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2 Chronicles 2 - Good News Bible bible

2 Chronicles 2

¹King Solomon decided to build a temple where the LORD would be worshiped, and also to build a palace for himself.

²He put 70, men to work transporting materials, and 80, to work cutting stone in the hill country. There were 3,600 others responsible for supervising the work.

³Solomon sent a message to King Hiram of Tyre: "Do business with me as you did with my father, King David, when you sold him cedar logs for building his palace.

⁴I am building a temple to honor the LORD my God. It will be a holy place where my people and I will worship him by burning incense of fragrant spices, where we will present offerings of sacred bread to him continuously, and where we will offer burnt offerings every morning and evening, as well as on Sabbaths, New Moon Festivals, and other holy days honoring the LORD our God. He has commanded Israel to do this forever.

⁵I intend to build a great temple, because our God is greater than any other god.

⁶Yet no one can really build a temple for God, because even all the vastness of heaven cannot contain him. How then can I build a temple that would be anything more than a place to burn incense to God?

⁷Now send me a man with skill in engraving, in working gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in making blue, purple, and red cloth. He will work with the craftsmen of Judah and Jerusalem whom my father David selected.

⁸I know how skillful your lumbermen are, so send me cedar, cypress, and juniper logs from Lebanon. I am ready to send my men to assist yours

⁹in preparing large quantities of timber, because this temple I intend to build will be large and magnificent.

¹⁰As provisions for your lumbermen, I will send you 100, bushels of wheat, 100, bushels of barley, 110, gallons of wine, and 110, gallons of olive oil."

¹¹King Hiram sent Solomon a letter in reply. He wrote, "Because the LORD loves his people, he has made you their king.

¹²Praise the LORD God of Israel, Creator of heaven and earth! He has given King David a wise son, full of understanding and skill, who now plans to build a temple for the LORD and a palace for himself.

¹³I am sending you a wise and skillful master metalworker named Huram.

¹⁴His mother was a member of the tribe of Dan and his father was a native of Tyre. He knows how to make things out of gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood. He can work with blue, purple, and red cloth, and with linen. He can do all sorts of engraving and can follow any design suggested to him. Let him work with your skilled workers and with those who worked for your father, King David.

¹⁵So now send us the wheat, barley, wine, and olive oil that you promised.

¹⁶In the mountains of Lebanon we will cut down all the cedars you need, tie them together in rafts, and float them by sea as far as Joppa. From there you can take them to Jerusalem."

¹⁷King Solomon took a census of all the foreigners living in the land of Israel, similar to the census his father David had taken. There were 153,600 resident foreigners.

¹⁸He assigned 70, of them to transport materials and 80, to cut stones in the mountains, and appointed 3,600 supervisors to make sure the work was done.