The First Book of the Kings

⭑ Literal Standard Version :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 6 -

(2 Chronicles 3:1–2)

And it comes to pass, in the four hundred and eightieth year of the going out of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, in the fourth year—in the month of Ziv, it [is] the second month—of the reigning of Solomon over Israel, that he builds the house for YHWH.

As for the house that King Solomon has built for YHWH, its length [is] sixty cubits, and its breadth twenty, and its height thirty cubits.

As for the porch on the front of the temple of the house, its length [is] twenty cubits on the front of the breadth of the house; its breadth [is] ten by the cubit on the front of the house;

and he makes frames of narrowing windows for the house.

The Chambers

And he builds a couch against the wall of the house all around, [even] the walls of the house all around, of the temple and of the oracle, and makes sides all around.

The lowest couch, its breadth [is] five by the cubit; and the middle, its breadth [is] six by the cubit; and the third, its breadth [is] seven by the cubit, for he has put withdrawings of the house all around outside—not to lay hold on the walls of the house.

And the house, in its being built, has been built of perfect stone [that was] brought; and hammer and the axe—any instrument of iron—was not heard in the house in its being built.

The opening of the middle side [is] at the right shoulder of the house, and with windings they go up on the middle one, and from the middle one to the third.

And he builds the house, and completes it, and covers the house [with] beams and rows of cedars.

And he builds the couch against all the house, its breadth [is] five cubits, and it takes hold of the house by cedar-wood.

God’s Promise to Solomon

And the word of YHWH is to Solomon, saying,

“This house that you are building—if you walk in My statutes, and do My judgments, indeed, have done all My commands, to walk in them, then I have established My word with you, which I spoke to your father David,

and have dwelt in the midst of the sons of Israel, and do not forsake My people Israel.”

The Temple’s Interior

(2 Chronicles 3:5–9)

And Solomon builds the house and completes it;

and he builds the walls of the house within with beams of cedar, from the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling; he has overlaid the inside with wood, and covers the floor of the house with ribs of fir.

And he builds the twenty cubits on the sides of the house with ribs of cedar, from the floor to the walls; and he builds for it within, for the oracle, for the Holy of Holies.

And [this area of] the house was forty by the cubit; it [is the area of] the temple before My face.

And the cedar for the house within [is] carvings of knobs and openings of flowers; the whole [is] cedar, there is not a stone seen.

And he has prepared the oracle in the midst of the house within, to put the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH there.

And before the oracle [is] twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and its height [is] twenty cubits; and he overlays it with gold refined, and overlays the altar with cedar.

And Solomon overlays the house within with gold refined, and causes [it] to pass over in chains of gold before the oracle, and overlays it with gold.

And he has overlaid the whole of the house with gold, until the completion of all the house; and the whole of the altar that the oracle has, he has overlaid with gold.

The Cherubim

(2 Chronicles 3:10–13)

And he makes two cherubim of the oil-tree within the oracle; their height [is] ten cubits;

and the first wing of the cherub [is] five cubits, and the second wing of the cherub five cubits—ten cubits from the ends of his wings even to the ends of his wings;

and the second cherub [is] ten by the cubit; one measure and one form [are] of the two cherubim,

the height of the first cherub [is] ten by the cubit, and so [is] the second cherub;

and he sets the cherubim in the midst of the inner house, and they spread out the wings of the cherubim, and a wing of the first comes against the wall, and a wing of the second cherub is coming against the second wall, and their wings [stretched] into the midst of the house, coming wing against wing;

and he overlays the cherubim with gold,

and he has carved all around the walls of the house with engravings of carvings, cherubim, and palm trees, and openings of flowers, inside and outside.

And he has overlaid the floor of the house with gold, inside and outside;

The Doors

as for the opening of the oracle, he made doors of the oil-tree; the lintel [and] doorposts [are] a fifth [of the wall].

And the two doors [are] of the oil-tree, and he has carved on them carvings of cherubim, and palm-trees, and openings of flowers, and overlaid with gold, and he causes the gold to go down on the cherubim and on the palm-trees.

And so he has made for the opening of the temple, doorposts of the oil-tree, from the fourth [of the wall].

And the two doors [are] of fir-tree, the two sides of the first door are revolving, and the two hangings of the second door are revolving.

And he has carved cherubim, and palms, and openings of flowers, and overlaid the carved work with straightened gold.

The Courtyard

And he builds the inner court, three rows of hewn work, and a row of beams of cedar.

In the fourth year the house of YHWH has been founded, in the month of Ziv,

and in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul (the eighth month), the house has been finished in all its matters, and in all its ordinances, and he builds it [in] seven years.

(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.