Bible Verses About The First Temple

the king said to Natan the prophet, "Here, I'm living in a cedar-wood palace; but the ark of God is kept in a tent!"

"Go and tell my servant David that this is what ADONAI says: 'You are going to build me a house to live in?

Since the day I brought the people of Isra'el out of Egypt until today, I never lived in a house; rather, I traveled in a tent and a tabernacle.

Everywhere I traveled with all the people of Isra'el, did I ever speak a word to any of the tribes of Isra'el, whom I ordered to shepherd my people Isra'el, asking, "Why haven't you built me a cedar-wood house?"'

"Therefore say this to my servant David that this is what ADONAI-Tzva'ot says: 'I took you from the sheep-yards, from following the sheep, to make you chief over my people, over Isra'el.

I have been with you wherever you went; I have destroyed all your enemies ahead of you; and I am making your reputation great, like the reputations of the greatest people on earth.

When your days come to an end and you sleep with your ancestors, I will establish one of your descendants to succeed you, one of your own flesh and blood; and I will set up his rulership.

He will build a house for my name, and I will establish his royal throne forever.

"You know that David my father wasn't able to build a house for the name of ADONAI his God, because of the wars that beset him from every side, until ADONAI put his enemies under the soles of my feet.

Therefore, order your people to cut down cedar trees from the L'vanon for me. My servants will be with your servants. I will pay your servants according to everything you say; for you know that we have no one among us as skilled in felling trees as the Tzidonim."

When Hiram heard Shlomo's message, he was very happy and said, "Blessed be ADONAI today, who has given David a wise son to rule this great people."

Then Hiram sent Shlomo this message: "I have heard the message you sent me, and I will do everything you want concerning cedar logs and cypress logs.

My servants will bring them down from the L'vanon to the sea. I will make them into rafts to go by sea to whatever place you tell me and will have them broken up there, and you will receive them. You will compensate me by providing food for my household."

So Hiram gave Shlomo all the cedar logs and cypress logs he wanted;

and Shlomo gave Hiram 100,000 bushels of wheat as food for his household and a thousand gallons of oil from pressed olives - this is what Shlomo gave Hiram each year.

ADONAI gave Shlomo wisdom, as he had promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Shlomo - the two of them formed an alliance together.

King Shlomo conscripted 30,000 men from all Isra'el for forced labor.

He sent them to the L'vanon in monthly relays of 10,000; they would stay a month in the L'vanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor.

Shlomo had 70,000 men to carry loads and another 80,000 stonecutters in the hills,

It was in the 480th year after the people of Isra'el had left the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Shlomo's reign over Isra'el, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of ADONAI.

The house which King Shlomo built for ADONAI was 105 feet long, thirty-five feet wide and fifty-two-and-a-half feet high.

The hall fronting the temple of the house was thirty-five feet long, the same as the width of the house itself, so that its seventeen-and-a-half-foot width extended frontward from the house.

The windows he made for the house were wide on the inside and narrow on the outside.

Against the wall of the house he built an annex all the way around; it went all the way around the walls of the house, including both the temple and the sanctuary.

The lowest floor of the annex was eight-and-three-quarters feet wide, the middle floor ten-and-a-half feet wide and the third floor twelve-and-a-quarter feet wide; for he had made the outer part of the wall of the house step-shaped, so that the beams of the annex would not have to be attached to the house walls.