1 KINGS 5:1-6:38
5:1 And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David.
5:2 And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying,
5:3 Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the LORD his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet.
5:4 But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, [so that there is] neither adversary nor evil occurrent.
5:5 And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my name.
5:6 Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that [there is] not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians.
5:7 And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed [be] the LORD this day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great people.
5:8 And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which thou sentest to me for: [and] I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir.
5:9 My servants shall bring [them] down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive [them]: and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household.
5:10 So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees [according to] all his desire.
5:11 And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat [for] food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.
5:12 And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him: and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together.
5:13 And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.
5:14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses: a month they were in Lebanon, [and] two months at home: and Adoniram [was] over the levy.
5:15 And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains;
5:16 Beside the chief of Solomon’s officers which [were] over the work, three thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the people that wrought in the work.
5:17 And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, [and] hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house.
5:18 And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did hew [them], and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.
6:1 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which [is] the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.
6:2 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.
6:3 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.
6:4 And for the house he made windows of narrow lights.
6:5 And against the wall of the house he built chambers round about, [against] the walls of the house round about, [both] of the temple and of the oracle: and he made chambers round about:
6:6 The nethermost chamber [was] five cubits broad, and the middle [was] six cubits broad, and the third [was] seven cubits broad: for without [in the wall] of the house he made narrowed rests round about, that [the beams] should not be fastened in the walls of the house.
6:7 And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe [nor] any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.
6:8 The door for the middle chamber [was] in the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle [chamber], and out of the middle into the third.
6:9 So he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar.
6:10 And [then] he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.
6:11 And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying,
6:12 [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 perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father:
6:13 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.
6:14 So Solomon built the house, and finished it.
6:15 And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls of the cieling: [and] he covered [them] on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir.
6:16 And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar: he even built [them] for it within, [even] for the oracle, [even] for the most holy [place].
6:17 And the house, that [is], the temple before it, was forty cubits [long].
6:18 And the cedar of the house within [was] carved with knops and open flowers: all [was] cedar; there was no stone seen.
6:19 And the oracle he prepared in the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
6:20 And the oracle in the forepart [was] twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof: and he overlaid it with pure gold; and [so] covered the altar [which was of] cedar.
6:21 So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he made a partition by the chains of gold before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold.
6:22 And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house: also the whole altar that [was] by the oracle he overlaid with gold.
6:23 And within the oracle he made two cherubims [of] olive tree, [each] ten cubits high.
6:24 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.
6:25 And the other cherub [was] ten cubits: both the cherubims [were] of one measure and one size.
6:26 The height of the one cherub [was] ten cubits, and so [was it] of the other cherub.
6:27 And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, 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.
6:28 And he overlaid the cherubims with gold.
6:29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.
6:30 And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.
6:31 And for the entering of the oracle he made doors [of] olive tree: the lintel [and] side posts [were] a fifth part [of the wall].
6:32 The two doors also [were of] olive tree; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid [them] with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the palm trees.
6:33 So also made he for the door of the temple posts [of] olive tree, a fourth part [of the wall].
6:34 And the two doors [were of] fir tree: the two leaves of the one door [were] folding, and the two leaves of the other door [were] folding.
6:35 And he carved [thereon] cherubims and palm trees and open flowers: and covered [them] with gold fitted upon the carved work.
6:36 And he built the inner court with three rows of hewed stone, and a row of cedar beams.
6:37 In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, in the month Zif:
6:38 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.