Solomon Gets Ready to Build the House of God

5 Now Hiram the king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, when he heard that they had set him apart to be king in place of his father. Hiram had always loved David. ² Then Solomon sent word to Hiram, saying, ³ “You know that my father David was not able to build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the wars all around him. The Lord had not yet put those who hated him under his feet. ⁴ But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. There is no trouble or anything bad happening. ⁵ So I plan to build a house for the name of the Lord my God. Because the Lord said to my father David, ‘I will set your son on your throne in your place. He will build the house for My name.’ ⁶ So tell them to cut cedar trees of Lebanon for me. My servants will join yours. And I will give you whatever you say to pay your servants. For you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut trees like the Sidonians.”

⁷ When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he was filled with joy and said, “Thanks be to the Lord today. He has given to David a wise son to rule this great people.” ⁸ Hiram sent word to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the news you have sent me. I will do what you want with the cedar and cypress trees. ⁹ My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea. I will make them ready to go on the sea to the place you choose. I will have them broken up there, and you can carry them away. Then you will do what I wish by giving food to those of my house.” ¹⁰ So Hiram gave Solomon as much as he wanted of the cedar and cypress trees. ¹¹ Then Solomon gave Hiram 200,000 baskets of grain as food for those of his house, and 200 jars of beaten oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram each year. ¹² And the Lord gave wisdom to Solomon, just as He promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they made an agreement.

¹³ Now King Solomon made men work for him from all Israel. There were 30,000 men made to work for him. ¹⁴ He sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 men each month. They were in Lebanon one month and at home two months. Adoniram ruled those who were made to work. ¹⁵ Now Solomon had 70,000 men to carry loads, and 80,000 stone cutters in the mountains. ¹⁶ And he had 3,300 men who were leaders of the work, and who ruled over the people doing the work. ¹⁷ Then as the king told them, they cut out large stones of much worth for the house of God to be built on. ¹⁸ Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites cut them. They made the wood and the stones ready to build the house.

Solomon Builds the House of God

6 In the 480th year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s rule over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord. ² The house which King Solomon built for the Lord was as long as thirty long steps, as wide as ten long steps, and eight times taller than a man. ³ All along the front of the House of God was a porch ten long steps long and five long steps wide. It was as long as the house was wide. ⁴ He made windows for the house with beautiful cross-pieces. ⁵ He made a building of rooms against the outer walls of three sides of the house. These rooms were three floors high. ⁶ The bottom floor was as wide as three steps. The second floor was as wide as three long steps. And the third floor was as wide as four steps. For around the outside of the house he made places for the large wood cross-pieces to rest on. That way they would not need to be put into holes in the walls of the house. ⁷ The house was built of stone that was cut at the place where it was taken from the ground. There was no noise of a hammer or an ax or any iron object heard in the house while it was being built. ⁸ The door for the first floor room was on the right side of the house. They would go up steps to the second floor, and from the second to the third. ⁹ So he built the house and finished it. And he made the roof of the house of large pieces of cedar wood. ¹⁰ He built the three floors against the outside wall of the house. Each one was as high as a man could raise his hand. They were joined to the house with big pieces of cedar wood.

¹¹ Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying, ¹² “If you obey My Laws and keep My Word, then I will keep My promise with you, which I spoke to your father David about this house you are building. ¹³ I will live among the sons of Israel. And I will not leave My people Israel alone.”

¹⁴ So Solomon built the house and finished it. ¹⁵ He built the walls of the house on the inside with pieces of cedar wood. He put wood over the inside walls from the floor of the house to the roof. And he put pieces of cypress wood over the floor of the house. ¹⁶ An inside room called the most holy place was built in the back part of the house with pieces of cedar wood, from the floor to the roof and as wide as ten long steps. ¹⁷ The rest of the house, the center room in front of the most holy place, was as long as twenty long steps. ¹⁸ There was cedar on the house within, cut to look like gourds and open flowers. It was all cedar. No stone was seen. ¹⁹ Then he built the most holy place inside the house, in which to put the special box of the agreement. ²⁰ The most holy place was as long as ten long steps, as wide as ten long steps, and more than five times taller than a man. He covered it with pure gold. And he covered the altar with cedar. ²¹ Solomon covered the inside of the house with pure gold. He crossed the front of the most holy place with chains of gold, and he covered it with gold. ²² He covered the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. And he covered the whole altar by the most holy place with gold.

²³ In the most holy place he made two cherubim of olive wood. Each one was almost three times taller than a man. ²⁴ One wing of the cherub was as long as three steps. And the other wing of the cherub was as long as three steps. It was as far as five long steps from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing. ²⁵ It was as much as five long steps between the ends of the wings of the other cherub also. Both the cherubim were the same height, length and width, and they looked alike. ²⁶ Each of the cherubim was almost three times taller than a man. ²⁷ He put the cherubim in the most holy place of the house. The wings of the cherubim were spread out. The wing of the one cherub was touching the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub was touching the other wall. So their wings were touching each other in the center of the house. ²⁸ He covered the cherubim with gold.

²⁹ Then he cut pictures in all the walls around the house to look like cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, in the center room and the most holy place. ³⁰ He covered the floor of the house with gold, in the center room and the most holy place. ³¹ He made doors of olive wood for the most holy place. The top and sides of the door had five sides. ³² He cut pictures in the two doors of olive wood, to look like cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and covered them with gold. He spread the gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees. ³³ For the doorway of the center room he made four-sided side pieces of olive wood ³⁴ and two doors of cypress wood. Each door had two moving parts. ³⁵ On them he cut pictures of cherubim, palm trees and open flowers. And he covered the pictures with an even covering of gold. ³⁶ He built the inside place with three rows of cut stone and one row of large pieces of cedar wood.

³⁷ In the fourth year the base of the house was laid in the month of Ziv. ³⁸ In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, the eighth month, all the parts of the house were finished just as all the plans had been made. Solomon took seven years to build it.