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1 KING S 6
page 305
instructed my father, David. For the Lord
told him, ‘Your son, whom I will place on
your throne, will build the Temple to honor
my name.’
6 “Therefore, please command that cedars
from Lebanon be cut for me. Let my men
work alongside yours, and I will pay your
men whatever wages you ask. As you know,
there is no one among us who can cut
timber like you Sidonians!”
7 When Hiram received Solomon’s message,
he was very pleased and said, “Praise the Lord
today for giving David a wise son to be king of
the great nation of Israel.” 8 Then he sent this
reply to Solomon:
“I have received your message, and I will
supply all the cedar and cypress timber
you need. 9 My servants will bring the
logs from the Lebanon mountains to the
Mediterranean Sea* and make them into
rafts and float them along the coast to
whatever place you choose. Then we will
break the rafts apart so you can carry the
logs away. You can pay me by supplying
me with food for my household.”
10 So Hiram supplied as much cedar and
cypress timber as Solomon desired. 11 In return, Solomon sent him an annual payment of
100,000 bushels* of wheat for his household
and 110,000 gallons* of pure olive oil. 12 So the
Lord gave wisdom to Solomon, just as he had
promised. And Hiram and Solomon made a formal alliance of peace.
13 Then King Solomon conscripted a labor
force of 30,000 men from all Israel. 14 He sent
them to Lebanon in shifts, 10,000 every month,
so that each man would be one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in
charge of this labor force. 15 Solomon also had
70,000 common laborers, 80,000 quarry workers in the hill country, 16 and 3,600* foremen to
supervise the work. 17 At the king’s command,
they quarried large blocks of high-quality stone
and shaped them to make the foundation of the
Temple. 18 Men from the city of Gebal helped Solomon’s and Hiram’s builders prepare the timber
and stone for the Temple.
5:9 Hebrew the sea. 5:11a Hebrew 20,000 cors [4,400
kiloliters]. 5:11b As in Greek version, which reads 20,000
baths [420 kiloliters] (see also 2 Chr 2:10); Hebrew reads
20 cors, about 1,000 gallons or 4.4 kiloliters in volume.
5:16 As in some Greek manuscripts (see also 2 Chr 2:2, 18);
Hebrew reads 3,300. 6:1 Hebrew It was in the month of
Ziv, which is the second month. This month of the ancient
Hebrew lunar calendar usually occurs within the months
of April and May. 6:2 Hebrew 60 cubits [27.6 meters] long,
20 cubits [9.2 meters] wide, and 30 cubits [13.8 meters]
high. 6:3a Hebrew 20 cubits [9.2 meters]; also in 6:16, 20.
6:3b Hebrew 10 cubits [4.6 meters]. 6:6 Hebrew the bottom
floor being 5 cubits [2.3 meters] wide, the second floor 6 cubits
[2.8 meters] wide, and the top floor 7 cubits [3.2 meters]
wide. 6:8 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads middle floor.
6:10 Hebrew 5 cubits [2.3 meters]. 6:17 Hebrew 40 cubits
[18.4 meters].
Solomon Builds the Temple
It was in midspring, in the month of Ziv,*
during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign,
that he began to construct the Temple of the
Lord. This was 480 years after the people of Israel were rescued from their slavery in the land
of Egypt.
2 The Temple that King Solomon built for
the Lord was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and
45 feet high.* 3 The entry room at the front of the
Temple was 30 feet* wide, running across the
entire width of the Temple. It projected outward
15 feet* from the front of the Temple. 4 Solomon
also made narrow recessed windows throughout the Temple.
5 He built a complex of rooms against the
outer walls of the Temple, all the way around
the sides and rear of the building. 6 The complex
was three stories high, the bottom floor being
71⁄2 feet wide, the second floor 9 feet wide,
and the top floor 101⁄2 feet wide.* The rooms
were connected to the walls of the Temple by
beams resting on ledges built out from the wall.
So the beams were not inserted into the walls
themselves.
7 The stones used in the construction of the
Temple were finished at the quarry, so there was
no sound of hammer, ax, or any other iron tool
at the building site.
8 The entrance to the bottom floor* was on the
south side of the Temple. There were winding
stairs going up to the second floor, and another
flight of stairs between the second and third
floors. 9 After completing the Temple structure,
Solomon put in a ceiling made of cedar beams
and planks. 10 As already stated, he built a complex of rooms along the sides of the building,
attached to the Temple walls by cedar timbers.
Each story of the complex was 71⁄2 feet* high.
11 Then the Lord gave this message to Solomon: 12 “Concerning this Temple you are building, if you keep all my decrees and regulations
and obey all my commands, I will fulfill through
you the promise I made to your father, David.
13 I will live among the Israelites and will never
abandon my people Israel.”
6
The Temple’s Interior
14 So Solomon finished building the Temple.
15 The entire inside, from floor to ceiling, was
paneled with wood. He paneled the walls and
ceilings with cedar, and he used planks of cypress for the floors. 16 He partitioned off an inner
sanctuary—the Most Holy Place—at the far end
of the Temple. It was 30 feet deep and was
paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling. 17 The
main room of the Temple, outside the Most Holy
Place, was 60 feet* long. 18 Cedar paneling completely covered the stone walls throughout the
Temple, and the paneling was decorated with
carvings of gourds and open flowers.