The word of the Lord came to Solomon, "Concerning this house which you are building: if you will walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments, then I will perform my words I told David your father concerning you and I will dwell among the children of Israel, and I will not forsake my people Israel."

So Solomon built the temple: he built the inside walls, ceilings and floors with cedar, even for the most holy place. All of the cedar of the house within was carved with buds and open flowers; there was no stone to be seen.

The Holy of Holies he prepared in the house within, to place there the ark of the covenant of the Lord. It was cubical, thirty feet in length, breadth and height, and he overlaid it with pure gold. Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold: and he made the partition between the Holy place and the Holy of Holies of chains of gold.

And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished it, also the whole altar that was next to the most Holy place he overlaid with gold.

Within the Holy of Holies he made two identical cherubim of olive wood, each fifteen feet high. Their wingspan was fifteen feet, so they reashed from floor to ceiling and wall to wall; their wing tips touched both walls and touched each other in the center, and they were overlaid with gold.

The walls of the whole temple were carved with figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, within and without. The floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.

The entering of the Holy of Holeys had doors made of olive wood, with carvings of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers overlaid with gold.

The foundation of the house of the Lord was laid in the fourth year of Solomon's reign and in the eleventh year the house was finished; so was he seven years in building it.

King Solomon requested the services of Hiram out of Tyre. This was not Hiram, the King of Tyre, but a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father had been a man of Tyre. This Hyram was a worker in brass, filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning in all brass work. His most difficult task was to cast two pillars of brass, twenty-seven feet high and almost six feet in diameter for the front of the temple. These pillars had crowns of very ornate cast brass.

He made a great cast basin that was seven and a half feet deep and fifteen feet across. Under the brim of it round about there were two rows of flower buds . It was supported by twelve brass oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the bason rested on their backs.

He made many other things for the temple from Brass, silver, gold an other materials. So all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the Lord was finished. And he brought in the things that David his father had dedicated; the silver, and the gold, and the vessels into the treasures of the house of the Lord.

But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years. It took much longer because Solomon's father David had done much of the planning and gathering of materials for God's temple and, of course, Solomon's palace had to house large numbers of people.

Solomon also built many other buildings during his long and peaceful reign.

Children and their parents will enjoy these Ongoing Tales old testament bible stories, enhanced with electronic media and presented in serial with new postings monthly by Antelope Publishing.

The Judges of Israel    Price $9.95  
    Written by John Rutis
(Browser Readable E-Book on CD-ROM contains Music & No Sound Options)

The Life of Moses    Price $10.95  
    Written by John Rutis
(Browser Readable E-Book on CD-ROM contains Music & No Sound Options)

Stories from the Book of Genesis    Price $14.95  
    Written by Joanne and John Rutis
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Ongoing Tales From the Past

Old time fairy tales, poems and stories brought to new life with electronic media by Antelope Publishing. New postings monthly.

Editors Note: The old time illustrations, stories, poems and fairy tales found at this site come from old books that are out of copyright. The formatting, and electronic enhancement, however, is © Copyrighted by Antelope Publishing and may be reproduced only with the publisher's permission.

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