2 Chronicles 2:1–18:34

Solomon’s Letter to Hiram

2^ySolomon decided to build a temple for the name of Yahweh and a royal palace for himself, ^z2aso he assigned 70,000 men as porters, 80,000 men as stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 as supervisors over them. ^b

³Then Solomon sent word to King Hiram ^cdof Tyre: ^e

Do for me what you did for my father David. You sent him cedars to build him a house to live in. ^f4Now I am building a temple for the name of Yahweh my God in order to dedicate it to Him for burning fragrant incense before Him, ^gfor displaying the rows of the bread of the Presence continuously, ^hand for sacrificing burnt offerings for the morning and the evening, ⁱthe Sabbaths ^jand the New Moons, and the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is ordained for Israel forever. ⁵The temple that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than any of the gods. ^k6But who is able to build a temple for Him, since even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain Him? ^lWho am I then that I should build a temple for Him except as a place to burn incense before Him? ⁷Therefore, send me a craftsman who is skilled in engraving to work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and with purple, crimson, and blue yarn. He will work with the craftsmen who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, ^mappointed by my father David. ⁿ⁸Also, send me cedar, cypress, and algum ^oplogs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut the trees of Lebanon. Note that my servants will be with your servants ^q9to prepare logs for me in abundance because the temple I am building will be great and wonderful. ¹⁰I will give your servants, the woodcutters who cut the trees, 100,000 bushels ^rof wheat flour, 100,000 bushels ^sof barley, 110,000 gallons ^tof wine, and 110,000 gallons ^uof oil.

Hiram’s Reply

¹¹Then King Hiram of Tyre wrote a letter ^vand sent it to Solomon:

Because the Lord loves His people, He set you over them as king. ^w

¹²Hiram also said:

May the Lord God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth, ^xbe praised! He gave King David a wise son with insight and understanding, ^ywho will build a temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself. ^z13I have now sent Huram-abi, ^aa skillful man who has understanding. ^b14He is the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan. His father is a man of Tyre. He knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, with purple, blue, crimson yarn, and fine linen. He knows how to do all kinds of engraving and to execute any design that may be given him. I have sent him to be with your craftsmen and the craftsmen of my lord, your father David. ¹⁵Now, let my lord send the wheat, barley, oil, and wine to his servants as promised. ^c16We will cut logs from Lebanon, as many as you need, and bring them to you as rafts by sea to Joppa. You can then take them up to Jerusalem. ^d

Solomon’s Work Force

¹⁷Solomon took a census of all the foreign men in the land of Israel, after the census that his father David had conducted, ^eand the total was 153,600. ¹⁸Solomon made 70,000 of them porters, 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 supervisors to make the people work. ^f

Building the Temple

3Then Solomon began ^gto build the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah ^hwhere the Lord ⁱhad appeared to his father David, at the site David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan ^jthe Jebusite. ²He began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign. ³These are Solomon’s foundations ^kfor building God’s temple: the length ^lwas 90 feet, ^mand the width 30 feet. ⁿ⁴The portico, which was across the front extending across the width of the temple, was 30 feet ^owide; its height was 30 feet; ^pqhe overlaid its inner surface with pure gold. ⁵The larger room ^rhe paneled with cypress wood, overlaid with fine gold, and decorated with palm trees and chains. ⁶He adorned the temple with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was the gold of Parvaim. ⁷He overlaid the temple—the beams, the thresholds, its walls and doors—with gold, ^sand he carved cherubim on the walls. ^t

The Most Holy Place

⁸Then he made the most holy place; its length corresponded to the width of the temple, 30 feet, ^uand its width was 30 feet. ^vwHe overlaid it with 45,000 pounds ^xof fine gold. ⁹The weight of the nails was 20 ounces ^yof gold, and he overlaid the ceiling with gold.

¹⁰He made ^ztwo cherubim of sculptured work, for the most holy place, and he overlaid them with gold. ¹¹The overall length of the wings of the cherubim was 30 feet: ^athe wing of one was 7½ feet, ^btouching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet, ^ctouching the wing of the other cherub. ¹²The wing of the other ^dcherub was 7½ feet, ^etouching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet, ^freaching the wing of the other cherub. ¹³The wingspan of these cherubim was 30 feet. ^gThey stood on their feet and faced the larger room. ^h

¹⁴He made the veil of blue, purple, and crimson yarn and fine linen, and he wove cherubim into it. ⁱ

The Bronze Pillars

¹⁵In front of the temple ^jhe made two pillars, each 27 feet ^klhigh. The capital on top of each was 7½ feet ^mhigh. ¹⁶He had made chainwork in the inner sanctuary and also put it on top of the pillars. ⁿHe made 100 pomegranates and fastened them into the chainwork. ¹⁷Then he set up the pillars in front of the sanctuary, one on the right and one on the left. He named the one on the right Jachin ^oand the one on the left Boaz. ^p

The Altar, Reservoir, and Basins

4He made a bronze altar ^q30 feet ^rlong, 30 feet ^swide, and 15 feet ^thigh.

²Then he made the cast metal reservoir, ^u15 feet ^vfrom brim to brim, perfectly round. It was 7½ feet ^whigh and 45 feet ^xin circumference. ³The likeness of oxen ^ywas below it, completely encircling it, 10 every half yard, ^zcompletely surrounding the reservoir. The oxen were cast in two rows when the reservoir was cast. ⁴It stood on 12 oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The reservoir was on top of them and all their hindquarters were toward the center. ⁵The reservoir was three inches ^athick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup or a lily blossom. It could hold 11,000 gallons. ^b

⁶He made 10 basins for washing and he put five on the right and five on the left. ^cThe parts of the burnt offering were rinsed in them, ^dbut the reservoir was used by the priests for washing.

The Lampstands, Tables, and Courts

⁷He made the 10 gold lampstands according to their specifications and put them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left. ^e8He made 10 tables and placed them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left. ^fHe also made 100 gold bowls.

⁹He made the courtyard ^gof the priests and the large court, and doors for the court. He overlaid the doors with bronze. ¹⁰He put the reservoir on the right side, toward the southeast. ^h11Then Huram ^ijmade ^kthe pots, the shovels, and the bowls.

Completion of the Bronze Furnishings

So Huram finished doing the work that he was doing for King Solomon in God’s temple: ¹²two pillars; the bowls and the capitals on top of the two pillars; the two gratings for covering both bowls of the capitals that were on top of the pillars; ¹³the 400 pomegranates for the two gratings (two rows of pomegranates for each grating covering both capitals’ bowls on top of the pillars ^l). ¹⁴He also made the water carts ^mnand the basins on the water carts. ¹⁵The one reservoir and the 12 oxen underneath it, ¹⁶the pots, the shovels, the forks, and all their utensils—Huram-abi ^opmade them for King Solomon for the Lord’s temple. All these were made of polished bronze. ¹⁷The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zeredah. ¹⁸Solomon made all these utensils in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.

Completion of the Gold Furnishings

¹⁹Solomon also made all the equipment in God’s temple: the gold altar; the tables on which to put the bread of the Presence; ^q20the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn in front of the inner sanctuary according to specifications; ^r21the flowers, lamps, and gold tongs—of purest gold; ²²the wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, ladles, ^sand firepans—of purest gold; and the entryway to the temple, its inner doors to the most holy place, and the doors of the temple sanctuary—of gold.

5So all the work Solomon did for the Lord’s temple was completed. Then Solomon brought the consecrated things of his father David—the silver, the gold, and all the utensils—and put them in the treasuries of God’s temple.

Preparations for the Temple Dedication

²At that time ^tSolomon assembled at Jerusalem the elders of Israel—all the tribal heads, the ancestral chiefs of the Israelites—in order to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the city of David, ^uthat is, Zion. ³So all the men of Israel were assembled in the king’s presence at the festival; this was in the seventh month. ^v

⁴All the elders of Israel came, and the Levites picked up the ark. ⁵They brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and the holy utensils that were in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁶King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel who had gathered around him were in front of the ark sacrificing sheep and cattle that could not be counted or numbered because there were so many. ⁷The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the most holy place, beneath the wings of the cherubim. ^w8And the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark so that the cherubim formed a cover above the ark and its poles. ⁹The poles were so long that their ends were seen from the holy place ^xyin front of the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen from outside; they are there to this very day. ¹⁰Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had put in it at Horeb, ^zawhere the Lord had made a covenant with…