Bible Time

¹AND it came to pass in the 480th year after the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the 4th year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the 2nd month, that he began to build the house of Yahvah. ²And the house which Solomon built for Yahvah was in length 60 cubits and in breadth 20 cubits and in height 30 cubits. ³And the porch in front of the door of the temple was 20 cubits long, the same as the breadth of the house; and 10 cubits was the depth before the length of the house. ⁴And for the house he made windows of narrow lights. ⁵And against the wall of the house he built rooms encircling the wall of the house, both of the temple and of the Holy of Holies; and he made side rooms around it. ⁶The lowest chamber was 5 cubits broad, and the middle was 6 cubits broad, and the 3rd was 7 cubits broad; for outside in the wall of the house he made narrowed copings around in order that the walls should be fastened together. ⁷And the house, when it was being built, was made of stones hewn before they were brought in there; so that there was not hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was being built. ⁸The door of the middle chamber was on the south side of the house; and it went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the 3rd. ⁹So he built the house and finished it; and roofed the house with beams and boards of cedar. ¹⁰And then he built additional rooms against the whole house, 5 cubits high, and they were fastened to the house with timbers of cedar.

¹¹And the word of Yahvah came to Solomon, saying, ¹²Concerning this house which you are building, if you walk in my statutes and execute my judgments and keep all my commandments to walk in them, then I will perform my word with you, which I spoke to David your father; ¹³And I will live among the children of Israel, and I will not forsake my people Israel. ¹⁴So Solomon built the house and finished it.

¹⁵And he covered the inside walls of the house with boards of cedar, from the floor of the house, to the rafters of the ceiling; and he covered them on the inside with wood, and he covered the floor of the house with boards of cypress. ¹⁶And Solomon built 20 cubits in extent on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar; and he built inside it the Holy of Holies. ¹⁷And the house, that is, the inner sanctuary, was 40 cubits long. ¹⁸And the house was covered inside with cedar, which was carved with buds and open flowers; all was cedar; there was no stone seen in it. ¹⁹And the holy place he made in the inner part of the house, to set there the ark of the contract of Yahvah. ²⁰And the length of the holy place was 20 cubits, and the breadth was 20 cubits, and the height was 20 cubits; and he overlaid it with pure gold; and he covered the altar with gold. ²¹And Solomon overlaid the house inside with pure gold; and he made a doorpost in front of the sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. ²²And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until all the house was finished; the whole altar that was in the sanctuary he also overlaid with gold. ²³And inside the sanctuary he made 2 cherubim of olive wood, each 10 cubits high. ²⁴And 5 cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and 5 cubits the other wing of the cherub, 10 cubits from the tip of the one wing to the tip of the other. ²⁵And the other cherub was 10 cubits; both cherubim were of the same measure and the same size. ²⁶The height of the one cherub was 10 cubits, and so was it of the other cherub. ²⁷And he set the cherubim inside the inner house; and the wings of the cherubim were stretched forth so that the wing of one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched each other in the middle of the house. ²⁸And he overlaid the cherubim with pure gold. ²⁹And he carved all the walls around the house with ornaments; and he fashioned carved ornaments and cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, inside and outside. ³⁰And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, inside and outside. ³¹And for the entrance of the sanctuary he made doors of olive wood; the lintel and the doorposts were strongly fastened. ³²The 2 doors were also of olive wood; and he carved on them figures of cherubim, and carved ornaments and palm trees and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold, and spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees. ³³So he also made for the door of the temple, posts of olive wood, plain and square. ³⁴And the 2 doors were of fir wood; the 2 leaves of the one door were ornamented, and the 2 leaves of the other door were ornamented. ³⁵And he carved on them cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and covered them with gold overlaid on the carved work. ³⁶And he built the inner court with 3 rows of hewn stone and a row of cedar beams. ³⁷In the 4th year was the foundation of the house of Yahvah laid, in the month of Ziv; ³⁸And in the 11th year, in the month Tishrin, which is the 8th month, was the house finished throughout all its parts, and according to all the fashion of it. So he was 7 years in building it.