6
The Temple Built in Seven Years
(2 Chronicles 3:1–14)
1 Solomon began to build the Lord’s temple 480 years after Israel left Egypt. He began building in the month of Ziv (the second month) of the fourth year of his reign over Israel. 2 The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 3 The entrance hall in front of the main room of the temple was the same length as the shorter side of the temple. It extended 15 feet in front of the temple. 4 He also made latticed windows for the temple.
5 He built an annex containing side rooms all around the temple. This annex was next to the walls of the main building and the inner sanctuary. 6 The ⌞interior of⌟ the lowest story of the annex was 7½ feet wide, the second story was 9 feet wide, and the third story was 10½ feet wide. Solomon made ledges all around the temple so that this annex would not be fastened to the walls of the temple.
7 The temple was built with stone blocks that were finished at the quarry. No hammer, chisel, or any other iron tool made a sound at the temple construction site.
8 The entrance to the first story* was on the south side of the temple. A staircase went up to the middle story and then to the third story.
9 When he had finished building the walls, he roofed the temple with rows of cedar beams and planks. 10 He built ⌞each story of the⌟ annex 7½ feet high alongside the entire temple. Its cedar beams were attached to the temple.
11 The Lord spoke to Solomon, saying, 12 “This concerns the temple you are building: If you live by my laws, follow my rules, and keep my commands, I will fulfill the promise I made about you to your father David. 13 I will live among the Israelites and never abandon my people.”
14 When Solomon had finished building the temple’s ⌞frame⌟, 15 he began to line the inside walls of the temple with cedar boards. He paneled the inside of the temple with wood from floor to ceiling. He covered the floor of the temple with cypress planks.
16 He sectioned off a 30-foot-long room at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from the floor to the rafters. He built it to serve as an inner room, the most holy place. 17 The 60-foot-long room at the front of the temple served as the main hall. 18 Gourds and flowers were carved into the cedar paneling inside the temple. Everything was ⌞covered with⌟ cedar. No stone could be seen.
19 He prepared the inner room of the temple in order to put the ark of the Lord’s promise there. 20 The inner room was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. Solomon covered it and the cedar altar with pure gold. 21 He covered the inside of the temple with pure gold. He put golden chains across the front of the inner room which was covered with gold. 22 He covered the entire inside of the temple with gold. He also covered the entire altar in the inner room with gold.
23 In the inner room he made two 15-foot-tall angels† out of olive wood. 24 Each wing of the angels was 7½ feet long. The distance from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other was 15 feet. 25 Both angels had a 15-foot ⌞wingspan⌟. Both had the same measurements and the same shape. 26 Each was 15 feet high. 27 Solomon put the angels in the inner room of the temple. The wings of the angels extended so that the wing of one of the angels touched the one wall, and the wing of the other touched the other wall. Their remaining wings touched each other in the center of the room. 28 He covered the angels with gold.
29 He carved angels, palm trees, and flowers into the walls all around the inner and outer rooms of the temple. 30 He covered the floor of the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold.
31 He made doors for the entrance to the inner room out of olive wood. The doorposts had five sides. 32 The two doors were ⌞made out of⌟ olive wood. He carved angels, palm trees, and flowers into them and covered them with gold. The gold was hammered onto the angels and the palm trees.
33 In the same way he made square doorposts out of olive wood for the temple’s entrance. 34 He made two doors from cypress. Each of the doors had two folding panels. 35 On them he carved angels, palm trees, and flowers. He evenly covered them with gold.
36 He built the inner courtyard with three courses of finished stones and a course of finished cedar beams.
37 In the month of Ziv of the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. 38 In the month of Bul (the eighth month) of the eleventh year ⌞of his reign⌟, the temple was finished according to all its plans and specifications. He spent seven years building it.
* 6:8 Greek, Targum; Masoretic Text “second story.” † 6:23 Or “cherubim.”