The Message Bible MSG
New Century Version NCV
1 Four hundred and eighty years after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's rule over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, Solomon started building The Temple of God.
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Solomon began to build the Temple four hundred eighty years after the people of Israel had left Egypt. This was during the fourth year of King Solomon's rule over Israel. It was the second month, the month of Ziv.
2 The Temple that King Solomon built to God was ninety feet long, thirty feet wide, and forty-five feet high.
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The Temple was ninety feet long, thirty feet wide, and forty-five feet high.
3 There was a porch across the thirty-foot width of The Temple that extended out fifteen feet.
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The porch in front of the main room of the Temple was fifteen feet deep and thirty feet wide. This room ran along the front of the Temple itself. Its width was equal to that of the Temple.
4 Within The Temple he made narrow, deep-silled windows.
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The Temple also had windows that opened and closed.
5 Against the outside walls he built a supporting structure in which there were smaller rooms:
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Solomon also built some side rooms against the walls of the main room and the inner room of the Temple. He built rooms all around.
6 The lower floor was seven and a half feet wide, the middle floor nine feet, and the third floor ten and a half feet. He had projecting ledges built into the outside Temple walls to support the buttressing beams.
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The rooms on the bottom floor were seven and one-half feet wide. Those on the middle floor were nine feet wide, and the rooms above them were ten and one-half feet wide. The Temple wall that formed the side of each room was thinner than the wall in the room below. These rooms were pushed against the Temple wall, but they did not have their main beams built into this wall.
7 The stone blocks for the building of The Temple were all dressed at the quarry so that the building site itself was reverently quiet - no noise from hammers and chisels and other iron tools.
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The stones were prepared at the same place where they were cut from the ground. Since these stones were the only ones used to build the Temple, there was no noise of hammers, axes, or any other iron tools at the Temple.
8 The entrance to the ground floor was at the south end of The Temple; stairs led to the second floor and then to the third.
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The entrance to the lower rooms beside the Temple was on the south side. From there, stairs went up to the second-floor rooms. And from there, stairs went on to the third-floor rooms.
9 Solomon built and completed The Temple, finishing it off with roof beams and planks of cedar.
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Solomon put a roof made from beams and cedar boards on the Temple. So he finished building the Temple
10 The supporting structure along the outside walls was attached to The Temple with cedar beams and the rooms in it were seven and a half feet tall.
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as well as the bottom floor that was beside the Temple. This bottom floor was seven and one-half feet high and was attached to the Temple by cedar beams.
11 The word of God came to Solomon saying,
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The Lord said to Solomon:
12 "About this Temple you are building - what's important is that you live the way I've set out for you and do what I tell you, following my instructions carefully and obediently. Then I'll complete in you the promise I made to David your father.
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"If you obey all my laws and commands, I will do for you what I promised your father David.
13 I'll personally take up my residence among the Israelites - I won't desert my people Israel."
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I will live among the Israelites in this Temple, and I will never leave my people Israel."
14 Solomon built and completed The Temple.
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So Solomon finished building the Temple.
15 He paneled the interior walls from floor to ceiling with cedar planks; for flooring he used cypress.
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The inside walls were covered from floor to ceiling with cedar boards. The floor was made from pine boards.
16 The thirty feet at the rear of The Temple he made into an Inner Sanctuary, cedar planks from floor to ceiling - the Holy of Holies.
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A room thirty feet long was built in the back part of the Temple. This room, called the Most Holy Place, was separated from the rest of the Temple by cedar boards which reached from floor to ceiling.
17 The Main Sanctuary area in front was sixty feet long.
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The main room, the one in front of the Most Holy Place, was sixty feet long.
18 The entire interior of The Temple was cedar, with carvings of fruits and flowers. All cedar - none of the stone was exposed.
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Everything inside the Temple was covered with cedar, which was carved with pictures of flowers and plants. A person could not see the stones of the wall, only the cedar.
19 The Inner Sanctuary within The Temple was for housing the Chest of the Covenant of God.
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Solomon prepared the inner room at the back of the Temple to keep the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord.
20 This Inner Sanctuary was a cube, thirty feet each way, all plated with gold. The Altar of cedar was also gold-plated.
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This inner room was thirty feet long, thirty feet wide, and thirty feet high. He covered this room with pure gold, and he also covered the altar of cedar.
21 Everywhere you looked there was pure gold: gold chains strung in front of the gold-plated Inner Sanctuary
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He covered the inside of the Temple with pure gold, placing gold chains across the front of the inner room, which was also covered with gold.
22 - gold everywhere - walls, ceiling, floor, and Altar. Dazzling!
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So all the inside of the Temple, as well as the altar of the Most Holy Place, was covered with gold.
23 Then he made two cherubim, gigantic angel-like figures, from olivewood. Each was fifteen feet tall.
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Solomon made two creatures from olive wood and placed them in the Most Holy Place. Each creature was fifteen feet tall
24 The outstretched wings of the cherubim (they were identical in size and shape) measured another fifteen feet. He placed the two cherubim, their wings spread, in the Inner Sanctuary. The combined wingspread stretched the width of the room, the wing of one cherub touched one wall, the wing of the other the other wall, and the wings touched in the middle.
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and had two wings. Each wing was seven and one-half feet long, so it was fifteen feet from the end of one wing to the end of the other.
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The creatures were the same size and shape;
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each was fifteen feet tall.
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These creatures were put beside each other in the Most Holy Place with their wings spread out. One creature's wing touched one wall, and the other creature's wing touched the other wall with their wings touching each other in the middle of the room.
28 The cherubim were gold plated.
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These two creatures were covered with gold.
29 He then carved engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and flower blossoms on all the walls of both the Inner and the Main Sanctuary.
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All the walls around the Temple were carved with pictures of creatures with wings, as well as palm trees and flowers. This was true for both the main room and the inner room.
30 And all the floors of both inner and outer rooms were gold plated.
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The floors of both rooms were covered with gold.
31 He constructed doors of olivewood for the entrance to the Inner Sanctuary; the lintel and doorposts were five-sided.
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Doors made from olive wood were placed at the entrance to the Most Holy Place. These doors had five-sided frames.
32 The doors were also carved with cherubim, palm trees, and flowers, and then covered with gold leaf.
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Creatures with wings, as well as palm trees and flowers, were also carved on the two olive wood doors that were covered with gold. The creatures and the palm trees on the doors were covered with gold as well.
33 Similarly, he built the entrance to the Main Sanctuary using olivewood for the doorposts but these doorposts were four-sided.
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At the entrance to the main room there was a square door frame made of olive wood.
34 The doors were of cypress, split into two panels, each panel swinging separately.
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Two doors were made from pine. Each door had two parts so the doors folded.
35 These also were carved with cherubim, palm trees, and flowers, and plated with finely hammered gold leaf.
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The doors were covered with pictures of creatures with wings, as well as palm trees and flowers. All of the carvings were covered with gold, which was evenly spread over them.
36 He built the inner court with three courses of dressed stones topped with a course of planed cedar timbers.
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The inner courtyard was enclosed by walls, which were made of three rows of cut stones and one row of cedar boards.
37 The foundation for God's Temple was laid in the fourth year in the month of Ziv.
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Work began on the Temple in Ziv, the second month, during the fourth year Solomon was king over Israel.
38 It was completed in the eleventh year in the month of Bul (the eighth month) down to the last detail, just as planned. It took Solomon seven years to build it.
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The Temple was finished during the eleventh year he was king, in the eighth month, the month of Bul. It was built exactly as it was planned. Solomon had spent seven years building it.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.