FIRST KINGS

 

1 Kings Chapter 6

1 ¶ In the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, Solomon began to build the house of the LORD.

2 And the length of the house which king Solomon built for the LORD, was sixty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits, and its height was thirty cubits.

3 And the length of the porch in front of the temple sanctuary was, twenty cubits, equal to the width of the house; and its depth in front of the house was ten cubits.

4 And for the house he made narrow windows.

5 And against the wall of the house he built chambers, running around the walls of the house, both of the holy place and the holy of holies: and he made chambers all around:

6 The lowest chamber was five cubits wide, and the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide: for around the outside of the house he made offsets, so that the beams would not be fastened in the walls of the house.

7 And when the house was being built, its stone was made ready before it was brought there: so that no hammer, axe, or any tool of iron was heard in the house, while it was being built.

8 The door for the middle chamber was on the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and from the middle into the third.

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

10 And then he built chambers five cubits high against the whole house: and they were fastened to the house with beams of cedar.

11 ¶ And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying,

12 Concerning this house which you are in building, if you will walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then I will fulfill my promise to you, which I made to your father David:

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

14 So Solomon built the house, and finished it.

15 ¶ And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls and ceiling: and he covered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir.

16 Then he lined twenty cubits of the rear of the house, with boards of cedar both the floor and the walls: and he built this within, as an inner sanctuary, as the most holy place.

17 And the house, that is, the nave in front of it, was forty cubits long.

18 And the cedar of the house within was carved with gourds and open flowers: all was cedar; no stone could be seen.

19 And he prepared the holy of holies within the temple, to place the ark of the covenant of the LORD there.

20 And the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high: and he overlaid it with pure gold; and also overlaid the cedar incense altar.

21 So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he made a partition with chains of gold in front of the holy of holies; and he overlaid it with gold.

22 And he overlaid the whole house with gold, until everything was finished: the incense altar that was by the holy of holies was also entirely overlaid with gold.

23 And within the holy of holies he made two cherubim from olive wood, each ten cubits high.

24 And one wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub was five cubits: from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other was ten cubits.

25 And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubim were the same size.

26 The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and the other was the same.

27 And he placed the cherubim inside the inner sanctuary: and they stretched out the wings of the cherubim, so that the wing of one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the center of the room.

28 And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

29 And he carved all the walls of the sanctuary all around with carved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, in the inner and outer rooms.

30 And he overlaid the floor of the sanctuary with gold, in the inner and outer rooms.

31 And for the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood: the lintel and side posts were five sided.

32 The two doors also were of olive wood; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubim, and upon the palm trees.

33 He also made four-sided posts for the door of the temple out of olive wood.

34 And the two doors were of fir: the two leaves of the first door folded, and the two leaves of the other door folded.

35 And on them he carved cherubim and palm trees and open flowers: and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work.

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

37 The foundation of the temple of the LORD was laid in the fourth year, in the month Zif:

38 And the temple was finished throughout in all its parts according to all its specifications in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month. So he was seven years in building it.