2 Chronicles 2
Modern English Version
Plans for Building the Temple(A)
2 Now Solomon wanted to build a temple for the name of the Lord and a royal house for his kingship. 2 And Solomon designated seventy thousand men to carry materials, eighty thousand men to cut stone in the hills, and three thousand six hundred supervisors to oversee these men.
3 And Solomon sent word to Hiram[a] king of Tyre saying,
“As you did for David my father and sent him cedar trees in order to build for himself a house in which to dwell, so deal with me. 4 I am going to build a temple for the name of the Lord my God, sanctified for Him, for making sacrifices before Him, and for incense of fragrant spices, and for the continual showbread, for burnt offerings on both morning and evening, and for Sabbaths, New Moons, and appointed feasts of the Lord our God, as an ordinance forever for Israel.
5 “And the house that I am building will be great because our God is greater than all other gods. 6 But who is able to build a house for Him, since the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I that I build a house for Him, except to make offerings before Him?
7 “Now may you send to me a wise man who works with gold, silver, bronze, iron, and in purple, crimson, and violet threads and knows how to engrave, who will be with the skilled workers and me in Judah and Jerusalem, which David my father established.
8 “And may you send me trees of cedar, cypress, and algum from Lebanon because I realize that your slaves know how to cut timber in Lebanon; and my servants will be alongside your servants, 9 to prepare an abundance of timber for me, because the temple that I will build will be great and marvelous. 10 I will provide for the woodsmen, your servants who cut timber, twenty thousand dry kors[b] of crushed wheat, twenty thousand kors[c] of barley, twenty thousand liquid baths[d] of wine, and twenty thousand liquid baths of oil.”
11 Then Hiram king of Tyre responded in a letter that he sent to Solomon,
“Because the Lord loves His people, He has made you king over them.”
12 And Hiram said,
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who made heaven and earth and has given King David a wise son, having insight and understanding, who is building a temple for the Lord and a royal house for his kingship.
13 “And now I have sent a skilled man, endowed with understanding, Huram-Abi, 14 the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan and the son of a man of Tyre, who knows gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, wood, and purple, violet, blue, and crimson threads, and who knows how to make all types of engravings and to devise every type of design that is given to him, with your skilled men and the skilled men of my lord David your father.
15 “Now the wheat, the barley, the oil, and the wine that my lord has declared, may he send these items to his slaves. 16 And let us cut the timber from Lebanon, whatever you need, and we will bring it to you on rafts on the sea to Joppa, and you will bring it up to Jerusalem.”
17 Then Solomon numbered all the male foreigners who were in the land of Israel, after the census that David his father had taken. And there were found one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred. 18 And he made seventy thousand of them to carry materials, eighty thousand to cut stone in the hills, and three thousand six hundred supervisors to make the people work.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 2:3 Huram in the Heb. text.
- 2 Chronicles 2:10 Likely about 3,600 tons, or 3,200 metric tons of wheat.
- 2 Chronicles 2:10 Likely about 3,000 tons, or 2,700 metric tons of barley.
- 2 Chronicles 2:10 About 120,000 gallons, or 440,000 liters.
2 Chronicles 2
GOD’S WORD Translation
Solomon Assembles the Labor and Materials for the Temple(A)
2 [a]Solomon gave orders to begin building the temple for the Lord’s name and a royal palace for himself.
2 Solomon drafted 70,000 men to carry heavy loads, 80,000 to quarry stones in the mountains, and 3,600 foremen. 3 Solomon sent word to King Huram of Tyre by saying, “Do what you did for my father David. You sent him cedar so that he could build a palace to live in. 4 I want to build the temple for the name of the Lord my God. I want to dedicate it to him, burn sweet-smelling incense in his presence, and have rows of bread there continually. I want to ⌞sacrifice⌟ burnt offerings every morning and evening, on weekly days of rest—holy days, New Moon Festivals, and during the annual festivals appointed by the Lord our God. (⌞These festivals⌟ are always to be celebrated by Israel.) 5 The temple I am building will be great because our God is greater than all other gods. 6 But who is able to build him a temple when heaven itself, the highest heaven, cannot hold him? Who am I to build him a temple except as a place to sacrifice in his presence?
7 “Send me a man who has the skill to work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron as well as purple, dark red, and violet cloth. He should know how to make engravings with the skilled men whom my father David provided for me in Judah and Jerusalem. 8 Send me cedar, cypress, and sandalwood from Lebanon. I know that your servants are skilled Lebanese lumberjacks. My workers will work with your workers. 9 They’ll prepare plenty of lumber for me, because the temple I want to build will be large and astonishing. 10 I will give your lumberjacks 120,000 bushels of ground wheat, 120,000 bushels of barley, 200,000 gallons of wine, and 200,000 gallons of olive oil.”
11 Then King Huram of Tyre responded to Solomon by sending a letter that said, “Because the Lord loves his people, he made you their king.” 12 Huram added, “May the Lord God of Israel be praised. He made the heavens and the earth and has given King David a wise son who has insight and intelligence and can build the Lord’s temple and a royal palace. 13 And now, I’m sending a man with skill and intelligence—Huram Abi. 14 He was the son of a woman from the tribe of Dan, and his father is a native of Tyre. Huram knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, wood, purple, violet, and dark red cloth, and linen. He also knows how to make all kinds of engravings and follow any set of plans that will be given to him. ⌞He can work⌟ with your skilled workmen and the skilled workmen of His Majesty David, your father. 15 Your Majesty may now send the wheat, barley, olive oil, and wine he promised the workers. 16 We will cut all the lumber you need in Lebanon. Then we will make rafts out of it and send them to you in Joppa by sea. You can take it ⌞from there⌟ to Jerusalem.”
17 Solomon counted all the men who were foreigners in the land of Israel, as his father David had counted them. Solomon counted 153,600 foreigners. 18 He made 70,000 of them carry heavy loads, 80,000 of them quarry stone in the mountains, and 3,600 of them supervise the work as foremen.
Footnotes
- 2:1 2 Chronicles 2:1–18 in English Bibles is 2 Chronicles 1:18–2:17 in the Hebrew Bible.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
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