Solomon Builds the Temple
1 In the 408th year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, Solomon began to build the house of the Lord. 2 The house which king Solomon built for the Lord had a length of 90 feet, and its width 30 feet, and its height 45 feet. 3 The porch in front of the temple of the house was 30 feet long, which was along the width of the house. The width in front of the house was fifteen feet. 4 He made windows of fixed lattice work for the house.
The Chambers
5 Against the wall of the house, he built floors all around, against the walls of the house all around, both of the temple and of the inner sanctuary, and he made side rooms all around. 6 The lowest floor was 7½ feet, and the middle was nine feet wide, and the third was 10½ feet wide, for on the outside he made offsets in the wall of the house all around, that the beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house.
7 The house, when it was under construction, was built of stone prepared at the quarry, and no hammer or ax or any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was under construction. 8 The door for the middle side rooms was in the right side of the house. They went up by winding stairs into the middle floor and out of the middle into the third. 9 So he built the house and finished it, and he covered the house with beams and planks of cedar. 10 He built the floors all along the house, each 7½ feet high, and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.
God’s Promise
11 The word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying, 12 “Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and execute my ordinances and keep all my commandments to walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father. 13 I will dwell among the Israelites and will not forsake my people Israel.”
14 So Solomon built the house and finished it.
The Temple’s Interior
15 He lined the walls of the house with boards of cedar. From the floor of the house to the rafters of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood, and he covered the floor of the house with cypress boards. 16 He lined 30 feet of the back part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the ceiling. He built the interior as an inner sanctuary, the most holy place. 17 In front of the temple sanctuary was 60 feet. 18 There was cedar on the house within, carved with buds and open flowers. Everything was cedar. No stone was visible. 19 He prepared an inner sanctuary in the middle of the house, to set the Ark of the covenant of the Lord there. 20 The inner sanctuary was 30 feet in length, 30 feet in width, and 30 feet in height; and he overlaid it with pure gold, and covered the altar with cedar. 21 So Solomon overlaid the house with with pure gold. 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 the entire house was finished. He also overlaid the entire altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary with gold.
The Cherubim
23 In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each fifteen feet high. 24 One wing was 7½ feet and other wing of the cherub was 7½ feet. From the tip of one wing to the tip of the other was fifteen feet. 25 The other cherub was fifteen feet. Both of the cherubim had the same measurements and shape. 26 One cherub was fifteen feet high, and so was the other cherub. 27 He set the cherubim within the inner house. The wings of the cherubim were stretched out so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall, and their wings touched one another in the middle of the house. 28 He overlaid the cherubim with gold.
29 He carved all the walls of the house around with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, inside and outside. 30 He overlaid the floor of the house with gold, inside and outside.
The Doors
31 For the entrance of the inner sanctuary, he made doors of olive wood. The lintel and door posts took up a fifth of the wall. 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. He spread the gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees.
33 He also did so for the entrance of the temple door posts of olive wood, from one-fourth of the wall, 34 and two doors of cypress wood. The two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding. 35 He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold fitted on the engraved work.
The Courtyard
36 He built the inner court with three sections of cut stone and a section of cedar beams.
37 The foundation of the Lord’s house was laid in the fourth year, in the month Ziv. 38 In the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts, and according to all its specifications. So he spent seven years building it.