New Living Translation

English Standard Version

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.

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.

2The Temple that King Solomon built for the LORD was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high.

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

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.

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.

4Solomon also made narrow recessed windows throughout the Temple.

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

5He built a complex of rooms against the outer walls of the Temple, all the way around the sides and rear of the building.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

9After completing the Temple structure, Solomon put in a ceiling made of cedar beams and planks.

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

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

11Then the LORD gave this message to Solomon:

11Now the word of the LORD came to Solomon,

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.

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.

13I will live among the Israelites and will never abandon my people Israel.” The Temple’s Interior

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

14So Solomon finished building the Temple.

14So Solomon built the house and finished it.

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.

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.

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.

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.

17The main room of the Temple, outside the Most Holy Place, was 60 feet long.

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

18Cedar paneling completely covered the stone walls throughout the Temple, and the paneling was decorated with carvings of gourds and open flowers.

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

19He prepared the inner sanctuary at the far end of the Temple, where the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant would be placed.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

22So he finished overlaying the entire Temple with gold, including the altar that belonged to the Most Holy Place.

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.

23He made two cherubim of wild olive wood, each 15 feet tall, and placed them in the inner sanctuary.

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

24The wingspan of each of the cherubim was 15 feet, each wing being 7 1/2 feet long.

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.

25The two cherubim were identical in shape and size;

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

26each was 15 feet tall.

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

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.

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.

28He overlaid the two cherubim with gold.

28And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

29He decorated all the walls of the inner sanctuary and the main room with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.

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.

30He overlaid the floor in both rooms with gold.

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

31For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, he made double doors of wild olive wood with five-sided doorposts.

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

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.

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.

33Then he made four-sided doorposts of wild olive wood for the entrance to the Temple.

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

34There were two folding doors of cypress wood, and each door was hinged to fold back upon itself.

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.

35These doors were decorated with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers—all overlaid evenly with gold.

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

36The walls of the inner courtyard were built so that there was one layer of cedar beams between every three layers of finished stone.

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

37The foundation of the LORD’s Temple was laid in midspring, in the month of Ziv, during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign.

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

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.

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.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.