2 Chronicles 1-3

Common English Bible

Solomon first meets God

1 Solomon, David’s son, was securely established over his kingdom because the Lord his God was with him and made him very great. ² Solomon summoned all Israel, including the officers of the army,^[a] the judges, and every Israelite leader who was the head of a family. ³ Then Solomon, accompanied by the whole assembly, went to the shrine at Gibeon because that is where God’s meeting tent was, the tent that the Lord’s servant Moses had made in the wilderness. ⁴ Now David had already brought God’s chest from Kiriath-jearim to the place he had prepared for it because he had pitched a tent for the chest in Jerusalem. ⁵ But the bronze altar that Bezalel, Uri’s son and Hur’s grandson, had made was there in front of the Lord’s dwelling, so that is where Solomon and the assembly worshipped. ⁶ Solomon went there to the bronze altar in the Lord’s presence at the meeting tent and offered a thousand entirely burned offerings upon it.

⁷ That night God appeared to Solomon and said, “Ask whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.”

⁸ “You showed so much kindness to my father David,” Solomon replied to God, “and you have made me king in his place. ⁹ Now, Lord God, let your promise to my father David be fulfilled because you have made me king over a people as numerous as the earth’s dust. ¹⁰ Give me wisdom and knowledge so I can lead this people, because no one can govern this great people of yours without your help.”

¹¹ God said to Solomon, “Since this is what you wish, and because you’ve asked for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I’ve made you king—rather than asking for wealth, riches, fame, victory over those who hate you, or even a long life— ¹² your request for wisdom and knowledge is granted. But I will also give you wealth, riches, and fame beyond that of any king before you or after you.” ¹³ Then Solomon went from^[b] the shrine in Gibeon, from the meeting tent to Jerusalem where he ruled over Israel.

Solomon’s wealth

¹⁴ Solomon acquired more and more chariots and horses until he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he stationed in chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ¹⁵ In Jerusalem, the king made silver and gold as common as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore trees that grow in the foothills. ¹⁶ Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and Kue, purchased from Kue by the king’s agents at the going price. ¹⁷ They would import a chariot from Egypt for six hundred pieces of silver and a horse for one hundred fifty, and then export them to all the Hittite and Aramean kings.

Solomon prepares to build the temple

2 ^[c] Solomon gave orders to build a temple for the Lord’s name and to build a royal palace for himself. ^2 [d] To work in the highlands, Solomon drafted 70,000 laborers, 80,000 stonecutters, and 3,600 supervisors. ³ Solomon sent the following message to King Huram^[e] of Tyre:

¹¹ Tyre’s King Huram replied in a letter that he sent to Solomon:

¹⁷ Then Solomon counted all the immigrants in the land of Israel, as his father David had done, and the total was 153,600. ¹⁸ He made 70,000 of these immigrants laborers, 80,000 of them stonecutters in the highlands, and 3,600 of them supervisors to keep the people working.

Solomon builds the temple

3 Solomon began to build the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord^[i] had appeared to his father David, on the place David had prepared at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ² He began building in the second month^[j] of the fourth year of his rule. ³ Solomon laid the foundations^[k] for these structures in order to build the temple of God. The length according to the old standard of measurement was ninety feet and the width thirty feet. ⁴ Across the front of the temple^[l] was a porch as long as the temple was and thirty feet wide, and thirty feet^[m] high. He covered the inside walls with pure gold. ⁵ He paneled the walls of the main room with pine, covered them with fine gold, and decorated them with palm trees and chains. ⁶ He studded the room with precious stones for beauty; the gold was from Parvaim. ⁷ He covered the room, its beams, doorframes, walls, and doors with gold, and carved images of winged creatures on the walls. ⁸ Then he made the most holy place. It was as long as the temple was wide, thirty feet long and thirty feet wide. He covered it with six hundred kikkars of fine gold. ⁹ The gold nails weighed fifty shekels.^[n] He also covered the upper rooms with gold.

¹⁰ In the most holy place he formed two statues of winged creatures and covered them with gold. ¹¹ Together the wingspan of these creatures was thirty feet. One of the first creature’s wings was seven and a half feet long and touched the temple wall, while the other wing was seven and a half feet long, touching the wing of the other creature. ¹² Similarly, one wing of the other creature was seven and a half feet long and touched the temple wall, while the other wing was seven and a half feet long and touched the other creature. ¹³ The wings of these creatures extended thirty feet. They stood on their feet facing the main room.

¹⁴ Then he made the curtain out of fine linen and violet, purple, and crimson yarn, weaving winged creatures into it. ¹⁵ Then he made two columns in front of the temple, fifty-two and a half feet high, with a seven and a half foot cap on top of each. ¹⁶ Then he made chains like a necklace^[o] and placed them on the tops of the columns. He made a hundred pomegranates and placed them into the chains. ¹⁷ Then he set up the pillars in front of the sanctuary, one on the south, the other on the north. The one on the south he named Jachin, and the one on the north he named Boaz.