Temple Construction Begins (2 Chronicles 3:1–2)
2 UEB The temple that King Solomon built for Yahweh was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. BSB BSB: The house that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high.
3 UEB The portico in front of the temple's main hall was twenty cubits in length, equal to the width of the temple, and ten cubits deep in front 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 UEB For the house he made windows with frames that made them more narrow at the outside than on the inside. BSB BSB: He also had narrow windows framed high in the temple.
The Chambers 5 UEB Against the walls of the main chamber he built rooms around it, around both the outer room and the inner room. He built rooms all around the sides. 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 UEB The lowest story was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide. For on the outside he made offsets in the wall of the house all around so that the beams would not be inserted 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 UEB The house was built of stones prepared at the quarry. No hammer, ax, or any iron tool 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 UEB On the south side of the temple there was an entrance at the ground level, then one went up by stairs to the middle level, and from the middle 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 UEB So Solomon built the temple and finished it; he covered the house with beams and planks of cedar. BSB BSB: So Solomon built the temple and finished it, roofing it with beams and planks of cedar.
10 UEB He built the side rooms against the inner chambers of the temple, each side five cubits high; they were joined to the house with timbers 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 UEB The word of Yahweh came to Solomon, saying, BSB BSB: Then the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying:
12 UEB "Concerning this temple which you are building, if you walk in my statutes and do justice, keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will confirm my promise with you that I had made 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 UEB I will live among the people of Israel and will not forsake them." 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 UEB So Solomon built the house and finished it. BSB BSB: So Solomon built the temple and finished it.
15 UEB Then he built the interior walls of the house with boards of cedar. From the floor of the house to the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood, and he covered the floor of the house with 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 UEB He built twenty cubits onto the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the ceiling. He built this room to be the inner room, 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 UEB The main hall, that is, the holy place that was in front of the most holy place, was forty cubits long. BSB BSB: And the main hall in front of this room was forty cubits long.
18 UEB There was cedar inside the house, carved in the shape of gourds and open flowers. All was cedar inside. No stonework was visible on the inside. 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 UEB Solomon prepared the inner room inside the house in order to place the ark of the covenant of Yahweh there. BSB BSB: Solomon also prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there.
20 UEB The inner room was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height. Solomon overlaid the walls with pure gold and covered the altar with cedar wood. 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 UEB Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he placed chains of gold across the front of the inner room, and overlaid the front 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 UEB He overlaid the entire interior with gold until all the temple was finished. He also overlaid with gold the whole altar that belonged to the inner room. 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 UEB Solomon made two cherubim of olivewood, each ten cubits high, for the inner room. BSB BSB: In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim, each ten cubits high, out of olive wood.
24 UEB One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long and its other wing was also five cubits long. So from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other there was a distance of 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 UEB The other cherub also had a wingspan ten cubits. Both the cherubim were of the same dimensions and shape. BSB BSB: The second cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim had the same size and shape,
26 UEB The height of one cherub was ten cubits and the other cherub was the same. BSB BSB: and the height of each cherub was ten cubits.
27 UEB Solomon placed the cherubim in the innermost room. The wings of the cherubim were stretched out so that the wing of one touched one wall and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall. Their wings touched one another in the middle of the most holy place. 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 UEB Solomon overlaid the cherubim with gold. BSB BSB: He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.
29 UEB He carved all the walls of the house around about with figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, in the outer and inner rooms. 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 UEB Solomon overlaid the floor of the house with gold, in both the outer and inner rooms. BSB BSB: And he overlaid the temple floor with gold in both the inner and outer sanctuaries.
The Doors 31 UEB Solomon made doors of olivewood for the entrance to the inner room. 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 UEB So he made two doors of olivewood, and he made on them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. He overlaid them with gold and he spread the gold on the cherubim and 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 UEB In this way, Solomon also made for the temple entrance doorposts of olive wood having four indented sections BSB BSB: In the same way he made four-sided doorposts of olive wood for the sanctuary entrance.
34 UEB and two doors of cypress wood. 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 UEB He carved on them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and he evenly overlaid gold 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 UEB He built the inner courtyard with three rows of cut 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 UEB The foundation of the house of Yahweh was laid in the fourth year, 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 UEB In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts and conforming to all its specifications. Solomon took seven years to build the temple. 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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