1Four hundred and eighty years after the people of Israel left Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s rule over Israel, during the month of Ziv (which is the second month), he began to build Yahweh’s temple.
2The temple King Solomon built for Yahweh was ninety feet long, thirty feet wide, and forty-five feet high.
3The porch in front of the main part of the temple was thirty feet long, matching the width of the temple. It extended fifteen feet out from the front of the temple.
4He made windows with fixed grates for the temple.
5Along the walls of the temple, all around both the main hall and the inner sanctuary, he built additional levels, creating side rooms all around.
6The lowest level of side rooms was seven and a half feet wide, the middle level was nine feet wide, and the third level was ten and a half feet wide. This was because on the outside, he made the temple walls gradually thinner, so that the support beams would not have to be set into the main walls of the temple.
7The temple was built with stones that had been prepared at the quarry. Because of this, no hammers, axes, or any iron tools were heard at the temple site while it was being built.
8The entrance to the middle side rooms was on the right side of the temple. People went up a winding staircase to the middle level, and from there to the third level.
9So he built the temple and finished it, covering its roof with cedar beams and planks.
10He built the side rooms all around the temple, each five cubits (seven and a half feet) high, and they were attached to the temple with cedar timber.
11Yahweh’s message came to Solomon, saying,
12“Regarding this temple you are building: if you follow my rules, carry out my commands, and obey all my instructions, then I will keep the promise I made to your father David with you.
13I will live among the people of Israel and will not abandon my people Israel.”
14So Solomon built the temple and finished it.
15Inside, he lined the temple walls with cedar boards, from the floor to the ceiling. He covered the inside with wood and covered the temple floor with cypress boards.
16At the back of the temple, he built a section twenty cubits (thirty feet) long, from the floor to the ceiling, with cedar boards. He made this into an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.
17The main temple area in front of the sanctuary was forty cubits (sixty feet) long.
18The cedar wood inside the temple was carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was visible.
19He prepared an inner sanctuary in the middle of the temple to place Yahweh’s covenant chest there.
20The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits (thirty feet) long, twenty cubits (thirty feet) wide, and twenty cubits (thirty feet) high. He covered it with pure gold and also covered the altar with cedar.
21Solomon covered the inside of the temple completely with pure gold. He stretched gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary and covered it with gold.
22He covered the entire temple with gold until it was completely finished. He also covered the entire altar in the inner sanctuary with gold.
23Inside the inner sanctuary, he made two cherubim from olive wood, each fifteen feet tall.
24Each cherub’s wing was seven and a half feet long. So, from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other was fifteen feet.
25The other cherub also measured fifteen feet. Both cherubim were the same size and shape.
26Each cherub was fifteen feet tall.
27He placed the cherubim inside the inner part of the temple. The cherubim’s wings were spread out so that one cherub’s wing touched one wall, and the other cherub’s wing touched the other wall. Their wings also touched each other in the middle of the room.
28He covered the cherubim with gold.
29He carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers into all the walls of the temple, both inside and outside.
30He covered the floor of the temple with gold, both inside and outside.
31For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, he made doors of olive wood. The lintel and doorposts were one-fifth of the wall's width.
32He made two olive wood doors, carved them with cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and then covered them with gold. He applied the gold onto the cherubim and palm trees.
33He also made olive wood doorposts for the temple entrance, which were one-fourth of the wall's width.
34And he made two cypress wood doors. Both doors had two folding leaves.
35He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and then covered them with gold fitted onto the carved work.
36He built the inner courtyard with three layers of cut stone and one layer of cedar beams.
37The foundation of Yahweh’s house was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv.
38In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul (which is the eighth month), the temple was finished in every detail and according to all its plans. So, it took him seven years to build it.