¹ And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.¹

1. began...: Heb. built

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

³ And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length of it, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth of it before the house.

⁴ And for the house he made windows of narrow lights.¹

1. of...: or, broad within, and narrow without: or, skewed and closed

⁵ And against the wall of the house he built chambers all around, against the walls of the house all around, both of the temple and of the inner sanctuary: and he made chambers all around:¹²³

1. against the wall: or, upon, or, joining to the wall
2. built chambers: Heb. built floors
3. made chambers: Heb. made ribs

⁶ The lowest chamber was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad: for around the outside in the wall of the house he made narrowed rests, that the beams should not be fastened in the walls of the house.¹

1. narrowed...: Heb. narrowings, or, rebatements

⁷ And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought there: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.

⁸ The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third.¹

1. side: Heb. shoulder

⁹ So he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar.¹

1. with...: or, the vaultbeams and the panellings with cedar

¹⁰ And then he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.

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

¹² Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spoke to David thy father:

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 on the inside of the house with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls of the panelling: and he covered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir.¹

1. both...: or, from the floor of the house unto the walls, etc

¹⁶ And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar: he even built them for it on the inside, even for the inner sanctuary, even for the most holy place .

¹⁷ And the house, that is, the temple before it, was forty cubits long .

¹⁸ And the cedar on the inside of the house was carved with gourds and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen.¹²

1. knops: or, gourds
2. open: Heb. openings of

¹⁹ And the inner sanctuary he prepared in the inside of the house, to set there the ark of the covenant of the LORD.

²⁰ And the inner sanctuary in the forepart was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height of it: and he overlaid it with pure gold; and so covered the altar which was of cedar.¹

1. pure: Heb. shut up

²¹ So Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold: and he made a partition by the chains of gold before the inner sanctuary; and he overlaid it with gold.

²² And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house: also the whole altar that was by the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.

²³ And within the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive tree, each ten cubits high.¹

1. olive: or, oily: Heb. trees of oil

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

²⁵ And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubim were of one measure and one size.

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

²⁷ And he set the cherubim within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubim, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house.¹

1. they...: or, the cherubims stretched forth their wings

²⁸ And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

²⁹ And he carved all the walls around the house with carved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.¹

1. open flowers: Heb. openings of flowers

³⁰ And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.

³¹ And for the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive tree: the lintel and side posts were a fifth part of the wall .¹

1. a fifth...: or, fivesquare

³² The two doors also were of olive tree; 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.¹²

1. two...: or, leaves of the doors
2. open flowers: Heb. openings of flowers

³³ So also he made for the door of the temple posts of olive tree, a fourth part of the wall .¹

1. a fourth...: or, foursquare

³⁴ And the two doors were of fir tree: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.

³⁵ And he carved on it 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 hewn stone, and a row of cedar beams.

³⁷ In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, in the month Zif:

³⁸ And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all its parts, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it.¹

1. through out...: or, with all the parts thereof, and with all the ordinances thereof