Temple Construction Begins (2 Chronicles 3:1–2)
2 RV And the house which king Solomon built for the LORD, the length thereof was threescore 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 RV 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 RV And for the house he made windows of fixed lattice-work. BSB BSB: He also had narrow windows framed high in the temple.
The Chambers 5 RV And against the wall of the house he built stories round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle: and he made side-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 RV The nethermost story was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad: for on the outside he made rebatements in the wall of the house round about, that the beams should not have hold 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 RV And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready at the quarry: and there was neither hammer nor axe 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 RV The door for the middle side-chambers was in the right side of the house: and they went up by winding stairs into the middle chambers , 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 RV So he built the house, and finished it; and 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 RV And he built the stories against all the house, each 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 RV And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying, BSB BSB: Then the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying:
12 RV Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I establish my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy 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 RV 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 RV So Solomon built the house, and finished it. BSB BSB: So Solomon built the temple and finished it.
15 RV And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house unto the walls of the cieling, he covered them on the inside with wood: and he covered the floor of the house with boards 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 RV And he built twenty cubits on the hinder part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor unto the walls: he even built them for it within, for an 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 RV And the house, that is, the temple before the oracle , was forty cubits long . BSB BSB: And the main hall in front of this room was forty cubits long.
18 RV And there was cedar on the house within, 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 RV And he prepared an oracle in the midst of 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 RV And within the oracle was a space of twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof; and he overlaid it with pure gold: and he covered the altar with 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 RV So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he drew chains of gold across 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 RV And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until all the house was finished: also the whole altar that belonged to 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 RV And in the oracle he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. BSB BSB: In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim, each ten cubits high, out of olive wood.
24 RV 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 unto 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 RV And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubim were of one measure and one form. BSB BSB: The second cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim had the same size and shape,
26 RV 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 RV And he set the cherubim within the inner house: and the wings of the cherubim were stretched forth, 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 midst 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 RV And he overlaid the cherubim with gold. BSB BSB: He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.
29 RV 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 RV And 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 RV And for the entering of the oracle he made doors of olive wood: the lintel and door 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 RV So he made two doors of olive wood; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread the gold upon the cherubim, and upon 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 RV So also made he for the entering of the temple door posts of olive wood, out of 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 RV and two doors of fir 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 RV And he carved thereon cherubim and palm trees and open flowers: and he overlaid them with gold fitted upon the graven 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 RV And he built the inner court with three rows of hewn 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 RV In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, in the month 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 RV 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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