28 Bible Verses about The First Temple

And moreover, with respect to my provisions for the house of my God I have a treasure of gold and silver that I have given to the house of my God above all that I have provided for the holy house:

And the king said to Nathan the prophet, "Look, please, I [am] living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God [is] staying in the middle of the tent."

And David said to Solomon his son, "I myself had in my heart to build a house for the name of Yahweh my God,

How he swore to Yahweh, he vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob: "I will not enter into the tent of my house, I will not go up to the couch of my bed, I will give no sleep to my eyes, [no] slumber to my eyelids, read more.
until I find a place for Yahweh, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob."

So I have provided for the house of my God according to all my strength, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and the wood for the things of wood, [along with] an abundance of onyx stones, stones for settings, stones of turquoise, and variegated stones, and all [kinds of] precious stones and alabaster stones. And moreover, with respect to my provisions for the house of my God I have a treasure of gold and silver that I have given to the house of my God above all that I have provided for the holy house: three thousand talents of gold from the gold of Ophir and seven thousand talents of refined silver to overlay the walls of the houses, read more.
gold for the golden things and silver for the silver things, for all the work by the hand of skilled craftsmen. Now who will offer willingly, {consecrating himself} today to Yahweh?"

And David commanded to assemble the resident aliens who [were] in the land of Israel and appointed stone craftsmen to cut dressed stones to build the house of God. And David provided much iron for nails for the doors of the gates and for the seams, and abundant copper [that] could not be weighed, and cedar timbers without number, for the Sidonians and Tyrians brought abundant cedars to David. read more.
Then David said, "Solomon my son [is] a boy and inexperienced, and the house built for Yahweh [must be] exceedingly great in fame and splendor throughout every land. I will make preparations for him." So David provided abundant [materials] before he died.

Now see, with great effort I have made provision for the house of Yahweh: 100,000 talents of gold, 1,000,000 talents of silver, and bronze and iron [that] cannot be weighed, for there is an abundance. Also timber and stone I have provided, but to these you should add. And with you [there is] an abundance of craftsmen: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and everyone skilled in every [kind of] craftsmanship with gold, silver, bronze, and iron without number. Arise and work! Yahweh will be with you!"

Then Solomon began to build the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem, on Mount Moriah, where Yahweh had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had established, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

Then David said, "This will be the house of Yahweh God, and this altar of burnt offering for Israel."

At that time, when David saw that Yahweh answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there. Now the tabernacle of Yahweh that Moses had made in the desert and the altar of burnt offering [were] at that time at the high place of Gibeon. But David was not able to go before it to seek God, for he was afraid on account of the sword of the angel of Yahweh.

And what agreement [does the] temple of God [have] with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said, "I will live in them and will walk about [among them], and I will be their God and they will be my people."

Do you not know that you are God's temple and the Spirit of God dwells in you?

built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built up together into a dwelling place of God in [the] Spirit.

And he placed the carved image of the idol that he had made in the house of God, [of] which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever.

He built altars in the temple of Yahweh [about] which Yahweh had said, "I will put my name in Jerusalem." He built an altar to all of the host of heaven in the two courtyards of the temple of Yahweh. He made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying and divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He increased the doing of evil in the eyes of Yahweh to provoke him. read more.
He put the image of the Asherah that he had made in the temple which Yahweh had said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this temple and in Jerusalem which I have chosen from all of the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever.

And he built altars in the house of Yahweh, [of] which Yahweh had said, "In Jerusalem my name shall be forever." And he built altars to all the host of heaven in the two courtyards of the house of Yahweh.

He burned the temple of Yahweh, the palace of the king, and all of the houses of Jerusalem; every large house he burned with fire.

The bronze pillars which [were in] the temple of Yahweh, the water carts, and the bronze sea that was in the temple of Yahweh, the Chaldeans broke into pieces and carried their bronze to Babylon. The pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the dishes, and the vessels of bronze with which they served there, they took. The firepans and the basins, whatever was gold, the commander of the imperial guard took [for] the gold and whatever was silver, [for] the silver. read more.
The two pillars, the one sea, and the water cart which Solomon had made for the temple of Yahweh, there was no weighing to the bronze of all of these vessels. The height of the one pillar [was] eighteen cubits; a bronze capital was on it, with the height of the capital [being] three cubits. The latticework and pomegranates on the capital all around were bronze, and likewise on the latticework for the second pillar.

And all the vessels of the house of God, the great and the small, the storehouses of the house of Yahweh, and the storehouses of the king and his princes, these all he brought to Babylon. And they burned the house of God. And they shattered the walls of Jerusalem and burned its citadels with fire and destroyed all the vessels of its treasuries.

And Solomon assigned seventy thousand men {to bear burdens} and eighty thousand {quarriers} in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred [men] to supervise them.

Then Solomon counted all the resident alien men who [were] in the land of Israel after the census that David his father had taken of them. And there were found one hundred and fifty-three thousand. And he appointed from them seventy thousand {to bear burdens}, eighty thousand {to quarry} in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred overseers to make the people work.

Solomon had seventy thousand {common laborers} and eighty thousand stone craftsmen in the hill country.

When the priests went out from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of Yahweh. The priests [were] not able to stand to minister {because of the presence of} the cloud, for the glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh.

And it was the primary [duty] of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard [with] one voice, to praise and give thanks to Yahweh. And when a sound from the trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments of song was raised to Yahweh--for he [is] good, because his loyal love [is] everlasting--then the house, the house of Yahweh, was filled with a cloud.

And the priests were not able to go into the house of Yahweh, for the glory of Yahweh had filled the house.

Then Tiglath-Pileser the king of Assyria came against him and brought trouble for him, {instead of helping him}, for Ahaz took a portion [from] the house of Yahweh and the house of the king and the princes, and he gave [it] to the king of Assyria, but it was no help to him.

The covering for the Sabbath which they had built in the palace and in the entrance of the king to the outside, he removed [from] the temple of Yahweh because of the presence of the king of Assyria.

Now the bronze altar which was before Yahweh, he brought over from the front of the temple, from between [his] altar and the temple of Yahweh, and he placed it at the side of [his] altar to the north.

"You knew David my father, that he was not able to build a house for the name of Yahweh his God, {in view of the warfare} which surrounded him, until Yahweh placed them under the soles of his feet.

but it happened [that] the word of Yahweh [came] over me, saying, 'You have shed much blood and have made much war; you shall not build a house for my name because you have shed much blood upon the ground before me.

"Go and tell my servant David, 'Thus says Yahweh: "[Are] you the one to build for me a house for my dwelling? For I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought up the {Israelites} from Egypt until this day; [rather,] I [was] going about in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all of my going about among all the {Israelites}, did I speak a word with one of the tribes of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, 'Why did you not build me a cedar house?'" ' read more.
So then, thus you shall say to my servant David, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, "I took you from the pasture {from following} the sheep to be a leader over my people, over Israel, and I have been with you {everywhere you went}. I have cut off all of your enemies from in front of you, and I will make a great name for you, as the name of the great [ones] who [are] on the earth.

In the fourth year, the house of Yahweh was founded in the month of Ziv.

It happened in the four hundred and eightieth year [after] the {Israelites} went out from the land of Egypt, in the fourth year {of Solomon's rule} over Israel, the month of Ziv (that [is] the second month), that he began to build the house for Yahweh.

And he began to build in the second month of the fourth year of his reign.

and he built a structure against the wall of the temple [running] all along the walls of the house, for the outer sanctuary and for the inner sanctuary, and made side rooms all around. The lower structure [was] five cubits in its width and the middle [was] six cubits in its width and the third [was] seven cubits in its width, for he made niches for the temple all around to the outside, [so that] beams [would] not attach to the walls of the temple.

The doorway of the side room in the middle of the side of the temple [was] on the south; they went up with a stairway to the middle and from the middle to the third [floor].

He also built the structure against all of the temple five cubits in height and fastened it to the temple with beams of cedar.

Then he called to Solomon his son and commanded him to build a house for Yahweh, the God of Israel. And David said to Solomon his son, "I myself had in my heart to build a house for the name of Yahweh my God,

Now, my son, Yahweh will be with you, that you may succeed and build the house of Yahweh your God as he has spoken concerning you.

So now I have sent a skilled man, knowledgeable [and with] understanding: my master Huram, a son of a woman from the daughters of Dan, and his father [was] a man of Tyre, knowledgeable for working with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and with purple, blue, and crimson fabric, and with fine linen, for engraving any engraving and devising any plan that is given to him, with your skilled men and the skilled men of my lord David your father.

So then, send to me skilled men to work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and with purple, crimson, and blue fabric, knowledgeable in engraving, with the skilled men who [are] with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father has established.

He made two cherubim of olive wood for the inner sanctuary, ten cubits high. Five cubits [was] the first wing of the cherub, and five cubits the second wing of the cherub, from the tip of his [one] wing up to the tip of his [other] wing. The second cherub [was] ten cubits [according to] {the same} measurement, and [there] was one shape for the two cherubim. read more.
The height of the first cherub [was] ten cubits and so [was] the second cherub. He placed the cherubim in the middle of the inner house, and they spread out the wings of the cherubim; the wing of the first cherub touched against the wall and the wing of the second cherub [was] touching against the second wall; their wings [spread] to the middle of the house [and were] touching wing to wing. He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

The length of the [outstretched] wings of the cherubim [were] twenty cubits; one wing of five cubits touched the wall of the house, and the other wing of five cubits [was] touching the [outstretched] wing of the other cherub. And the wing of five cubits of the other cherub [was] touching the wall of the house, and its other wing five cubits long touching the wing of the first cherub. The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits, and they were standing on their feet, their faces toward the house.

Jehoash said to the priests, "All of the money for the sacred things that is brought to the temple of Yahweh, {the money taxed at its proper value for each person} [and] all of the money which comes upon the heart of a man to bring to the temple of Yahweh, let the priests take for themselves, each from his treasurers, and let them repair the breach of the temple for every place where damage is found." It happened in the twenty-third year of King Jehoash that the priests had not repaired the damage in the temple. read more.
So King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest and the priests, and he said to them, "Why are you not repairing the damage in the temple? Now, you shall not take money from your treasurers for the damage in the temple. You must provide it." So the priests agreed not to take money from the people and not to repair the damage to the temple. Then Jehoiada the priest took a certain chest and bored a hole in its lid, and he put it beside the altar to the right as a man enters into the temple of Yahweh; then the priests who were keepers of the threshold would put there all of the money brought into the temple. It happened that when they saw a great deal of money in the chest, the secretary of the king and the high priest would come up, put the money in bags, then count the money found in the temple of Yahweh. They placed the money, [which was] weighed out, into the hands of the workers who were appointed over the temple of Yahweh, and they paid [it to] the skilled craftsmen of wood and [to] the builders working on the temple of Yahweh and to the masons and the stonecutters, to buy timber and stones for hewing, in order to repair the damage of the temple of Yahweh, and for all who went to the temple to repair it. Only, for the temple of Yahweh, there were not any silver basins, snuffers, bowls for drinking wine, trumpets, or any vessel of gold or silver from the money being brought [to] the temple of Yahweh. For they gave that to all the workers, and they repaired the temple of Yahweh with it.

And afterward it was in the heart of Joash to repair the house of Yahweh. So he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, "Go out to the cities of Judah and gather money from all Israel to strengthen the house of your God sufficiently year by year. Now you yourselves must hasten to the matter." But the Levites did not act with haste. So the king called Jehoiada the chief, and he said to him, "Why have you not required the Levites to bring from Judah and Jerusalem the tax of Moses, the servant of Yahweh, and [of] the assembly of Israel for the tent of the testimony?" read more.
For the sons of the wicked Athaliah had broken into the house of God and had used all the holy vessels of the house of Yahweh for the Baals. Then the king commanded, and they made a chest and put it at the gate outside the house of Yahweh. And {they issued a proclamation} in Judah and in Jerusalem to bring to Yahweh the tax [that] Moses the servant of God [had levied] upon Israel in the wilderness. And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and they brought [their tax] and threw [it] into the chest until [it was] finished. And whenever he brought the chest to the appointee of the king by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that [there was] much money [in it], then the secretary of the king and the officer of the chief priest came and emptied the chest, then they took it and returned it to its place. Thus they did day by day and gathered money in abundance. And the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of Yahweh. And they hired stonemasons and skilled craftsmen to restore the house of Yahweh, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of Yahweh. So those doing the work labored, and the restoration for the work made progress under their hand. And they restored the house of God to its position and strengthened it.

He cast the two pillars [out of] bronze; eighteen cubits [was] the height of the first, and a cord of twelve cubits would encircle the second pillar. He made two capitals to place on the tops of the pillars [out of] molten bronze; the first capital [was] five cubits [in] height, and the second capital [was] five cubits [in] height. A network of latticework [and] wreaths of chainwork with small chains [were] for the capitals which [were] on top of the pillars; seven for the first capital and seven for the second capital. read more.
He also made the pillars with two rows around on the lattice, each to cover the capitals which [were] on top, [out of] the pomegranate-shaped ornaments, and thus he did for the second capital [as well]. And [on] the capitals which [were] on top of the pillars in the porch [were] works of lilies four cubits [high]. And capitals [were] on the two pillars above near the bulging section which was beside the lattice, and two hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments [were] in rows all around on the second capital. He set up the pillars for the porch of the main hall; he erected the pillar on the right and called its name Jakin, and he set up the pillar on the left and called its name Boaz. On the top of the pillars [was] a work of lilies; and so the work of the pillars [was] finished.

And at the front of the house he made two columns, thirty-five cubits high, and the capital on their top was five cubits. And he made [decorative] chains in the inner sanctuary and put [them] on top of the columns. And he made one hundred pomegranate [ornaments], and put them on the chains. And he erected the columns in front of the temple, one on the south and one on the north. He called the name of the southern one Jakin, and the name of the northern one Boaz.

and one third at the house of the king, and one third at the Gate of the Foundation. And all the people [shall be] in the courtyards of the house of Yahweh.

When Athaliah heard the sound of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people [at] the house of Yahweh.

It happened in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent [word to] Shaphan the son of Azaliah the son of Meshullam, the secretary of the temple of Yahweh, saying, "Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, and let them count the money being brought to the temple of Yahweh which the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people, and let them give it into the hand of those appointed doers of the work at the temple of Yahweh. Let them give it to the doers of the work who [are] at the temple of Yahweh to repair the breach of the temple: read more.
to the skilled craftsmen, to the builders, to the masons, and to buy timber and hewing stones to repair the temple. Only the money being given to them is not to be accounted for by them, for they [are] dealing with honesty."

Now in the eighteenth year of his reign [after] he purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the commander of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the house of Yahweh his God. And they came to Hilkiah the high priest and gave the money that was brought for the house of God, which the Levites, the guardians of the threshold, had gathered from the hand of Manasseh, Ephraim, and from the whole remnant of Israel, and from all Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And they delivered [it] into the hand of the workmen who were appointed in the house of Yahweh, and they [in turn] gave it to those doing the work who [were] at work in the house of Yahweh, to repair [and] restore the house. read more.
And they dispensed [it] to the skilled craftsmen and the builders to buy stone [for] hewing and timber for the seams and for binding the houses that the kings of Judah had destroyed. And the men did the work faithfully. Over them as supervisors [were] appointed Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites from the Merarites, and Zechariah and Meshullam from the Kohathites. And [other] Levites, all who were skilled in instruments of song, [were] over the porters and were directing all who worked {on each task}. And some of the Levites [were] scribes, officials, and gatekeepers.

When your days [are] full and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you who will go out from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

He himself will build for me a house, and I will establish his throne forever.

It happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and he took the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and he took all the treasures of the king's house. He took the small gold shields that Solomon had made,

Then Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and he took the treasures out of the house of Yahweh and the treasures out of the king's house. He took everything. He also took the small shields of gold that Solomon had made.

Send me trees of cedar, cypress, and algum from Lebanon, for I myself know that your servants [are] knowledgeable in cutting the trees of Lebanon. Now see, my servants [will be] with your servants to prepare trees in abundance for me, for the house that I am building [will be] great and wonderful. Now see, I will provide twenty thousand dry measures of crushed wheat, twenty thousand dry measures of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil to the woodcarvers and those who cut timber."

So then, command that they may cut cedars for me from Lebanon, and let my servants be with your servants. The wage of your servants I will give to you according to all that you say, for you know that there is no one among us who knows [how] to cut timber like the Sidonians." When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly, and he said, "Blessed be Yahweh this day, who has given to David a wise son over this great people." Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, "I have heard what you have sent to me; I will do all of your desire concerning the timber of cedars and concerning the timber of cypresses. read more.
My servants will bring [them] down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will make them [into] rafts in the sea [to float to] the place which you indicated to me. Then I shall break them up there, and you may carry [them further], and {you shall meet my needs} by giving food for my house." So Hiram was giving to Solomon the cedar timbers and the cypress timbers, {everything he needed}. Then Solomon gave to Hiram twenty thousand dry measures of wheat [as] food for his household, and twenty dry measures of {specially prepared olive oil}; thus Solomon gave to Hiram year by year. Yahweh gave wisdom to Solomon as he promised to him, and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them {made} a covenant.

Then Solomon assembled all the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the {families} for the {Israelites}, to Jerusalem in order to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from the city of David, which [is] Zion. And all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the feast that [is in] the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark. read more.
And they brought up the ark, the tent of assembly, and all the holy objects that [were] in the tent; the Levitical priests brought them up. And King Solomon and the whole community of Israel that was assembled before him [were] before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle that could not be counted nor numbered for abundance. Then the priests brought up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, into {the most holy place}, underneath the wings of the cherubim. The cherubim were spreading [their] wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim were covering the ark and over its poles [from] above. But the poles were [so] long that the ends of the poles from the ark were seen from before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from the outside. And they are there until this day. There was nothing in the ark but the two stone tablets that Moses had put [inside] at Horeb [on] which Yahweh had {made} a covenant with the {Israelites} when they went out from Egypt.

At that time, Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the {families} of the {Israelites} before King Solomon, in order to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from the city of David, that is, Zion. All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the festival in the month of Ethnaim, that is, the seventh month. All the elders of Israel came, and the priests carried the ark. read more.
So they brought up the ark of Yahweh and the tent of assembly and all of the holy vessels that [were] in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. King Solomon and all the assembly of Israel who were assembling with him in the presence of the ark [were] sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted nor numbered because of abundance. The priests brought the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, to the {most holy place}, under the wings of the cherubim, for the cherubim [were] spreading their wings over the place of the ark. The cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles from above. The poles [were] long, and the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place {in front of} the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen [from] the outside, and they are there until this day. There was not [anything] in the ark {except} the two tablets of stone which Moses had placed there at Horeb, where Yahweh {made} [a covenant] with the {Israelites} after they went out from the land of Egypt.

And the house that I am building [will be] great, for our God [is] greater than all gods.

to prepare trees in abundance for me, for the house that I am building [will be] great and wonderful.

And he overlaid the house with gold--the beams, the thresholds, the walls, and the doors. And he carved cherubim upon the walls.

Solomon overlaid the temple on the inside [with] pure gold, and he drew across it with golden chains in front of the inner sanctuary, which he overlaid with gold. All of the temple he overlaid with gold until all of the temple [was] finished; all of the altar which belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.

Then the {king} commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the second priests, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring out of the temple of Yahweh all of the objects made for Baal and for the Asherah and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and then he carried their ashes to Bethel He removed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained [to] burn incense on the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem and who offered incense to, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven. He brought out the Asherah image from the temple of Yahweh outside of Jerusalem to the Wadi of the Kidron and burnt it {there}; then he pulverized [it] to dust and threw its dust upon the tombs of the children of the people. read more.
He tore down the shrines of the male shrine prostitutes which were in the temple of Yahweh, where the women were weaving shrines for the Asherah.

He kept the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun from coming to the temple of Yawheh at the side room of Nathan-Melech the eunuch, which [was] in the court; and the chariots of the sun he burned with fire. The altars which [were] on the roof of the upper room of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the temple of Yahweh, the king tore down and ran from there and threw their ashes into the Wadi Kidron.

Then Solomon said, "Yahweh has said that [he] would dwell in the very thick cloud. I have certainly built a lofty house for you, a place for you to live forever." [Then] the king turned his face around, and he blessed all of the assembly of Israel. (Now all the assembly of Israel was standing). read more.
Then he said, "Blessed be Yahweh the God of Israel who has promised with his mouth [to] David my father and fulfilled {by his oath}, saying, 'From the day that I brought out my people Israel from Egypt I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a house where my name might be, but I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.' {David my father desired} to build a house for the name of Yahweh the God of Israel, but Yahweh said to David my father, 'Because {you desired} to build a house for my name, you did well in that it was within your heart. However, you will not build the house, but your son who has come from your loins, he shall build the house for my name.' Yahweh has carried out his promise which he had made; I have risen in place of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel as Yahweh promised, and I have built the house for the name of Yahweh the God of Israel. I have provided a place there for the ark, in which is the covenant which Yahweh made with our ancestors when He brought them out of the land of Egypt." Then Solomon stood before the altar of Yahweh in the presence of all of the assembly of Israel, and he spread out his hands [to] the heavens, and he said, "O Yahweh, God of Israel, there is no god like you in the heavens above or on the earth beneath, keeping the covenant and the loyal love for your servants who are walking before you with all their heart. You have kept for your servant David my father what you promised to him, and you have spoken with your mouth, and with your hand you have fulfilled [it] this very day. So then, O Yahweh, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you promised to him, saying, 'For you, no man will be cut off from before me who [will be] sitting on the throne of Israel, if only your sons keep their ways to walk before me just as you have walked before me.' So then, O God of Israel, please let your word be confirmed which you have promised to your servant David my father. For will God really dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the heaven of heavens could not contain you! {How could} this house that I have built? You must regard the prayer of your servant and his plea! O Yahweh my God, listen to the pleading and to the prayer that your servant [is] praying before you this day, so that your eyes [will] be open to this house night and day, to the place which you said, 'My name will be there,' to hear the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. You must listen to the plea of your servant and your people Israel which they pray [toward] this place; and you must hear from the place where you live, from heaven you must hear and you must forgive. [If] a man sins against his neighbor and he pronounces an oath against him to curse him, and the curse comes before your altar in this house, then you shall hear in heaven and you shall act and you shall judge your servant, to declare the wicked guilty by bringing his way upon his head and {to declare the righteous innocent} by rewarding him according to his righteousness. When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy {because} they sinned against you, and [when] they turn to you and confess your name and pray and beg for mercy from you in this house, then you shall hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and you shall bring them back to the ground which you gave to their ancestors. When you shut up the heavens so there is no rain because they have sinned against you, then they pray to this place and they confess your name and they return from their sin because you punished them, then you shall hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and your people Israel, for you will teach them the good way in which they should go, and you will give rain upon your land which you have given to your people as an inheritance. If there should be in the land famine or disease, if there should be blight or mildew or locust or caterpillars, if it happens that his enemy lays siege against him in the land of his gates, if any plague or any disease, any prayer or any plea which is [offered] by any person for all of your people Israel, who each knows the infestation of his [own] heart and spreads out his palms to this house, then you shall hear in heaven the place of your dwelling, and you shall forgive and act and give to the man whose heart you know, according to all his ways, for you alone know the heart of all the sons of man. [Do these things] so that they may fear you all the days that they live on the face of the land that you gave to our ancestors. Also for the foreigner who is not from your people Israel, and he comes from a distant land because of your name, (for they shall hear of your great name and your powerful hand and your outstretched arm), and he shall come and pray toward this house, you shall hear in heaven, the place of your dwelling, and act according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, to fear you as your people Israel, and to know that your name has been invoked over this house that I have built. If your people go out to battle against his enemy in the way that you shall send them and they pray to Yahweh, toward the city which you have chosen and the house which I have built for your name, then you shall hear in heaven their prayer and their plea, and you shall {vindicate} them. "If they sin against you (for there is not a person who does not sin) and you are angry with them and you give them to an enemy and they take them captive to the land of the enemy far or near, and then they return their heart in the land where they have been taken captive and they return and plead to you in the land of their captivity, saying, 'We have sinned and we did wrong. We acted wickedly,' if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive and they pray to you toward their land which you gave to their ancestors, the city that you have chosen and the house that you built for your name, then you shall hear in heaven, the place of your dwelling, their prayer and their plea, and you shall {vindicate them}. You shall forgive your people who sinned against you, [even] for all their transgressions which they committed against you. You shall give them compassion before their captors so that they may have compassion on them, for they [are] your people and your inheritance whom you brought from Egypt from the middle of the smelter of iron. [O,] that your eyes [may] be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, to listen to them in all things [when] they call to you. For you have separated them for yourself as an inheritance from all the peoples of the earth, as you promised through the hand of Moses your servant when you brought out our ancestors from Egypt, my Lord Yahweh!" It happened that when Solomon finished praying to Yahweh all of the prayer and this plea, he got up from before the altar of Yahweh, from kneeling down on his knees with his palms outstretched to heaven. He stood and blessed all of the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, "Blessed be Yahweh who gave a resting place to his people Israel. According to all that he promised, not one word has fallen from all of his promises [concerning] the good which he spoke through the hand of Moses his servant. May Yahweh our God be with us as he was with our ancestors, and may he not leave us or abandon us, to incline our hearts toward him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his judgments which he commanded our ancestors. Let these my words which I pleaded before Yahweh [be] near to Yahweh our God, by day and by night, to maintain the justice of his servant and the justice of his people Israel {as each day requires} so that all of the people of the earth may know that Yahweh, he [is] God; there is none other. Let your heart be completely with Yahweh our God by walking in his statutes, by keeping his commands as this day." Then the king and all of Israel with him offered a sacrifice in the presence of Yahweh. Solomon sacrificed the fellowship offerings which he offered to Yahweh: twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep; and the king and all of the {Israelites} dedicated the house of Yahweh. On that day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard before the house of Yahweh because he offered there the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the fellowship offerings because the bronze altar that was in the presence of Yahweh was too small to hold the burnt offerings and the grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings. Solomon held the festival at that time and all of Israel with him, a great assembly from Lebo Hamath up to the wadi of Egypt before Yahweh our God, for seven days [and] seven days, [a total of] fourteen days. On the eighth day, he sent the people away, and they blessed the king, and they went to their tents rejoicing and {in good spirits} because of all the goodness that Yahweh had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people.

And he overlaid the house with gold--the beams, the thresholds, the walls, and the doors. And he carved cherubim upon the walls.

Thus he made doorframes of olive wood on four sides for the doorway of the main hall

Then he built the inner courtyard [with] three rows of dressed stone and a row of cedar beams.

And he made the courtyard of the priests and the great outer courtyard and the doors for the outer court. And he overlaid their doors with bronze.

Now these [were] the measurements of Solomon for building the house of God: the length in cubits by the former measurement [was] sixty cubits, and the width [was] twenty cubits.

Now the house that King Solomon built for Yahweh [was] sixty cubits [in] its length and twenty cubits [in] its width and thirty cubits [in] its height.

He built twenty cubits from the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor up to the ceiling, and he built for it an inner sanctuary on the inside, as the {most holy place}.

In front, the inner sanctuary [was] twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide and twenty cubits high, and he overlaid it [with] pure gold and covered the altar [with] cedar.

Therefore on account of you Zion will be plowed [as] a field, and Jerusalem will be a heap of rubble, and {the temple mount} as a high place [in] a forest.

"Micah the Morashtite was prophesying in the days of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, and he said to all the people of Judah, {saying}: 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, "Zion will be plowed, and Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the {temple} as high places of wood." '

I will bring them to {my holy mountain}; I will make them merry in my house of prayer. their burnt offerings and their sacrifices {will be accepted} on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples,"

And he said to them, "It is written, 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a cave of robbers!"

And David commanded all the commanders of Israel to help Solomon his son, [saying], "Is not Yahweh your God with you? And has he [not] given you rest all around? For he has put in my hand the inhabitants of the land, and the land is subdued before Yahweh and before his people. Now set your heart and mind to seek Yahweh your Go, and arise and build the sanctuary of Yahweh God, that the ark of the covenant of Yahweh and the holy vessels of God might be brought into the house built for the name of Yahweh.

In the first year of his kingship, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh and strengthened them. And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and he gathered them into the eastern square. And he said to them, "Hear me, O Levites! Sanctify yourselves now, and sanctify the house of Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, and bring out the defilement from the sanctuary. read more.
For our ancestors acted unfaithfully and did evil in the sight of Yahweh our God, and have forsaken him and turned away their faces from the dwelling place of Yahweh. {They have turned their backs} [on it]. They also shut the doors of the portico and extinguished the lamps. And they did not burn incense or offer burnt offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel. And the wrath of Yahweh was upon Judah and Jerusalem. And he made them as an abhorrence, as a desolation and an object of scorn, as you see with your own eyes. Now behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives [are] in captivity on account of this. Now {it is in my heart} to {make} a covenant with Yahweh, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger might turn away from him. Now, my sons, do not be negligent, for Yahweh has chosen you to stand before him to serve him and to be his servants and incense burners." Then the Levites arose--Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, from the Kohathites; and Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel from the Merarites; and Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah, from the Gershonites. And from the descendants of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeiel; and from the descendants of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah; and from the descendants of Heman: Jeiel and Shimei; and from the descendants of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel-- and they gathered their brothers and sanctified themselves, and they went in according to the command of the king because of the words of Yahweh, to purify the house of Yahweh. And the priests went into the inner [part] of the house of Yahweh to purify [it]. And they brought out all the impurity that they found in the temple of Yahweh [out] to the courtyard of the house of Yahweh. And the Levites took [them] to bring [them] outside to the Wadi Kidron. And they began to sanctify themselves on the first day of the first month. And on the eighth day of the month they came to the portico of Yahweh. And they sanctified the house of Yahweh for eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished. And they went into the inner [part] to King Hezekiah and said, "We have cleansed all the house of Yahweh: the altar of burnt offering, all its objects, the table of the rows [of bread] and all its objects, and all the objects that King Ahaz discarded in his reign when he sinned, we have prepared and sanctified. Look, they [are] before the altar of Yahweh." Then King Hezekiah rose early and gathered the officials of the city, and he went up to the house of Yahweh. And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats as a purification offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the descendants of Aaron, the priests, to offer [them] on the altar of Yahweh. And they slaughtered the cattle, and the priests received the blood and threw it toward the altar. Then they slaughtered the rams and threw the blood toward the altar, and then they slaughtered the lambs and threw the blood toward the altar. Then they brought the goats of the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they laid hands upon them. And the priest killed them and offered their blood against the altar to make atonement for all Israel, for the king had commanded the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel. And he stood the Levites [in] the house of Yahweh with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the command of David and Gad, the seer of the king, and Nathan the prophet, for the command [was] by the hand of Yahweh by the hand of his prophets. When the Levites stood with the objects of David and the priests with the trumpets, Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And at the time the burnt offering began, the song of Yahweh began, and also the trumpets, at the hands of [the] instruments of David king of Israel. Then all the assembly bowed down, and the song was sung, and the trumpeters trumpeted--all [together] until the end of the burnt offering. And when the offering was finished, the king and all who were found with him knelt down and bowed themselves. Then King Hezekiah and the princes commanded the Levites to praise Yahweh with the words of David and Asaph the seer. So they offered praise with joy, and they bowed down and worshiped. Then Hezekiah answered and said, "Now {you have consecrated yourselves} to Yahweh. Come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of Yahweh!" And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all [who were] willing in heart [brought] burnt offerings. And the number of burnt offerings that the assembly brought was seventy cattle, one hundred rams, two hundred lambs--all these [were] to offer to Yahweh. And the consecrated offerings of cattle [were] six hundred cattle and three thousand sheep. But the priests were too few, and they were not able to offer all the burnt offerings, so their brothers, the Levites, strengthened them to finish the work, and until the [rest of] the priests consecrated themselves. (For the Levites [were] {more conscientious} to sanctify themselves than the priests.) And beside the many burnt offerings [was] the fat of the peace offerings and the libations for the burnt offerings. So the service of the house of Yahweh was established.

Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up!"

But he was speaking about the temple of his body.

Then the commanders of the {families}, the commanders of the tribes of Israel, and the commanders of thousands and hundreds, and the commanders of the work of the king offered themselves willingly. And they gave for the service of the house of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and one hundred thousand talents of iron. And whoever had [precious] stones gave [them] to the treasury of the house of Yahweh under the authority of Jehiel the Gershonite. read more.
And the people rejoiced over their freewill offering, for with a whole heart they had willingly offered to Yahweh, and King David also rejoiced with great joy.

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit [who is] in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

Grant to Solomon my son a heart of peace to keep your commands, your statutes, and your regulations to do everything, and to build the citadel for which I have provided."

And he made the curtain of blue and purple and crimson and fine linen, and put cherubim on it.

Then Yahweh appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice.

In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all of the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. So Hezekiah king of Judah sent [word] to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, "I have done wrong. Withdraw from me. What you impose on me I will bear." So the king of Assyria imposed on Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. Then Hezekiah gave all of the silver found [in] the temple of Yahweh and in the storerooms of the house of the king. read more.
At that time, Hezekiah cut off the doors of the temple of Yahweh and the doorposts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and he gave them to the king of Assyria.

At that time, Hazael king of Aram went up and fought against Gath and captured it; then Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem. Jehoash king of Judah took all of the holy objects that Jehoshaphat, Joram, and Ahaziah his ancestors, the kings of Judah, had devoted, and all his holy objects and all of the gold found in the treasuries of the temple of Yahweh, and [in] the palace of the king, and he sent them to Hazael king of Aram, so that he went up from Jerusalem.

{The length of the portico that [was] in front was the same as the front of the width of the house}: twenty cubits. And its height [was] one hundred and twenty cubits. And he overlaid it on the inside with pure gold.

And the great house [itself] he covered with cypress wood, then he overlaid it with pure gold. And he put on it palm tree [images] and [ornate] chains.

{The length of the portico that [was] in front was the same as the front of the width of the house}: twenty cubits. And its height [was] one hundred and twenty cubits. And he overlaid it on the inside with pure gold.

Now these [were] the measurements of Solomon for building the house of God: the length in cubits by the former measurement [was] sixty cubits, and the width [was] twenty cubits.

And Solomon planned to build a house for the name of Yahweh and a {royal palace for himself}.

When all the {Israelites} saw the fire come down and the glory of Yahweh upon the house, they knelt down [with their] faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to Yahweh, for [he is] good, for his loyal love [is] everlasting.

Then he overlaid the house with precious stone as decoration. (Now the gold [was] the gold of Parvaim.)

When all the work that Solomon did for the house of Yahweh was finished, Solomon brought the holy objects of David his father: the silver, the gold, and all the objects he had put into the storehouses of the house of God.

And the great house [itself] he covered with cypress wood, then he overlaid it with pure gold. And he put on it palm tree [images] and [ornate] chains.

He made doors of olive wood for the doorway of the inner sanctuary, [as well as for] the doorpost of the fifth doorframe. [On] the two doors of olive wood he made carvings of cherubim and palm tree images and budding flowers, and he overlaid them with gold {by beating} out the gold on the cherubim and the palm tree images.

and two doors of cypress wood; one door [with] two folding panels and the second door [with] two folding panels. He carved cherubim and palm tree images and budding flowers and overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the carved work.

Then King Solomon conscripted a forced labor from all Israel, and the forced labor [numbered] thirty thousand men. He sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand {every month}; the work groups were a month in Lebanon and two months at home; now Adoniram was over the forced labor.

"[Regarding] this temple that you are building: if you walk in my ordinances and if you do my judgments and you keep all my commandments to walk in them, then I will establish my promise with you which I made to David your father. And I will dwell {among} the {Israelites}, and I will not forsake my people Israel."

Solomon overlaid the temple on the inside [with] pure gold, and he drew across it with golden chains in front of the inner sanctuary, which he overlaid with gold.

Then Elisha prayed and said, "O Yahweh, please open his eyes that he may see," and Yahweh opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw, and look, the mountain [was] full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Now [in] the inner sanctuary in the middle of the temple he prepared the inside to place the ark of the covenant of Yahweh there.

How lovely [are] your dwelling places, O Yahweh of hosts! My soul longs and even fails for the courtyards of Yahweh. My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. Even a bird finds a home, and a swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, near your altars, O Yahweh [of] hosts, my king and my God. read more.
Blessed [are] those who dwell in your house; they can ever praise you. Selah Blessed [is the] man whose strength [is] in you; in their heart [are the] highways [to Zion]. Passing through the Valley of Baca, they make it a spring. The early rain covers [it with] blessings as well. They go from strength to strength, [until each] appears before God in Zion.

In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, that is, the eighth month, the house was finished [according] to all his specifications and [according] to all his plans. He had built it in seven years.

He lined the walls {of the inside of the house} with boards of cedar; from the floor of the temple up to the rafters of the ceiling he covered [them with] wood {on the inside}. He also covered the floor of the temple with cypress boards.

with the cedar within the inner house [having] carvings of gourds and buds of flowers. It [was] entirely of cedar; there was not a stone visible.

But Solomon built a house for him. But the Most High does not live in [houses] made by human hands, just as the prophet says,

In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, that is, the eighth month, the house was finished [according] to all his specifications and [according] to all his plans. He had built it in seven years.

The vestibule on the face of the main hall of the temple [was] twenty cubits [in] its length, and the width of the temple [was] ten cubits wide on the face of the temple.

Now while the temple was being built, it was built [with] stones finished [at the] quarry, [so that] no hammer or stone shaping tool or any instrument of iron was heard in the temple as it was being built.

And he made for the temple specially designed framed windows,

So he built the house and finished it. He covered the temple [with] rafters and wood planks and with the cedars.

And it shall happen in the future of the days the mountain of the house of Yahweh [shall] be established; it will be among the highest of the mountains, and it shall be raised from [the] hills. All [of] the nations shall travel to him;

many peoples shall come. And they shall say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the God of Jacob, and may he teach us part of his ways, and let us walk in his paths." For instruction shall go out from Zion, and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.

Remember your congregation [that] you bought long ago, [when] you redeemed the tribe of your inheritance. [Remember] {Mount Zion} where you have dwelt.