1 Kings 6

God’s House Starts Rising

1 It was 480 years after Israel left Egypt, in the 4th year of Solomon’s reign, month of Ziv (second month), when he started building the Lord’s temple.

2 The temple Solomon built for the Lord was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high.

3 The porch in front stretched 30 feet wide, same as the building, and came out 15 feet.

4 He put narrow windows in the temple, high up, letting in light.

Structure Around the Temple

5 He built side rooms around the outer walls of the temple, all the way around the sanctuary and inner sanctuary.

6 The bottom floor of side rooms was 7.5 feet wide, middle was 9 feet, and top was 10.5 feet, the walls narrowed inward so they did not have to dig into the temple wall itself.

7 All the stones used were fully shaped at the quarry, no hammer, chisel, or iron tools were heard at the build site. It was silent work.

8 The doorway to the bottom floor was on the south side. A spiral staircase led up to the middle and top floors.

9 So Solomon finished the structure and roofed it with cedar beams and planks.

10 He built the side rooms against the temple walls, each 7.5 feet high, and attached them to the building.

God Speaks

11 The Lord came to Solomon and said:

12 “If you walk in My ways, obey My rules, and keep My commandments, I will keep My promise to your father David.”

13 “I will live among My people Israel, I will not walk away from them.”

The Inner Temple

14 So Solomon kept building, making everything just right.

15 Inside, he paneled the walls with cedar from floor to ceiling. The floors were made of cypress wood.

16 The inner sanctuary, 30 feet deep in the back, was built to house the Ark of the Covenant.

17 The main room in front of it was 60 feet long.

18 The cedar walls were carved with gourds and open flowers, all cedar, no stone showing.

19 He set up the inner sanctuary to hold the Ark.

20 That room was 30 feet long, wide, and high, completely overlaid with pure gold. Even the altar was covered in gold.

21 He covered the whole inside with gold and fastened gold chains across the inner sanctuary.

22 The entire place, top to bottom, was layered in gold. Even the altar in the inner sanctuary was pure gold.

The Cherubim

23 He made two huge cherubim out of olive wood, 15 feet high, for the inner sanctuary.

24 Each wing was 7.5 feet, 15 feet wingspan total.

25 Both cherubim were the same size and shape.

26 Each stood 15 feet tall.

27 They stood in the inner sanctuary with wings spread out, one wing touched the wall, the other touched the wing of the other cherub.

28 He overlaid the cherubim with gold too.

Carvings and Doors

29 All the walls were carved with cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, from inner sanctuary to main hall.

30 Even the floors were covered in gold.

31 The inner sanctuary doors were made from olive wood, five-sided doorframes.

32 The doors were carved with cherubim, palm trees, and flowers, then overlaid with gold and detailed with gold designs.

33 For the main room entrance, he made rectangular doorframes out of olive wood.

34 The doors were made of cypress wood, two panels each, hinged and folding.

35 He carved them with cherubim, palm trees, and flowers too, then overlaid them with gold just like the rest.

The Courtyard & Finish

36 He built the inner courtyard with three rows of cut stone and one row of cedar beams.

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

38 In the eleventh year, month of Bul (eighth month), the whole temple was finished, top to bottom, exactly how God wanted it. It took seven years to build.