2 Chronicles 2:11-18

New Century Version

¹¹ Then Hiram king of Tyre answered Solomon with this letter: “Solomon, because the Lord loves his people, he chose you to be their king.” ¹² Hiram also said: “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth! He has given King David a wise son, one with wisdom and understanding, who will build a temple for the Lord and a palace for himself.

¹³ “I will send you a skilled and wise man named Huram-Abi. ¹⁴ His mother was from the people of Dan, and his father was from Tyre. Huram-Abi is skilled in working with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and with purple, blue, and red thread, and expensive linen. He is skilled in making engravings and can make any design you show him. He will help your craftsmen and the craftsmen of your father David.

¹⁵ “Now send my servants the wheat, barley, oil, and wine you promised. ¹⁶ We will cut as much wood from Lebanon as you need and will bring it on rafts by sea to Joppa. Then you may carry it to Jerusalem.”

¹⁷ Solomon counted all the foreigners living in Israel. (This was after the time his father David had counted the people.) There were one hundred fifty-three thousand six hundred foreigners in the country. ¹⁸ Solomon chose seventy thousand of them to carry loads, eighty thousand of them to cut stone in the mountains, and thirty-six hundred of them to direct the workers and to keep the people working.