2 Chronicles 2-4

Preparations for Building the Temple 1In Hebrew texts 2:1 is numbered 1:18, and 2:2-18 is numbered 2:1-17. Solomon gave orders to build a temple for the Name of the LORD and a royal palace for himself.

2He conscripted 70,000 men as carriers and 80,000 as stonecutters in the hills and 3,600 as foremen over them.

3Solomon sent this message to Hiram Hebrew Huram, a variant of Hiram also in verses 11 and 12 king of Tyre: “Send me cedar logs as you did for my father David when you sent him cedar to build a palace to live in.

4Now I am about to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God and to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him, for setting out the consecrated bread regularly, and for making burnt offerings every morning and evening and on the Sabbaths, at the New Moons and at the appointed festivals of the LORD our God. This is a lasting ordinance for Israel. 5“The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods.

6But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? Who then am I to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him?

7“Send me, therefore, a man skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, and in purple, crimson and blue yarn, and experienced in the art of engraving, to work in Judah and Jerusalem with my skilled workers, whom my father David provided. 8“Send me also cedar, juniper and algum Probably a variant of almug logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants are skilled in cutting timber there. My servants will work with yours 9to provide me with plenty of lumber, because the temple I build must be large and magnificent.

10I will give your servants, the woodsmen who cut the timber, twenty thousand cors That is, probably about 3,600 tons or about 3,200 metric tons of wheat of ground wheat, twenty thousand cors That is, probably about 3,000 tons or about 2,700 metric tons of barley of barley, twenty thousand baths That is, about 120,000 gallons or about 440,000 liters of wine and twenty thousand baths of olive oil.”

11Hiram king of Tyre replied by letter to Solomon: “Because the LORD loves his people, he has made you their king.”

12And Hiram added: “Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth! He has given King David a wise son, endowed with intelligence and discernment, who will build a temple for the LORD and a palace for himself. 13“I am sending you Huram-Abi, a man of great skill,

14whose mother was from Dan and whose father was from Tyre. He is trained to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, and with purple and blue and crimson yarn and fine linen. He is experienced in all kinds of engraving and can execute any design given to him. He will work with your skilled workers and with those of my lord, David your father. 15“Now let my lord send his servants the wheat and barley and the olive oil and wine he promised,

16and we will cut all the logs from Lebanon that you need and will float them as rafts by sea down to Joppa. You can then take them up to Jerusalem.” 17Solomon took a census of all the foreigners residing in Israel, after the census his father David had taken; and they were found to be 153,600. 18He assigned 70,000 of them to be carriers and 80,000 to be stonecutters in the hills, with 3,600 foremen over them to keep the people working.

Solomon Builds the Temple 1Then Solomon began to build the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah Hebrew Ornan, a variant of Araunah the Jebusite, the place provided by David.

2He began building on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign. 3The foundation Solomon laid for building the temple of God was sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wide That is, about 90 feet long and 30 feet wide or about 27 meters long and 9 meters wide (using the cubit of the old standard).

4The portico at the front of the temple was twenty cubits That is, about 30 feet or about 9 meters; also in verses 8, 11 and 13 long across the width of the building and twenty Some Septuagint and Syriac manuscripts; Hebrew and a hundred and twenty cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold. 5He paneled the main hall with juniper and covered it with fine gold and decorated it with palm tree and chain designs. 6He adorned the temple with precious stones. And the gold he used was gold of Parvaim.

7He overlaid the ceiling beams, doorframes, walls and doors of the temple with gold, and he carved cherubim on the walls. 8He built the Most Holy Place, its length corresponding to the width of the temple—twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. He overlaid the inside with six hundred talents That is, about 23 tons or about 21 metric tons of fine gold.

9The gold nails weighed fifty shekels. That is, about 1 1/4 pounds or about 575 grams He also overlaid the upper parts with gold. 10For the Most Holy Place he made a pair of sculptured cherubim and overlaid them with gold. 11The total wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters; also in verse 15 long and touched the temple wall, while its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the other cherub. 12Similarly one wing of the second cherub was five cubits long and touched the other temple wall, and its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the first cherub.

13The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, facing the main hall. Or facing inward

14He made the curtain of blue, purple and crimson yarn and fine linen, with cherubim worked into it. 15For the front of the temple he made two pillars, which together were thirty-five cubits That is, about 53 feet or about 16 meters long, each with a capital five cubits high. 16He made interwoven chains Or possibly made chains in the inner sanctuary; the meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain. and put them on top of the pillars. He also made a hundred pomegranates and attached them to the chains. 17He erected the pillars in the front of the temple, one to the south and one to the north. The one to the south he named Jakin Jakin probably means he establishes. and the one to the north Boaz. Boaz probably means in him is strength.

The Temple’s Furnishings 1He made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high. That is, about 30 feet long and wide and 15 feet high or about 9 meters long and wide and 4.5 meters high 2He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters high. It took a line of thirty cubits That is, about 45 feet or about 14 meters to measure around it.

3Below the rim, figures of bulls encircled it—ten to a cubit. That is, about 18 inches or about 45 centimeters The bulls were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea. 4The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center.

5It was a handbreadth That is, about 3 inches or about 7.5 centimeters in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held three thousand baths. That is, about 18,000 gallons or about 66,000 liters

6He then made ten basins for washing and placed five on the south side and five on the north. In them the things to be used for the burnt offerings were rinsed, but the Sea was to be used by the priests for washing.

7He made ten gold lampstands according to the specifications for them and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north.

8He made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He also made a hundred gold sprinkling bowls. 9He made the courtyard of the priests, and the large court and the doors for the court, and overlaid the doors with bronze.

10He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner.

11And Huram also made the pots and shovels and sprinkling bowls. So Huram finished the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of God:

12the two pillars; the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars; the two sets of network decorating the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;

13the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network, decorating the bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars);

14the stands with their basins;

15the Sea and the twelve bulls under it;

16the pots, shovels, meat forks and all related articles. All the objects that Huram-Abi made for King Solomon for the temple of the LORD were of polished bronze. 17The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Sukkoth and Zarethan. Hebrew Zeredatha, a variant of Zarethan

18All these things that Solomon made amounted to so much that the weight of the bronze could not be calculated.

19Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in God’s temple: the golden altar; the tables on which was the bread of the Presence;

20the lampstands of pure gold with their lamps, to burn in front of the inner sanctuary as prescribed;

21the gold floral work and lamps and tongs (they were solid gold); 22the pure gold wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and censers; and the gold doors of the temple: the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and the doors of the main hall.