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2 Chronicles 2
Evangelical Heritage Version
2 Chronicles 2
Evangelical Heritage Version
Preparations for Building the Temple
2 Solomon said that he would build a temple for the Name of the Lord and a palace for his kingdom.[a] 2 He assigned seventy thousand men to transport materials, eighty thousand to quarry stone in the hills, and thirty-six hundred to supervise them.
Solomon’s Letter
3 Solomon sent this message to Huram[b] king of Tyre:
Send me cedar as you did for my father David, when you sent him cedar to build a house for himself to live in.
4 I am building a house for the Name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him, for the continual arrangement of bread, for burnt offerings in the morning and evening, for the sabbaths, the new moons, and the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is to be a permanent regulation for Israel.
5 The house that I am building will be great, because our God is greater than all the gods. 6 But who is able to build a house for him? The heavens, even the highest heaven,[c] cannot contain him. Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to send incense and sacrifices up in smoke before him?
7 Now send me a man who is skillful at working with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, as well as with purple, crimson, and blue material, and who is trained in engraving. He will work with the skilled craftsmen who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom my father David provided.
8 Send me cedar, fir, and algum[d] timber from Lebanon, because I know that your servants know how to cut timber from Lebanon. Look, my servants will work with your servants 9 to prepare lumber for me in abundance because the house which I am building will be great and wonderful.
10 To support the lumberjacks who work for you, I have set aside one hundred twenty thousand bushels[e] of crushed wheat, and one hundred twenty thousand bushels of barley, one hundred twenty thousand gallons[f] of wine, and one hundred twenty thousand gallons of olive oil.
Huram’s Reply
11 Huram king of Tyre sent a letter to Solomon which said:
Because of the love of the Lord for his people, he has made you king over them.
12 Huram also said:
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth. He has given King David a wise son, who has discretion and understanding, who will build a house for the Lord and a house for his kingdom.
13 Now I have sent a skilled man who has expertise, Huram Abi, 14 the son of a woman from among the daughters of Dan. His father is a man from Tyre. He is skillful at working with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and with purple, blue, and crimson material and fine white linen. He is qualified to do all the engraving and to execute every design which is given to him, together with your craftsmen and the craftsmen of my lord David, your father.
15 Now let my lord Solomon send the wheat, barley, oil, and wine that he promised to us, his servants. 16 We will cut timber from Lebanon according to all your needs and will ship it to you at Joppa, as rafts upon the sea. You can then transport it up to Jerusalem.
17 Solomon took a census of all the male aliens who were residing in the land of Israel, after the census his father David had taken. There were 153,600.
18 Out of that number he designated 70,000 to transport materials, 80,000 to quarry stone in the hills, and 3600 overseers to make the people work.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 2:1 English chapter 2 starts at Hebrew 1:18. Therefore, in chapter 2 the English verse numbers are all one number higher than the corresponding Hebrew verse numbers.
- 2 Chronicles 2:3 Also called Hiram in 1 Kings
- 2 Chronicles 2:6 That is, the dwelling of God, which lies beyond the heavens where the birds fly and where the stars run their courses
- 2 Chronicles 2:8 Perhaps the same as almug in 1 Kings 10:11, but that wood was from the Red Sea region. If this is a form of sandalwood, it may be from a source along the Mediterranean Sea, on the north coast of Africa.
- 2 Chronicles 2:10 Literally twenty thousand cors. The value of the various ancient measures of volume is uncertain.
- 2 Chronicles 2:10 Literally twenty thousand baths
2 Chronicles 2
New International Version
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
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.