father could not build a house to the name of Jehovah his God, for the wars which were about him on every side, until 4 Jehovah put them under the soles of his feet. And now Jehovah my God has given me rest on every side; there is 5 no adversary, and no evil occurrence. And, behold, I pur

7

pose to build a house to the name of Jehovah my God; as Jehovah spoke to David my father, saying: Thy son, whom I will set in thy place upon thy throne, he shall build a house to my name. And now command that they cut for me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants; and I will give thee hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt say; for thou knowest that none among us have skill to cut timber like the Sidonians.

And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly. And he said: Blessed be Jehovah this day, who has given to David a wise son over 8 this great people. And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying: I have hearkened to that for which thou didst send to me. I will do all thou desirest, concerning timbers of cedar, and 9 concerning timbers of cypress. My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon to the sea; and I will make of them floats by sea to the place which thou shalt appoint me; and I will take them apart there, and thou shalt receive them. And thou wilt do what I desire, in giving food for 10 my household. And Hiram gave to Solomon cedar trees 11 and cypress trees, all he desired. And Solomon gave to Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat as food for his household, and twenty measures of beaten oil. Thus gave 12 Solomon to Hiram year by year. And Jehovah gave Solomon wisdom, as he said to him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together.

13

And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the 14 levy was thirty thousand men. And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses; a month they were

V. 11. Beaten oil. The purest; obtained from the crushed fruit, without pressing it. See Ex. 27: 20, and 29: 40; Lev. 24: 2; Num. 28: 5.

in Lebanon, and two months at home; and Adoniram was 15 over the levy. And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bore burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in 16 the mountains; besides Solomon's chief-officers who were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, who ruled 17 over the people that wrought in the work. And the king commanded, and they quarried great stones, costly stones, 18 hewn stones to lay the foundation of the house. And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the Gebalites carved them. And they prepared the timbers and the stones to build the house.

1

AND it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the 2 house of Jehovah. And the house which king Solomon built for Jehovah, the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof 3 thirty cubits. And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before 4 the house. And for the house he made windows with fixed lattices.

5 And against the wall of the house he built stories around, against the walls of the house round about, of the temple. 6 and of the oracle; and he made side-chambers around. The lowest story was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad; for in the wall of the house, on the outside, he made rests round about, that the beams should not be fastened into the walls of the house. And the house, when it was in building, was built of whole stones from the quarry; and neither hammers nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house, while it

V. 18. The Gebalites; inhabitants of Gebal, a maritime city of Phenicia. See Ezek. 27: 9. -V. 5. The oracle. The inner sanctuary, the holy of holies, the place of the ark, the symbol of the divine presence. See Ps. 28: 2.-V. 7 Whole stones. Whole, as they came from the quarry, and placed in the building without change.

8 was in building. A door for the middle chamber was on the right side of the house; and they went up by winding stairs to the middle chamber, and from the middle to the third. 9 And he built the house, and finished it; and he covered the 10 house with beams and boards of cedar. And he built the stories against all the house, five cubits high; and they rested on the house with timbers of cedar.

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15

And the word of Jehovah came to Solomon, saying: This 12 house which thou art building,-if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them, then will I fulfill my word 13 with thee, which I spoke to David thy father, and will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel. And Solomon built the house, and finished it. And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling he covered it on the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of 16 the house with planks of cypress. And he built twenty cubits on the rear side of the house with boards of cedar, both the floor and the walls; and within he built for it the oracle, the 17 holy of holies. And the house, that is the temple before, 18 was forty cubits long. And the cedar of the house within

was carved-work with gourds and opening flower-buds. All 19 was of cedar; there was no stone seen. And the oracle he prepared in the house within, to set there the ark of the 20 covenant of Jehovah. And the oracle within was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof. And he overlaid it with pure 21 gold; and he overlaid the altar with cedar. And Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold. And he barred up with chains of gold before the oracle; and he overlaid it 22 with gold. And the whole house he overlaid with gold, till all the house was done. And the whole altar that was by the oracle he overlaid with gold.

23

And within the oracle he made two cherubim of olive-wood,

V. 16. The oracle. See the note on ch. 6: 5.-Holy of holies. See Ex. 26: 33; 1 Kings 8.6: Heb. 9:3.

24 each ten cubits high. And five cubits long was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub; from the uttermost part of the one wing to the uttermost 25 part of the other were ten cubits. And the other cherub was ten cubits. The two cherubs were of one stature and one 26 form. The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so 27 was it of the other cherub. And he set the cherubim within the inner house. And they stretched forth the wings of the cherubim, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall ; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the 28 house. And he overlaid the cherubim with gold. And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm-trees and opening flower-buds, 30 within and without. And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.

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31

And for entrance to the oracle he made folding-doors of olive-wood; the lintel and side-posts were a fifth part [of 32 the wall]. The two doors also were of olive-wood; and he carved on them carvings of cherubim and palm-trees and opening flower-buds, and overlaid them with gold, and spread 33 out gold upon the cherubim, and upon the palm-trees. And so made he for the door of the temple-post of olive-wood, a 34 fourth part [of the wall]. And the two folding-doors were of cypress-wood; the two leaves of the one door were fold35 ing, and the two leaves of the other were folding. And he carved thereon cherubim and palm-trees and opening flowerbuds, and overlaid them with gold fitted upon the carved work.

36 And he built the inner court with three rows of hewn stone, and a row of cedar-beams.

37 In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of 38 Jehovah laid, in the month Zif. And in the eleventh year,

in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house. finished in all its parts, and according to all the fashion of it. And he was seven years in building it.

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2

AND Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.

And he built the house of the forest of Lebanon. The length thereof was a hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar-pillars, with cedar-beams upon the pillars. 3 And it was covered with cedar above upon the side-chambers, that lay on forty-five pillars, fifteen in a row. And there were beams in three rows, and window against window 5 in three ranks. And all the doors and door-posts were made square with layers of beams; and window was against window in three ranks.

6

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8

And he made the porch of the pillars; the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth thereof thirty cubits; and a porch before them, and pillars and steps before them.

And he made the porch of the throne where he should judge, the porch of judgment; and it was covered with cedar from the floor to the floor.

And his house where he dwelt, another court within the porch, was of like workmanship. Solomon made also a house for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken, like unto 9 this porch. All these were of costly stones, after the measures of hewn stones, sawed with saws within and without, from the foundation to the coping, and from the outside to 10 the great court. And the foundation was of costly stones, great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits. 11 And above were costly stones, after the measures of hewn 12 stones, and cedars. And the great court round about was

13

of three rows of hewn stones, and a row of cedar-beams, both for the inner court of the house of Jehovah, and for the porch of the house.

And king Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre. 14 He was the son of a widow, of the tribe of Naphtali; and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass. And he

V. 6.

The porch of the pillars. A colonnade, the portico of the building.—A porch before them; the vestibule, with columns and ascending steps.- -V. 7. From the floor to the floor. "From the floor to the ceiling; the walls or sides from the bottom to the top.”