2 Chronicles 19

New International Version

19 When Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned safely to his palace in Jerusalem, ²Jehu^(A) the seer, the son of Hanani, went out to meet him and said to the king, “Should you help the wicked^(B) and love^[a] those who hate the Lord?^(C) Because of this, the wrath^(D) of the Lord is on you. ³There is, however, some good^(E) in you, for you have rid the land of the Asherah poles^(F) and have set your heart on seeking God.^(G)”

Jehoshaphat Appoints Judges

⁴Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and turned them back to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. ⁵He appointed judges^(H) in the land, in each of the fortified cities of Judah. ⁶He told them, “Consider carefully what you do,^(I) because you are not judging for mere mortals^(J) but for the Lord, who is with you whenever you give a verdict. ⁷Now let the fear of the Lord be on you. Judge carefully, for with the Lord our God there is no injustice^(K) or partiality^(L) or bribery.”

⁸In Jerusalem also, Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites,^(M) priests^(N) and heads of Israelite families to administer^(O) the law of the Lord and to settle disputes. And they lived in Jerusalem. ⁹He gave them these orders: “You must serve faithfully and wholeheartedly in the fear of the Lord. ¹⁰In every case that comes before you from your people who live in the cities—whether bloodshed or other concerns of the law, commands, decrees or regulations—you are to warn them not to sin against the Lord;^(P) otherwise his wrath will come on you and your people. Do this, and you will not sin.

¹¹“Amariah the chief priest will be over you in any matter concerning the Lord, and Zebadiah son of Ishmael, the leader of the tribe of Judah, will be over you in any matter concerning the king, and the Levites will serve as officials before you. Act with courage,^(Q) and may the Lord be with those who do well.”

Footnotes

2 Chronicles 19:2 Or and make alliances with

2 Chronicles 2

New International Version

Preparations for Building the Temple^(A)

2 ^[a]Solomon gave orders to build a temple^(B) for the Name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself.^(C) ²He conscripted 70,000 men as carriers and 80,000 as stonecutters in the hills and 3,600 as foremen over them.^(D)

³Solomon sent this message to Hiram^[b]^(E) king of Tyre:

“Send me cedar logs^(F) as you did for my father David when you sent him cedar to build a palace to live in. ⁴Now I am about to build a temple^(G) for the Name of the Lord my God and to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense^(H) before him, for setting out the consecrated bread^(I) regularly, and for making burnt offerings^(J) every morning and evening and on the Sabbaths,^(K) at the New Moons^(L) and at the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is a lasting ordinance for Israel.

⁵“The temple I am going to build will be great,^(M) because our God is greater than all other gods.^(N) ⁶But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him?^(O) Who then am I^(P) to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him?

⁷“Send me, therefore, a man skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, and in purple, crimson and blue yarn, and experienced in the art of engraving, to work in Judah and Jerusalem with my skilled workers,^(Q) whom my father David provided.

⁸“Send me also cedar, juniper and algum^[c] logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants are skilled in cutting timber there. My servants will work with yours ⁹to provide me with plenty of lumber, because the temple I build must be large and magnificent. ¹⁰I will give your servants, the woodsmen who cut the timber, twenty thousand cors^[d] of ground wheat, twenty thousand cors^[e] of barley, twenty thousand baths^[f] of wine and twenty thousand baths of olive oil.^(R)”

¹¹Hiram king of Tyre replied by letter to Solomon:

“Because the Lord loves^(S) his people, he has made you their king.”

¹²And Hiram added:

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth!^(T) He has given King David a wise son, endowed with intelligence and discernment, who will build a temple for the Lord and a palace for himself.

¹³“I am sending you Huram-Abi,^(U) a man of great skill, ¹⁴whose mother was from Dan^(V) and whose father was from Tyre. He is trained^(W) to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, and with purple and blue^(X) and crimson yarn and fine linen. He is experienced in all kinds of engraving and can execute any design given to him. He will work with your skilled workers and with those of my lord, David your father.

¹⁵“Now let my lord send his servants the wheat and barley and the olive oil^(Y) and wine he promised, ¹⁶and we will cut all the logs from Lebanon that you need and will float them as rafts by sea down to Joppa.^(Z) You can then take them up to Jerusalem.”

¹⁷Solomon took a census of all the foreigners^(AA) residing in Israel, after the census^(AB) his father David had taken; and they were found to be 153,600. ¹⁸He assigned^(AC) 70,000 of them to be carriers and 80,000 to be stonecutters in the hills, with 3,600 foremen over them to keep the people working.

Footnotes

2 Chronicles 2:1 In Hebrew texts 2:1 is numbered 1:18, and 2:2-18 is numbered 2:1-17.
2 Chronicles 2:3 Hebrew Huram, a variant of Hiram; also in verses 11 and 12
2 Chronicles 2:8 Probably a variant of almug
2 Chronicles 2:10 That is, probably about 3,600 tons or about 3,200 metric tons of wheat
2 Chronicles 2:10 That is, probably about 3,000 tons or about 2,700 metric tons of barley
2 Chronicles 2:10 That is, about 120,000 gallons or about 440,000 liters