2 *Chronicles 2

₁King Solomon decided to build a temple to honour the name of the Lord and a palace for himself. ₂Solomon told 70 000 men to carry the wood and 80 000 men to cut stones in the mountains. There were also 3 600 managers to see that the workers did their work. ₃Then King Solomon sent a message to King Hiram of Tyre. He said: ‘You sent my father David cedar wood to build a palace for him to live in. ₄Now I want to build a temple to honour the name of the Lord my God. I want to consecrate the temple to Him so that we can burn incense before Him and always put sacrificial bread on his table and so that we can sacrifice_offerings in the morning and in the evening, on the Sabbath day, the New-moon-feasts and other feasts for the Lord our God. These are things that the Israelites always need to do.

₅The temple that I want to build must be very big because our God is greater than all the other gods. ₆No one can really build a temple for God because it will not be big enough for Him. Not even the highest heaven is big enough for Him. I can not build a house for Him that is good enough. I want to build a temple for Him as a place where we can bring offerings to Him.

₇Now I am asking you to send me someone who is very good at working with gold, silver, bronze and iron and at making purple, red and blue wool. He must also know how to cut pictures into stone. He must work with me and the artisans in Judah and Jerusalem. My father chose these men to do this work.

₈Please also send me cedar wood, cypress and algum poles from the Lebanon mountain, because they have told me that your workers know how to cut trees in Lebanon. My workers will help your workers. ₉They must prepare a lot of cedar wood to build the temple because the temple that I want to build must be big and wonderful and beautiful. ₁₀This is what I will pay for your workers to cut the wood: I will pay you 20 000 cors of wheat, 20 000 cors of barley, 20 000 baths of wine and 20 000 baths of olive oil.’

₁₁Then King Hiram of Tyre wrote a letter to Solomon. He wrote: ‘The Lord loves his people and that is why He made you king over them.’ ₁₂Hiram also wrote: ‘I praise the Lord, the God of Israel who made the heaven and the earth. He gave King David a wise son, a man who knows what he must do and who is clever and wise to build a temple for the Lord and a palace for himself.

₁₃I am sending you a very good artisan who is clever and a good worker. His name is Huram-Abi. ₁₄His mother is from the Dan tribe and his father came from Tyre. He knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone and wood. He also knows how to work with purple and blue wool, linen and red material, and how to cut pictures into stone. He can do it in any way that you tell him to. He can work with your artisans, the artisans of your father, King David.

₁₅You must give me the wheat, barley, wine and olive oil that you have promised. ₁₆Then we will cut all the trees that you need from the Lebanon mountain. We will tie the trees and poles together and let them float to you on the sea to the town of Joppa. Then your people can take them to Jerusalem.’

₁₇Solomon then counted all the men who were strangers in the land_of_Israel. His father David had also counted them before. There were 153 600 men in all. ₁₈Solomon said 70 000 of them must carry the wood, 80 000 men must cut stones in the mountains and 3 600 men were chosen to be supervisors. They had to see that the workers did their work.