Chapter 2

Final Preparations for the Temple. ¹ Solomon then resolved to build a house to honor the Lord as well as a palace for himself. ² Therefore, he conscripted seventy thousand men to carry the stone and eighty thousand men to serve as stonecutters, as well as three thousand six hundred men to oversee them.

³ Then Solomon sent this message to King Huram of Tyre: “Some time ago you dealt with my father David, sending him cedars to build a palace in which he would dwell. ⁴ Now I am preparing to build a house in honor of the Lord, my God, and to consecrate it to him so that fragrant incense can be burned before him, along with the perpetual display of the loaves of permanent offering, for burnt offerings morning and evening, and for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the festivals of the Lord, our God, as is ordained forever for Israel.

⁵ “The house that I intend to build must be large, since our God is greater than all other gods. ⁶ But who is really able to build a house for him when the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? And who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him?

⁷ “Therefore, now send me an artisan who is highly skilled at working in gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue fabrics, and who is expert in the art of engraving. I want him to work with the skilled craftsmen in Judah and Jerusalem who were provided by my father David. ⁸ Also send me cedar, cypress, and juniper timber from Lebanon, for I am well aware that your servants are skilled in felling the trees of Lebanon.

“My servants will work with your servants ⁹ in order to prepare for me a vast quantity of timber, for the house that I intend to build will be great in size and a marvel to behold. ¹⁰ Furthermore, I will provide for your servants the woodcutters who fell the trees, twenty thousand kors of wheat, and twenty thousand kors of barley, along with twenty thousand measures of wine and twenty thousand measures of oil.”^[a]

¹¹ In a letter that he sent to King Solomon in response, King Huram of Tyre replied: “Because of the love that the Lord has for his people, he has appointed you as their king.” ¹² Then Huram went on to say: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth. He has given King David a wise son blessed with intelligence and discernment who will build a house for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.

¹³ “I have now sent you Huram-abi,^[b] a skilled artisan and a man of intelligence. ¹⁴ He is the son of a Danite woman and of a father from Tyre. He is skilled in the art of working in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and in purple, crimson, and blue fabrics and fine linen. He also is competent to do all sorts of engraving and to execute any design that may be assigned to him, in collaboration with your own skilled craftsmen and those of my lord David, your father.

¹⁵ “And now, let my lord send to his servants the wheat, barley, oil, and wine which he has promised. ¹⁶ We shall cut down all the timber you need from Lebanon and float it all down to you as rafts by sea to Joppa. Then it will be your responsibility to transport it to Jerusalem.”

¹⁷ Shortly thereafter Solomon took a census of all the aliens who were residing in the land of Israel, similar to the census that his father David had taken. There were found to be one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred aliens. ¹⁸ Solomon designated seventy thousand of them to be porters, eighty thousand to be stonecutters in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred as overseers to ensure that the people were doing the work assigned to them.