2 Chronicles 1–2

Solomon Worships at Gibeon

1And Solomon the son of David strengthened himself concerning his kingdom, and Yahweh his God was with him and made him exceedingly great. ²And Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to all the leaders for all Israel, the heads of the families.^{a 3}And Solomon and the whole assembly with him went to the high place that was at Gibeon, for the tent of assembly^b of God that Moses the servant of Yahweh had made in the desert was there. ⁴(But the ark of God David had brought up from Kiriath-Jearim to the place David had prepared for it, for David had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.) ⁵And the bronze altar that Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was there before the tabernacle of Yahweh. And Solomon and the assembly sought it out. ⁶And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before Yahweh, which was at the tent of assembly,^c and he offered upon it a thousand burnt offerings.

Solomon’s Prayer for Wisdom

⁷On that night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask what I shall give to you.” ⁸Then Solomon said to God, “You yourself have shown steadfast^d loyal love to David my father and have made me king in his place. ⁹Now, O Yahweh God, let your word to David my father be fulfilled, for you yourself have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. ¹⁰Now, give to me wisdom and knowledge that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can judge this, your great people?”

¹¹Then God said to Solomon, “Because this was with your heart and you did not ask for wealth, possessions, honor, and the lives of your enemies, and also did not ask for long life,^e but have asked for wisdom and knowledge that you might judge my people over whom I have made you king, ¹²wisdom and knowledge is given to you. And I will also give to you wealth, possessions, and honor, the like of which was not had by the kings who were before you, nor will there be the like after you.” ¹³So Solomon went from the high place which was at Gibeon to Jerusalem before the tent of assembly.^f And he reigned over Israel.

Solomon’s Wealth

¹⁴And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen. And he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, and he placed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ¹⁵And the king made silver and gold in Jerusalem like the stones. And he made cedar as abundant as the sycamore fig trees that were in the Shephelah. ¹⁶And Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue. The traders of the king received them from Kue at a price. ¹⁷They went up and exported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver and a horse for one hundred and fifty shekels. And these were likewise exported^g to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.^h

Solomon Petitions the King of Tyre

2^a And Solomon planned to build a house for the name of Yahweh and a royal palace for himself.^{b 2}And Solomon assigned seventy thousand men to bear burdens^c and eighty thousand quarriers^d in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred men to supervise them. ³And Solomon sent word to Huram^e king of Tyre, saying, “As you have dealt with David my father and sent cedar to him to build for himself a house in which to live, please deal with me. ⁴Look, I am building a house for the name of Yahweh my God to dedicate to him, to offer sweet spices of incense before him, and for the regular rows of bread, and burnt offerings for mornings, evenings, Sabbaths, and new moon festivals, and for appointed feasts of Yahweh our God which are everlasting for Israel. ⁵And the house that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. ⁶Now who indeed has adequate strength to build a house for him? For the heavens and the highest heavens^f are not able to contain him. Now who am I that I would build a house for him, except to burn incense before him? ⁷So then, send to me skilled men to work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and with purple, crimson, and blue fabric, knowledgeable in engraving, with the skilled men who are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father has established. ⁸Send me trees of cedar, cypress, and algum from Lebanon, for I myself know that your servants are knowledgeable in cutting the trees of Lebanon. Now see, my servants will be with your servants ⁹to prepare trees in abundance for me, for the house that I am building will be great and wonderful. ¹⁰Now see, I will provide twenty thousand dry measures of crushed wheat, twenty thousand dry measures of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil to the woodcarvers and those who cut timber.”

¹¹Then Huram^g king of Tyre answered in a letter, and he sent word to Solomon: “Because Yahweh loves his people, he has made you king over them.” ¹²Then Huram^h said, “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who has made the heavens and the earth, who has given to King David a wise son knowing discretion and understanding, who will build for Yahweh a house and a royal palace for himself. ¹³So now I have sent a skilled man, knowledgeable and with understanding: my masterⁱ Huram, ¹⁴a son of a woman from the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, knowledgeable for working with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and with purple, blue, and crimson fabric, and with fine linen, for engraving any engraving and devising any plan that is given to him, with your skilled men and the skilled men of my lord David your father. ¹⁵Now as for the wheat, barley, oil, and wine that my lord mentioned, let him send that to his servants. ¹⁶And we ourselves will cut trees from Lebanon according to all your need, and we will bring them to you on rafts over the sea to Joppa, so that you may bring them up to Jerusalem.”

¹⁷Then Solomon counted all the resident alien men who were in the land of Israel after the census that David his father had taken of them. And there were found one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred. ¹⁸And he appointed from them seventy thousand to bear burdens,^j eighty thousand to quarry^k in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred overseers to make the people work.