2 Chronicles 2

Solomon Gets Ready to Build the Temple

1 Solomon made up his mind to build a temple for the Name of the Lord, and a palace for himself.

2 So Solomon drafted seventy thousand men to carry loads, eighty thousand men to chop stone in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them.

3 Solomon then sent word to King Huram of Tyre, saying, “Hook me up like you hooked up my pops David, sending him cedar timber to build him a palace.”

4 “Look, I am about to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God, to make it holy for Him, to burn sweet incense before Him, and to have the regular showbread, and burnt offerings morning and evening, and on the Sabbaths, New Moons, and appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is an eternal rule for Israel.”

5 “The temple I am building is going to be massive, because our God is greater than all other gods.”

6 “But who is really capable of building a temple for Him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain Him, So who am I to build Him a temple, except as a place to burn incense before Him?”

7 “Now, send me a skilled craftsman who can work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and who knows how to deal with purple, crimson, and blue fabrics, and who is good at carving, to work with the skilled craftsmen I got in Judah and Jerusalem, whom my pops David provided.”

8 “Also send me cedar, cypress, and almug timber from Lebanon, because I know your servants are good at cutting timber in Lebanon. And look, my servants are going to be with your servants?”

9 “To get me a ton of timber, because the temple I am going to build is going to be super grand and amazing.”

10 “And look, I am giving your servants, the timber cutters, about a hundred twenty-five thousand bushels of ground wheat, a hundred twenty-five thousand bushels of barley, a hundred fifteen thousand gallons of wine, and a hundred fifteen thousand gallons of olive oil.”

11 Then King Huram of Tyre sent a letter back to Solomon, saying, “Because the Lord loves His people, He made you king over them.”

12 And Huram also said, “Shout out to the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who gave King David a wise son, full of knowledge and understanding, who is going to build a temple for the Lord and a palace for himself!”

13 “So now, I am sending you a skilled and understanding man, Huram-Abi,”

14 “Whose mama was from the daughters of Dan, and whose pops was a man of Tyre. He is good at working with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and timber, and with purple, blue, fine linen, and crimson fabrics. He has also skilled in all kinds of engraving and can figure out any design given to him. He will work with your skilled craftsmen and the skilled craftsmen of my lord, your pops David.”

15 “So now, my lord, send your servants the wheat, barley, oil, and wine that you promised.”

16 “And we will chop as much timber from Lebanon as you need and float it to you in rafts by sea to Joppa, and you can haul it up to Jerusalem.”

17 Solomon counted all the foreigners who were in the land of Israel, after the count his pops David had made, and there were one hundred fifty-three thousand six hundred of them.

18 He made seventy thousand of them load carriers, eighty thousand stone choppers in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred overseers, to make the people work.