English Standard Version

International Standard Version

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

1During the month of Ziv, which was the second month of the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, 480 years after the Israelis left the land of Egypt, Solomon began to build the LORD's Temple.

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

2The Temple for the LORD that Solomon was building was 60 cubits long and 20 cubits wide.

3The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, and ten cubits deep in front of the house.

3A portico extended in front of the Temple for 20 cubits outward, corresponding to the width of the Temple. Along the front of the Temple its depth was ten cubits.

4And he made for the house windows with recessed frames.

4Solomon also constructed windows in the Temple with specially designed frames.

5He also built a structure against the wall of the house, running around the walls of the house, both the nave and the inner sanctuary. And he made side chambers all around.

5Against the wall of the Temple he built a series of rooms that encompassed the exterior of the Temple walls around the inner sanctuary. He built these side chambers all around the building.

6The lowest story was five cubits broad, the middle one was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad. For around the outside of the house he made offsets on the wall in order that the supporting beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house.

6The lower structures were five cubits wide, the middle structures were six cubits wide and the third structures were seven cubits wide. Offsets were placed all around the Temple so that beams would not protrude through the walls of the Temple.

7When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built.

7The Temple was constructed of stone precut at the quarry so that no hammer, axe, or any other iron implement would be heard in the Temple while it was being built.

8The entrance for the lowest story was on the south side of the house, and one went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle story to the third.

8A passageway to the side chamber was constructed on the south side of the Temple by which people could ascend winding stairs to the middle story, then from there to the third story.

9So he built the house and finished it, and he made the ceiling of the house of beams and planks of cedar.

9After Solomon built the Temple and finished it, he covered the Temple with beams and planks made of cedar.

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

10He constructed this structure to adjoin the entire Temple, five cubits high, and fastened it to the Temple with cedar timbers.

11Now the word of the LORD came to Solomon,

11Then this message from the LORD came to Solomon:

12“Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father.

12"Concerning this Temple that you're building, if you live your life according to my statutes, carry out my ordinances, and keep all of my commands, and live according to them, then I will do what I promised to your father David.

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

13I will reside among the Israelis and will never abandon my people Israel."

14So Solomon built the house and finished it.

14So Solomon kept on building the Temple and finished it.

15He lined the walls of the house on the inside with boards of cedar. From the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood, and he covered the floor of the house with boards of cypress.

15Then he built the inside walls of the Temple, lining them from floor to ceiling with cedar boards, and overlaying the Temple floor with boards made of cypress wood.

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

16He lined 20 cubits of the rear part of the Temple from floor to ceiling with cedar boards specially constructed for the inside to serve as the Most Holy Place.

17The house, that is, the nave in front of the inner sanctuary, was forty cubits long.

17The rest of the main nave in the front was 40 cubits long.

18The cedar within the house was carved in the form of gourds and open flowers. All was cedar; no stone was seen.

18Cedar carvings in the form of gourds and blooming flowers covered the entire interior of the Temple so that no stone could be seen.

19The inner sanctuary he prepared in the innermost part of the house, to set there the ark of the covenant of the LORD.

19Solomon also prepared an inner sanctuary within the Temple where the LORD's Ark of the Covenant was placed.

20The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high, and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid an altar of cedar.

20The inner sanctuary was 20 cubits long, 20 cubits wide, and 20 cubits high, and overlaid with pure gold. The altar was also overlaid with cedar.

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

21Solomon overlaid the inside of the Temple with pure gold, fastened gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold.

22And he overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. Also the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.

22He finished the Temple by overlaying it entirely with gold, including overlaying with gold the whole altar that was by the inner sanctuary.

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

23Inside the inner sanctuary Solomon placed two cherubim crafted from olive wood, each ten cubits high.

24Five cubits was the length of one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the length of the other wing of the cherub; it was ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other.

24Each wing of one cherub was five cubits long, and each wing of the other cherub was five cubits long, so that the distance from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing was ten cubits.

25The other cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim had the same measure and the same form.

25Each cherub was ten cubits high, and both were of the same size and shape,

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

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

27He put the cherubim in the innermost part of the house. And the wings of the cherubim were spread out so that a wing of one touched the one wall, and a wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; their other wings touched each other in the middle of the house.

27Solomon placed the cherubim in the middle of the inner sanctuary, with their wings spread in such a way that the wing of one was touching the one wall and the opposite wing of the other cherub was touching the opposite wall. Furthermore, their wings in the center of the wall were touching each other wing-to-wing.

28And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

28Each cherub was overlaid with gold.

29Around all the walls of the house he carved engraved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, in the inner and outer rooms.

29Solomon also inlaid all the inner walls of the Temple—both the inner and outer sanctuaries—with carved engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and blooming flowers.

30The floor of the house he overlaid with gold in the inner and outer rooms.

30He also overlaid the floor of the Temple with gold in both the inner and outer sanctuaries.

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

31Solomon also provided doors, lintels, and five-sided doorposts for the entrance to the inner sanctuary.

32He covered the two doors of olivewood with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. He overlaid them with gold and spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees.

32He installed two doors made of olive wood, inlaying them with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and blooming flowers, and overlaying them with gold. Then he added more gold to cover the cherubim and palm trees.

33So also he made for the entrance to the nave doorposts of olivewood, in the form of a square,

33Solomon also provided four-sided doorposts made of cypress wood for the entrance to the outer sanctuary,

34and two doors of cypress wood. The two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.

34along with two doors of cypress wood, one door of which had two leaves that turned on hinges, as did the other door, which also had two leaves that turned on hinges.

35On them he carved cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and he overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the carved work.

35Solomon also inlaid the doors with cherubim, palm trees, and blooming flowers. He overlaid them with gold that was carefully applied on the engraved work.

36He built the inner court with three courses of cut stone and one course of cedar beams.

36He constructed the inner court with three rows of precut stone and a row of cedar beams.

37In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid, in the month of Ziv.

37The foundation for the LORD's Temple was laid in the month of Ziv during the fourth year of Solomon's reign,

38And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts, and according to all its specifications. He was seven years in building it.

38and the Temple was completely finished according to its plans and specifications in the eighth month of the eleventh year of Solomon's reign, that is, during the month of Bul. It took about seven years to build.

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