2 Chronicles 2
Young's Literal Translation
2 And Solomon saith to build a house for the name of Jehovah, and a house for his kingdom,
2 and Solomon numbereth seventy thousand men bearing burden, and eighty thousand men hewing in the mountain, and overseers over them -- three thousand and six hundred.
3 And Solomon sendeth unto Huram king of Tyre, saying, `When thou hast dealt with David my father, then thou dost send to him cedars to build for him a house to dwell in;
4 lo, I am building a house to the name of Jehovah my God, to sanctify [it] to Him, to make perfume before Him, perfume of spices, and a continual arrangement, and burnt-offerings at morning and at evening, at sabbaths, and at new moons, and at appointed seasons of Jehovah our God; to the age this [is] on Israel.
5 `And the house that I am building [is] great, for greater [is] our God than all gods;
6 and who doth retain strength to build to Him a house, for the heavens, even the heavens of the heavens, do not contain Him? and who [am] I that I do build to Him a house, except to make perfume before Him?
7 `And now, send to me a wise man to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and knowing to grave gravings with the wise men who [are] with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father prepared;
8 and send to me cedar-trees, firs, and algums from Lebanon, for I have known that thy servants know to cut down trees of Lebanon, and lo, my servants [are] with thy servants,
9 even to prepare for me trees in abundance, for the house that I am building [is] great and wonderful.
10 `And lo, to hewers, to those cutting the trees, I have given beaten wheat to thy servants, cors twenty thousand, and barley, cors twenty thousand, and wine, baths twenty thousand, and oil, baths twenty thousand.'
11 And Huram king of Tyre saith in writing, and sendeth unto Solomon: `In the love of Jehovah to His people He hath given thee king over them.'
12 And Huram saith, `Blessed [is] Jehovah, God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son, knowing wisdom and understanding, who doth build a house for Jehovah, and a house for his kingdom.
13 `And now, I have sent a wise man having understanding, of Huram my father,
14 (son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father a man of Tyre), knowing to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stones, and in wood, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson, and to grave any graving, and to devise any device that is given to him, with thy wise men, and the wise men of my lord David thy father.
15 `And, now, the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine, as my lord said, let him send to his servants,
16 and we -- we cut trees out of Lebanon, according to all thy need, and bring them in to thee -- floats by sea, to Joppa, and thou dost take them up to Jerusalem.'
17 And Solomon numbereth all the men, the sojourners who [are] in the land of Israel, after the numbering with which David his father numbered them, and they are found a hundred and fifty thousand, and three thousand, and six hundred;
18 and he maketh of them seventy thousand burden-bearers, and eighty thousand hewers in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers, to cause the people to work.
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
2 Chronicles 2
English Standard Version
Preparing to Build the Temple
2 [a] (A)Now Solomon purposed to build a temple for the name of the Lord, and a royal palace for himself. 2 [b] (B)And Solomon assigned 70,000 men to bear burdens and 80,000 to quarry in the hill country, and (C)3,600 to oversee them. 3 (D)And Solomon sent word to Hiram the king of Tyre: (E)“As you dealt with David my father and sent him cedar to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me. 4 Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the Lord my God and dedicate it to him for the burning of (F)incense of sweet spices before him, and for (G)the regular arrangement of the showbread, and for (H)burnt offerings morning and evening, (I)on the Sabbaths and the new moons and the appointed feasts of the Lord our God, as ordained forever for Israel. 5 The house that I am to build will be great, (J)for our God is greater than all gods. 6 (K)But who is able to build him a house, since (L)heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him? 7 So now (M)send me a man skilled to work in gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue fabrics, trained also in engraving, to be with the skilled workers who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, (N)whom David my father provided. 8 Send me also cedar, cypress, and algum timber from Lebanon, for I know that (O)your servants know how to cut timber in Lebanon. And my servants will be with your servants, 9 to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the house I am to build will be great and wonderful. 10 (P)I will give for your servants, the woodsmen who cut timber, 20,000 cors[c] of crushed wheat, 20,000 cors of barley, 20,000 baths[d] of wine, and 20,000 baths of oil.”
11 Then Hiram the king of Tyre answered in a letter that he sent to Solomon, (Q)“Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you king over them.” 12 Hiram also said, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, (R)who made heaven and earth, who has given King David a wise son, who has discretion and understanding, (S)who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.
13 “Now I have sent a skilled man, who has understanding, Huram-abi, 14 (T)the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre. He is (U)trained to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and in purple, blue, and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and to do all sorts of engraving and execute any design that may be assigned him, with your craftsmen, the craftsmen of my lord, David your father. 15 Now therefore the wheat and barley, oil and wine, (V)of which my lord has spoken, let him send to his servants. 16 (W)And we will cut whatever timber you need from Lebanon and bring it to you in rafts by sea to (X)Joppa, so that you may take it up to Jerusalem.”
17 Then Solomon counted all the resident aliens who were in the land of Israel, (Y)after the census of them that David his father had taken, and there were found 153,600. 18 (Z)Seventy thousand of them he assigned to bear burdens, 80,000 to quarry in the hill country, and 3,600 as overseers to make the people work.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 2:1 Ch 1:18 in Hebrew
- 2 Chronicles 2:2 Ch 2:1 in Hebrew
- 2 Chronicles 2:10 A cor was about 6 bushels or 220 liters
- 2 Chronicles 2:10 A bath was about 6 gallons or 22 liters
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