Historical
The Second Book of the Chronicles
1 6 The offering of Solomon at Gibeon. 8 He prayeth unto God to give him wisdom: 11 Which he giveth him, and more. 14 The number of his chariots and horsemen, 15 and of his riches.
1 Then Solomon the son of David was [a]confirmed in his kingdom: and the Lord his God was with him, and magnified him highly.
2 And Solomon [b]spake unto all Israel, to the captains of thousands, and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to all the governors in all Israel, even the chief fathers.
3 So Solomon and all the Congregation with him went to the high place that was at [c]Gibeon: for there was the Tabernacle [d]of the Congregation of God which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness.
4 But the Ark of God had David brought up from Kirjath Jearim, when David had made preparation for it: for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.
5 Moreover, the [e]brazen altar (A)that Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur had made, did he set before the Tabernacle of the Lord: and Solomon and the Congregation sought it.
6 And Solomon offered there before the Lord upon the brazen altar that was in the Tabernacle of the Congregation: (B)even a thousand burnt offerings offered he upon it.
7 ¶ The same night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him, Ask what I shall give thee.
8 And Solomon said unto God, Thou hast showed great mercy unto David my father, and hast made me to reign in his stead.
9 Now therefore, O Lord God, let thy promise unto David my father be [f]true: for thou hast made me King over a great people, like to the dust of the earth.
10 Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may [g]go out and go in before this people: for who can judge this thy great people?
11 And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, treasures nor honor, nor the [h]lives of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life, but hast asked for thee wisdom and knowledge, that thou mightest judge my people, over whom I have made thee King,
12 Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee, and I will give thee riches and treasures and honor, so that there hath not been the like among the kings which were before thee, neither after thee shall there be the like.
13 Then Solomon came from the high place that was at Gibeon, to Jerusalem from before the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and reigned over Israel.
14 (C)And Solomon gathered the chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he placed in the [i]chariot cities, and with the King at Jerusalem.
15 And the king gave gold and silver at Jerusalem as [j]stone, and gave cedar trees as the wild fig trees, that are abundantly in the plain.
16 Also Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and (D)fine linen: [k]the King’s merchants received the fine linen for a price.
17 They came up also and brought out of Egypt some chariot, worth six hundred shekels of silver, that is an horse for an hundred and fifty: and thus they brought horses to all the kings of the Hittites, and to the kings of Aram by their [l]means.
2 2 The number of Solomon’s workmen to build the Temple. 3 Solomon sendeth to Huram the King of Tyre for wood and workmen.
1 Then Solomon determined to build an house for the Name of the Lord, and an [m]house for his kingdom.
2 And Solomon told out seventy thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand men to hew stones in the mountain, and three thousand and [n]six hundred to oversee them.
3 And Solomon sent to [o]Huram the king of Tyre, saying, As thou hast done to David my father, and didst (E)send him cedar trees to build him an house to dwell in so do to me.
4 Behold, I build an house unto the Name of the Lord my God, to sanctify it unto him, and to burn sweet incense before him, and for the continual showbread, and for the burnt offerings of the morning and evening, on the Sabbath days, and in the new months, and in the solemn feasts of the Lord our God: this is a perpetual thing for Israel.
5 And the house which I build, is great: for great is our God above all gods.
6 Who is he then that can be able to build him an house, when the heaven and the heaven of heavens can not contain him? who am I then that I should build him an house? but I do it to burn [p]incense before him.
7 Send me now therefore a cunning man that can work in gold, in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and in [q]crimson and blue silk, and that can grave in graven work with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father hath prepared.
8 Send me also cedar trees, fir trees and [r][s]Algummim trees from Lebanon: for I know that thy servants can skill to hew timber in Lebanon: and behold, my servants shall be with thine,
9 That they may prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which I do build, is great and wonderful.
10 And behold, I will give to thy servants the cutters and the hewers of timber twenty thousand [t]measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty [u]thousand baths of oil.
11 Then Huram king of Tyre answered in writing which he sent to Solomon, Because the Lord hath loved his people, he hath made thee King over them.
12 Huram said moreover, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which made the heaven and the earth, and that hath given unto David the King a [v]wise son, that hath discretion, prudence and understanding to build an house for the Lord, and a palace for his kingdom.
13 Now therefore I have sent a wise man, and of understanding of my father Huram’s,
14 The son of a woman, of the [w]daughters of Dan: and his father was a man of Tyre, and he can skill to work in gold, in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue silk, and in fine linen, and in crimson, and can grave in all graven works, and broider in all broidered work that shall be given him, with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord David thy father.
15 Now therefore the wheat and the barley, the oil and the wine, which my lord hath spoken of, let him send unto his servants.
16 And we will cut wood in Lebanon as much as thou shalt need, and will bring it to thee in [x]rafts by the sea to [y]Japho, so thou mayest carry them to Jerusalem.
17 ¶ And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel, after the numbering that his father David had numbered them: and they were found an hundred and three and fifty thousand, and six hundred.
18 And he set seventy thousand of them to the burden, and fourscore thousand to hew stones in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to cause the people to work.
3 1 The Temple of the Lord, and the porch are built, with other things thereto belonging.
1 So (F)Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, in mount [z]Moriah which had been declared unto David his father, in the place that David prepared in the threshing floor of (G)Ornan the Jebusite.
2 And he began to build in the second month and the second day, in the fourth year of his reign.
3 And these are the measures whereon Solomon grounded to build the house of God: the length of cubits after the first [aa]measure was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits:
4 And the porch that was before the length in the front [ab]of the breadth was twenty cubits, and the height was an [ac]hundred and twenty, and he overlaid it within with pure gold.
5 And the greater house he ceiled with fir tree which he overlaid with good gold, and graved thereon palm trees and chains.
6 And he overlaid the house with precious stones for beauty: and the gold was gold of [ad]Parvaim.
7 The house, I say, the beams, posts, and walls thereof and the doors thereof overlaid he with gold, and graved Cherubims upon the walls.
8 ¶ He made also the house of the most holy place: the length thereof was in the front of the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits: and he overlaid it with the best gold, of six hundred talents.
9 And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold, and he overlaid the chambers with gold.
10 ¶ And in the house of the most holy place he made two Cherubims wrought like children, and overlaid them with gold.
11 (H)And the wings of the Cherubims were twenty cubits long: the one wing was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house, and the other wing five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other Cherub.
12 Likewise the wing of the other Cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house, and the other wing five cubits, joining to the wing of the other Cherub.
13 The wings of these Cherubims were spread abroad twenty cubits, they stood on their feet, and their faces were toward the house.
14 ¶ He made also the [ae]veil of blue silk and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought Cherubims thereon.
15 ¶ And he made before the house two pillars [af]of five and thirty cubits high: and the chapiter that was upon the top of each of them, was five cubits.
16 He made also chains for the Oracle, and put them on the heads of the pillars, and made an [ag]hundred pomegranates, and put them among the chains.
17 And he set up the pillars before the Temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left, and called that on the right hand Jachin, and that on the left hand Boaz.
4 1 The altar of brass. 2 The molten sea. 6 The caldrons. 7 The candlesticks, etc.
1 And he made an altar of brass twenty cubits long, and twenty cubits broad, and ten cubits high.
2 And he made a molten [ah]Sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits high: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it about.
3 And under [ai]it was the fashion of oxen, which did compass it round about, [aj]ten in a cubit compassing the Sea about: two rows of oxen were cast when it was molten.
4 It stood upon twelve oxen: three looked toward the North, and three looked toward the West, and three looked toward the South, and three looked toward the East, and the Sea stood above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward.
5 And the thickness thereof was an hand breadth, and the brim thereof was like the work of the brim of a cup, with flowers of [ak]lilies: it contained [al]three thousand baths.
6 ¶ He made also ten caldrons, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them, and to cleanse in them that which appertained to the burnt offerings: but the Sea was for the Priests to wash in.
7 ¶ And he made ten candlesticks of gold (according to [am]their form) and put them in the Temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left.
8 ¶ And he made ten tables, and put them in the Temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left: and he made an hundred basins of gold.
9 And he made the [an]court of the Priests, and the great court and doors for the court, and overlaid the doors thereof with brass.
10 And he set the Sea on the right side Eastward toward the South.
11 And Huram made [ao]pots and besoms and basins, and Huram finished the work that he should make for King Solomon for the house of God,
12 To wit, two pillars, and the bowls and the chapiters on the top of the two pillars, and two grates to cover the two bowls of the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars:
13 And four hundred pomegranates for the two grates, two rows of pomegranates for every grate to cover the two bowls of the chapiters, that were upon the pillars.
14 He made also bases, and made caldrons upon the bases:
15 And a Sea, and twelve bulls under it:
16 Pots also and besoms, and flesh hooks, and all these vessels made Huram [ap]his father to King Solomon for the house of the Lord of shining brass.
17 In the plain of Jordan did the King cast them in clay between Succoth and Zeredathah.
18 And Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance: for the weight of brass could not be reckoned.
19 And Solomon made all the vessels that were for the house of God: the golden altar also and the tables, whereon the [aq]showbread stood.
20 Moreover, the candlesticks with their lamps, to burn them after the manner before the Oracle, of pure gold.
21 And the flowers and the lamps, and the snuffers of gold, which was fine gold.
22 And the [ar]hooks, and the basins, and the spoons, and the ash pans of pure gold: the entry also of the house and doors thereof within, even of the most holy place: and the doors of the house, to wit, of the Temple were [as]of gold.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.