1 Kings 6-8

EasyEnglish Bible

Solomon builds the temple^[a]

6 Solomon began to build the Lord's temple 480 years after the Israelites had left Egypt. It was in the fourth year that he had ruled Israel as king. He started the work in the month called Ziv, the second month of the year.^[b]

² The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was 27 metres long. It was 9 metres wide. It was 13.5 metres high. ³ The temple had an entrance room in front of its big hall. The entrance room was as wide as the temple, 9 metres wide. It came 4.5 metres out from the front of the temple itself. ⁴ Solomon made narrow windows near the tops of the temple walls.^{[c] 5} Solomon built rooms around the outside of the temple walls. These rooms continued outside the big hall and the inside room. The side rooms were on three levels.^{[d] 6} The lowest level of rooms was 2.3 metres wide. The middle level was 2.7 metres wide and the top level was 3.2 metres wide. Each floor was built on wooden beams. The beams rested on stones in the temple walls, so that there were no holes that they cut into the walls.

⁷ When they built the temple, they used stones that were the right shape. Workers had already cut the stones at the place where they came from. There was no sound of hammers, axes or any iron tools at the place of the temple. ⁸ The door to the lowest level of rooms on the sides of the temple was on the south side of the temple. Stairs went up to the middle level and to the top level.^[e]

⁹ Solomon finished building the temple. He made the roof with wooden beams and with cedar boards. ¹⁰ He also built the rooms around the sides of the temple. Each room was 2.3 metres high. Cedar beams fixed the rooms to the temple building.

¹¹ Then the Lord gave this message to Solomon:

¹² ‘I will make my home in this temple that you are building. I will do everything for you that I promised to your father David. But you must obey my laws, rules and commands. ¹³ Then I will live among my people, the Israelites. I will never leave them.’

¹⁴ So Solomon finished building the temple. ¹⁵ He used cedar boards to cover the walls on the inside of the temple. The boards went from the floor of the temple up to its ceiling. He covered the floor of the temple with wood from pine trees. ¹⁶ He built a wall across the inside of the temple to make a separate room. That wall was 9 metres from the back wall of the temple. The inside room was the Most Holy Place.^[f] The walls were covered with cedar boards from the floor to the ceiling. ¹⁷ The big hall in front of the Most Holy Place was 18 metres long. ¹⁸ The inside of the temple was covered with boards made of cedar wood. The workers cut pictures of fruits and flowers on the wood. The cedar boards completely covered the stone walls, so you could not see any stone.

¹⁹ Solomon prepared the inside room to be the Most Holy Place where they would put the Lord's Covenant Box. ²⁰ The inside room was 9 metres long, 9 metres wide and 9 metres high. Solomon used pure gold to cover the walls of this room. He also covered the cedar altar with gold. ²¹ Solomon covered all the walls inside the temple with gold. He also hung gold chains across the entrance to the Most Holy Place. He covered everything there with gold. ²² So he covered everything inside the whole temple with gold. That included the altar that was inside the Most Holy Place.

²³ Solomon used olive wood to make models of two cherubs to stand in the Most Holy Place. Each cherub was 4.4 metres tall. ²⁴ The first cherub had two wings that were 2.2 metres long each. So it was 4.4 metres from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing. ²⁵ The second cherub was also 4.4 metres across its wings. The two cherubs were the same size and the same shape. ²⁶ Each cherub was 4.4 metres high. ²⁷ Solomon put the cherubs in the inside room of the temple. Their wings went from one wall of the temple to the other wall. One cherub's wing touched one wall of the temple. One of the other cherub's wings touched the other wall. And their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. ²⁸ Solomon covered the cherubs with gold.

²⁹ Solomon's workers cut pictures in the wood on the walls of the big hall and the inside room. They were pictures of cherubs, palm trees and flowers. ³⁰ They also covered the floors of both the rooms with gold. ³¹ They used olive wood to make doors for the entrance to the Most Holy Place. The doors were fixed to wooden pillars which had five sides. ³² The wooden doors had pictures of cherubs, palm trees and flowers. Solomon covered the pictures of the cherubs and the palm trees with very thin gold. ³³ The doors to the big hall of the temple were fixed to pillars made of olive wood. Those pillars had four sides. ³⁴ Solomon also made two doors from pine wood. Each door had two separate parts that could turn. ³⁵ He cut pictures of cherubs, palm trees and flowers on those doors too. He covered them with gold in the same way.

³⁶ Solomon also built a yard around the temple building. The wall around the yard had three rows of special stones, then a row of cedar beams, and so on.

³⁷ They built the foundation of the Lord's temple in the fourth year that Solomon was king. It was in the month called Ziv. ³⁸ They finished building the temple in the 11th year that Solomon was king. It was the eighth month, the month called Bul. So they built the temple in seven years, exactly as the plans showed that it should be.

Solomon builds his palace

7 Solomon was also building a palace for himself. After 13 years, he finished it.^{[g] 2} He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.^[h] It was 46 metres long, 23 metres wide and 14 metres high. It had four rows of pillars. On top of them were beams. They used cedar wood to make the pillars and the beams. ³ They also used cedar wood to make the roof. They put the roof on top of the pillars and the beams. There were 45 beams, with 15 beams in each row. ⁴ There were three rows of windows on each side of the room. They were opposite each other, in groups of three windows. ⁵ All the doors had square corners and four sides. There were three doors in each group.

⁶ Solomon also built a Hall of Pillars. It was 23 metres long and 14 metres wide. There was an entrance room at the front of the hall. The entrance room also had pillars and a roof.

⁷ Solomon also built a Throne Room. He covered the walls with cedar boards, from the floor to the ceiling. He called it the Hall of Justice. He judged people's arguments in that room.

⁸ Solomon also built a house for himself to live in. It was in a yard behind the Hall of Justice. It was like the other buildings. He also built a house like it for his wife who was the king of Egypt's daughter.

⁹ Solomon's workers used valuable, large stones to make all the buildings, from the front to the great yard that was behind. They cut the stones to the right size and shape with special saws. They used these stones for the foundations and all the way up to the roof.

¹⁰ They made the foundations with very large, valuable stones. The stones were 3.5 metres or 4.5 metres long. ¹¹ On top of the foundation they used the best stones that they cut to the right size. They also used beams of cedar wood. ¹² There was a wall around the great yard. This had three rows of special stones, then a row of cedar beams, and so on. It was like the wall around the yard of the Lord's temple and the entrance room.

More work on the temple

¹³ King Solomon sent men to Tyre to fetch a man called Hiram. ¹⁴ Hiram was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali.^[i] His father was a worker who knew how to use bronze to make things. He lived in Tyre. Hiram also had special skills. He knew how to use bronze to make many kinds of things. So he came to work for King Solomon. He did all the work that Solomon asked him to do.

¹⁵ Hiram made two bronze pillars. Each pillar was 8.2 metres high and 5.5 metres around the outside. The metal itself was about 7 centimetres thick. ¹⁶ He also used bronze to make a top for each pillar. Each piece was 2.3 metres high. ¹⁷ Each piece had pictures like rows of chains that joined together. There were seven pictures like this on the top of each pillar. ¹⁸ Hiram also made pictures of two rows of pomegranates around the chains. They covered the tops of the pillars. ¹⁹ The tops of the two pillars were in the shape of flowers called lilies. Each one was 1.8 metres high. ²⁰ There were pictures of 200 pomegranates in two rows all around the top of each pillar. They were next to the chains above the round shape at the top of the pillar.

²¹ Hiram put these two pillars at the entrance room of the temple, in front of the big hall, the hall of pillars in the temple. He called the pillar on the south side ‘Jakin’. He called the pillar on the north side ‘Boaz’. ²² The tops of the pillars were in the shape of flowers called lilies. Hiram finished the work on the two bronze pillars.

²³ Hiram also used bronze to make a big bath which they called ‘the Sea’.^[j] It was in the shape of a circle 4.5 metres across. It was 2.3 metres deep. It was 14 metres around the outside. ²⁴ All around its edge, below the top, there were two rows of round shapes. They were pictures of fruits called gourds. They were all part of the same piece of bronze as ‘the Sea’. There were 20 gourds for every metre around the edge. ²⁵ Hiram fixed ‘the Sea’ on top of 12 bronze bulls. Three pointed north, three pointed west, three pointed south and three pointed east. Their backs were towards the middle of ‘the Sea’. ²⁶ The walls of ‘the Sea’ were 7½ centimetres thick. Its top edge was like a cup in the shape of a lily flower. ‘The Sea’ contained about 40,000 litres of water.

²⁷ Hiram also made ten bronze carts to carry water.^[k] Each one was 1.8 metres long, 1.8 metres wide and 1.3 metres deep. ²⁸ This is how he made the water carts: He made them with bronze sides, which he fixed to bronze bars at the edges. ²⁹ There were pictures of lions, bulls and cherubs on the bars and on the edges. There were shapes like leaves above and below the lions and the bulls. ³⁰ Each cart had four bronze wheels fixed to bronze axles.^[l] The axles were fixed under each cart at four places. These places had shapes like leaves on each side. ³¹ On the top of the cart there was a round piece which held a bowl. This piece was 50 centimetres deep and 75 centimetres across. Hiram cut pictures into the metal all around it. The bronze sides of the carts were square. They were not round.

³² There were four wheels under each cart. They were fixed to axles. The axles and the cart joined together in one piece. Each wheel was 70 centimetres high. ³³ The wheels were like the wheels of a chariot. Hiram used bronze to make the axles and all the parts of the wheels.^{[m] 34} Each cart had four handles. There was one handle on each side, joined to the cart as one piece. ³⁵ There was a piece of metal round the top of each cart. It was 23 centimetres deep. It was fixed at each corner of the cart with pieces of bronze. These pieces and the sides of each cart were all joined together. ³⁶ Hiram cut pictures of cherubs, lions and palm trees on the sides of each cart and on the handles. He cut pictures where there was a space for them. There were also shapes of leaves all around. ³⁷ Hiram used bronze to make the ten carts so that they all had the same size and shape.

³⁸ And Hiram also made ten bronze buckets. Each bucket contained about 800 litres. Each bucket was 1.8 metres across. There was one bucket for each of the ten carts. ³⁹ Hiram put five of the carts on the south side of the temple. He put the other five carts on the north side of the temple. He put ‘the Sea’ on the south side of the temple, at the south-east corner.

⁴⁰ Hiram also made dishes to carry ashes, small tools and bowls.

So Hiram finished all the work in the Lord's temple that King Solomon had asked him to do. He made these things:

King Solomon asked Hiram to make all these things for the Lord's temple. Hiram used bright bronze to make all these things. ⁴⁶ The king told his workers to pour the hot bronze into shapes in the ground. They did that at a special place in the region of the Jordan Valley, between Succoth and Zarethan. ⁴⁷ Solomon did not weigh any of these things, because there were so many of them. No one ever knew the weight of the bronze.

⁴⁸ Solomon also made all these things for the Lord's temple:

⁵¹ King Solomon finished all the work for the Lord's temple. Then he brought into it all the holy things that belonged to his father, David. He stored all the valuable things in a safe place in the Lord's temple. They included silver things and gold things.

Solomon puts the Covenant Box in the temple

8 Then Solomon told all the leaders of Israel to come to him in Jerusalem. They were all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families. He wanted them to bring the Lord's Covenant Box from Mount Zion, the City of David, to put it in the temple.^{[n] 2} So all the Israelite leaders came together to meet with King Solomon. This happened during the Festival of Huts in the seventh month of the year, called Ethanim.^{[o] 3} When all Israel's leaders had arrived, the priests lifted up the Covenant Box.

⁴ The priests and the Levites carried the Lord's Covenant Box, the Tent of Meeting and all the holy things that were in the tent.

⁵ King Solomon and all the Israelites who were with him walked in front of the Covenant Box. They offered many sheep and bulls as sacrifices. There were more animals than anyone could count.

⁶ Then the priests brought the Lord's Covenant Box to its proper place in the inside room of the temple. That was the Most Holy Place. They put it under the wings of the cherubs. ⁷ The wings of the cherubs touched each other above the place where the Covenant Box was. The cherubs covered the Covenant Box and the poles that the Levites used to carry it.^{[p] 8} The poles were very long. The priests could see their ends from the Holy Place, if they stood in front of the Most Holy Place. But nobody could see the poles from outside the temple. And they are still there today.

⁹ There was nothing in the Covenant Box, except the two flat stones that Moses had put there at Sinai. That was where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out from Egypt.

¹⁰ When the priests came out from the Holy Place, a cloud filled the Lord's temple. ¹¹ The priests could not do their work to serve the Lord, because of the cloud. The Lord's bright glory filled his temple.

¹² Then Solomon prayed, ‘Lord, you have said that you live in a dark cloud. ¹³ Now I have built a great temple for you. It is a place where you can live for ever.’

Solomon speaks to his people

¹⁴ While all the Israelite people stood there, the king turned round towards them. He prayed that God would bless them. ¹⁵ He said, ‘Praise the Lord, Israel's God, as he deserves. He has used his power to do what he promised to do for my father David. ¹⁶ He told David, “I brought my people, the Israelites, out from Egypt. From that time, I have not chosen a city in any of Israel's tribes to build a temple where my people would worship me. Now I have chosen David to rule Israel, my people, as king.” ¹⁷ My father David wanted very much to build a temple to give honour to the Lord, Israel's God. ¹⁸ But the Lord said to my father David, “It was good that you wanted to build a temple to give me honour. ¹⁹ But you will not build the temple. Instead, one of your own sons will build it to give honour to me.” ²⁰ Now the Lord has done what he promised to do. I now rule Israel as king on the throne of my father David, as the Lord promised. I have built this temple to give honour to the Lord, Israel's God. ²¹ I have made a place there for the Covenant Box. It contains the covenant that the Lord made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.’

Solomon prays in the temple

²² Then Solomon stood in front of the Lord's altar. All the Israelite people who had come together there could see him. He lifted up his hands towards the sky.^{[q] 23} He prayed,

‘Lord, Israel's God, there is no God like you, either in heaven above or down here on the earth. You continue to do what you have promised to do for your people. You faithfully love those who want to serve you. ²⁴ You have done what you promised to do for your servant, my father David. You have used your power to finish today everything that you said you would do. ²⁵ Now Lord, Israel's God, there is another promise that you spoke to my father David. I pray that you will do that too. You said to David, “There will always be one of your descendants to rule Israel as my chosen king. But for this to happen, your sons must be careful to serve me well, as you have done.” ²⁶ So now, God of Israel, please cause what you promised to my father, your servant David, to happen.

²⁷ But surely God, you do not live on the earth! The whole sky, or even heaven itself, is too small to contain you! So how can you live in this temple that I have built? ²⁸ But Lord, my God, please listen to my prayer, as I ask you for help. Please answer me, your servant, because I need your help today. ²⁹ Watch over this temple and take care of it day and night. This is the place about which you said, “People will give honour to my name there.” Please answer my prayers when I turn towards this place to pray to you. ³⁰ Hear the prayers of me, your servant, and the prayers of your people, the Israelites. Please answer us when we turn towards this place and we pray to you. Hear us from heaven, the place where you live. And when we pray, forgive us for our sins.

³¹ Somebody may do a bad thing against another person. Then he may come to this temple and stand in front of your altar. He may say to you that he is not guilty of any wrong thing. ³² Then listen from heaven to what these people are saying. Decide who is right. Punish the guilty person as he deserves. Show clearly that the other person is right, because he has not done any wrong thing.

³³ Perhaps an enemy will win against your people, the Israelites, because we have not obeyed you. But then your people may turn back to you and worship you. They may come into this temple and pray that you will help them. ³⁴ If they do that, please hear them from heaven! Please forgive the sins of your people, the Israelites. Please bring them back to the land that you gave to their ancestors.

³⁵ Sometimes, there may be no rain from the sky because your people have not obeyed you. Then they may turn towards this place and pray to you. They may give honour to your name and turn away from their sins, because you have punished them. ³⁶ If they do that, please hear them from heaven! Please forgive the sins of your servants, your people, the Israelites. Teach them to live in the right way. And please send rain onto this land that you gave to your people to belong to them for ever.

³⁷ Sometimes, there may be other troubles in our land. There may be a famine or a bad disease. Our crops may not grow and our animals may be ill. Locusts may destroy our crops. An enemy may attack some cities in our land. Or there may be other kinds of disease or trouble. ³⁸ Then, some of your people may pray to you and ask you for help. If someone is sad and upset, he may turn towards this temple and lift up his hands in prayer. ³⁹ If someone does that, please hear him from your home in heaven. Please forgive the sins of your people and help them. Only you know what people are thinking. So please give to each person as they deserve. ⁴⁰ Then your people will respect and obey you as they live in this land that you gave to our ancestors.

⁴¹ Foreigners, who do not belong to your people, the Israelites, will hear how great you are. Then they will come here from other countries far away. ⁴² They will hear about you and your power to do great things. Then they will turn towards this temple and pray to you. ⁴³ When that happens, please hear them from your home in heaven. Please answer all the prayers of these foreign people. Then people from all the nations in the world will realize how great you are. They also will respect you and obey you, as your own people do. They will understand that this temple that I have built belongs to you.

⁴⁴ Sometimes, your people will go to fight against their enemies at the place where you have sent them. Then they may turn towards this city and pray to the Lord. This is the city that you have chosen for me to build the temple to give you honour. ⁴⁵ When they pray to you, please hear them from your home in heaven. Do what is right to help them win against their enemies.

⁴⁶ There is nobody who never does a wrong thing. So when your people do not obey you, you will be angry with them. You will put them under the power of their enemies. Those enemies will take them as prisoners to their own country. Perhaps it will be a country that is far away. Perhaps it will be near. ⁴⁷ Then your people may think about the bad things that they have done. While they are prisoners in their enemy's country, they may be sorry about their sins. They may pray to you and ask you to forgive them. They may say, “We have turned away from God and we have done wicked things.” ⁴⁸ In the country where they are prisoners, they may turn back to you and worship you truly. They may turn towards this land that you gave to their ancestors. They may pray to you as they look towards this city that you have chosen. They may look towards the temple that I have built to give you honour. ⁴⁹ If they do that, please hear them from your home in heaven. Please answer their prayers and do what is right to help them.

⁵⁰ Please forgive your people for all the sins that they have done against you. Please cause their enemies to be kind to them. ⁵¹ Remember that they are your special people who belong to you. You brought them out of Egypt where they were like prisoners in a very hot oven.

⁵² I pray that you will carefully watch over me, your servant. Please answer my prayers and the prayers of your people, the Israelites. Whenever we pray to you, please listen to us. ⁵³ From all the nations of the world you chose Israel to belong to you as your special people. Almighty Lord, this is what you promised to your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.’

⁵⁴ So Solomon finished all his prayers and everything that he wanted to ask the Lord for. He had been down on his knees with his hands lifted up towards the sky in front of the Lord's altar. Now he stood up. ⁵⁵ When he stood up, he asked God to bless all the people in Israel. He said with a loud voice, ⁵⁶ ‘Praise the Lord as he deserves! He has given his people, the Israelites, a safe place to live, as he has promised to do. Every great promise that the Lord gave to his servant Moses has now happened! ⁵⁷ I pray that the Lord our God will be with us, as he was with our ancestors. I pray that he will never leave us or turn away from us. ⁵⁸ I pray that the Lord will cause us to respect his authority. Then we will do what he wants us to do. We will obey all his commands, rules and laws that he gave to our ancestors. ⁵⁹ I pray that the Lord our God will continue to remember these words that I have prayed. May he keep them in his thoughts. I pray that he will do what is right to help me and his people, the Israelites. May he give us the help that we need each day. ⁶⁰ Then all the nations of the earth will understand that the Lord is the only true God. There is no other God. ⁶¹ I pray that you will continue to serve the Lord our God faithfully. You must continue to obey his rules and his commands, as you do now.’

Solomon offers the temple as a gift to God

⁶² Then the king and all the Israelite people who were with him offered sacrifices to the Lord.

⁶³ These are the friendship offerings that Solomon offered to the Lord:

In this way, King Solomon and all the Israelite people offered the temple as a gift to the Lord.

⁶⁴ On the same day, the king gave to the Lord the yard that was in front of the temple. King Solomon offered burnt offerings and grain offerings to the Lord. He also offered the fat from the friendship offerings. The bronze altar in front of the temple was too small to contain all these offerings.^[r] So Solomon made these sacrifices in the middle of the yard instead. ⁶⁵ At that time, Solomon and the big crowd of Israelites who were with him had a festival for seven days.^[s] They gave honour to the Lord our God. There were people from everywhere in Israel, from Hamath in the north to the Stream of Egypt in the south. ⁶⁶ The day after the festival, Solomon sent the people away to their homes. They thanked God for the king and were very happy. They were full of joy because the Lord had done many good things for his servant David and for his people, the Israelites.