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¹ AND it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomons reign over Israel, in the month of May, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.² And the house which Solomon built for the LORD was in length sixty cubits and in breadth twenty cubits and in height thirty cubits.³ And the porch in front of the door of the temple was twenty cubits long, the same as the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the depth before the length of the house.⁴ And for the house he made windows of narrow lights.⁵ And against the wall of the house he built rooms encircling the wall of the house, both of the temple and of the Holy of Holies; and he made side rooms round about.⁶ The lowest chamber was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad; for outside in the wall of the house he made narrowed copings round about in order that the walls should be fastened together.⁷ And the house, when it was building, was made of stones hewn before they were brought thither; so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was building.⁸ The door of the middle chamber was on the south side of the house; and it went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third.⁹ So he built the house and finished it; and roofed the house with beams and boards of cedar.¹⁰ And then he built additional rooms against the whole house, five cubits high, and they were fastened to the house with timbers of cedar.

¹¹ And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying,¹² Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and execute my judgments and keep all my commandments to walk in them, then I will perform my word with you, which I spoke to David your father;¹³ And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and I will not forsake my people Israel.¹⁴ So Solomon built the house and finished it.

¹⁵ And he covered the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, from the floor of the house, to the rafters of the ceiling; and he covered them on the inside with wood, and he covered the floor of the house with boards of cypress.¹⁶ And Solomon built twenty cubits in extent on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar; and he built within it the Holy of Holies.¹⁷ And the house, that is, the inner sanctuary, was forty cubits long.¹⁸ And the house was covered within with cedar, which was carved with buds and open flowers; all was cedar; there was no stone seen in it.¹⁹ And the holy place he made in the inner part of the house, to set there the ark of the covenant of the LORD.²⁰ And the length of the holy place was twenty cubits, and the breadth was twenty cubits, and the height was twenty cubits; and he overlaid it with pure gold; and he covered the altar with gold.²¹ And Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold; and he made a doorpost in front of the sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold.²² And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until all the house was finished; also the whole altar that was in the sanctuary he overlaid with gold.²³ And within the sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high.²⁴ And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub, ten cubits from the tip of the one wing to the tip of the other.²⁵ And the other cherub was ten cubits; both cherubim were of the same measure and the same size.²⁶ The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub.²⁷ And he set the cherubim within the inner house; and the wings of the cherubim were stretched forth so that the wing of one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched each other in the middle of the house.²⁸ And he overlaid the cherubim with pure gold.²⁹ And he carved all the walls of the house round about with ornaments; and he fashioned carved ornaments and cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.³⁰ And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.³¹ And for the entrance of the sanctuary he made doors of olive wood; the lintel and the doorposts were strongly fastened.³² The two doors also were of olive wood; and he carved upon them figures of cherubim, and carved ornaments and palm trees and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubim and upon the palm trees.³³ So also he made for the door of the temple, posts of olive wood, plain and square.³⁴ And the two doors were of fir wood; the two leaves of the one door were ornamented, and the two leaves of the other door were ornamented.³⁵ And he carved on them cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and covered them with gold overlaid upon the carved work.³⁶ And he built the inner court with three rows of hewn stone and a row of cedar beams.³⁷ In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, in the month of May;³⁸ And in the eleventh year, in the month Tishrin, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all its parts, and according to all the fashion of it. So he was seven years in building it.