8. The entrance to the first story was on the south side of the temple. A staircase went up to the middle story and then to the third story.
9. When he had finished building the walls, he roofed the temple with rows of cedar beams and planks.
10. He built ⌊each story of the⌋ annex 7½ feet high alongside the entire temple. Its cedar beams were attached to the temple.
11. The Lord spoke to Solomon, saying,
12. “This concerns the temple you are building: If you live by my laws, follow my rules, and keep my commands, I will fulfill the promise I made about you to your father David.
13. I will live among the Israelites and never abandon my people.”
14. When Solomon had finished building the temple’s ⌊frame⌋,
15. he began to line the inside walls of the temple with cedar boards. He paneled the inside of the temple with wood from floor to ceiling. He covered the floor of the temple with cypress planks.
16. He sectioned off a 30-foot-long room at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from the floor to the rafters. He built it to serve as an inner room, the most holy place.
17. The 60-foot-long room at the front of the temple served as the main hall.
18. Gourds and flowers were carved into the cedar paneling inside the temple. Everything was ⌊covered with⌋ cedar. No stone could be seen.
19. He prepared the inner room of the temple in order to put the ark of the Lord’s promise there.
20. The inner room was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. Solomon covered it and the cedar altar with pure gold.
21. He covered the inside of the temple with pure gold. He put golden chains across the front of the inner room which was covered with gold.