2 Chronicles 2
1 And he said Solomon to build a house for [the] name of Yahweh and a house for royalty his.
Solomon ordered that a temple should be built where Yahweh would be worshiped and also that a palace should be built for himself.
2 And he counted Solomon seventy thousand man burden-bearer[s] and eighty thousand man stone-cutter[s] in the hill country and overseers over them three thousand and six hundred.
He selected 70,000 men to carry the building supplies and 80,000 men to cut stones [(from quarries/walls of rock) in] the hills. He also chose 3,600 men to supervise them.
3 And he sent Solomon to Huram [the] king of Tyre saying just as you dealt with David father my and you sent to him cedars to build for him a house to dwell in it.
Solomon sent this message to King Hiram of Tyre [city]: “[Many years ago] when my father David was building his palace, you sent to him cedar logs. Will you send me cedar logs, too?
4 Here! I [am] about to build a house for [the] name of - Yahweh God my to consecrate [it] to him to make smoke before him incense of perfume and [the] row of continuity and burnt offerings for the morning and for the evening for the sabbaths and for the new moons and for [the] appointed times of Yahweh God our for ever this [is] on Israel.
“We are about to build a temple where we will worship Yahweh our God. We want to dedicate it to be a place where we will burn fragrant incense to [honor] him, and a place to put loaves of sacred bread, and for making sacrifices every morning and every evening and every Sabbath day, and to celebrate on the day of every new moon and at other special religious festivals to [honor] Yahweh our God. We want to do those things forever, like Yahweh has commanded.
5 And the house which I [am] about to build [will be] great for [is] great God our more than all the gods.
[We want] this temple [to] be a great temple, because our God is greater than all other gods.
6 And who? will he retain strength to build for him a house for the heavens and [the] heavens of the heavens not they will contain him and who? [am] I that I will build for him a house that except to make smoke before him.
But no one can really build a temple that would be big enough for God [to live in], because even the highest heavens are not big enough for him. And I am worthy only to build a place where we can burn sacrifices to him.
7 And therefore send to me a man skillful to work in gold and in silver and in bronze and in iron and in purple and crimson and violet and [one who] knows to engrave engravings with the skillful [people] who [are] with me in Judah and in Jerusalem whom he appointed David father my.
Therefore, please send me a man who knows well how to make things from gold and silver and bronze and iron, and to make things from purple and red and blue cloth. He should also know well how to engrave designs. I want him to work in Jerusalem and in other places in Judah with my skilled craftsmen, the ones whom my father David appointed.
8 And send to me wood of cedar fir and algum from Lebanon for I I know that servants your [are] knowing to cut [the] wood of Lebanon and there! servants my [will be] with servants your.
I know that your workers are skilled in cutting timber, so also please send me cedar logs, pine logs, and juniper logs from the Lebanon mountains. My workers will work with your workers.
9 And to prepare for me wood to abundance for the house which I [am] about to build [will be] great and act wonderfully.
In that way, those workers will provide me with plenty of lumber. [We will need plenty, ] because I want the temple that we will build to be large and beautiful.
10 And here! to the wood-cutters - to [the] cutters of - the wood I give wheat - wounds to servants your cors twenty thousand and barley cors twenty thousand and wine baths twenty thousand and oil baths twenty thousand.
I will pay your workers, the men who cut the logs, 100,000 bushels of ground wheat, 100,000 bushels of barley, 110,000 gallons of wine, and 110,000 gallons of olive oil.”
11 And he said Huram [the] king of Tyre in a document and he sent to Solomon because loves Yahweh people his he has made you over them king.
[When] Hiram [received that message, he] replied by sending this message to Solomon: “Because Yahweh loves his people, he has appointed you to be their king.”
12 And he said Huram [be] blessed Yahweh [the] God of Israel who he has made the heavens and the earth who he has given to David the king a son wise [who] knows insight and understanding who he will build a house for Yahweh and a house for royalty his.
[And Hiram added, ] “Praise Yahweh, the God to whom the Israeli people belong, the one who created the sky and the earth! He has given King David a wise son, one who is very smart/intelligent and who has good skill and understanding. He wants to build a temple for Yahweh and a palace for himself.
13 And now I send a man wise [who] knows understanding Huram Abi.
“I will be sending to you Huram-Abi, a man who is very skilled.
14 A son of a woman one of [the] daughters of Dan and father his [was] a man Tyrian [who] knows to work in gold and in silver in bronze in iron in stone and in wood in purple in violet and in fine linen and in crimson and to engrave every engraving and to design any design which it will be given to him with skilled [people] your and [the] skillful [people] of lord my David father your.
His mother was from the tribe of Dan, and his father was from [here in] Tyre. He is very able to make things from gold and silver and bronze and iron and stone and wood, but he also makes nice things from purple and blue and red cloth, and he does all kinds of engraving. He can make things using any design/pattern that you give to him. He will work with your craftsmen, and the craftsmen who did work for your father, King David.
15 And therefore the wheat and the barley the oil and the wine which he has said lord my let him send to servants his.
“Now please send us the wheat and barley and olive oil and wine that you promised to send to us.
16 And we we will cut wood from Lebanon according to all need your and we will bring them to you rafts on [the] sea Joppa and you you will take up them Jerusalem.
When you do that, my workers will cut from trees in the Lebanon mountains all the logs that you need [and bring them down to the sea]. Then we will [tie the logs together to] form rafts with them, and float them in the sea to Joppa [city]. From there, you [can arrange for] them [to be] taken up to Jerusalem.
17 And he counted Solomon all the people the sojourners who [were] in [the] land of Israel after the census which he had counted them David father his and they were found one hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hundred.
Solomon told his workers to count all the people from other countries who were living in Israel, similar to what his father David had done. There were 153,600 of them.
18 And he appointed of them seventy thousand burden-bearer[s] and eighty thousand stone-cutter[s] in the hill country and three thousand and six hundred overseers to compel to labor the people.
Solomon assigned 70,000 of them to carry materials, and 80,000 to cut stone [from quarries in] the hills, and 3,600 of them to supervise the others and be sure that they worked steadily.
