Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

2 Then Solomon adetermined to build a temple for the name of the Lord, and a royal house for himself. 2 bSolomon 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 1Hiram king of Tyre, saying:

cAs 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, dI am building a temple for the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to Him, eto burn before Him 2sweet incense, for fthe continual showbread, for gthe burnt offerings morning and evening, on the hSabbaths, on the New Moons, and on the 3set feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel.

5 And the temple which I build will be great, for iour God is greater than all gods. 6 jBut 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, kwhom David my father provided. 8 lAlso 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 4temple which I am about to build shall be great and wonderful.

10 mAnd 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:

nBecause the Lord loves His people, He has made you king over them.

12 5Hiram also said:

oBlessed be the Lord God of Israel, pwho 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, 6Huram my 7master craftsman 14 q(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 rmy lord has spoken of, let him send to his servants. 16 sAnd we will cut wood from Lebanon, as much as you need; we will bring it to you in rafts by sea to 8Joppa, and you will carry it up to Jerusalem.

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

Joash Repairs the Temple

24 Joash awas seven years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba. 2 Joash bdid what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest. 3 And Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he had sons and daughters.

4 Now it happened after this that Joash set his heart on repairing the house of the Lord. 5 Then he gathered the priests and the Levites, and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah, and cgather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you do it quickly.”

However the Levites did not do it quickly. 6 dSo the king called Jehoiada the chief priest, and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and from Jerusalem the collection, according to the commandment of eMoses the servant of the Lord and of the assembly of Israel, for the ftabernacle of witness?” 7 For gthe sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also presented all the hdedicated things of the house of the Lord to the Baals.

8 Then at the king’s command ithey made a chest, and set it outside at the gate of the house of the Lord. 9 And they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring to the Lord jthe collection that Moses the servant of God had imposed on Israel in the wilderness. 10 Then all the leaders and all the people rejoiced, brought their contributions, and put them into the chest until all had given. 11 So it was, at that time, when the chest was brought to the king’s official by the hand of the Levites, and kwhen they saw that there was much money, that the king’s scribe and the high priest’s officer came and emptied the chest, and took it and returned it to its place. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance.

12 The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of the Lord; and they hired masons and carpenters to lrepair the house of the Lord, and also those who worked in iron and bronze to restore the house of the Lord. 13 So the workmen labored, and the work was completed by them; they restored the house of God to its original condition and reinforced it. 14 When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada; mthey made from it articles for the house of the Lord, articles for serving and offering, spoons and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoiada.

Apostasy of Joash

15 But Jehoiada grew old and was full of days, and he died; he was one hundred and thirty years old when he died. 16 And they buried him in the City of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God and His house.

17 Now after the death of Jehoiada the leaders of Judah came and bowed down to the king. And the king listened to them. 18 Therefore they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served nwooden images and idols; and owrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their trespass. 19 Yet He psent prophets to them, to bring them back to the Lord; and they testified against them, but they would not listen.

20 Then the Spirit of God 1came upon qZechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God: r‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? sBecause you have forsaken the Lord, He also has forsaken you.’ ” 21 So they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they tstoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord. 22 Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his 2father had done to him, but killed his son; and as he died, he said, “The Lord look on it, and urepay!”

Death of Joash

23 So it happened in the spring of the year that vthe army of Syria came up against him; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the leaders of the people from among the people, and sent all their 3spoil to the king of Damascus. 24 For the army of the Syrians wcame with a small company of men; but the Lord xdelivered a very great army into their hand, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. So they yexecuted judgment against Joash. 25 And when they had withdrawn from him (for they left him severely wounded), zhis own servants conspired against him because of the blood of the 4sons of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed. So he died. And they buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.

26 These are the ones who conspired against him: 5Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of 6Shimrith the Moabitess. 27 Now concerning his sons, and athe many oracles about him, and the repairing of the house of God, indeed they are written in the 7annals of the book of the kings. bThen Amaziah his son reigned in his place.

Amaziah Reigns…