1 Kings 6

Solomon Builds the Temple

1 And a it came to pass in the four hundred and 1 eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of 2 Ziv, which is the second month, b that he began to build the house of the LORD. 2 Now c the house which King Solomon built for the LORD, its length was sixty cubits, its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits. 3 The vestibule in front of the 3 sanctuary 4 of the house was 5 twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the width of 6 the vestibule extended 7 ten cubits from the front of the house. 4 And he made for the house d windows with beveled frames. 5 Against the wall of the 8 temple he built e chambers all around, against the walls of the temple, all around the sanctuary f and the 9 inner sanctuary. 10 Thus he made side chambers all around it. 6 The lowest chamber was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for he made narrow ledges around the outside of the temple, so that the support beams would not be fastened into the walls of the 11 temple.

7 And g the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.

8 The doorway for the 12 middle story was on the right side of the temple. They went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle to the third. 9 h So he built the 13 temple and finished it, and he paneled the temple with beams and boards of cedar. 10 And he built side chambers against the entire temple, each five cubits high; they were attached to the temple with cedar beams.

11 Then the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying: 12 "Concerning this 14 temple which you are building, i if you walk in My statutes, execute My judgments, keep all My commandments, and walk in them, then I will perform My 15 word with you, j which I spoke to your father David. 13 "And k I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not l forsake My people Israel."

14 So Solomon built the temple and finished it. 15 And he built the inside walls of the temple with cedar boards; from the floor of the temple to the ceiling he paneled the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the temple with planks of cypress. 16 Then he built the twenty-cubit room at the rear of the temple, from floor to ceiling, with cedar boards; he built it inside as the inner sanctuary, as the m Most Holy Place. 17 And in front of it the temple sanctuary was forty cubits long. 18 The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with ornamental buds and open flowers. All was cedar; there was no stone to be seen. 19 And he prepared the 16 inner sanctuary inside the temple, to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there. 20 The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. He overlaid it with pure gold, and overlaid the altar of cedar. 21 So Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold. He stretched gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. 22 The whole temple he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the temple; also he overlaid with gold n the entire altar that was by the inner sanctuary.

23 Inside the inner sanctuary o he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. 24 One wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub five cubits: ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. 25 And the other cherub was ten cubits; both cherubim were of the same size and shape. 26 The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other cherub. 27 Then he set the cherubim inside the inner 17 room; and p they stretched out the wings of the cherubim so that the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall. And their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. 28 Also he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

29 Then he carved all the walls of the temple all around, both the inner and outer sanctuaries, with carved q figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. 30 And the floor of the temple he overlaid with gold, both the inner and outer sanctuaries.

31 For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood; the lintel and doorposts were 18 one-fifth of the wall. 32 The two doors were of olive wood; and he carved on them figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees.

33 So for the door of the 19 sanctuary he also made doorposts of olive wood, 20 one-fourth of the wall. 34 And the two doors were of cypress wood; r two panels comprised one folding door, and two panels comprised the other folding door. 35 Then he carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on them, and overlaid them with gold applied evenly on the carved work. 36 And he built the s inner court with three rows of hewn stone and a row of cedar beams.

37 t In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid, in the month of 21 Ziv. 38 And in the eleventh year, in the month of 22 Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its details and according to all its plans. So he was u seven years in building it.

  1. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 3:1
    Now Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
    2 Chronicles 3:2
    And he began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.
  2. Cross References
    Acts 7:47
    But Solomon built Him a house.
  3. Cross References
    Ezekiel 41:1
    Then he brought me into the sanctuary and measured the doorposts, six cubits wide on one side and six cubits wide on the other side - the width of the tabernacle.
  4. Cross References
    Ezekiel 40:16
    There were beveled window frames in the gate chambers and in their intervening archways on the inside of the gateway all around, and likewise in the vestibules. There were windows all around on the inside. And on each gatepost were palm trees.
    Ezekiel 41:16
    Their doorposts and the beveled window frames. And the galleries all around their three stories opposite the threshold were paneled with wood from the ground to the windows - the windows were covered -
  5. Cross References
    Ezekiel 41:6
    The side chambers were in three stories, one above the other, thirty chambers in each story; they rested on ledges which were for the side chambers all around, that they might be supported, but not fastened to the wall of the temple.
  6. Cross References
    1 Kings 6:16
    Then he built the twenty-cubit room at the rear of the temple, from floor to ceiling, with cedar boards; he built it inside as the inner sanctuary, as the Most Holy Place.
    1 Kings 6:19 - 21
    And he prepared the inner sanctuary inside the temple, to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there.
    1 Kings 6:31
    For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood; the lintel and doorposts were one-fifth of the wall.
  7. Cross References
    Exodus 20:25
    And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it.
    Deuteronomy 27:5
    And there you shall build an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones; you shall not use an iron tool on them.
    Deuteronomy 27:6
    You shall build with whole stones the altar of the LORD your God, and offer burnt offerings on it to the LORD your God.
  8. Cross References
    1 Kings 6:14
    So Solomon built the temple and finished it.
    1 Kings 6:38
    And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its details and according to all its plans. So he was seven years in building it.
  9. Cross References
    1 Kings 2:4
    "that the LORD may fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, 'If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,' He said, 'you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.'
    1 Kings 9:4
    Now if you walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments.
  10. Cross References
    2 Samuel 7:13
    He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
    1 Chronicles 22:10
    'He shall build a house for My name, and he shall be My son, and I will be his Father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.'
  11. Cross References
    Exodus 25:8
    And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.
    Leviticus 26:11
    I will set My tabernacle among you, and My soul shall not abhor you.
    2 Corinthians 6:16
    And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.
    Revelation 21:3
    And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
  12. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 31:6
    "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you."
  13. Cross References
    Exodus 26:33
    And you shall hang the veil from the clasps. Th...
    Leviticus 16:2
    And the LORD said to Moses: "Tell Aaron your br...
    1 Kings 8:6
    Then the priests brought in the ark of the cove...
    2 Chronicles 3:8
    And he made the Most Holy Place. Its length was...
    Ezekiel 45:3
    So this is the district you shall measure: twen...
    Hebrews 9:3
    And behind the second veil, the part of the tab...
  14. Cross References
    Exodus 30:1
    You shall make an altar to burn incense on; you shall make it of acacia wood.
    Exodus 30:3
    And you shall overlay its top, its sides all around, and its horns with pure gold; and you shall make for it a molding of gold all around.
    Exodus 30:6
    And you shall put it before the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony, where I will meet with you.
  15. Cross References
    Exodus 37:7 - 9
    He made two cherubim of beaten gold; he made them of one piece at the two ends of the mercy seat:
    2 Chronicles 3:10 - 12
    In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim, fashioned by carving, and overlaid them with gold.
  16. Cross References
    Exodus 25:20
    And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat.
    Exodus 37:9
    The cherubim spread out their wings above, and covered the mercy seat with their wings. They faced one another; the faces of the cherubim were toward the mercy seat.
    1 Kings 8:7
    For the cherubim spread their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles.
    2 Chronicles 5:8
    For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles.
  17. Cross References
    Exodus 36:8
    Then all the gifted artisans among them who worked on the tabernacle made ten curtains woven of fine linen, and of blue, purple, and scarlet thread; with artistic designs of cherubim they made them.
    Exodus 36:35
    And he made a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen; it was worked with an artistic design of cherubim.
  18. Cross References
    Ezekiel 41:23 - 25
    The temple and the sanctuary had two doors.
  19. Cross References
    1 Kings 7:12
    The great court was enclosed with three rows of hewn stones and a row of cedar beams. So were the inner court of the house of the LORD and the vestibule of the temple.
    Jeremiah 36:10
    Then Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court at the entry of the New Gate of the LORD's house, in the hearing of all the people.
  20. Cross References
    1 Kings 6:1
    And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.
  21. Cross References
    2 Samuel 7:13
    He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
    1 Kings 5:5
    And behold, I propose to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spoke to my father David, saying, "Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he shall build the house for My name.
    1 Kings 6:1
    And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.
    1 Kings 8:19
    'Nevertheless you shall not build the temple, but your son who will come from your body, he shall build the temple for My name.'
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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