2 Chronicles 2–18

Chapter 2

¹And Solomon purposed to build a house for the name of Jehovah, and a house for his kingdom. ²And Solomon numbered seventy thousand men to bear burdens, and eighty thousand stone-masons in the mountain, and three thousand six hundred to superintend them. ³And Solomon sent to Huram king of Tyre, saying, As thou didst deal with David my father, and didst send him cedars to build him a house to dwell therein so do for me. ⁴Behold, I build a house unto the name of Jehovah my God to dedicate it to him, to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual arrangement of the shewbread, and for the morning and evening burnt-offerings and on the sabbaths and on the new moons, and on the set feasts of Jehovah our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel. ⁵And the house that I will build is great; for great is our God above all gods. ⁶But who is able to build him a house, seeing the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him? And who am I that I should build him a house, except to burn sacrifice before him? ⁷And now send me a man skilful to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze, and in iron, and in purple and crimson and blue, and experienced in carving, besides the skilful men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father provided. ⁸Send me also cedar-trees, cypress-trees, and sandal-wood trees, out of Lebanon; for I know that thy servants are experienced in cutting timber in Lebanon; and behold, my servants shall be with thy servants, ⁹even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house that I build shall be great and wonderful. ¹⁰And behold, I will give to thy servants the hewers that fell timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.

¹¹And Huram king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, Because Jehovah loved his people, he made thee king over them. ¹²And Huram said, Blessed be Jehovah the God of Israel, that made the heavens and the earth, who has given to David the king a wise son, endued with prudence and understanding, who will build a house for Jehovah and a house for his kingdom. ¹³And now, I send a skilful man, endued with understanding, Huram Abi, ¹⁴the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and whose father was a man of Tyre, experienced in working in gold, and in silver, in bronze, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in byssus, and in crimson, and for doing any manner of engraving, and for inventing every device which shall be put to him, besides thy skilful men, and the skilful men of my lord David thy father. ¹⁵And now the wheat and the barley, the oil and the wine, which my 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 floats by sea to Joppa, and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem. ¹⁷And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel, after the account that David his father had taken of them, and there were found a hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred. ¹⁸And he set seventy thousand of them to be bearers of burdens, and eighty thousand to be stone-masons in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred overseers to set the people to work.

Chapter 3

¹And Solomon began to build the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem on mount Moriah, where he appeared to David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ²And he began to build on the second of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign. ³And this was Solomon’s foundation for the construction of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. ⁴And the porch which was in front was twenty cubits in length, in front of the house broadways, and the height was a hundred and twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold. ⁵And the greater house he boarded with cypress-wood, which he overlaid with fine gold, and set on it palm-trees and chains. ⁶And he overlaid the house with precious stones for beauty; and the gold was gold of Parvaim. ⁷And he covered the house, the beams, the threshold, and its walls, and its doors with gold, and engraved cherubim on the walls. ⁸And he made the house of the most holy place, the length of which was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and its breadth twenty cubits; and he covered it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents. ⁹And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. And he covered the upper chambers with gold.

¹⁰And in the house of the most holy place he made two cherubim of image work, and they overlaid them with gold. ¹¹And the wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: one wing of five cubits touched the wall of the house; and the other wing of five cubits touched the wing of the other cherub. ¹²And the wing of the other cherub of five cubits touched the wall of the house; and the other wing was five cubits joining the wing of the other cherub. ¹³The wings of these cherubim spread forth were twenty cubits; and they stood on their feet, and their faces were toward the house. ¹⁴And he made the veil of blue, and purple, and crimson, and byssus, and made cherubim upon it. ¹⁵And before the house he made two pillars thirty-five cubits long; and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. ¹⁶And he made chains as in the oracle, and he put them on the top of the pillars; and he made a hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains. ¹⁷And he set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left; and he called the name of that on the right Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.

Chapter 4

¹And he made a brazen altar: its length was twenty cubits, and its breadth twenty cubits, and its height ten cubits. ²And he made the sea, molten, ten cubits from brim to brim, round all about; and its height was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits encompassed it round about. ³And under it was the similitude of oxen, encompassing it round about, ten in a cubit enclosing the sea round about, two rows of oxen, 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 above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward. ⁵And its thickness was a hand-breadth, and its brim like the work of the brim of a cup, with lily-blossoms; in capacity it held three thousand baths. ⁶And he made ten lavers, and put five on the right and five on the left, to wash in them: they rinsed in them what they prepared for the burnt-offering; and the sea was for the priests to wash in. ⁷And he made ten candlesticks of gold according to the ordinance respecting them, and set them in the temple, five on the right hand and five on the left. ⁸And he made ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right hand and five on the left. And he made a hundred golden bowls. ⁹And he made the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid the doors thereof with bronze. ¹⁰And he set the sea on the right side eastward, over against the south.

¹¹And Huram made the pots and the shovels and the bowls. So Huram ended doing the work that he made for king Solomon in the house of God: ¹²two pillars, and the globes and the capitals on the top of the pillars, two; and the two networks, to cover the two globes of the capitals which were on the top of the pillars; ¹³and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for one network, to cover the two globes of the capitals which were upon the pillars. ¹⁴And he made the bases, and he made the lavers on the bases; ¹⁵one sea, and the twelve oxen under it. ¹⁶And the pots, and the shovels, and the forks, and all their instruments did Huram Abiv make king Solomon for the house of Jehovah, of bright brass. ¹⁷In the plain of the Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay-ground between Succoth and Zeredathah. ¹⁸And Solomon made all these vessels in great number; for the weight of the brass was not ascertained. ¹⁹And Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of God: the golden altar; and the tables whereon was the shewbread; ²⁰and the candlesticks with their lamps to burn according to the ordinance before the oracle, of pure gold; ²¹and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, of gold (it was perfect gold); ²²and the knives, and the bowls, and the cups, and the censers, of pure gold; and the entrance of the house, the inner folding-doors thereof for the most holy place, and the doors of the house, of the temple, of gold.

Chapter 5

¹And all the work was finished that Solomon made for the house of Jehovah. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and all the vessels he put among the treasures of the house of God. ²Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers of the children of Israel, to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of the city of David, which is Zion. ³And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to the king at the feast, that of the seventh month. ⁴And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark. ⁵And they brought up the ark, and the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent: the priests, the Levites, brought them up. ⁶And king Solomon, and all the assembly of Israel, that were assembled to him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen which could not be counted nor numbered for multitude. ⁷And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah to its place, into the oracle of the house, into the most holy place,…