2 Chronicles 2
1 And Solomon says to build a house for the Name of YHWH, and a house for his kingdom,
Solomon ordered the building of a Temple to honor the Lord and a royal palace for himself.
2 and Solomon numbers seventy thousand men bearing burden, and eighty thousand men hewing in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers over them.
He allocated 70,000 men as laborers, 80,000 as stone cutters in the mountains, and 3,600 as foremen.
3 And Solomon sends to Huram king of Tyre, saying, “When you have dealt with my father David, then you send cedars to him to build a house for him to dwell in;
Solomon sent a message to Hiram, king of Tyre, telling him,
4 behold, I am building a house for the Name of my God YHWH, to sanctify [it] to Him, to make incense before Him, incense of spices, and a continual arrangement, and burnt-offerings at morning and at evening, at Sabbaths, and at new moons, and at appointed times of our God YHWH; this [is] on Israel for all time.
“Please do as you did with my father David when you sent him cedar timber for him to build a palace to live in. I'm about to start building a Temple to honor the Lord my God, dedicated to him, where he will be offered sweet-smelling incense, where the showbread will be always set out in rows, and where burnt offerings will be made every morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, at new moon festivals, and at the feasts of the Lord our God—this to be done forever in Israel.
5 And the house that I am building [is] great, for our God [is] greater than all gods;
This Temple I am about to build must be impressive, because our God is greater than all gods.
6 and who retains strength to build a house for Him, since the heavens, even the heavens of the heavens, do not contain Him? And who [am] I that I build a house for Him, except to make incense before Him?
But who can build a Temple for him to live in, for the heavens, even highest heaven, cannot contain him, and who am I that I should dare to build him a house, except to burn incense to him?
7 And now, send a wise man to me to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and knowing to engrave engravings with the wise men who [are] with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom my father David prepared;
So please send me a master craftsman who is skilled in working with gold, silver, bronze, and iron; and in purple, scarlet, and blue fabrics. He must also know how to engrave, working together with my expert craftsmen from Judea and Jerusalem provided by my father David.
8 and send to me cedar-trees, firs, and algums from Lebanon, for I have known that your servants know to cut down trees of Lebanon, and behold, my servants [are] with your servants,
Also send me cedar, cypress, and algum timber from Lebanon, for I know that your workers are skillful in cutting down the trees of Lebanon. I will send men to help your workers
9 even to prepare trees in abundance for me, for the house that I am building [is] great and wonderful.
to produce a large quantity of timber because the Temple I'm building will be really large and very impressive.
10 And behold, I have given to your servants, to hewers, to those cutting the trees, twenty thousand cors of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand cors of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.”
I will pay your workers, the wood-cutters, 20,000 cors of crushed wheat, 20,000 cors of barley, 20,000 baths of wine, and 20,000 baths of olive oil.”
11 And Huram king of Tyre answers in writing, and sends [it] to Solomon: “In the love of YHWH for His people, He has set you [as] king over them.”
King Hiram of Tyre responded to Solomon by letter: “It's because the Lord loves his people that he has made you their king.”
12 And Huram says, “Blessed [is] YHWH, God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth, who has given a wise son to David the king, knowing wisdom and understanding, who builds a house for YHWH, and a house for his kingdom.
Hiram went on, “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth! He has given King David a wise son with insight and understanding who is going to build a Temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.
13 And now, I have sent a wise man having understanding, of [my] father Huram
I'm sending you Hiram-Abi, a master craftsman who knows and understands what he's doing.
14 (son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father a man of Tyre), knowing to work in gold, and in silver, in bronze, in iron, in stones, and in wood, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson, and to engrave any engraving, and to devise any invention that is given to him, with your wise men, and the wise men of my lord, your father David.
His mother is from the tribe of Dan and his father is from Tyre. He's an expert in working with gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, purple, blue, and crimson fabric, and fine linen. He can do all kinds of engraving and can make any design he's given. He'll work with your craftsmen and with the craftsmen of my lord, your father David.
15 And now, the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine, as my lord said, let him send to his servants,
Now my lord, please send to us his servants the wheat, barley, olive oil, and wine he spoke about.
16 and we cut trees out of Lebanon, according to all your need, and bring them to you—floats by sea, to Joppa, and you take them up to Jerusalem.”
We will cut all timber you need from Lebanon and take it to you by sea in rafts to Joppa. From there you can transport it to Jerusalem.”
17 And Solomon numbers all the men, the sojourners who [are] in the land of Israel, after the numbering with which his father David numbered them, and they are found [to be] one hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hundred;
Solomon had a census taken of all the foreigners in the land of Israel, like the census his father David had conducted, and found there were 153,600.
18 and he makes from them seventy thousand burden-bearers, and eighty thousand hewers in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers, to cause the people to work.
He allocated 70,000 as laborers, 80,000 as stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 as foremen.
