Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options Listen to 2 Chronicles 2-3
Close NKJV

2 Chronicles 2-3
New King James Version

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple(A)

2 Then Solomon (B)determined to build a temple for the name of the Lord, and a royal house for himself. 2 (C)Solomon selected seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand to quarry stone in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them.

3 Then Solomon sent to [a]Hiram king of Tyre, saying:

(D)As you have dealt with David my father, and sent him cedars to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me. 4 Behold, (E)I am building a temple for the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to Him, (F)to burn before Him [b]sweet incense, for (G)the continual showbread, for (H)the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the (I)Sabbaths, on the New Moons, and on the [c]set feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel.

5 And the temple which I build will be great, for (J)our God is greater than all gods. 6 (K)But who is able to build Him a temple, since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I then, that I should build Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before Him?

7 Therefore send me at once a man skillful to work in gold and silver, in bronze and iron, in purple and crimson and blue, who has skill to engrave with the skillful men who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, (L)whom David my father provided. 8 (M)Also send me cedar and cypress and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants have skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and indeed my servants will be with your servants, 9 to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the [d]temple which I am about to build shall be great and wonderful.

10 (N)And indeed I will give to your servants, the woodsmen who cut timber, twenty thousand kors of ground wheat, twenty thousand kors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.

11 Then Hiram king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon:

(O)Because the Lord loves His people, He has made you king over them.

12 [e]Hiram also said:

(P)Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, (Q)who made heaven and earth, for He has given King David a wise son, endowed with prudence and understanding, who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal house for himself!

13 And now I have sent a skillful man, endowed with understanding, [f]Huram my [g]master craftsman 14 (R)(the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre), skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, purple and blue, fine linen and crimson, and to make any engraving and to accomplish any plan which may be given to him, with your skillful men and with the skillful men of my lord David your father.

15 Now therefore, the wheat, the barley, the oil, and the wine which (S)my lord has spoken of, let him send to his servants. 16 (T)And we will cut wood from Lebanon, as much as you need; we will bring it to you in rafts by sea to [h]Joppa, and you will carry it up to Jerusalem.

17 (U)Then Solomon numbered all the aliens who were in the land of Israel, after the census in which (V)David his father had numbered them; and there were found to be one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred. 18 And he made (W)seventy thousand of them bearers of burdens, eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountain, and three thousand six hundred overseers to make the people work.

Solomon Builds the Temple(X)

3 Now (Y)Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at (Z)Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where [i]the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of (AA)Ornan[j] the Jebusite. 2 And he began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.

3 This is the foundation (AB)which Solomon laid for building the house of God: The length was sixty cubits (by cubits according to the former measure) and the width twenty cubits. 4 And the (AC)vestibule that was in front of [k]the sanctuary was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the height was [l]one hundred and twenty. He overlaid the inside with pure gold. 5 (AD)The larger [m]room he (AE)paneled with cypress which he overlaid with fine gold, and he carved palm trees and chainwork on it. 6 And he decorated the house with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was gold from Parvaim. 7 He also overlaid the house—the beams and doorposts, its walls and doors—with gold; and he carved cherubim on the walls.

8 And he made the (AF)Most Holy Place. Its length was according to the width of the house, twenty cubits, and its width twenty cubits. He overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold. 9 The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold; and he overlaid the upper (AG)area with gold. 10 (AH)In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim, fashioned by carving, and overlaid them with gold. 11 The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits in overall length: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub; 12 one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing also was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim spanned twenty cubits overall. They stood on their feet, and they faced inward. 14 And he made the (AI)veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and wove cherubim into it.

15 Also he made in front of the [n]temple (AJ)two pillars [o]thirty-five cubits [p]high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. 16 He made wreaths of chainwork, as in the inner sanctuary, and put them on top of the pillars; and he made (AK)one hundred pomegranates, and put them on the wreaths of chainwork. 17 Then he (AL)set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left; he called the name of the one on the right hand [q]Jachin, and the name of the one on the left [r]Boaz.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 2:3 Heb. Huram; cf. 1 Kin. 5:1
  2. 2 Chronicles 2:4 Lit. incense of spices
  3. 2 Chronicles 2:4 appointed
  4. 2 Chronicles 2:9 Lit. house
  5. 2 Chronicles 2:12 Heb. Huram; cf. 1 Kin. 5:1
  6. 2 Chronicles 2:13 Hiram, 1 Kin. 7:13
  7. 2 Chronicles 2:13 Lit. father, 1 Kin. 7:13, 14
  8. 2 Chronicles 2:16 Heb. Japho
  9. 2 Chronicles 3:1 Lit. He, following MT, Vg.; LXX the Lord; Tg. the Angel of the Lord
  10. 2 Chronicles 3:1 Araunah, 2 Sam. 24:16ff
  11. 2 Chronicles 3:4 The holy place, the main room of the temple, 1 Kin. 6:3
  12. 2 Chronicles 3:4 So with MT, LXX, Vg.; Arab., some LXX mss., Syr. twenty
  13. 2 Chronicles 3:5 Lit. house
  14. 2 Chronicles 3:15 Lit. house
  15. 2 Chronicles 3:15 eighteen, 1 Kin. 7:15; 2 Kin. 25:17; Jer. 52:21
  16. 2 Chronicles 3:15 Lit. long
  17. 2 Chronicles 3:17 Lit. He Shall Establish
  18. 2 Chronicles 3:17 Lit. In It Is Strength
Listen to 2 Chronicles 2-3
Close NIV

2 Chronicles 2-3
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.

Solomon Builds the Temple(AD)

3 Then Solomon began to build(AE) the temple of the Lord(AF) in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah[g](AG) the Jebusite, the place provided by David. 2 He began building on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.(AH)

3 The foundation Solomon laid for building the temple of God was sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wide[h](AI) (using the cubit of the old standard). 4 The portico at the front of the temple was twenty cubits[i] long across the width of the building and twenty[j] cubits high.

He overlaid the inside with pure gold. 5 He paneled the main hall with juniper and covered it with fine gold and decorated it with palm tree(AJ) and chain designs. 6 He adorned the temple with precious stones. And the gold he used was gold of Parvaim. 7 He overlaid the ceiling beams, doorframes, walls and doors of the temple with gold, and he carved cherubim(AK) on the walls.

8 He built the Most Holy Place,(AL) its length corresponding to the width of the temple—twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. He overlaid the inside with six hundred talents[k] of fine gold. 9 The gold nails(AM) weighed fifty shekels.[l] He also overlaid the upper parts with gold.

10 For the Most Holy Place he made a pair(AN) of sculptured cherubim and overlaid them with gold. 11 The total wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits[m] long and touched the temple wall, while its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the other cherub. 12 Similarly one wing of the second cherub was five cubits long and touched the other temple wall, and its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the first cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim(AO) extended twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, facing the main hall.[n]

14 He made the curtain(AP) of blue, purple and crimson yarn and fine linen, with cherubim(AQ) worked into it.

15 For the front of the temple he made two pillars,(AR) which together were thirty-five cubits[o] long, each with a capital(AS) five cubits high. 16 He made interwoven chains[p](AT) and put them on top of the pillars. He also made a hundred pomegranates(AU) and attached them to the chains. 17 He erected the pillars in the front of the temple, one to the south and one to the north. The one to the south he named Jakin[q] and the one to the north Boaz.[r]

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 2:1 In Hebrew texts 2:1 is numbered 1:18, and 2:2-18 is numbered 2:1-17.
  2. 2 Chronicles 2:3 Hebrew Huram, a variant of Hiram; also in verses 11 and 12
  3. 2 Chronicles 2:8 Probably a variant of almug
  4. 2 Chronicles 2:10 That is, probably about 3,600 tons or about 3,200 metric tons of wheat
  5. 2 Chronicles 2:10 That is, probably about 3,000 tons or about 2,700 metric tons of barley
  6. 2 Chronicles 2:10 That is, about 120,000 gallons or about 440,000 liters
  7. 2 Chronicles 3:1 Hebrew Ornan, a variant of Araunah
  8. 2 Chronicles 3:3 That is, about 90 feet long and 30 feet wide or about 27 meters long and 9 meters wide
  9. 2 Chronicles 3:4 That is, about 30 feet or about 9 meters; also in verses 8, 11 and 13
  10. 2 Chronicles 3:4 Some Septuagint and Syriac manuscripts; Hebrew and a hundred and twenty
  11. 2 Chronicles 3:8 That is, about 23 tons or about 21 metric tons
  12. 2 Chronicles 3:9 That is, about 1 1/4 pounds or about 575 grams
  13. 2 Chronicles 3:11 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters; also in verse 15
  14. 2 Chronicles 3:13 Or facing inward
  15. 2 Chronicles 3:15 That is, about 53 feet or about 16 meters
  16. 2 Chronicles 3:16 Or possibly made chains in the inner sanctuary; the meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  17. 2 Chronicles 3:17 Jakin probably means he establishes.
  18. 2 Chronicles 3:17 Boaz probably means in him is strength.
Next
2 Chronicles 1
2 Chronicles 4
Next
dropdown
New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Learn the Bible in 30 days
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.

July Summer Surge

More on the NIV