Temple Construction Begins (2 Chronicles 3:1–2)
2 AKJV And the house which king Solomon built for the LORD, the length thereof was three score cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits. BSB BSB: The house that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high.
3 AKJV And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house. BSB BSB: The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple was twenty cubits long, extending across the width of the temple and projecting out ten cubits in front of the temple.
4 AKJV And for the house he made windows of narrow lights. BSB BSB: He also had narrow windows framed high in the temple.
The Chambers 5 AKJV And against the wall of the house he built chambers round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle: and he made chambers round about: BSB BSB: Against the walls of the temple and the inner sanctuary, Solomon built a chambered structure around the temple, in which he constructed the side rooms.
6 AKJV The nethermost chamber was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad: for without in the wall of the house he made narrowed rests round about, that the beams should not be fastened in the walls of the house. BSB BSB: The bottom floor was five cubits wide, the middle floor six cubits, and the third floor seven cubits. He also placed offset ledges around the outside of the temple, so that nothing would be inserted into its walls.
7 AKJV And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor ax nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building. BSB BSB: The temple was constructed using finished stones cut at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any other iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.
8 AKJV The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third. BSB BSB: The entrance to the bottom floor was on the south side of the temple. A stairway led up to the middle level, and from there to the third floor.
9 AKJV So he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar. BSB BSB: So Solomon built the temple and finished it, roofing it with beams and planks of cedar.
10 AKJV And then he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar. BSB BSB: He built chambers all along the temple, each five cubits high and attached to the temple with beams of cedar.
God’s Promise to Solomon 11 AKJV And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying, BSB BSB: Then the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying:
12 AKJV Concerning this house which you are in building, if you will walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with you, which I spoke to David your father: BSB BSB: “As for this temple you are building, if you walk in My statutes, carry out My ordinances, and keep all My commandments by walking in them, I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father David.
13 AKJV And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel. BSB BSB: And I will dwell among the Israelites and will not abandon My people Israel.”
The Temple’s Interior (2 Chronicles 3:5–9)
14 AKJV So Solomon built the house, and finished it. BSB BSB: So Solomon built the temple and finished it.
15 AKJV And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls of the ceiling: and he covered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir. BSB BSB: He lined the interior walls with cedar paneling from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and he covered the floor with cypress boards.
16 AKJV And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar: he even built them for it within, even for the oracle, even for the most holy place. BSB BSB: He partitioned off the twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.
17 AKJV And the house, that is, the temple before it, was forty cubits long. BSB BSB: And the main hall in front of this room was forty cubits long.
18 AKJV And the cedar of the house within was carved with knops and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen. BSB BSB: The cedar paneling inside the temple was carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; not a stone could be seen.
19 AKJV And the oracle he prepared in the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the LORD. BSB BSB: Solomon also prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there.
20 AKJV And the oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof: and he overlaid it with pure gold; and so covered the altar which was of cedar. BSB BSB: The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar.
21 AKJV So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he made a partition by the chains of gold before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold. BSB BSB: So Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold.
22 AKJV And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house: also the whole altar that was by the oracle he overlaid with gold. BSB BSB: So he overlaid with gold the whole interior of the temple, until everything was completely finished. He also overlaid with gold the entire altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.
The Cherubim (2 Chronicles 3:10–13)
23 AKJV And within the oracle he made two cherubim of olive tree, each ten cubits high. BSB BSB: In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim, each ten cubits high, out of olive wood.
24 AKJV And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing to the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits. BSB BSB: One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing was five cubits long as well. So the full wingspan was ten cubits.
25 AKJV And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubim were of one measure and one size. BSB BSB: The second cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim had the same size and shape,
26 AKJV The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub. BSB BSB: and the height of each cherub was ten cubits.
27 AKJV And he set the cherubim within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubim, 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. BSB BSB: And he placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple. Since their wings were spread out, the wing of the first cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the second cherub touched the other wall, and in the middle of the room their wingtips touched.
28 AKJV And he overlaid the cherubim with gold. BSB BSB: He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.
29 AKJV And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, within and without. BSB BSB: Then he carved the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer sanctuaries, with carved engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.
30 AKJV And the floors of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without. BSB BSB: And he overlaid the temple floor with gold in both the inner and outer sanctuaries.
The Doors 31 AKJV And for the entering of the oracle he made doors of olive tree: the lintel and side posts were a fifth part of the wall. BSB BSB: For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, Solomon constructed doors of olive wood with five-sided doorposts.
32 AKJV The two doors also were of olive tree; and he carved on them carvings of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold on the cherubim, and on the palm trees. BSB BSB: The double doors were made of olive wood, and he carved into them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold.
33 AKJV So also made he for the door of the temple posts of olive tree, a fourth part of the wall. BSB BSB: In the same way he made four-sided doorposts of olive wood for the sanctuary entrance.
34 AKJV And the two doors were of fir tree: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding. BSB BSB: The two doors were made of cypress wood, and each had two folding panels.
35 AKJV And he carved thereon cherubim and palm trees and open flowers: and covered them with gold fitted on the carved work. BSB BSB: He carved into them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and he overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings.
The Courtyard 36 AKJV And he built the inner court with three rows of hewed stone, and a row of cedar beams. BSB BSB: Solomon built the inner courtyard with three rows of dressed stone and one row of trimmed cedar beams.
37 AKJV In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, in the month Zif: BSB BSB: The foundation of the house of the LORD was laid in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, in the month of Ziv.
38 AKJV And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it. BSB BSB: In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple was finished in every detail and according to every specification. So he built the temple in seven years.
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