| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, in the month of Ziv, the second month of the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, he began to build the house of the LORD. | 1It was in midspring, in the month of Ziv, during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, that he began to construct the Temple of the LORD. This was 480 years after the people of Israel were rescued from their slavery in the land of Egypt. |
| 2The house that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. | 2The Temple that King Solomon built for the LORD was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. |
| 3The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple was twenty cubits long, extending across the width of the temple and projecting out ten cubits in front of the temple. | 3The entry room at the front of the Temple was 30 feet wide, running across the entire width of the Temple. It projected outward 15 feet from the front of the Temple. |
| 4He also had narrow windows framed high in the temple. | 4Solomon also made narrow recessed windows throughout the Temple. |
| 5Against the walls of the temple and the inner sanctuary, Solomon built a chambered structure around the temple, in which he constructed the side rooms. | 5He built a complex of rooms against the outer walls of the Temple, all the way around the sides and rear of the building. |
| 6The bottom floor was five cubits wide, the middle floor six cubits, and the third floor seven cubits. He also placed offset ledges around the outside of the temple, so that nothing would be inserted into its walls. | 6The complex was three stories high, the bottom floor being 7 1/2 feet wide, the second floor 9 feet wide, and the top floor 10 1/2 feet wide. The rooms were connected to the walls of the Temple by beams resting on ledges built out from the wall. So the beams were not inserted into the walls themselves. |
| 7The temple was constructed using finished stones cut at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any other iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built. | 7The stones used in the construction of the Temple were finished at the quarry, so there was no sound of hammer, ax, or any other iron tool at the building site. |
| 8The entrance to the bottom floor was on the south side of the temple. A stairway led up to the middle level, and from there to the third floor. | 8The entrance to the bottom floor was on the south side of the Temple. There were winding stairs going up to the second floor, and another flight of stairs between the second and third floors. |
| 9So Solomon built the temple and finished it, roofing it with beams and planks of cedar. | 9After completing the Temple structure, Solomon put in a ceiling made of cedar beams and planks. |
| 10He built chambers all along the temple, each five cubits high and attached to the temple with beams of cedar. | 10As already stated, he built a complex of rooms along the sides of the building, attached to the Temple walls by cedar timbers. Each story of the complex was 7 1/2 feet high. |
| 11Then the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying: | 11Then the LORD gave this message to Solomon: |
| 12“As for this temple you are building, if you walk in My statutes, carry out My ordinances, and keep all My commandments by walking in them, I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father David. | 12“Concerning this Temple you are building, if you keep all my decrees and regulations and obey all my commands, I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father, David. |
| 13And I will dwell among the Israelites and will not abandon My people Israel.” | 13I will live among the Israelites and will never abandon my people Israel.” The Temple’s Interior |
| 14So Solomon built the temple and finished it. | 14So Solomon finished building the Temple. |
| 15He lined the interior walls with cedar paneling from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and he covered the floor with cypress boards. | 15The entire inside, from floor to ceiling, was paneled with wood. He paneled the walls and ceilings with cedar, and he used planks of cypress for the floors. |
| 16He partitioned off the twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. | 16He partitioned off an inner sanctuary—the Most Holy Place—at the far end of the Temple. It was 30 feet deep and was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling. |
| 17And the main hall in front of this room was forty cubits long. | 17The main room of the Temple, outside the Most Holy Place, was 60 feet long. |
| 18The cedar paneling inside the temple was carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; not a stone could be seen. | 18Cedar paneling completely covered the stone walls throughout the Temple, and the paneling was decorated with carvings of gourds and open flowers. |
| 19Solomon also prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there. | 19He prepared the inner sanctuary at the far end of the Temple, where the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant would be placed. |
| 20The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar. | 20This inner sanctuary was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. He overlaid the inside with solid gold. He also overlaid the altar made of cedar. |
| 21So Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold. | 21Then Solomon overlaid the rest of the Temple’s interior with solid gold, and he made gold chains to protect the entrance to the Most Holy Place. |
| 22So he overlaid with gold the whole interior of the temple, until everything was completely finished. He also overlaid with gold the entire altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary. | 22So he finished overlaying the entire Temple with gold, including the altar that belonged to the Most Holy Place. |
| 23In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim, each ten cubits high, out of olive wood. | 23He made two cherubim of wild olive wood, each 15 feet tall, and placed them in the inner sanctuary. |
| 24One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing was five cubits long as well. So the full wingspan was ten cubits. | 24The wingspan of each of the cherubim was 15 feet, each wing being 7 1/2 feet long. |
| 25The second cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim had the same size and shape, | 25The two cherubim were identical in shape and size; |
| 26and the height of each cherub was ten cubits. | 26each was 15 feet tall. |
| 27And he placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple. Since their wings were spread out, the wing of the first cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the second cherub touched the other wall, and in the middle of the room their wingtips touched. | 27He placed them side by side in the inner sanctuary of the Temple. Their outspread wings reached from wall to wall, while their inner wings touched at the center of the room. |
| 28He also overlaid the cherubim with gold. | 28He overlaid the two cherubim with gold. |
| 29Then he carved the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer sanctuaries, with carved engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. | 29He decorated all the walls of the inner sanctuary and the main room with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. |
| 30And he overlaid the temple floor with gold in both the inner and outer sanctuaries. | 30He overlaid the floor in both rooms with gold. |
| 31For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, Solomon constructed doors of olive wood with five-sided doorposts. | 31For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, he made double doors of wild olive wood with five-sided doorposts. |
| 32The double doors were made of olive wood, and he carved into them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold. | 32These double doors were decorated with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. The doors, including the decorations of cherubim and palm trees, were overlaid with gold. |
| 33In the same way he made four-sided doorposts of olive wood for the sanctuary entrance. | 33Then he made four-sided doorposts of wild olive wood for the entrance to the Temple. |
| 34The two doors were made of cypress wood, and each had two folding panels. | 34There were two folding doors of cypress wood, and each door was hinged to fold back upon itself. |
| 35He carved into them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold, hammered evenly over the carvings. | 35These doors were decorated with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers—all overlaid evenly with gold. |
| 36Solomon built the inner courtyard with three rows of dressed stone and one row of trimmed cedar beams. | 36The walls of the inner courtyard were built so that there was one layer of cedar beams between every three layers of finished stone. |
| 37The foundation of the house of the LORD was laid in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, in the month of Ziv. | 37The foundation of the LORD’s Temple was laid in midspring, in the month of Ziv, during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign. |
| 38In his eleventh year and eighth month, the month of Bul, the temple was finished in every detail and according to every specification. So he built the temple in seven years. | 38The entire building was completed in every detail by midautumn, in the month of Bul, during the eleventh year of his reign. So it took seven years to build the Temple. |
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