls of the house both of the Holy Place and of the Holy of Holies; and he made side chambers all around.

He made a building of rooms against the outer walls of three sides of the house. These rooms were three floors high.

6 T he first story’s side chambers were five cubits wide, those of the middle story six cubits wide, and of the third story seven cubits wide; for around the outside of the wall of the house he made offsets in order that the supporting beams should not be thrust into the walls of the house.

The bottom floor was as wide as three steps. The second floor was as wide as three long steps. And the third floor was as wide as four steps. For around the outside of the house he made places for the large wood cross-pieces to rest on. That way they would not need to be put into holes in the walls of the house.

7 W hen the house was being built, its stone was made ready at the quarry, and no hammer, ax, or tool of iron was heard in the house while it was in building.

The house was built of stone that was cut at the place where it was taken from the ground. There was no noise of a hammer or an ax or any iron object heard in the house while it was being built.

8 T he entrance to the lowest side chamber was on the right side of the house; and one went up winding stairs into the middle chamber and from the middle into the third.

The door for the first floor room was on the right side of the house. They would go up steps to the second floor, and from the second to the third.

9 S o Solomon built the temple building and finished it, and roofed the house with beams and boards of cedar.

So he built the house and finished it. And he made the roof of the house of large pieces of cedar wood.

10 T hen he built the stories of chambers against all the house, each five cubits high; and it was joined to the house with timbers of cedar.

He built the three floors against the outside wall of the house. Each one was as high as a man could raise his hand. They were joined to the house with big pieces of cedar wood.

11 N ow the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying,

Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying,

12 C oncerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes, execute My precepts, and keep all My commandments to walk in them, then I will fulfill to you My promises which I made to David your father.

“If you obey My Laws and keep My Word, then I will keep My promise with you, which I spoke to your father David about this house you are building.

13 A nd I will dwell among the Israelites and will not forsake My people Israel.

I will live among the sons of Israel. And I will not leave My people Israel alone.”

14 S o Solomon built the house and finished it.

So Solomon built the house and finished it.

15 H e built the walls of the house (the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies) within with boards of cedar, from the floor of the house to the rafters of the ceiling. He covered the inside with wood, and the floor of the house with boards of cypress.

He built the walls of the house on the inside with pieces of cedar wood. He put wood over the inside walls from the floor of the house to the roof. And he put pieces of cypress wood over the floor of the house.

16 H e built twenty cubits of the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the rafters; he built it within for the sanctuary, the Holy of Holies.

An inside room called the most holy place was built in the back part of the house with pieces of cedar wood, from the floor to the roof and as wide as ten long steps.

17 T he house, that is, the temple in front of the Holy of Holies, was forty cubits long.

The rest of the house, the center room in front of the most holy place, was as long as twenty long steps.

18 T he cedar on the house within was carved with gourds and open flowers. All was cedar; no stone was visible.

There was cedar on the house within, cut to look like gourds and open flowers. It was all cedar. No stone was seen.

19 A nd he prepared the Holy of Holies in the inner room in which to set the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

Then he built the most holy place inside the house, in which to put the special box of the agreement.

20 T he Holy of Holies was twenty cubits in length, in breadth, and in height. He overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid the cedar altar.

The most holy place was as long as ten long steps, as wide as ten long steps, and more than five times taller than a man. He covered it with pure gold. And he covered the altar with cedar.

21 S olomon overlaid the house within with pure gold, and he drew chains of gold across in front of the Holy of Holies and overlaid it with gold.

Solomon covered the inside of the house with pure gold. He crossed the front of the most holy place with chains of gold, and he covered it with gold.

22 A nd the whole house he overlaid with gold, until all the house was finished. Also the whole altar that belonged to the Holy of Holies he overlaid with gold.

He covered the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. And he covered the whole altar by the most holy place with gold.

23 W ithin the Holy of Holies he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high.

In the most holy place he made two cherubim of olive wood. Each one was almost three times taller than a man.

24 F ive cubits was the length of one wing of the cherub and five cubits its other wing; from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other was ten cubits.

One wing of the cherub was as long as three steps. And the other wing of the cherub was as long as three steps. It was as far as five long steps from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing.

25 T he wings of the other cherub were also ten cubits. Both cherubim were the same,

It was as much as five long steps between the ends of the wings of the other cherub also. Both the cherubim were the same height, length and width, and they looked alike.

26 T he height of one cherub ten cubits, as was the other.

Each of the cherubim was almost three times taller than a man.

27 H e put the cherubim within the inner sanctuary. Their wings were stretched out, so that the wing of one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall, and their inner wings touched in the midst of the room.

He put the cherubim in the most holy place of the house. The wings of the cherubim were spread out. The wing of the one cherub 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 S olomon overlaid the cherubim with gold.

He covered the cherubim with gold.

29 H e carved all the walls of the house (these two holy rooms) round about with figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, within and without.

Then he cut pictures in all the walls around the house to look like cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, in the center room and the most holy place.

30 T he floor of the house he overlaid with gold, inside and out.

He covered the floor of the house with gold, in the center room and the most holy place.

31 F or the Holy of Holies he made doors of olive wood; their entire width was one-fifth that of the wall.

He made doors of olive wood for the most holy place. The top and sides of the door had five sides.

32 O n the two doors of olive wood he carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; he overlaid them with gold, and spread gold on the cherubim and palm trees.

He cut pictures in the two doors of olive wood, to look like cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and covered them with gold. He spread the gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees.

33 A lso he made for the door of the Holy Place four-sided posts of olive wood.

For the doorway of the center room he made four-sided side pieces of olive wood

34 T he two doors were of cypress wood; the two leaves of each door were folding.

and two doors of cypress wood. Each door had two moving parts.

35 H e carved on them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, covered with gold evenly applied on the carved work.

On them he cut pictures of cherubim, palm trees and open flowers. And he covered the pictures with an even covering of gold.

36 H e built the inner court with three rows of hewn stone and a row of cedar beams.

He built the inside place with three rows of cut stone and one row of large pieces of cedar wood.

37 I n the fourth year the foundation of the Lord’s house was laid, in the month, Ziv.

In the fourth year the base of the house was laid in the month of Ziv.

38 I n the eleventh year, in Bul, the eighth month, the house was finished throughout according to all its specifications. So he was seven years in building it.

In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, the eighth month, all the parts of the house were finished just as all the plans had been made. Solomon took seven years to build it.