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2 Chronicles 2
Good News Translation
2 Chronicles 2
Good News Translation
Preparations for Building the Temple(A)
2 King Solomon decided to build a temple where the Lord would be worshiped, and also to build a palace for himself. 2 He put 70,000 men to work transporting materials, and 80,000 to work cutting stone in the hill country. There were 3,600 others responsible for supervising the work.
3 Solomon sent a message to King Hiram of Tyre: “Do business with me as you did with my father, King David, when you sold him cedar logs for building his palace. 4 I am building a temple to honor the Lord my God. It will be a holy place where my people and I will worship him by burning incense of fragrant spices, where we will present offerings of sacred bread to him continuously, and where we will offer burnt offerings every morning and evening, as well as on Sabbaths, New Moon Festivals, and other holy days honoring the Lord our God. He has commanded Israel to do this forever. 5 I intend to build a great temple, because our God is greater than any other god. 6 (B)Yet no one can really build a temple for God, because even all the vastness of heaven cannot contain him. How then can I build a temple that would be anything more than a place to burn incense to God? 7 Now send me a man with skill in engraving, in working gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in making blue, purple, and red cloth. He will work with the craftsmen of Judah and Jerusalem whom my father David selected. 8 I know how skillful your lumbermen are, so send me cedar, cypress, and juniper logs from Lebanon. I am ready to send my men to assist yours 9 in preparing large quantities of timber, because this temple I intend to build will be large and magnificent. 10 As provisions for your lumbermen, I will send you 100,000 bushels of wheat, 100,000 bushels of barley, 110,000 gallons of wine, and 110,000 gallons of olive oil.”
11 King Hiram sent Solomon a letter in reply. He wrote, “Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you their king. 12 Praise the Lord God of Israel, Creator of heaven and earth! He has given King David a wise son, full of understanding and skill, who now plans to build a temple for the Lord and a palace for himself. 13 I am sending you a wise and skillful master metalworker named Huram. 14 His mother was a member of the tribe of Dan and his father was a native of Tyre. He knows how to make things out of gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood. He can work with blue, purple, and red cloth, and with linen. He can do all sorts of engraving and can follow any design suggested to him. Let him work with your skilled workers and with those who worked for your father, King David. 15 So now send us the wheat, barley, wine, and olive oil that you promised. 16 In the mountains of Lebanon we will cut down all the cedars you need, tie them together in rafts, and float them by sea as far as Joppa. From there you can take them to Jerusalem.”
Construction of the Temple Begins(C)
17 King Solomon took a census of all the foreigners living in the land of Israel, similar to the census his father David had taken. There were 153,600 resident foreigners. 18 He assigned 70,000 of them to transport materials and 80,000 to cut stones in the mountains, and appointed 3,600 supervisors to make sure the work was done.
2 Chronicles 2
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
2 Chronicles 2
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
Solomon’s Letter to Hiram
2 Solomon decided to build a temple for the name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself,(A) 2 so he assigned 70,000 men as porters, 80,000 men as stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 as supervisors over them.(B)
3 Then Solomon sent word to King Hiram[a](C) of Tyre:(D)
Do for me what you did for my father David. You sent him cedars to build him a house to live in.(E) 4 Now I am building a temple for the name of the Lord my God in order to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him,(F) for displaying the rows of the Bread of the Presence continuously,(G) and for sacrificing burnt offerings for the morning and the evening,(H) the Sabbaths(I) and the New Moons, and the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is ordained for Israel permanently. 5 The temple that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than any of the gods.(J) 6 But who is able to build a temple for him, since even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain him?(K) Who am I then that I should build a temple for him except as a place to burn incense before him? 7 Therefore, send me a craftsman who is skilled in engraving to work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and with purple, crimson, and blue yarn. He will work with the craftsmen who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem,(L) appointed by my father David.(M) 8 Also, send me cedar, cypress, and algum[b](N) logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut the trees of Lebanon. Note that my servants will be with your servants(O) 9 to prepare logs for me in abundance because the temple I am building will be great and wondrous. 10 I will give your servants, the woodcutters who cut the trees, four million four hundred thousand litres[c] of wheat flour, four million four hundred thousand litres of barley, four hundred and forty thousand litres[d] of wine, and four hundred and forty thousand litres of oil.
Hiram’s Reply
11 Then King Hiram of Tyre wrote a letter[e] and sent it to Solomon:
Because the Lord loves his people, he set you over them as king.(P)
12 Hiram also said:
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth!(Q) He gave King David a wise son with insight and understanding,(R) who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.(S) 13 I have now sent Huram-abi,[f] a skilful man who has understanding.(T) 14 He is the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan. His father is a man of Tyre. He knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, with purple, blue, crimson yarn, and fine linen. He knows how to do all kinds of engraving and to execute any design that may be given him. I have sent him to be with your craftsmen and the craftsmen of my lord, your father David. 15 Now, let my lord send the wheat, barley, oil, and wine to his servants as promised.(U) 16 We will cut logs from Lebanon, as many as you need, and bring them to you as rafts by sea to Joppa. You can then take them up to Jerusalem.(V)
Solomon’s Workforce
17 Solomon took a census of all the male resident foreigners in the land of Israel, after the census that his father David had conducted,(W) and the total was 153,600. 18 Solomon made 70,000 of them porters, 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 supervisors to make the people work.(X)
2 Chronicles 2
New International Version
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) 2 He conscripted 70,000 men as carriers and 80,000 as stonecutters in the hills and 3,600 as foremen over them.(D)
3 Solomon 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. 4 Now 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) 6 But 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 9 to provide me with plenty of lumber, because the temple I build must be large and magnificent. 10 I 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)”
11 Hiram king of Tyre replied by letter to Solomon:
“Because the Lord loves(S) his people, he has made you their king.”
12 And 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, 14 whose 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, 16 and 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.”
17 Solomon 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. 18 He 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
Good News Translation (GNT) 
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised (CSBA)
Copyright © 2024 by Holman Bible Publishers.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.