Solomon Builds His Palace
1 But it took Solomon 13 years to finish constructing his palace and the other buildings that were related to it.
2
He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. It was 150 feet long. It was 75 feet wide. And it was 45 feet high. It had four rows of cedar columns. They held up beautiful cedar beams.
3
Above the beams was a roof that was made out of cedar boards. It rested on the columns. There were three rows of beams with 15 in each row. The total number of beams was 45.
4
The windows of the palace were placed high up in the walls. They were in groups of three. And they faced each other.
5
All of the doorways had frames that were shaped like rectangles. They were in front. They were in groups of three. And they faced each other.
6
Solomon made a covered area. It was 75 feet long. And it was 45 feet wide. Its roof was held up by columns. In front of it was a porch. In front of that were pillars and a roof that went out beyond them.
7
Solomon built the throne hall. It was called the Hall of Justice. That's where he would serve as judge. He covered the hall with cedar boards from floor to ceiling.
8
The palace where he would live was set farther back. Its plan was something like the plan for the hall. Solomon had gotten married to Pharaoh's daughter. He made a palace for her. It was like the hall.
9
All of those buildings were made out of blocks of very fine stone. They were cut to the right size. They were shaped with a saw on the back and front sides. Those stones were used for the outside of each building and for the large courtyard. They were also used from the foundations up to the roofs.
10
Large blocks of very fine stone were used for the foundations. Some were 15 feet long. Others were 12 feet long.
11
The walls that were above them were made out of very fine stones. The stones were cut to the right size. On top of them was a layer of cedar beams.
12
The large courtyard had a wall around it. The first three layers of the wall were made out of blocks of stone. The top layer was made out of beautiful cedar wood. The same thing was done with the inside courtyard of the LORD's temple and its porch.