2:1 Solomon gave orders to build a temple for the Name of the LORD and a royal palace for himself.
2:2 He conscripted seventy thousand men as carriers and eighty thousand as stonecutters in the hills and thirty-six hundred as foremen over them.
2:3 Solomon sent this message to Hiram king of Tyre: “Send me cedar logs as you did for my father David when you sent him cedar to build a palace to live in.
2:4 Now I am about to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God and to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him, for setting out the consecrated bread regularly, and for making burnt offerings every morning and evening and on Sabbaths and New Moons and at the appointed feasts of the LORD our God. This is a lasting ordinance for Israel.
2:5 “The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods.
2:6 But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? Who then am I to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him?
2:7 “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 craftsmen, whom my father David provided.
2:8 “Send me also cedar, pine and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your men are skilled in cutting timber there. My men will work with yours
2:9 to provide me with plenty of lumber, because the temple I build must be large and magnificent.
2:10 I will give your servants, the woodsmen who cut the timber, twenty thousand cors of ground wheat, twenty thousand cors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine and twenty thousand baths of olive oil.”
2:11 Hiram king of Tyre replied by letter to Solomon: “Because the LORD loves his people, he has made you their king.”
2:12 And Hiram added: “Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth! 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.
2:13 “I am sending you Huram-Abi, a man of great skill,
2:14 whose mother was from Dan and whose father was from Tyre. He is trained to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, and with purple and blue 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 craftsmen and with those of my lord, David your father.
2:15 “Now let my lord send his servants the wheat and barley and the olive oil and wine he promised,
2:16 and we will cut all the logs from Lebanon that you need and will float them in rafts by sea down to Joppa. You can then take them up to Jerusalem.”
2:17 Solomon took a census of all the aliens who were in Israel, after the census his father David had taken; and they were found to be 153,600
2:18 He assigned 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.
2:1 Now Solomon purposed to build a house for the name of Jehovah and his royal palace.
2:2 And Solomon counted out seventy thousand men to bear burdens and eighty thousand men as stonecutters in the mountains and three thousand six hundred men to oversee them.
2:3 And Solomon sent word to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, As you did to David my father, in that you sent him cedars to build a house for him to dwell in, so do for me.
2:4 I am now about to build a house for the name of Jehovah my God to sanctify to Him, for the burning of fragrant incense before Him and the arranging of the rows of bread continually and the offering up of burnt offerings in the morning and in the evening, on Sabbaths and on new moons and on the appointed feasts of Jehovah our God, this being an ordinance for Israel forever.
2:5 And the house which I am building will be great; for greater is our God than all the gods.
2:6 But who is able to build Him a house? For the heavens and the heaven of heavens are not able to contain Him. And who am I, that I should build Him a house, except to burn incense before Him?
2:7 So now send me a man, skillful in working with gold and with silver and with bronze and with iron and with purple and crimson and blue cloth, and who knows how to make engravings, to be with the skillful men who are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father prepared.
2:8 Send me timber of cedar, cypress, and algum from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut the timber of Lebanon. And now my servants will be with your servants,
2:9 To prepare for me timber in abundance; for the house which I am building will be great and wonderful.
2:10 And now I will give to your servants, the hewers who cut timber, twenty thousand cors of crushed wheat and twenty thousand cors of barley and twenty thousand baths of wine and twenty thousand baths of oil.
2:11 And Huram the king of Tyre answered by letter, sending it to Solomon, saying, Because Jehovah loves His people, He has made you king over them.
2:12 Huram also said, Blessed be Jehovah the God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth, who has given King David a wise son endowed with discernment and understanding, who will build a house for Jehovah and his royal palace.
2:13 And now I have sent a skillful man, endowed with understanding, Huram-abi,
2:14 The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, whose father is a man of Tyre, who knows how to work in gold and in silver and in bronze and in iron, in stones and in wood, in purple, in blue cloth, and in fine linen and in crimson cloth and who knows how to make all kinds of engraving, and to fashion any design which is given to him, to work with your skillful men and the skillful men of my lord David your father.
2:15 And now let my lord send to his servants the wheat and the barley, the oil and the wine of which he spoke;
2:16 And we will cut whatever timber you need from Lebanon and bring it to you on rafts by sea to Joppa, and you can bring it up to Jerusalem.
2:17 And Solomon numbered all the men who were sojourners who were in the land of Israel after the census which David his father had made of them, and they found one hundred fifty-three thousand six hundred.
2:18 And he appointed seventy thousand of them as burden bearers and eighty thousand as stonecutters in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred overseers to make the people work.