2 ARST Inside, the main part of the temple was twenty- seven meters long, nine meters wide, and thirteen and one- half meters high. BSB BSB: The house that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high.
3 ARST The front portico was four and one- half meters deep and nine meters wide, just as wide as the main part of the temple. 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 ARST There were openings like windows in the temple walls. The openings were narrower on the outside than on the inside. BSB BSB: He also had narrow windows framed high in the temple.
5 ARST Against the two sides and the back of the temple walls, they built a structure that had rooms in it. This structure had three levels; each level was two and one- third meters high. 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 ARST Each room in the lowest level was two and one- third meters wide. Each room in the middle level was two and four- fifths meters wide. The rooms in the top level were three and one- tenth meters wide. The wall of the temple at the top level was thinner than the wall at the middle level, and the wall of the middle level was thinner than the wall at the bottom level. In this way, the rooms could rest on the wall underneath them; the rooms did not need wooden beams underneath to support them. 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 ARST The huge stones for the foundation of the temple were cut and shaped at the quarry to become very smooth. The result was that while the workers were building the temple there was no noise, because they did not use hammers or chisels or any other iron tools there. 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 ARST The entrance to the bottom level of this attached structure was on the south side of the temple. There were stairs from the bottom level to the middle and top levels. 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 ARST So Solomon’ s workers finished building the framework of the temple. They made the ceiling from cedar beams and boards. BSB BSB: So Solomon built the temple and finished it, roofing it with beams and planks of cedar.
10 ARST They built the rooms alongside the main chambers with three levels, each two and one- third meters high, and joined them to the temple with cedar beams. BSB BSB: He built chambers all along the temple, each five cubits high and attached to the temple with beams of cedar.
11 ARST Then Yahweh said this to Solomon, BSB BSB: Then the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying:
12 ARST “I want to tell you about this temple that you are building. If you continually obey all my statutes and decrees and commands, I will do for you what I promised to your father David. 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 ARST I will live among the Israelite people, in this temple, and I will never abandon them.” BSB BSB: And I will dwell among the Israelites and will not abandon My people Israel.”
14 ARST Solomon’ s workers worked to finish building the temple. BSB BSB: So Solomon built the temple and finished it.
15 ARST On the inside, they lined the rooms from the floor to the ceiling. They made the floor from cypress boards. 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 ARST Inside the back part of the temple they built an inner room, called the very holy place. It was nine meters long. All the walls of this room were lined with cedar boards. 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 ARST In front of the very holy place was a room that was eighteen meters long. BSB BSB: And the main hall in front of this room was forty cubits long.
18 ARST The cedar boards on the walls inside the temple were decorated with carvings of gourds and flowers. The walls were completely covered with cedar boards, with the result that the stones of the walls behind them could not be 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 ARST At the back of the temple they made the very holy place, in order to put the sacred chest there. BSB BSB: Solomon also prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there.
20 ARST That room was nine meters long, nine meters wide, and nine meters high. They covered the walls with very thin sheets of pure gold. For burning incense they also made an altar of cedar boards. 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 ARST Solomon told them to cover the other walls inside the temple with very thin sheets of pure gold and to fasten gold chains across the entrance to the very holy place. 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 ARST They covered all the walls of the temple and the altar that was outside the very holy place with very thin sheets of 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.
23 ARST Inside the very holy place they made from olive tree wood large statues of two creatures with wings. Each one was four and one- half meters tall. BSB BSB: In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim, each ten cubits high, out of olive wood.
24 ARST They each were the same size and had the same shape. They each had two wings which were spread out. Each wing was two and one-third meters long, with the result that the distance between the outer ends of the two wings was four and one-half meters across. The height of each cherub was four and one-half meters. 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.
27 ARST They put these statues next to each other in the very holy place so that the wing of the one touched the one wing of the other in the center of the room, and the outer wings touched the walls. 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 ARST They covered the statues with very thin sheets of gold. BSB BSB: He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.
29 ARST Solomon told them to decorate the walls of the main room and the very holy place by carving representations of winged creatures and palm trees and flowers. 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 ARST They also covered the floor of both rooms with very thin sheets of gold. BSB BSB: And he overlaid the temple floor with gold in both the inner and outer sanctuaries.
31 ARST They made a set of doors from olive tree wood, and placed them at the entrance to the very holy place. The lintel and doorposts had five indented sections. BSB BSB: For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, Solomon constructed doors of olive wood with five-sided doorposts.
32 ARST The doors were decorated by carving on them representations of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers. All of these things were covered with very thin sheets of gold. 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 ARST They made a rectangular doorframe from olive tree wood, with four indented sections, and put it between the entrance room and the main room. BSB BSB: In the same way he made four-sided doorposts of olive wood for the sanctuary entrance.
34 ARST They made two folding doors from cypress wood and fastened them to the doorframe. BSB BSB: The two doors were made of cypress wood, and each had two folding panels.
35 ARST The doors were also decorated with wood carvings of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers, and they were also covered evenly with very thin sheets of gold. BSB BSB: He carved into them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and he overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings.
36 ARST They built a courtyard in front of the temple. The walls around the courtyard were made of cedar and stone. To make the walls, between each layer of cedar beams they put down two layers of stone. BSB BSB: Solomon built the inner courtyard with three rows of dressed stone and one row of trimmed cedar beams.
37 ARST They laid the foundation of the temple of Yahweh in the month of Ziv, in the fourth year that Solomon ruled. 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 ARST In the eleventh year that he ruled, in the month of Bul, they finished building the temple and all of its parts, doing exactly what Solomon’ s told them to do. It required seven years to build 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.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.