1 Kings, Chapter 6:

Verses from 1 Kings, Chapter 6 of the book of 1 Samuel of the Bible.

Solomon builds the temple

• 1. Four hundred and eighty years have passed since the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, when, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign in Israel, in the month of Zive, the second month, he began the construction of the temple of the Lord.
• 2. The temple that King Solomon built was twenty-seven meters long, nine meters wide and thirteen and a half meters high.
• 3. The entrance porch of the sanctuary was the same width as the temple, that is, nine meters, and extended four and a half meters in front of the temple.
• 4. The temple windows were equipped with narrow lattices.
• 5. Along the walls of the main atrium and inner sanctuary, structures with side rooms were built.
• 6. The lower room was two meters and twenty-five centimeters wide, the middle room was two meters and seventy centimeters wide, and the upper room was three meters and fifteen centimeters wide. Solomon designed protrusions on the outer walls of the temple so that it was not necessary to drill them.
• 7. During the construction of the temple, only pre-hewn stone blocks were used, and no sounds of hammers, chisels or any other iron tools were heard in the temple.
• 8. The entrance to the lower room was on the south side of the temple, and there was a staircase leading to the middle room and from there to the third floor.
• 9. So Solomon built the temple and finished it, covering it with beams and cedar boards.
• 10. He also built side rooms throughout the temple, each one six feet tall, and they were connected to the temple by cedar beams.
• 11. Then the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying:
• 12. “As for this temple that you are building, if you follow my decrees, fulfill my judgments, and obey all my commandments, I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father David.
• 13. I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.”
• 14. So Solomon completed the construction of the temple.
• 15. He lined the inside walls of the temple with boards of cedar, covering them from floor to ceiling, and made the floor of the temple with boards of pine.
• 16. Inside the temple, Solomon set aside an area thirty feet long, which was divided from floor to ceiling with cedar boards, forming the inner sanctuary, known as the Holy of Holies.
• 17. The main atrium in front of this room was eighteen meters long.
• 18. The interior of the temple was completely covered in cedar, with carvings of fruits and flowers in relief. There was not a stone in sight.
• 19. Solomon also prepared the inner sanctuary of the temple to house the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
• 20. The inner sanctuary was nine meters long, nine meters wide and nine meters high. He overlaid it with pure gold, just like the cedar altar.
• 21. Solomon overlaid the entire interior of the temple with pure gold, and spread gold chains in front of the inner sanctuary, which was also overlaid with gold.
• 22. In this way, the entire interior of the temple, including the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary, was covered with gold.
• 23. In the inner sanctuary, Solomon carved two cherubim of olive wood, each four and a half meters high.
• 24. The wings of the cherubim extended eight feet, so that the total span from one wing to the other was four and a half feet.
• 25. The two cherubim were the same size and the same shape.
• 26. The height of each cherub was four and a half meters.
• 27. Solomon placed the cherubim with open wings in the inner sanctuary of the temple. One cherub's wing touched one wall, and the other cherub's wing touched the opposite wall. The other wings of the cherubim touched each other in the middle of the sanctuary.
• 28. The cherubim were also overlaid with gold.
• 29. On the walls around the temple, both inside and outside, Solomon carved cherubim, palm trees, and flowers in relief.
• 30. He covered the floors of the temple, both inside and outside, with gold.
• 31. For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, Solomon made doors of olive trees with frames on five sides.
• 32. On the two olive wood doors he carved cherubim, palm trees, and flowers in relief, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with beaten gold.
• 33. He also made square pillars of olive wood for the entrance to the temple.
• 34. In addition, he made two pine doors, each with two leaves hinged together.
• 35. Solomon carved cherubim, palm trees, and flowers in relief on the doors and overlaid them with beaten gold.
• 36. He built the inner court with three layers of hewn stones and a row of cedar beams.
• 37. The foundations of the temple of the Lord were laid in the month of Zive, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign.
• 38. In the month of Bul, the eighth month, of the eleventh year of Solomon's reign, the temple was completed in all its details, according to its specifications. It took Solomon seven years to build it.

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