This is the Bible Book Club. I'm Heather and I'm Susan. And we're in the book of First Kings.

Welcome to the club.

In chapters five and six of First Kings, Solomon began his building plan for the temple. He contracted with

Hiram, King of Tier, for all the building

supplies. Then he organized over 187,000 laborers. In the 480th year after the Israelites

released from Egypt, they began building, and it took seven and a half years to complete the temple.

It was twice the size of the tabernacle, 30 feet wide and 90 feet long,

but the scale was the same.

The holy place was twice the size of the most holy place.

The interior was covered in gold.

All right, here's our setup.

The temple's up, and the author moves on in scene one of chapter 7 to Solomon builds his palace complex.

It took Solomon 13 years, however, to complete the construction of his palace. He built the palace of the forest of Lebanon, 100 cubits long, 50 wide, and 30 high, with four rows of

cedar columns supporting trimmed cedar beams. It was roofed with cedar above the beams

that rested on the columns 45 beams 15 to a row. Its windows were placed high in sets of three,

facing each other. All the doorways had rectangular frames.

They were in the front part in sets of three facing each other.

He made a colonnade, 50 cubits long and 30 wide.

In front of it was a particle.

And in front of that were pillars and an overhang roof.

He built the throne hall, the Hall of Justice,

where he was to judge, and he covered it with cedar from floor to ceiling. And the palace in which

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