Now Solomon decided to build a house (temple) for the Name of the Lord, and a royal palace for himself.

Now I am building a temple for the name of Yahweh my God in order to dedicate it to Him for burning fragrant incense before Him, for displaying the rows of the bread of the Presence continuously, and for sacrificing burnt offerings for the morning and the evening, the Sabbaths and the New Moons, and the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is ordained for Israel forever.

The temple that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than any of the gods.

But who is able to build a temple for Him, since even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain Him? Who am I then that I should build a temple for Him except as a place to burn incense before Him?

to prepare logs for me in abundance because the temple I am building will be great and wonderful.

Hiram also said:

May the Lord God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth, be praised! He gave King David a wise son with insight and understanding, who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.

Then Solomon began to build the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the site David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

These are Solomon’s foundations for building God’s temple: the length was 90 feet, and the width 30 feet.

The portico, which was across the front extending across the width of the temple, was 30 feet wide; its height was 30 feet; he overlaid its inner surface with pure gold.

The main room of the Temple was trimmed with a wainscoting composed of cypress wood, overlaid with fine gold ornamented with palm trees and chains.

He adorned the temple with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was the gold of Parvaim.

He overlaid the temple—the beams, the thresholds, its walls and doors—with gold, and he carved cherubim on the walls.

Then he made the most holy place; its length corresponded to the width of the temple, 30 feet, and its width was 30 feet. He overlaid it with 45,000 pounds of fine gold.

He crafted two cherubim from wood, overlaid them with gold, and placed them in the Most Holy Place in the Temple.

The wingspan of the cherubim was 20 cubits; the wing of one, five cubits long, touched the wall of the Temple, and its other wing, five cubits long, touched the wing of the other cherub.

The wing of the other cherub, five cubits long, touched the opposite wall of the Temple and its other wing, five cubits long, touched the wing of the first cherub.

The wings of these cherubim extended for 20 cubits as they stood on their feet and faced the front of the Temple.

In front of the temple he made two pillars, each 27 feet high. The capital on top of each was 7½ feet high.

And he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.

And he made ten candlesticks of gold according to their form, and set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left.

He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left. And he made an hundred basons of gold.

And he set the sea at the southeast [corner of the temple].

Then Huram made the pots, the shovels, and the bowls.

So Huram finished doing the work that he was doing for King Solomon in God’s temple:

the pots, the shovels, the forks, and all their utensils—Huram-abi made them for King Solomon for the Lord’s temple. All these were made of polished bronze.

Solomon also made all the equipment in God’s temple: the gold altar; the tables on which to put the bread of the Presence;

And the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers, of pure gold: and the entry of the house, the inner doors thereof for the most holy place, and the doors of the house of the temple, were of gold.

So all the work Solomon did for the Lord’s temple was completed. Then Solomon brought the consecrated things of his father David—the silver, the gold, and all the utensils—and put them in the treasuries of God’s temple.

The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the most holy place, beneath the wings of the cherubim.

The trumpeters and singers joined together to praise and thank the Lord with one voice. They raised their voices, accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and musical instruments, in praise to the Lord:

For He is good;
His faithful love endures forever.

The temple, the Lord’s temple, was filled with a cloud.

And because of the cloud, the priests were not able to continue ministering, for the glory of the Lord filled God’s temple.

but I have built an exalted temple for You,
a place for Your residence forever.

“Since the day I brought My people Israel
out of the land of Egypt,
I have not chosen a city to build a temple in
among any of the tribes of Israel,
so that My name would be there,
and I have not chosen a man
to be ruler over My people Israel.

Now it was in the heart of my father David
to build a temple for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

However, Yahweh said to my father David,
“Since it was your desire to build a temple for My name,
you have done well to have this desire.

Yet, you are not the one to build the temple,
but your son, your own offspring,
will build the temple for My name.”

So Yahweh has fulfilled what He promised.
I have taken the place of my father David
and I sit on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised.
I have built the temple for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

But will God indeed live on earth with man?
Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You,
much less this temple I have built.

so that Your eyes watch over this temple
day and night,
toward the place where You said
You would put Your name;
and so that You may hear the prayer
Your servant prays toward this place.

If a man sins against his neighbor
and is forced to take an oath
and he comes to take an oath
before Your altar in this temple,

If Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy,
because they have sinned against You,
and they return to You and praise Your name,
and they pray and plead for mercy
before You in this temple,

whatever prayer or petition
anyone from your people Israel might have—
each man knowing his own affliction and suffering,
and spreading out his hands toward this temple—

Even for the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel
but has come from a distant land
because of Your great name
and Your mighty hand and outstretched arm:
when he comes and prays toward this temple,

may You hear in heaven in Your dwelling place,
and do all the foreigner asks You.
Then all the peoples of the earth will know Your name,
to fear You as Your people Israel do
and know that this temple I have built
is called by Your name.

When Your people go out to fight against their enemies,
wherever You send them,
and they pray to You
in the direction of this city You have chosen
and the temple that I have built for Your name,

and when they return to You with their whole mind and heart
in the land of their captivity where they were taken captive,
and when they pray in the direction of their land
that You gave their ancestors,
and the city You have chosen,
and toward the temple I have built for Your name,

“Now, O my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.

When Solomon finished praying, fire descended from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

The priests were not able to enter the Lord’s temple because the glory of the Lord filled the temple of the Lord.

All the Israelites were watching when the fire descended and the glory of the Lord came on the temple. They bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground. They worshiped and praised the Lord:

For He is good,
for His faithful love endures forever.

King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. In this manner the king and all the people dedicated God’s temple.

Since the bronze altar that Solomon had made could not accommodate the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the fellowship offerings, Solomon first consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the Lord’s temple and then offered the burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings there.

So Solomon finished the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. Everything that had entered Solomon’s heart to do for the Lord’s temple and for his own palace succeeded.

Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him:

I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a temple of sacrifice.

"I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for a sacrificial temple to me. Whenever I close the skies so there is no rain, or whenever I command locusts to lay waste to the land, or whenever I send epidemics among my people,

And I have now chosen and consecrated this temple so that My name may be there forever; My eyes and My heart will be there at all times.

then I will uproot Israel from the soil that I gave them, and this temple that I have sanctified for My name I will banish from My presence; I will make it an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples.

As for this temple, which was exalted, everyone who passes by will be appalled and will say: Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?

At the end of 20 years during which Solomon had built the Lord’s temple and his own palace—

Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord which he had built in front of the porch [of the temple],

Following proscriptions laid down by his father David, Solomon appointed divisions of priests for their service as well as descendants of Levi for duties of praise and ministry before the priests consistent with the daily rules. Furthermore, because David, the man of God, had commanded it, Solomon also appointed gatekeepers to serve by divisions at every gate of the Temple.

All of Solomon’s work was carried out from the day the foundation was laid for the Lord’s temple until it was finished. So the Lord’s temple was completed.

the food at his table, his servants’ residence, his attendants’ service and their attire, his cupbearers and their attire, and the burnt offerings he offered at the Lord’s temple, it took her breath away.

The king made the algum wood into walkways for the Lord’s temple and for the king’s palace and into lyres and harps for the singers. Never before had anything like them been seen in the land of Judah.

So King Shishak of Egypt went to war against Jerusalem. He seized the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and the treasuries of the royal palace. He took everything. He took the gold shields that Solomon had made.

Whenever the king entered the Lord’s temple, the royal escorts would carry the shields and take them back to the royal escorts’ armory.

When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He renovated the altar of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord’s temple.

He brought his father’s consecrated gifts and his own consecrated gifts into God’s temple: silver, gold, and utensils.

So Asa brought out the silver and gold from the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and the royal palace and sent it to Aram’s King Ben-hadad, who lived in Damascus, saying,

Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the Lord’s temple before the new courtyard.

They settled down in it and built in it a temple to honor you, saying,

“If disaster comes on us—sword or judgment, pestilence or famine—we will stand before this temple and before You, for Your name is in this temple. We will cry out to You because of our distress, and You will hear and deliver.”

So they came into Jerusalem to the Lord’s temple with harps, lyres, and trumpets.

While Athaliah ruled over the land, he was hiding with them in God’s temple six years.

Then the whole assembly made a covenant with the king in God’s temple. Jehoiada said to them, “Here is the king’s son! He must reign, just as the Lord promised concerning David’s sons.

"Look! The king's son is going to rule, just as the LORD promised David's descendants. So here's what you'll need to do: One third of you priests and descendants of Levi who are on duty during the Sabbath will serve as guards at the temple gates.

A third are to be at the king’s palace, and a third are to be at the Foundation Gate, and all the troops will be in the courtyards of the Lord’s temple.

No one is to enter the Lord’s temple but the priests and those Levites who serve; they may enter because they are holy, but all the people are to obey the requirement of the Lord.

The Levites shall surround the [young] king, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whoever comes into the temple [breaking through the ranks of the guard to get near Joash] is to be killed. You are to be with the king when he comes in [from the temple chamber where he is hiding] and when he goes out.”

Jehoiada the priest gave to the commanders of hundreds King David’s spears, shields, and quivers that were in God’s temple.

And he set all the people, every man having his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the altar and the temple, by the king round about.

When Athaliah heard the noise from the troops, the guards, and those praising the king, she went to the troops in the Lord’s temple.

Then Jehoiada the priest sent out the commanders of hundreds, those in charge of the army, saying, “Take her out between the ranks, and put anyone who follows her to death by the sword,” for the priest had said, “Don’t put her to death in the Lord’s temple.”

So all the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They broke its altars and images into pieces and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, at the altars.

Then Jehoiada put the oversight of the Lord’s temple into the hands of the Levitical priests, whom David had appointed over the Lord’s temple, to offer burnt offerings to the Lord as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and song ordained by David.

He stationed gatekeepers at the gates of the Lord’s temple so that nothing unclean could enter for any reason.

Then he took with him the commanders of hundreds, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land and brought the king down from the Lord’s temple. They entered the king’s palace through the Upper Gate and seated the king on the throne of the kingdom.

Afterward, Joash took it to heart to renovate the Lord’s temple.

So he gathered the priests and Levites and said, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect money from all Israel to repair the temple of your God as needed year by year, and do it quickly.”

However, the Levites did not hurry.

For the sons of that wicked Athaliah broke into the Lord’s temple and even used the sacred things of the Lord’s temple for the Baals.”

At the king’s command a chest was made and placed outside the gate of the Lord’s temple.

The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of the Lord; and they would hire masons and carpenters (craftsmen) and also those who worked in iron and bronze to repair and restore the house of the Lord.

The workmen did their work, and through them the repairs progressed. They restored God’s temple to its specifications and reinforced it.

When they finished, they presented the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, who made articles for the Lord’s temple with it—articles for ministry and for making burnt offerings, and ladles and articles of gold and silver. They regularly offered burnt offerings in the Lord’s temple throughout Jehoiada’s life.

He was buried in the city of David with the kings because he had done what was good in Israel with respect to God and His temple.

and they abandoned the temple of Yahweh, the God of their ancestors and served the Asherah poles and the idols. So there was wrath against Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.

But they conspired against him and stoned him at the king’s command in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple.

Concerning his sons, the many oracles about him, and the restoration of the Lord’s temple, they are recorded in the Writing of the Book of the Kings. His son Amaziah became king in his place.

He took all the gold, silver, all the utensils that were found with Obed-edom in God’s temple, the treasures of the king’s palace, and the hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.

But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense.

And they withstood Uzziah the king and said to him, It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but to the priests, the sons of Aaron who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the temple, for you have sinned. Nor shall it be for your honor from Jehovah God.