2 Chronicles 2-7
Christian Standard Bible
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 an artisan 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 artisans 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, one hundred twenty thousand bushels[c] of wheat flour, one hundred twenty thousand bushels of barley, one hundred twenty thousand gallons[d] of wine, and one hundred twenty thousand gallons 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 skillful 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 artisans and the artisans 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 resident alien men 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)
Building the Temple
3 Then Solomon began(Y) to build the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah(Z) where the Lord[g] had appeared to his father David, at the site David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan[h] the Jebusite. 2 He began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign. 3 These are Solomon’s foundations[i] for building God’s temple: the length[j] was ninety feet,[k] and the width thirty feet.[l] 4 The portico, which was across the front extending across the width of the temple, was thirty feet wide; its height was thirty feet;[m] he overlaid its inner surface with pure gold. 5 The larger room[n] he paneled with cypress wood, overlaid with fine gold, and decorated with palm trees and chains. 6 He adorned the temple with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was the gold of Parvaim. 7 He overlaid the temple—the beams, the thresholds, its walls and doors—with gold,(AA) and he carved cherubim on the walls.(AB)
The Most Holy Place
8 Then he made the most holy place; its length corresponded to the width of the temple, 30 feet, and its width was 30 feet.(AC) He overlaid it with forty-five thousand pounds[o] of fine gold. 9 The weight of the nails was twenty ounces[p] of gold, and he overlaid the ceiling with gold.
10 He made(AD) two cherubim of sculptured work, for the most holy place, and he overlaid them with gold. 11 The overall length of the wings of the cherubim was 30 feet: the wing of one was 7½ feet,[q] touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet, touching the wing of the other cherub. 12 The wing of the other[r] cherub was 7½ feet, touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet, reaching the wing of the other cherub. 13 The wingspan of these cherubim was 30 feet. They stood on their feet and faced the larger room.[s]
14 He made the curtain of blue, purple, and crimson yarn and fine linen, and he wove cherubim into it.(AE)
The Bronze Pillars
15 In front of the temple(AF) he made two pillars, each 27 feet[t] high. The capital on top of each was 7½ feet high. 16 He had made chainwork in the inner sanctuary and also put it on top of the pillars.(AG) He made a hundred pomegranates and fastened them into the chainwork. 17 Then he set up the pillars in front of the sanctuary, one on the right and one on the left. He named the one on the right Jachin[u] and the one on the left Boaz.[v]
The Altar and Basins
4 He made a bronze altar(AH) 30 feet[w] long, 30 feet wide, and 15 feet[x] high.
2 Then he made the cast metal basin,[y](AI) 15 feet from brim to brim, perfectly round. It was 7½ feet[z] high and 45 feet[aa] in circumference. 3 The likeness of oxen[ab] was below it, completely encircling it, ten every half yard,[ac] completely surrounding the basin. The oxen were cast in two rows when the basin was cast. 4 It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The basin was on top of them and all their hindquarters were toward the center. 5 The basin was three inches[ad] thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup or a lily blossom. It could hold eleven thousand gallons.[ae]
6 He made ten basins for washing and he put five on the right and five on the left.(AJ) The parts of the burnt offering were rinsed in them,(AK) but the basin was used by the priests for washing.
The Lampstands, Tables, and Courts
7 He made the ten gold lampstands according to their specifications and put them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left.(AL) 8 He made ten tables and placed them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left.(AM) He also made a hundred gold bowls.
9 He made the courtyard(AN) of the priests and the large court, and doors for the court. He overlaid the doors with bronze. 10 He put the basin on the right side, toward the southeast.(AO) 11 Then Huram[af](AP) made(AQ) the pots, the shovels, and the bowls.
Completion of the Bronze Furnishings
So Huram finished doing the work that he was doing for King Solomon in God’s temple: 12 two pillars; the bowls and the capitals on top of the two pillars; the two gratings for covering both bowls of the capitals that were on top of the pillars; 13 the four hundred pomegranates for the two gratings (two rows of pomegranates for each grating covering both capitals’ bowls on top of the pillars(AR)). 14 He also made the water carts[ag](AS) and the basins on the water carts. 15 The one basin and the twelve oxen underneath it, 16 the pots, the shovels, the forks, and all their utensils—Huram-abi[ah](AT) made them for King Solomon for the Lord’s temple. All these were made of polished bronze. 17 The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zeredah. 18 Solomon made all these utensils in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.
Completion of the Gold Furnishings
19 Solomon also made all the equipment in God’s temple: the gold altar; the tables on which to put the Bread of the Presence;(AU) 20 the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn in front of the inner sanctuary according to specifications;(AV) 21 the flowers, lamps, and gold tongs—of purest gold; 22 the wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, ladles,[ai] and firepans—of purest gold; and the entryway to the temple, its inner doors to the most holy place, and the doors of the temple sanctuary—of gold.
5 So all the work Solomon did for the Lord’s temple was completed. Then Solomon brought the consecrated things of his father David—the silver, the gold, and all the utensils—and put them in the treasuries of God’s temple.
Preparations for the Temple Dedication
2 At that time(AW) Solomon assembled at Jerusalem the elders of Israel—all the tribal heads, the ancestral chiefs of the Israelites—in order to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the city of David,(AX) that is, Zion. 3 So all the men of Israel were assembled in the king’s presence at the festival; this was in the seventh month.[aj]
4 All the elders of Israel came, and the Levites picked up the ark. 5 They brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and the holy utensils that were in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought them up. 6 King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel who had gathered around him were in front of the ark sacrificing sheep, goats, and cattle that could not be counted or numbered because there were so many. 7 The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the most holy place, beneath the wings of the cherubim.(AY) 8 And the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark so that the cherubim formed a cover above the ark and its poles. 9 The poles were so long that their ends were seen from the holy place[ak](AZ) in front of the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen from outside; they are still there today. 10 Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had put in it at Horeb,[al](BA) where the Lord had made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of Egypt.
11 Now all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves regardless of their divisions.(BB) When the priests came out of the holy place, 12 the Levitical singers dressed in fine linen and carrying cymbals, harps, and lyres(BC) were standing east of the altar, and with them were 120 priests blowing trumpets.(BD) The Levitical singers were descendants of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun and their sons(BE) and relatives. 13 The trumpeters and singers joined together to praise and thank the Lord with one voice. They raised their voices, accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and musical instruments,(BF) in praise to the Lord:
For he is good;
his faithful love endures forever.(BG)
The temple, the Lord’s temple, was filled with a cloud.(BH) 14 And because of the cloud, the priests were not able to continue ministering, for the glory of the Lord filled God’s temple.(BI)
Solomon’s Dedication of the Temple
6 Then Solomon said:(BJ)
The Lord said he would dwell in total darkness,(BK)
2 but I have built an exalted temple for you,
a place for your dwelling forever.
3 Then the king turned and blessed the entire congregation of Israel while they were standing. 4 He said:
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel!
He spoke directly to my father David,
and he has fulfilled the promise
by his power.
He said,
5 “Since the day I brought my people Israel
out of the land of Egypt,(BL)
I have not chosen a city to build a temple in
among any of the tribes of Israel,
so that my name would be there,
and I have not chosen a man
to be ruler over my people Israel.
6 But I have chosen Jerusalem
so that my name will be there,(BM)
and I have chosen David
to be over my people Israel.”(BN)
7 My father David had his heart set
on building a temple for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.(BO)
8 However, the Lord said to my father David,
“Since it was your desire to build a temple for my name,
you have done well to have this desire.
9 Yet, you are not the one to build the temple,
but your son, your own offspring,
will build the temple for my name.”
10 So the Lord has fulfilled what he promised.
I have taken the place of my father David
and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised.
I have built the temple for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
11 I have put the ark there,
where the Lord’s covenant is
that he made with the Israelites.(BP)
Solomon’s Prayer
12 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire congregation of Israel and spread out his hands. 13 For Solomon had made a bronze platform 7½ feet[am] long, 7½ feet wide, and 4½ feet[an] high and put it in the court. He stood on it,(BQ) knelt down in front of the entire congregation of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven.(BR) 14 He said:
Lord God of Israel,
there is no God like you
in heaven or on earth,(BS)
who keeps his gracious covenant
with your servants who walk before you
with all their heart.(BT)
15 You have kept what you promised
to your servant, my father David.
You spoke directly to him,
and you fulfilled your promise by your power,
as it is today.(BU)
16 Therefore, Lord God of Israel,
keep what you promised
to your servant, my father David:
“You will never fail to have a man
to sit before me on the throne of Israel,(BV)
if only your sons take care to walk in my Law
as you have walked before me.”
17 Now, Lord God of Israel, please confirm
what you promised to your servant David.
18 But will God indeed live on earth with humans?
Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain you,(BW)
much less this temple I have built.
19 Listen[ao] to your servant’s prayer and his petition,
Lord my God,
so that you may hear the cry and the prayer
that your servant prays before you,
20 so that your eyes watch over this temple
day and night,
toward the place where you said
you would put your name;(BX)
and so that you may hear the prayer
your servant prays toward this place.
21 Hear the petitions of your servant
and your people Israel,
which they pray toward this place.
May you hear in your dwelling place in heaven.
May you hear and forgive.
22 If a man sins against his neighbor
and is forced to take an oath[ap]
and he comes to take an oath
before your altar in this temple,
23 may you hear in heaven and act.
May you judge your servants,
condemning the wicked man by bringing
what he has done on his own head
and providing justice for the righteous
by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
24 If your people Israel are defeated before an enemy,
because they have sinned against you,
and they return to you and praise your name,
and they pray and plead for mercy
before you in this temple,
25 may you hear in heaven
and forgive the sin of your people Israel.
May you restore them to the land
you gave them and their ancestors.
26 When the skies are shut and there is no rain
because they have sinned against you,
and they pray toward this place
and praise your name,
and they turn from their sins
because you are afflicting[aq](BY) them,
27 may you hear in heaven
and forgive the sin of your servants
and your people Israel,
so that you may teach them the good way
they should walk in.
May you send rain on your land
that you gave your people for an inheritance.
28 When there is famine in the land,
when there is pestilence,
when there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper,
when their enemies besiege them
in the land and its cities,[ar][as](BZ)
when there is any plague or illness,
29 every prayer or petition
that any person or that all your people Israel may have—
they each know their own affliction[at] and suffering—
as they spread out their hands toward this temple,
30 may you hear in heaven, your dwelling place,
and may you forgive and give to everyone[au]
according to all their ways, since you know each heart,
for you alone know the human heart,(CA)
31 so that they may fear you
and walk in your ways
all the days they live on the land
you gave our ancestors.
32 Even for the foreigner who is not of your people Israel
but has come from a distant land
because of your great name
and your strong hand and outstretched arm:(CB)
when he comes and prays toward this temple,
33 may you hear in heaven in your dwelling place,
and do all the foreigner asks you.
Then all the peoples of the earth will know your name,
to fear you as your people Israel do
and know that this temple I have built
bears your name.(CC)
34 When your people go out to fight against their enemies,
wherever you send them,
and they pray to you
in the direction of this city you have chosen(CD)
and the temple that I have built for your name,
35 may you hear their prayer and petition in heaven
and uphold their cause.
36 When they sin against you—
for there is no one who does not sin(CE)—
and you are angry with them
and hand them over to the enemy,
and their captors deport them
to a distant or nearby country,
37 and when they come to their senses
in the land where they were deported
and repent and petition you in their captors’ land,
saying, “We have sinned and done wrong;
we have been wicked,”
38 and when they return to you with all their mind and all their heart
in the land of their captivity where they were taken captive,
and when they pray in the direction of their land
that you gave their ancestors,
and the city you have chosen,
and toward the temple I have built for your name,
39 may you hear their prayer and petitions in heaven,
your dwelling place,
and uphold their cause.[av]
May you forgive your people
who sinned against you.
40 Now, my God,
please let your eyes be open
and your ears attentive
to the prayer of this place.(CF)
41 Now therefore:(CG)
Arise, Lord God, come to your resting place,
you and your powerful ark.
May your priests, Lord God, be clothed with salvation,
and may your faithful people rejoice in goodness.
42 Lord God, do not reject your anointed one;[aw]
remember your servant David’s acts of faithful love.(CH)
The Dedication Ceremonies
7 When Solomon finished praying,(CI) fire descended from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices,(CJ) and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2 The priests were not able to enter the Lord’s temple because the glory of the Lord filled the temple of the Lord. 3 All the Israelites were watching when the fire descended and the glory of the Lord came on the temple. They bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground. They worshiped and praised the Lord:
For he is good,
for his faithful love endures forever.(CK)
4 The king and all the people were offering sacrifices in the Lord’s presence.(CL) 5 King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred twenty thousand sheep and goats. In this manner the king and all the people dedicated God’s temple. 6 The priests and the Levites were standing at their stations. The Levites had the musical instruments of the Lord, which King David had made to give thanks to the Lord—“for his faithful love endures forever”—when he offered praise with them.(CM) Across from the Levites, the priests were blowing trumpets, and all the people were standing. 7 Since the bronze altar that Solomon had made(CN) could not accommodate the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the fellowship offerings, Solomon first consecrated the middle of the courtyard(CO) that was in front of the Lord’s temple and then offered the burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings there.(CP)
8 So Solomon and all Israel with him—a very great assembly, from the entrance to Hamath[ax] to the Brook of Egypt—observed the festival at that time for seven days. 9 On the eighth day[ay] they held a solemn assembly,(CQ) for the dedication of the altar lasted seven days and the festival seven days. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people home,[az] rejoicing and with happy hearts for the goodness the Lord had done for David, for Solomon, and for his people Israel.
11 So Solomon finished the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. Everything that had entered Solomon’s heart to do for the Lord’s temple and for his own palace succeeded.(CR)
The Lord’s Response
12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him:
I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple of sacrifice.(CS) 13 If I shut the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the grasshopper to consume the land, or if I send pestilence on my people,(CT) 14 and my people, who bear my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.(CU) 15 My eyes will now be open and my ears attentive to prayer from this place.(CV) 16 And I have now chosen and consecrated this temple so that my name may be there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there at all times.(CW)
17 As for you, if you walk before me as your father David walked, doing everything I have commanded you, and if you keep my statutes and ordinances, 18 I will establish your royal throne, as I promised your father David: You will never fail to have a man ruling in Israel.(CX)
19 However, if you turn away and abandon my statutes and my commands that I have set before you and if you go and serve other gods and bow in worship to them,(CY) 20 then I will uproot Israel from the soil that I gave them, and this temple that I have sanctified for my name I will banish from my presence;(CZ) I will make it an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples.(DA) 21 As for this temple, which was exalted, everyone who passes by will be appalled and will say,(DB) “Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?” 22 Then they will say, “Because they abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They clung to other gods and bowed in worship to them and served them. Because of this, he brought all this ruin on them.”
Footnotes
- 2:3 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr, Vg; other Hb mss read Huram; 2Sm 5:11; 1Kg 5:1–2
- 2:8 = almug in 1Kg 10:11–12
- 2:10 Lit 20,000 cors
- 2:10 Lit 20,000 baths
- 2:11 Lit Tyre said in writing
- 2:13 Lit Huram my father
- 3:1 LXX; Tg reads the angel of the Lord; MT reads he
- 3:1 = Araunah in 2Sm 24:16–24
- 3:3 Tg reads The measurements which Solomon decreed
- 3:3 Lit length—cubits in the former measure—
- 3:3 Lit 60 cubits
- 3:3 Lit 20 cubits, also in vv. 4,8,11,13
- 3:4 LXX, Syr; MT reads 120 cubits
- 3:5 Lit The house
- 3:8 Lit 600 talents
- 3:9 Lit 50 shekels
- 3:11 Lit five cubits, also in vv. 12,15
- 3:12 Syr, Vg; MT reads the one
- 3:13 Lit the house
- 3:15 Syr reads 18 cubits (27 feet); Hb reads 35 cubits (52½ feet)
- 3:17 = He Will Establish
- 3:17 = Strength Is in Him
- 4:1 Lit 20 cubits
- 4:1 Lit 10 cubits, also in v. 2
- 4:2 Lit sea
- 4:2 Lit five cubits
- 4:2 Lit 30 cubits
- 4:3 = gourds in 1Kg 7:24
- 4:3 Lit 10 per cubit
- 4:5 Lit a handbreadth
- 4:5 Text emended; MT reads 3,000 baths in 1Kg 7:26
- 4:11 = Hiram in 1Kg 7:13,40,45
- 4:14 Lit the stands
- 4:16 Lit Huram my father
- 4:22 Or dishes, or spoons; lit palms
- 5:3 = Tishri (September–October)
- 5:9 Some Hb mss, LXX; other Hb mss read the ark; 1Kg 8:8
- 5:10 = Sinai
- 6:13 Lit five cubits
- 6:13 Lit three cubits
- 6:19 Lit Turn
- 6:22 Lit and he lifts a curse against him to curse him
- 6:26 LXX, Vg; MT reads answering; 1Kg 8:35
- 6:28 Lit land of its gates
- 6:28 Lit if his (Israel’s) enemies besiege him in the land of his gates; Jos 2:7; Jdg 16:2–3
- 6:29 Lit plague
- 6:30 Lit give for the man
- 6:39 Lit and do their judgment, or justice
- 6:42 Some Hb mss, LXX; other Hb mss read ones; Ps 132:10
- 7:8 Or from Lebo-hamath
- 7:9 = the day after the festival, or the 15th day
- 7:10 Lit people to their tents
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