2 Chronicles 2–18

And Solomon ^adetermined to build a house for the name of the Lord, and a house for his kingdom. ²And ^bSolomon told out threescore and ten thousand men ^cto bear burdens, and fourscore thousand to hew in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred ^cto oversee them.

^3dAnd Solomon sent to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, ^eAs thou didst deal with David my father, and didst send him cedars to build him a house to dwell therein, ^feven so deal with me. ⁴Behold, I build a house to the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for ^gthe continual shewbread, and for ^hthe burnt offerings morning and evening, ^hon the sabbaths, and ^hon the new moons, and on ^hthe solemn feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel. ⁵And the house which I build is great: for ⁱgreat is our God above all gods. ⁶But who is able to build him a house, seeing ^jthe heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him a house, save only to burn sacrifice before him? ⁷Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in ^kpurple, and ^lcrimson, and blue, and that can skill to grave with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, ^mwhom David my father did provide. ⁸Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon: for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and behold, my servants shall be with thy servants, ⁹even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which I am about to build shall be wonderful great. ¹⁰And behold, ⁿI will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, ^otwenty thousand ^pmeasures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand ^qbaths of wine, and ^otwenty thousand ^qbaths of oil.

¹¹Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, ^rBecause the Lord hath loved his people, he hath made thee king over them. ¹²Huram said moreover, ^sBlessed be the Lord God of Israel, ^tthat made heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son, endued with prudence and understanding, that ^umight build a house for the Lord, and a house for his kingdom. ¹³And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of Huram my father’s, ^14xthe son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, skilful ^yto work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in ^zfine linen, and in crimson; also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out every device which shall be put to him, with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord David thy father. ¹⁵Now therefore the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine, which ^amy lord hath spoken of, let him send unto his servants: ¹⁶and we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need: and we will bring it to thee in flotes by sea to Joppa; and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem.

^17bAnd Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel, after the numbering wherewith ^cDavid his father had numbered them; and they were found an hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hundred. ¹⁸And he set ^dthreescore and ten thousand of them to be bearers of burdens, and fourscore thousand to be hewers in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people a work.

III.Then ^aSolomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in mount ^bMoriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of ^cOrnan the Jebusite. ²And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.

³Now these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed for the building of the house of God. ^dThe length by cubits after the first measure was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. ⁴And the ^eporch that was in the front of the house, the length of it was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the height was an hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with pure gold. ⁵And ^fthe greater house he cieled with ^gfir tree, which he overlaid with fine gold, and set thereon ^hpalm trees and ⁱchains. ⁶And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty: and the gold was gold of Parvaim. ⁷He overlaid also the house, the ^kbeams, the ^lposts, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and ^hgraved cherubims on the walls. ⁸And he made the ^mmost holy house, the length whereof was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits: and ⁿhe overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents. ⁹And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. And he overlaid the ^oupper chambers with gold.

¹⁰And in the ^mmost holy house he made ^ptwo cherubims of image work, and overlaid them with gold. ¹¹And the wings of the cherubims were twenty cubits long: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub. ¹²And one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was five cubits also, joining to the wing of the other cherub. ¹³The wings of these cherubims spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces were inward.

¹⁴And he made the ^pvail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and ^qfine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon. ^15rAlso he made before the house two pillars of ^sthirty and five cubits high, and the chapiter that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. ¹⁶And he made chains, as in ^tthe oracle, and put them on the heads of the pillars; and made ^uan hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains. ¹⁷And he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.

IV.Moreover he made ^aan altar of brass, twenty cubits the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof.

^2bAlso he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about. ³And under it was the similitude of ^coxen, which did compass it round about: ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about. Two rows of oxen were cast, when it was cast. ⁴It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward. ⁵And the thickness of it was a handbreadth, and the brim of it like the work of the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies; and it received and held ^dthree thousand baths.

⁶He made also ^eten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them: such things as they offered for the burnt offering they ^fwashed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in. ⁷And he made ^gten candlesticks of gold ^haccording to their form, and set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left. ⁸He made also ⁱten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left. And he made an hundred basons of gold. ⁹Furthermore he made ^jthe court of the priests, and ^kthe great court, and doors for ^kthe court, and overlaid the doors of them with brass. ¹⁰And ^lhe set the sea on the right side of the east end, over against the south.

^11mAnd Huram made the pots, and the shovels, and the basons. And Huram finished the work that he was to make for king Solomon for the house of God; ¹²to wit, the two pillars, and ⁿthe pommels, and the chapiters which were on the top of the two pillars, and the two wreaths to cover the two pommels of the chapiters which were on the top of the pillars; ¹³and ^ofour hundred pomegranates on the two wreaths; two rows of pomegranates on each wreath, to cover the ⁿtwo pommels of the chapiters which were upon the pillars. ¹⁴He made also ^pbases and lavers made he upon the bases; ¹⁵one sea, and twelve oxen under it. ¹⁶The pots also, and the shovels, and ^qthe fleshhooks, and all their instruments, did ^rHuram his father make to king Solomon for the house of the Lord of bright brass. ¹⁷In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and ^sZeredathah. ¹⁸Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance: for ^tthe weight of the brass could not be found out. ¹⁹And Solomon made all the vessels that were for the house of God, the golden altar also, and ^uthe tables whereon the shewbread was set; ²⁰moreover the candlesticks with their lamps, that they should burn ^wafter the manner before the ^xoracle, of ^ypure gold; ²¹and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, made he of gold, and that perfect gold; ²²and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers, of ^ypure gold: and the ^zentry of the house, the inner doors thereof for the most holy place, and the doors of the house of the temple, were of gold.

V.Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of the Lord was finished: and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and all the instruments, put he among the treasures of the house of God.

^2aThen Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. ³Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king in the feast which was in the seventh month. ⁴And all the elders of Israel came; and ^bthe Levites took up the ark. ⁵And they brought up the ark, and the…