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2 Chronicles 2
New Catholic Bible
2 Chronicles 2
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 2
Final Preparations for the Temple. 1 Solomon then resolved to build a house to honor the Lord as well as a palace for himself. 2 Therefore, he conscripted seventy thousand men to carry the stone and eighty thousand men to serve as stonecutters, as well as three thousand six hundred men to oversee them.
3 Then Solomon sent this message to King Huram of Tyre: “Some time ago you dealt with my father David, sending him cedars to build a palace in which he would dwell. 4 Now I am preparing to build a house in honor of the Lord, my God, and to consecrate it to him so that fragrant incense can be burned before him, along with the perpetual display of the loaves of permanent offering, for burnt offerings morning and evening, and for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the festivals of the Lord, our God, as is ordained forever for Israel.
5 “The house that I intend to build must be large, since our God is greater than all other gods. 6 But who is really able to build a house for him when the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? And who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him?
7 “Therefore, now send me an artisan who is highly skilled at working in gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue fabrics, and who is expert in the art of engraving. I want him to work with the skilled craftsmen in Judah and Jerusalem who were provided by my father David. 8 Also send me cedar, cypress, and juniper timber from Lebanon, for I am well aware that your servants are skilled in felling the trees of Lebanon.
“My servants will work with your servants 9 in order to prepare for me a vast quantity of timber, for the house that I intend to build will be great in size and a marvel to behold. 10 Furthermore, I will provide for your servants the woodcutters who fell the trees, twenty thousand kors of wheat, and twenty thousand kors of barley, along with twenty thousand measures of wine and twenty thousand measures of oil.”[a]
11 In a letter that he sent to King Solomon in response, King Huram of Tyre replied: “Because of the love that the Lord has for his people, he has appointed you as their king.” 12 Then Huram went on to say: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth. He has given King David a wise son blessed with intelligence and discernment who will build a house for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.
13 “I have now sent you Huram-abi,[b] a skilled artisan and a man of intelligence. 14 He is the son of a Danite woman and of a father from Tyre. He is skilled in the art of working in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and in purple, crimson, and blue fabrics and fine linen. He also is competent to do all sorts of engraving and to execute any design that may be assigned to him, in collaboration with your own skilled craftsmen and those of my lord David, your father.
15 “And now, let my lord send to his servants the wheat, barley, oil, and wine which he has promised. 16 We shall cut down all the timber you need from Lebanon and float it all down to you as rafts by sea to Joppa. Then it will be your responsibility to transport it to Jerusalem.”
17 Shortly thereafter Solomon took a census of all the aliens who were residing in the land of Israel, similar to the census that his father David had taken. There were found to be one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred aliens. 18 Solomon designated seventy thousand of them to be porters, eighty thousand to be stonecutters in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred as overseers to ensure that the people were doing the work assigned to them.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 2:10 King Solomon had lofty ideas for building a temple worthy of the Lord and these amounts of wheat, barley, wine, and oil promised for the best materials are inflated accordingly. For a more realistic listing of what was offered for the wood, see the parallel passage in 1 Ki 5:11.
- 2 Chronicles 2:13 Huram-abi: “Huram” in 1 Ki 7:13; his mother is there said to be of the tribe of Naphtali.
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
New International Version (NIV) 
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