2 Chronicles 2–5

2 And Solomon adetermined to build an house for the name of the Lord, and an house for his kingdom. 2 And 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.

3 dAnd 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 an house to dwell therein, feven so deal with me. 4 Behold, I build an 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. 5 And the house which I build is great: for igreat is our God above all gods. 6 But who †is able to build him an house, seeing jthe heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before him? 7 Send 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. 8 Send 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, 9 Even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which I am about to build shall be †wonderful great. 10 And, 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.

11 Then 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. 12 Huram 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 an house for the Lord, and an house for his kingdom. 13 And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of Huram my father’s, 14 xThe 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. 15 Now therefore the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine, which amy lord hath spoken of, let him send unto his servants: 16 And 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.

17 bAnd 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. 18 And 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.

3 *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 c||Ornan the Jebusite. 2 And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.

3 Now 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. 4 And 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. 5 And fthe greater house he cieled with gfir tree, which he overlaid with fine gold, and set thereon hpalm trees and ichains. 6 And he †garnished the house with precious stones for beauty: and the gold was gold of Parvaim. 7 He overlaid also the house, the kbeams, the lposts, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and hgraved cherubims on the walls. 8 And 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. 9 And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. And he overlaid the oupper chambers with gold.

10 And in the mmost holy house he made ptwo cherubims ||of image work, and overlaid them with gold. 11 And 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. 12 And 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. 13 The wings of these cherubims spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces were ||inward.

14 And he made the pvail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and qfine linen, and †wrought cherubims thereon. 15 rAlso 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. 16 And 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. 17 And 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.

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

2 bAlso 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. 3 And 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. 4 It 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. 5 And the thickness of it was an 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.

6 He 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. 7 And 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. 8 He 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. 9 Furthermore he made jthe court of the priests, and kthe great court, and doors for kthe court, and overlaid the doors of them with brass. 10 And lhe set the sea on the right side of the east end, over against the south.

11 mAnd 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; 12 To 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; 13 And 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. 14 He made also pbases, and ||lavers made he upon the bases; 15 One sea, and twelve oxen under it. 16 The 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. 17 In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the †clay ground between Succoth and sZeredathah. 18 Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance: for tthe weight of the brass could not be found out. 19 And Solomon made all the vessels that were for the house of God, the golden altar also, and uthe tables whereon the shewbread was set; 20 Moreover the candlesticks with their lamps, that they should burn wafter the manner before the xoracle, of ypure gold; 21 And the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, made he of gold, and that †perfect gold; 22 And 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.

5 *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.

2 *aThen 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. 3 Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king in the feast which was in the seventh month. 4 And all the elders of Israel came; and bthe Levites took up the …