2 Chronicles 1-2

Common English Bible

Solomon first meets God

1 Solomon, David’s son, was securely established over his kingdom because the Lord his God was with him and made him very great. ²Solomon summoned all Israel, including the officers of the army,^[a] the judges, and every Israelite leader who was the head of a family. ³Then Solomon, accompanied by the whole assembly, went to the shrine at Gibeon because that is where God’s meeting tent was, the tent that the Lord’s servant Moses had made in the wilderness. ⁴Now David had already brought God’s chest from Kiriath-jearim to the place he had prepared for it because he had pitched a tent for the chest in Jerusalem. ⁵But the bronze altar that Bezalel, Uri’s son and Hur’s grandson, had made was there in front of the Lord’s dwelling, so that is where Solomon and the assembly worshipped. ⁶Solomon went there to the bronze altar in the Lord’s presence at the meeting tent and offered a thousand entirely burned offerings upon it.

⁷That night God appeared to Solomon and said, “Ask whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.”

⁸“You showed so much kindness to my father David,” Solomon replied to God, “and you have made me king in his place. ⁹Now, Lord God, let your promise to my father David be fulfilled because you have made me king over a people as numerous as the earth’s dust. ¹⁰Give me wisdom and knowledge so I can lead this people, because no one can govern this great people of yours without your help.”

¹¹God said to Solomon, “Since this is what you wish, and because you’ve asked for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I’ve made you king—rather than asking for wealth, riches, fame, victory over those who hate you, or even a long life— ¹²your request for wisdom and knowledge is granted. But I will also give you wealth, riches, and fame beyond that of any king before you or after you.” ¹³Then Solomon went from^[b] the shrine in Gibeon, from the meeting tent to Jerusalem where he ruled over Israel.

Solomon’s wealth

¹⁴Solomon acquired more and more chariots and horses until he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he stationed in chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ¹⁵In Jerusalem, the king made silver and gold as common as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore trees that grow in the foothills. ¹⁶Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and Kue, purchased from Kue by the king’s agents at the going price. ¹⁷They would import a chariot from Egypt for six hundred pieces of silver and a horse for one hundred fifty, and then export them to all the Hittite and Aramean kings.

Solomon prepares to build the temple

2 ^[c] Solomon gave orders to build a temple for the Lord’s name and to build a royal palace for himself. ²^[d] To work in the highlands, Solomon drafted 70,000 laborers, 80,000 stonecutters, and 3,600 supervisors. ³Solomon sent the following message to King Huram^[e] of Tyre:

When my father David was building his palace, you sent him cedar logs. ⁴Now as his son^[f] I am about to build a temple in the name of the Lord my God. I will dedicate it to him to burn fragrant incense before him, to set out the bread that is regularly displayed, and to offer entirely burned offerings every morning and evening, on the sabbaths, the first of every month, and the festivals of the Lord our God, as Israel has been commanded to do forever. ⁵The temple I am about to build must be magnificent, because our God is greater than all other gods. ⁶But who is able to build such a temple when even the highest heaven can’t contain God? And who am I that I should build this temple for God, except as a place to burn incense in his presence? ⁷So now send me a craftsman skilled in gold, silver, bronze, and iron, as well as in purple, crimson, and violet yarn—someone also experienced as an engraver. He will work with my craftsmen in Judah and Jerusalem who were provided by my father David. ⁸Also send me cedar, cypress, and sandalwood logs from Lebanon. I know your servants know how to cut Lebanese timber, so my servants will work with your servants ⁹to prepare plenty of timber for me, because the temple that I am about to build will be magnificent and amazing. ¹⁰I will pay the woodcutters twenty thousand kors^[g] of crushed wheat, twenty thousand kors of barley, twenty thousand baths^[h] of wine, and twenty thousand baths of olive oil.

¹¹Tyre’s King Huram replied in a letter that he sent to Solomon:

The Lord must love his people Israel because he has made you their king! ¹²Bless the Lord, Israel’s God, who made heaven and earth. He gave King David a wise son who possesses the knowledge and understanding to build a temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself. ¹³I’m sending you a skilled and experienced craftsman, Huram-abi, ¹⁴whose mother is from the tribe of Dan and whose father is from Tyre. He’s skilled in working with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, as well as purple, violet, and crimson yarn, and fine linen. He can do any kind of engraving and make any design given to him with the assistance of your craftsmen and the craftsmen of my master, your father David. ¹⁵So once my master sends the wheat, barley, olive oil, and wine he has promised, ¹⁶we will cut as much timber as you need from Lebanon and bring it by raft on the sea to you at Joppa, where you can take it up to Jerusalem.

¹⁷Then Solomon counted all the immigrants in the land of Israel, as his father David had done, and the total was 153,600. ¹⁸He made 70,000 of these immigrants laborers, 80,000 of them stonecutters in the highlands, and 3,600 of them supervisors to keep the people working.

Footnotes

2 Chronicles 1:2 Or officers over thousands and hundreds
2 Chronicles 1:13 LXX, Vulg; MT to
2 Chronicles 2:1 1:18 in Heb
2 Chronicles 2:2 2:1 in Heb
2 Chronicles 2:3 1 Kings spells the king's name as Hiram.
2 Chronicles 2:4 LXX; MT lacks his son.
2 Chronicles 2:10 One kor is equivalent to a homer and is possibly equal to fifty gallons of grain.
2 Chronicles 2:10 One bath is approximately twenty quarts or five gallons.