¹In 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 Ziv , which is the second month , he began to build the LORD ’s house .

²The house which King Solomon built for the LORD had a length of sixty cubits, and its width twenty , and its height thirty cubits.[#6:2 A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimetres.]

³The porch in front of the temple of the house had a length of twenty cubits, which was along the width of the house . Ten cubits was its width in front of the house .

⁴He made windows of fixed lattice work for the house .

⁵Against the wall of the house , he built floors all around , against the walls of the house all around , both of the temple and of the inner sanctuary ; and he made side rooms all around .

⁶The lowest floor was five cubits wide , and the middle was six cubits wide , and the third was seven cubits wide ; for on the outside he made offsets in the wall of the house all around , that the beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house .

⁷The house , when it was under construction , was built of stone prepared at the quarry ; and no hammer or axe or any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was under construction .

⁸The door for the middle side rooms was in the right side of the house . They went up by winding stairs into the middle floor , and out of the middle into the third .

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

¹⁰He built the floors all along the house , each five cubits high ; and they rested on the house with timbers of cedar .

¹¹The LORD ’s word came to Solomon , saying ,

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

¹³I will dwell amongst the children of Israel , and will not forsake my people Israel .”

¹⁴So Solomon built the house and finished it .

¹⁵He built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling , he covered them on the inside with wood . He covered the floor of the house with cypress boards .

¹⁶He built twenty cubits of the back part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the ceiling . He built this within , for an inner sanctuary , even for the most holy place .

¹⁷In front of the temple sanctuary was forty cubits long.

¹⁸There was cedar on the house within , carved with buds and open flowers . All was cedar. No stone was visible .

¹⁹He prepared an inner sanctuary in the middle of the house within , to set the ark of the LORD ’s covenant there .

²⁰Within the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length , and twenty cubits in width , and twenty cubits in its height . He overlaid it with pure gold . He covered the altar with cedar .

²¹So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold . He drew chains of gold across before the inner sanctuary , and he overlaid it with gold .

²²He overlaid the whole house with gold , until all the house was finished . He also overlaid the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary with gold .

²³In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood , each ten cubits high .[#6:23 “Cherubim” is plural of “cherub”, an angelic being.]

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

²⁵The other cherub was ten cubits. Both the cherubim were of one measure and one form .

²⁶One cherub was ten cubits high , and so was the other cherub .

²⁷He set the cherubim within the inner house . The wings of the cherubim were stretched out , 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 middle of the house .

²⁸He overlaid the cherubim with gold .

²⁹He carved all the walls of the house around with carved figures of cherubim , palm trees , and open flowers , inside and outside .

³⁰He overlaid the floor of the house with gold , inside and outside .

³¹For the entrance of the inner sanctuary , he made doors of olive wood . The lintel and door posts were a fifth part of the wall.

³²So he made two doors of olive wood ; and he carved on them carvings of cherubim , palm trees , and open flowers , and overlaid them with gold . He spread the gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees .

³³He also made the entrance of the temple door posts of olive wood , out of a fourth part of the wall,

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 .

³⁵He carved cherubim , palm trees , and open flowers ; and he overlaid them with gold fitted on the engraved work .

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

³⁷The foundation of the LORD ’s house was laid in the fourth year , in the month Ziv .

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