2 Chronicles 2-3

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Solomon’s Letter to Hiram

2 ^[a]Solomon decided to build a temple for the name of Yahweh and a royal palace for himself,^(A) ²^[b]so he assigned 70,000 men as porters, 80,000 men as stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 as supervisors over them.^(B)

³Then Solomon sent word to King Hiram^[c]^(C) of Tyre:^(D)

Do for me what you did for my father David. You sent him cedars to build him a house to live in.^(E) ⁴Now I am building a temple for the name of Yahweh my God in order to dedicate it to Him for burning fragrant incense before Him,^(F) for displaying the rows of the bread of the Presence continuously,^(G) and for sacrificing burnt offerings for the morning and the evening,^(H) the Sabbaths^(I) and the New Moons, and the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is ordained for Israel forever. ⁵The temple that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than any of the gods.^(J) ⁶But who is able to build a temple for Him, since even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain Him?^(K) Who am I then that I should build a temple for Him except as a place to burn incense before Him? ⁷Therefore, send me a craftsman who is skilled in engraving to work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and with purple, crimson, and blue yarn. He will work with the craftsmen who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem,^(L) appointed by my father David.^(M) ⁸Also, send me cedar, cypress, and algum^[d]^(N) logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut the trees of Lebanon. Note that my servants will be with your servants^(O) ⁹to prepare logs for me in abundance because the temple I am building will be great and wonderful. ¹⁰I will give your servants, the woodcutters who cut the trees, 100,000 bushels^[e] of wheat flour, 100,000 bushels^[f] of barley, 110,000 gallons^[g] of wine, and 110,000 gallons^[h] of oil.

Hiram’s Reply

¹¹Then King Hiram of Tyre wrote a letter^[i] and sent it to Solomon:

Because the Lord loves His people, He set you over them as king.^(P)

¹²Hiram also said:

May the Lord God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth,^(Q) be praised! He gave King David a wise son with insight and understanding,^(R) who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.^(S) ¹³I have now sent Huram-abi,^[j] a skillful man who has understanding.^(T) ¹⁴He is the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan. His father is a man of Tyre. He knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, with purple, blue, crimson yarn, and fine linen. He knows how to do all kinds of engraving and to execute any design that may be given him. I have sent him to be with your craftsmen and the craftsmen of my lord, your father David. ¹⁵Now, let my lord send the wheat, barley, oil, and wine to his servants as promised.^(U) ¹⁶We will cut logs from Lebanon, as many as you need, and bring them to you as rafts by sea to Joppa. You can then take them up to Jerusalem.^(V)

Solomon’s Work Force

¹⁷Solomon took a census of all the foreign men in the land of Israel, after the census that his father David had conducted,^(W) and the total was 153,600. ¹⁸Solomon made 70,000 of them porters, 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 supervisors to make the people work.^(X)

Building the Temple

3 Then Solomon began^(Y) to build the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah^(Z) where the Lord^[k] had appeared to his father David, at the site David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan^[l] the Jebusite. ²He began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign. ³These are Solomon’s foundations^[m] for building God’s temple: the length^[n] was 90 feet,^[o] and the width 30 feet.^[p] ⁴The portico, which was across the front extending across the width of the temple, was 30 feet^[q] wide; its height was 30 feet;^[r]^[s] he overlaid its inner surface with pure gold. ⁵The larger room^[t] he paneled with cypress wood, overlaid with fine gold, and decorated with palm trees and chains. ⁶He adorned the temple with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was the gold of Parvaim. ⁷He overlaid the temple—the beams, the thresholds, its walls and doors—with gold,^(AA) and he carved cherubim on the walls.^(AB)

The Most Holy Place

⁸Then he made the most holy place; its length corresponded to the width of the temple, 30 feet,^[u] and its width was 30 feet.^[v]^(AC) He overlaid it with 45,000 pounds^[w] of fine gold. ⁹The weight of the nails was 20 ounces^[x] of gold, and he overlaid the ceiling with gold.

¹⁰He made^(AD) two cherubim of sculptured work, for the most holy place, and he overlaid them with gold. ¹¹The overall length of the wings of the cherubim was 30 feet:^[y] the wing of one was 7½ feet,^[z] touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet,^[aa] touching the wing of the other cherub. ¹²The wing of the other^[ab] cherub was 7½ feet,^[ac] touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet,^[ad] reaching the wing of the other cherub. ¹³The wingspan of these cherubim was 30 feet.^[ae] They stood on their feet and faced the larger room.^[af]

¹⁴He made the veil of blue, purple, and crimson yarn and fine linen, and he wove cherubim into it.^(AE)

The Bronze Pillars

¹⁵In front of the temple^(AF) he made two pillars, each 27 feet^[ag]^[ah] high. The capital on top of each was 7½ feet^[ai] high. ¹⁶He had made chainwork in the inner sanctuary and also put it on top of the pillars.^(AG) He made 100 pomegranates and fastened them into the chainwork. ¹⁷Then he set up the pillars in front of the sanctuary, one on the right and one on the left. He named the one on the right Jachin^[aj] and the one on the left Boaz.^[ak]