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

Revelation 2

New International Version

To the Church in Ephesus

2 “To the angel^[a] of the church in Ephesus^(A) write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand^(B) and walks among the seven golden lampstands.^(C) ²I know your deeds,^(D) your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested^(E) those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.^(F) ³You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name,^(G) and have not grown weary.

⁴Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.^(H) ⁵Consider how far you have fallen! Repent^(I) and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand^(J) from its place. ⁶But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans,^(K) which I also hate.

⁷Whoever has ears, let them hear^(L) what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious,^(M) I will give the right to eat from the tree of life,^(N) which is in the paradise^(O) of God.

To the Church in Smyrna

⁸“To the angel of the church in Smyrna^(P) write:

These are the words of him who is the First and the Last,^(Q) who died and came to life again.^(R) ⁹I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich!^(S) I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not,^(T) but are a synagogue of Satan.^(U) ¹⁰Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you,^(V) and you will suffer persecution for ten days.^(W) Be faithful,^(X) even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.^(Y)

¹¹Whoever has ears, let them hear^(Z) what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.^(AA)

To the Church in Pergamum

¹²“To the angel of the church in Pergamum^(AB) write:

These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword.^(AC) ¹³I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me,^(AD) not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness,^(AE) who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.^(AF)

¹⁴Nevertheless, I have a few things against you:^(AG) There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam,^(AH) who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols^(AI) and committed sexual immorality.^(AJ) ¹⁵Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.^(AK) ¹⁶Repent^(AL) therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.^(AM)

¹⁷Whoever has ears, let them hear^(AN) what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious,^(AO) I will give some of the hidden manna.^(AP) I will also give that person a white stone with a new name^(AQ) written on it, known only to the one who receives it.^(AR)

To the Church in Thyatira

¹⁸“To the angel of the church in Thyatira^(AS) write:

These are the words of the Son of God,^(AT) whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze.^(AU) ¹⁹I know your deeds,^(AV) your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.

²⁰Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel,^(AW) who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.^(AX) ²¹I have given her time^(AY) to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling.^(AZ) ²²So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery^(BA) with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. ²³I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds,^(BB) and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.^(BC)

²⁴Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you,^(BD) ²⁵except to hold on to what you have^(BE) until I come.’^(BF)

²⁶To the one who is victorious^(BG) and does my will to the end,^(BH) I will give authority over the nations^(BI)— ²⁷that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter^(BJ) and will dash them to pieces like pottery’^[b]^(BK)—just as I have received authority from my Father. ²⁸I will also give that one the morning star.^(BL) ²⁹Whoever has ears, let them hear^(BM) what the Spirit says to the churches.