Solomon Builds the Temple

3 Then Solomon began to build the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah. This was where the Lord had appeared to David, Solomon’s father. Solomon built the Temple on the place David had prepared on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. ² Solomon began building in the second month of the fourth year he ruled Israel.

³ Solomon used these measurements for building the Temple of God. It was ninety feet long and thirty feet wide, using the old measurement. ⁴ The porch in front of the main room of the Temple was thirty feet long and thirty feet high.

He covered the inside of the porch with pure gold. ⁵ He put panels of pine on the walls of the main room and covered them with pure gold. Then he put designs of palm trees and chains in the gold. ⁶ He decorated the Temple with gems and gold from Parvaim.^{[a] 7} He put gold on the Temple’s ceiling beams, doorposts, walls, and doors, and he carved creatures with wings on the walls.

⁸ Then he made the Most Holy Place. It was thirty feet long and thirty feet wide, as wide as the Temple. He covered its walls with about forty-six thousand pounds of pure gold. ⁹ The gold nails weighed over a pound. He also covered the upper rooms with gold.

¹⁰ He made two creatures with wings for the Most Holy Place and covered them with gold. ¹¹ The wings of the gold creatures were thirty feet across. One wing of one creature was seven and one-half feet long and touched the Temple wall. The creature’s other wing was also seven and one-half feet long, and it touched a wing of the second creature. ¹² One wing of the second creature touched the other side of the room and was also seven and one-half feet long. The second creature’s other wing touched the first creature’s wing, and it was also seven and one-half feet long. ¹³ Together, the creatures’ wings were thirty feet across. The creatures stood on their feet, facing the main room.

¹⁴ He made the curtain of blue, purple, and red thread, and expensive linen, and he put designs of creatures with wings in it.

¹⁵ He made two pillars to stand in front of the Temple. They were about fifty-two feet tall, and the capital of each pillar was over seven feet tall. ¹⁶ He made a net of chains and put them on the tops of the pillars. He made a hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains. ¹⁷ Then he put the pillars up in front of the Temple. One pillar stood on the south side, the other on the north. He named the south pillar He Establishes and the north pillar In Him Is Strength.