1st Kings — 6

Shalumah Builds the Haykal (Temple)

1 It was in midspring, during the fourth year of Shalumah’s reign, that he began to construct the Haykal (Temple) of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH. This was four hundred and eighty years after the people of Yashar'AL were rescued from their slavery in the land of Mitzraym.

2 The Temple that King Shalumah built for 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH was ninety feet long, thirty feet wide, and forty five feet high. 

3 The entry room at the front of the Temple was thirty feet wide, running across the entire width of the Temple. It projected outward fifteen feet from the front of the Temple. 

4 Shalumah 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 7 1⁄2 feet wide, the second floor 9 feet wide, and the top floor 10 1⁄2 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, Shalumah 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 7 1⁄2 feet high.

11 Then 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH gave this message to Shalumah: 

12 “Concerning this Temple you are building, if you keep all my decrees and regulations and obey all my commandments, I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father, Daud. 

13 I will live among the Yasharalym and will never abandon my people Yashar'AL.” 

The Temple’s Interior

14 So Shalumah 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 Qadash 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 Qadash 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.

19 He prepared the inner sanctuary at the far end of the Temple, where the Ark of  𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH’s Covenant would be placed. 

20 This inner sanctuary was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. He overlaid the inside with solid gold. He also overlaid the altar made of cedar. 

21 Then Shalumah overlaid the rest of the Temple’s interior with solid gold, and he made gold chains to protect the entrance to the Most Qadash Place. 

22 So he finished overlaying the entire Temple with gold, including the altar that belonged to the Most Qadash Place.

23 He made two charubim of wild olive wood, each 15 feet tall, and placed them in the inner sanctuary. 

24 The wingspan of each of the cherubim was 15 feet, each wing being 7 1⁄2 feet long. 

25 The two cherubim were identical in shape and size; 

26 each was 15 feet tall. 

27 He placed them side by side in the inner sanctuary of the Temple. Their outspread wings reached from wall to wall, while their inner wings touched at the center of the room. 

28 He overlaid the two cherubim with gold.

29 He decorated all the walls of the inner sanctuary and the main room with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. 

30 He overlaid the floor in both rooms with gold.

31 For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, he made double doors of wild olive wood with five-sided doorposts. 

32 These double doors were decorated with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. The doors, including the decorations of cherubim and palm trees, were overlaid with gold.

33 Then he made four-sided doorposts of wild olive wood for the entrance to the Temple. 

34 There were two folding doors of cypress wood, and each door was hinged to fold back upon itself. 

35 These doors were decorated with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, all overlaid evenly with gold.

36 The walls of the inner courtyard were built so that there was one layer of cedar beams between every three layers of finished stone.

37 The foundation of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH’s Temple was laid in midspring, during the fourth year of Shalumah’s reign. 

38 The entire building was completed in every detail by midautumn, during the eleventh year of his reign. So it took seven years to build the Temple.