14 So Shelomoh finished the construction of the temple, 15 and on the inside he made walls of cedar boards. The floor was made with cypress boards, and the walls were panelled from the floor to the ceiling. 16 Inside the temple, nine metres at the rear were closed off to make an inner room called ‘the very holy place’. That too had walls made of cedar boards.[ref] 17 That left the main temple room as eighteen metres long, 18 and it had cedar boards on the walls decorated with carvings of buds and flowers in blossom. All the internal walls were covered with cedar so none of the large stones were visible.

19 The inner room at the back was to house the box containing Yahweh’s agreement, 20 and the room (nine metres long and wide and high) was overlaid with pure gold and equipped with an incense altar overlaid with cedar. 21 Then Shelomoh overlaid the main room with pure gold, and he hung gold chains crossing across the entrance to the inner room that was overlaid with gold. 22 He overlaid the interior of the entire temple with gold until it was all finished, including overlaying the altar belonging to the inner room with gold.[ref]

23 In the inner room, he made two winged creatures that were five metres high and made of olive wood.[ref] 24 Each wing was over two metres long, giving each one a total wingspan of four and a half metres. 25 Both creatures were the same size and shape, 26 and they were both five metres high. 27 The two winged creatures were placed across the inner room where their wingtips touched each other in the centre and their outer wings touched the walls. 28 Both of the wooden carvings were overlaid with gold.

29 He had all the interior walls of the temple engraved with winged creatures and palm trees and flowers in bloom, 30 and he overlaid the floor of both rooms with gold.

31 He made doors and doorposts for the inner room with olive wood, 32 and both doors were decorated with carvings of winged creatures and palm trees and flowers in bloom, then they were overlaid with gold that was hammered over the carvings. 33 He made the doorposts for the main temple entrance with olive wood, 34 and the two folding doors themselves each had two folding sections made of cypress. 35 These doors were also decorated with carvings of winged creatures and palm trees and flowers in bloom, and then overlaid with gold smoothed down over the carvings.

36 He built the inner courtyard with three rows of dressed stones and a row of cedar beams.

37 The foundation for Yahweh’s residence was laid in the second month of the fourth year of Shelomoh’s reign, 38 and it was completed in the eighth month of his eleventh year—meeting all his specifications and requirements. So it took over seven years to build it.