6
1 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the Bnei Yisroel were come out of Eretz Mitzrayim, in the fourth year of Sh'lomoʼs reign over Yisroel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the Beis Hashem.
2 And the Beis* which king Sh'lomo built for Hashem, the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits. 3 And the Ulam (Portico) in front of the Heikhal of the Beis,† twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the Beis;‡ and ten cubits was the breadth thereof projecting in front of the Beis.§ 4 And for the Beis* he made embrasures. 5 And against the wall of the Beis he built chambers round about, against the walls of the Beis round about, both of the Heikhal and of the Debir; and he made chambers round about; 6 The lowest story 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 Beis he made narrow ledges round about, that the beams should not be fastened in the walls of the Beis. 7 And the Beis, when it was under construction, was built of stone made ready before it was brought there; so was neither hammer nor chisel nor any tool of iron heard in the Beis, while it was under construction. 8 The door for the middle story was in the right side of the Beis; and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third.
9 So he built the Beis, and finished it; and covered the Beis with beams and boards of cedar. 10 And then he built chambers against all the Beis, five cubits high; and they rested on the Beis with timber of cedar.
11 And the Devar Hashem came to Sh'lomo, saying, 12 Concerning this Beis which thou art building, if thou wilt walk in My statutes, and execute My judgments, and be shomer over all My mitzvot to walk in them; then will I perform My word (promise) with thee, which I spoke unto Dovid thy father; 13 And I will dwell among the Bnei Yisroel, and will not forsake My people Yisroel.
14 So Sh'lomo built the Beis, and finished it. 15 And he built the walls of the Beis within with boards of cedar, from the floor of the Beis to the rafters of the ceiling; and he covered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the Beis with planks of cypress. 16 And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the Beis, from the floor to the rafters with boards of cedar; he even built them for it within, even for the Debir, even for the Kodesh HaKodashim. 17 And the Beis, that is, the Heikhal in front of it, was forty cubits long. 18 And the cedar of the Beis within was carved with gourds and open flowers; all was cedar; there was no stone seen. 19 And the Devir he prepared in the Beis within, to set there the Aron Brit Hashem. 20 And the Devir was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof; and he overlaid it with pure zahav (gold); and so covered the mizbe'ach which was of cedar. 21 So Sh'lomo overlaid the Beis within with pure zahav (gold); and he drew chains of zahav (gold) across, in front of the Devir; and he overlaid it with zahav. 22 And the whole interior he overlaid with zahav (gold), in order that kol haBeis be perfect; also the whole Mizbe'ach that belonged to the Devir he overlaid with zahav (gold).
23 And within the Devir he made two keruvim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. 24 And five cubits was the one wing of the keruv, and five cubits the other wing of the keruv; from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits. 25 And the other keruv was ten cubits; both the keruvim were of one measure and one size. 26 The height of the one keruv was ten cubits, and so was it of the other keruv.
27 And he set the keruvim within the inner room; and they stretched forth the wings of the keruvim, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other keruv touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of HaBayit. 28 And he overlaid the keruvim with zahav (gold).
29 And he carved all the walls of the Beis round about with carved figures of keruvim and palm trees and open flowers, within and without. 30 And the floor of the Beis he overlaid with zahav (gold), within and without. 31 And for the entering of the Devir he made doors of olive wood; the lintel and the five-sided door posts. 32 The two doors also were of olive wood; and he carved upon them carvings of keruvim and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with zahav, and spread zahav upon the keruvim, and upon the palm trees. 33 So also made he for the entrance of the Heikhal four-sided door posts of olive wood. 34 And the two doors were of cypress wood; the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding. 35 And he carved thereon keruvim and palm trees and open flowers; and covered them with zahav fitted upon the carved work.
36 And he built the inner court with three rows of hewed stone, and a row of cedar beams.
37 In the fourth year was the foundation of the Beis Hashem laid, in the month Ziv; 38 And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the Beis finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he sheva shanim (seven years) in building it.
* 6:2 Hamikdash † 6:3 Hamikdash ‡ 6:3 Hamikdash § 6:3 Hamikdash * 6:4 Hamikdash