Temple Construction Begins (2 Chronicles 3:1–2)
2 CPDV Now the house, which king Solomon was building to the Lord, was sixty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in width, and thirty cubits in height. BSB BSB: The house that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high.
3 CPDV And a portico was before the temple, of twenty cubits in length, in accord with the measure of the width of the temple. And it had ten cubits of width before the face 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 CPDV And he made oblique windows in the temple. BSB BSB: He also had narrow windows framed high in the temple.
The Chambers 5 CPDV And upon the wall of the temple, he built panels on all sides, in the walls of the house around the temple and the oracle. And he made side chambers all around. 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 CPDV The flooring on the bottom level held five cubits in width, and the middle floor was six cubits in width, and the third floor held seven cubits in width. Then he positioned beams on the house all around the outside, in such a way that they would not be fastened to the walls of the temple. 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 CPDV Now the house, while it was being built, was made from cut and finished stones. And so, neither mallet, nor chisel, nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built. 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 CPDV The door at the side of the middle section was to the right of the house. And they would ascend along winding stairs to the middle level, and from the middle level to the third level. 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 CPDV And he built the house, and finished it. And he overlaid the house with boards of cedar. BSB BSB: So Solomon built the temple and finished it, roofing it with beams and planks of cedar.
10 CPDV And he built a paneling over the entire house, five cubits in height, and he covered the house with cedar wood. 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 CPDV And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying: BSB BSB: Then the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying:
12 CPDV “Concerning this house, which you are building: if you will walk in my precepts, and carry out my judgments, and keep all my commandments, advancing by them, I will confirm my word to you, which I spoke 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 CPDV And I will dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel, and I 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 CPDV And so, Solomon built the house, and finished it. BSB BSB: So Solomon built the temple and finished it.
15 CPDV And he built the walls of the house, on the interior, with panels of cedar, from the floor of the house, to the top of the walls, and even to the ceiling. He covered it with cedar wood on the interior. And he overlaid the floor of the house with panels of spruce. 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 CPDV And he built panels of cedar, of twenty cubits, at the back part of the temple, from the floor even to the top. And he made the inner house of the oracle as the Holy of Holies. 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 CPDV And the temple itself, before the doors of the oracle, was forty cubits. BSB BSB: And the main hall in front of this room was forty cubits long.
18 CPDV And the entire house was clothed with cedar on the interior, having its turnings and junctures artfully wrought, with carvings projecting outward. Everything was clothed with panels of cedar. And no stone at all was able to be seen in the wall. 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 CPDV Now he made the oracle in the middle of the house, in the inner part, so that he might station the ark of the covenant of the Lord there. BSB BSB: Solomon also prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there.
20 CPDV And the oracle held twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height. And he covered and clothed it with the purest gold. Then, too, he clothed the altar in 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 CPDV Also, the house before the oracle, he covered with the purest gold, and he fastened the plates with nails of 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 CPDV And there was nothing in the temple that was not covered with gold. Moreover, the entire altar of 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 CPDV And he made in the oracle two cherubim from wood of the olive tree, of ten cubits in height. BSB BSB: In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim, each ten cubits high, out of olive wood.
24 CPDV One wing of a cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of a cherub was five cubits, that is, having ten cubits from the summit of one wing even to the summit of the other wing. 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 CPDV Likewise, the second cherub was ten cubits. And the measure was equal and the work was one, in the two cherubim, BSB BSB: The second cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim had the same size and shape,
26 CPDV that is, one cherub had a height of ten cubits, and similarly the second cherub. BSB BSB: and the height of each cherub was ten cubits.
27 CPDV And he stationed the cherubim in the middle of the inner temple. And the cherubim extended their wings, and the wing of the one was touching the wall, and the wing of the second cherub was touching the other wall. But the other wings, in the middle of the temple, were touching each another. 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 CPDV He also overlaid the cherubim with gold. BSB BSB: He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.
29 CPDV And all the walls of the temple all around he engraved with diverse carvings and turnings. And he made in them cherubim, and palm trees, and various images, as if these were projecting out, and going forth from, the wall. 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 CPDV Then, too, the floor 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 CPDV And at the entrance of the oracle, he made little doors, from wood of the olive tree, with posts of five corners. BSB BSB: For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, Solomon constructed doors of olive wood with five-sided doorposts.
32 CPDV And there were two doors, from wood of the olive tree. And he carved upon them pictures of cherubim, and images of palm trees, and very prominent figures. And he overlaid these with gold. And he covered the cherubim, as well as the palm trees and the other things, with 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 CPDV And he made, at the entrance of the temple, posts from wood of the olive tree, with four corners, BSB BSB: In the same way he made four-sided doorposts of olive wood for the sanctuary entrance.
34 CPDV and two doors, from wood of the spruce tree, on the other side. And each door was double, and so it opened by folding upon itself. BSB BSB: The two doors were made of cypress wood, and each had two folding panels.
35 CPDV And he carved cherubim, and palm trees, and very prominent engravings. And he covered everything with gold plates, worked to be perfectly square. 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 CPDV And he built the inner atrium with three rows of polished stones, and one row of cedar wood. BSB BSB: Solomon built the inner courtyard with three rows of dressed stone and one row of trimmed cedar beams.
37 CPDV In the fourth year, the house of the Lord was founded, in the month of Ziv. 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 CPDV And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was perfected in all its works and in all its equipment. And he built it for seven years. 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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