The First Book of the Kings

⭑ Geneva Bible :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 6 -

(2 Chronicles 3:1–2)

And in the foure hundreth and foure score yeere (after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt) and in the fourth yere of the reigne of Salomon ouer Israel, in the moneth Zif, (which is the second moneth) he built the house of the Lord.

And the house which King Salomon built for the Lord, was three score cubites long, and twentie broade, and thirtie cubites hie.

And the porch before the Temple of the house was twentie cubites long according to the breadth of the house, and ten cubites broade before the house.

And in the house he made windowes, broad without, and narrowe within.

The Chambers

And by the wall of the house hee made galleries round about, euen by the walles of the house round about the Temple and the oracle, and made chambers round about.

The nethermost gallerie was fiue cubites broade, and the middlemost sixe cubites broade, and the third seuen cubites broade: for he made restes round about without the house, that the beames should not be fastened in the walles of the house.

And when the house was built, it was built of stone perfite, before it was brought, so that there was neither hammer, nor axe, nor any toole of yron heard in the house, while it was in building.

The doore of the middle chamber was in the right side of the house, and men went vp with winding stayres into the middlemost, and out of the middlemost into the third.

So he built the house and finished it, and sieled the house being vawted with sieling of cedar trees.

And he built the galleries vpon al the wall of the house of fiue cubites height, and they were ioyned to the house with beames of cedar.

God’s Promise to Solomon

And the worde of the Lord came to Salomon, saying,

Cocerning this house which thou buildest, if thou wilt walke in mine ordinances, and execute my iudgements, and keepe al my commadements, to walke in them, then will I performe vnto thee my promise, which I promised to Dauid thy father.

And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and wil not forsake my people Israel.

The Temple’s Interior

(2 Chronicles 3:5–9)

So Salomon built the house and finished it,

And built the walles of the house within, with boards of cedar tree from the pauement of the house vnto the walles of the sieling, and within he couered them with wood, and couered the floore of the house with planks of firre.

And he built twentie cubites in the sides of the house with boards of cedar, from the floore to the walles, and he prepared a place within it for the oracle, euen the most holy place.

But the house, that is, the Temple before it, was fourtie cubites long.

And the cedar of the house within was carued with knops, and grauen with floures: all was cedar, so that no stone was seene.

Also he prepared the place of the oracle in the mids of the house within, to set the Arke of the couenant of the Lord there.

And the place of the oracle within was twentie cubites long, and twentie cubites broad, and twentie cubites hie, and hee couered it with pure golde, and couered the altar with cedar.

So Salomon couered the house within with pure golde: and he shut the place of the oracle with chaines of gold, and couered it with golde.

And he ouerlayde all the house with gold, vntill all the house was made perfite. also he couered the whole altar, that was before the oracle, with golde.

The Cherubim

(2 Chronicles 3:10–13)

And within the oracle he made two Cherubims of oliue tree, ten cubites hie.

The wing also of the one Cherub was fiue cubites, and the wing of the other Cherub was fiue cubites: from the vttermost part of one of his wings vnto the vttermost part of the other of his wings, were ten cubites.

Also the other Cherub was of ten cubites: both the Cherubims were of one measure and one sise.

For the height of the one Cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other Cherub.

And he put the Cherubims within the inner house, and the Cherubims stretched out their wings, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other Cherub touched the other wall: and their other wings touched one another in the middes of the house.

And he ouerlaied the Cherubims with golde.

And he carued all the walles of the house round about with grauen figures of Cherubims and of Palmetrees, and grauen flowres within and without.

And the floore of the house hee couered with golde within and without.

The Doors

And in the entring of the oracle he made two doores of oliue tree: and the vpper post and side postes were fiue square.

The two doores also were of oliue tree, and he graued them with grauing of Cherubims and palme trees, and grauen floures, and couered them with golde, and layed thin golde vpon the Cherubims and vpon the palme trees.

And so made he for the doore of the Temple, postes of oliue tree foure square.

But the two doores were of firre tree, the two sides of the one doore were round, and the two sides of the other doore were round.

And he graued Cherubims, and palme trees, and carued floures and couered the carued worke with golde, finely wrought.

The Courtyard

And hee built the court within with three rowes of hewed stone, and one rowe of beames of cedar.

In the fourth yeere was the foundation of the house of the Lord layed in the moneth of Zif:

And in the eleuenth yeere in the moneth of Bul, (which is the eight moneth) hee finished the house with all the furniture thereof, and in euery point: so was he seuen yeere in building it.

(2 Chronicles 3:1–2)

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

The house which King Solomon built for the LORD had a length of sixty cubits,(a) and its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits.

The 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.

He made windows of fixed lattice work for the house.

The Chambers

Against 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.

The 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.

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

The 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.

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

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

God’s Promise to Solomon

The LORD’s word came to Solomon, saying,

“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.

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

The Temple’s Interior

(2 Chronicles 3:5–9)

So Solomon built the house and finished it.

He 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.

He 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.

In front of the temple sanctuary was forty cubits long.

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

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

Within 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.

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

He 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.

The Cherubim

(2 Chronicles 3:10–13)

In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim

(b)

of olive wood, each ten cubits high.

Five 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.

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

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

He 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.

He overlaid the cherubim with gold.

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

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

The Doors

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

So 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.

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

and two doors of cypress wood. The two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.

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

The Courtyard

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

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

In 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.

Footnotes

(a)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 centimeters.

(b)6:23 “Cherubim” is plural of “cherub”, an angelic being.