2 Chronicles 2-3

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.

Solomon Builds the Temple

3 ^(AA)Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem ^(AB)on Mount Moriah, where the Lord^[e] had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, ^(AC)on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ² He began to build in the second month of the fourth year of his reign. ³ These are Solomon's ^(AD)measurements^[f] for building the house of God: ^(AE)the length, in cubits^[g] of the old standard, was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. ⁴ The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house,^[h] and its height was 120 cubits. He overlaid it on the inside with pure gold. ^5 (AF)The nave he lined with cypress and covered it with fine gold ^(AG)and made palms and chains on it. ⁶ He adorned the house with settings of precious stones. The gold was gold of Parvaim. ⁷ So he lined the house with gold—its beams, its thresholds, its walls, and its doors—^(AH)and he carved cherubim on the walls.

^8 (AI)And he made the Most Holy Place. Its length, corresponding to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and its breadth was twenty cubits. He overlaid it with 600 talents^[i] of fine gold. ⁹ The weight of gold for the nails was fifty shekels.^[j] And he overlaid ^(AJ)the upper chambers with gold.

^10 (AK)In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim of wood^[k] and overlaid^[l] them with gold. ¹¹ The wings of the cherubim together extended twenty cubits: one wing of the one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub; ¹² and of this cherub, one wing, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and the other wing, also of five cubits, was joined to the wing of the first cherub. ¹³ The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits. The cherubim^[m] stood on their feet, ^(AL)facing the nave. ^14 (AM)And he made the veil of blue and purple and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and he worked cherubim on it.

^15 (AN)In front of the house he made two pillars thirty-five cubits high, with a capital of five cubits on the top of each. ¹⁶ He made chains like a necklace^[n] and put them on the tops of the pillars, and he made a hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains. ^17 (AO)He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the south, the other on the north; that on the south he called Jachin, and that on the north Boaz.