2 CHRONICLES

Chapter 1

¹ King Solomon, David's son, was able to gain complete control over his kingdom, because Yahweh his God was with him and enabled him to become a very strong king.

^2-5 When David had been king, he arranged for a new sacred tent to be made in Jerusalem. Then David and the Israelite leaders brought God's sacred chest from the city of Kiriath Jearim to the new sacred tent. But when Solomon became the king, the first sacred tent was still in the city of Gibeon. There was a bronze altar there that Bezalel son of Uri and grandson of Hur, had made was also still at Gibeon, in front of the first sacred tent.

Solomon called together the army commanders who directed thousands of soldiers, and the commanders who directed hundreds of soldiers, with the judges and all the other leaders in Israel. He told them to go with him to Gibeon. So they all went to the place on the hill where idols were worshiped at Gibeon. That was the same place where God had met with his people in the tent which Moses had made. There Solomon and all the others with him prayed to Yahweh. ⁶ Then Solomon went up to the bronze altar in front of the sacred tent, and he offered one thousand animals to be killed and completely burned on the altar.

⁷ That night God appeared to Solomon in a dream and said to him, "Request whatever you want me to give to you."

⁸ Solomon replied to God, "You were very kind to David my father, and now you have appointed me to be the next king. ⁹ So Yahweh my God, you have caused me to become the king to rule people who are as many as the dust of the earth. So do what you promised to my father David. ¹⁰ Please enable me to be wise and to know what I should do, in order that I may rule these people well, because there is no one who can rule all this great nation of yours without your help."

¹¹ God replied to Solomon, "You have not requested a huge amount of money or to be honored or that your enemies be killed. And you have not requested that you be enabled to live for a long time. Instead, you have requested that I enable you to be wise and to know what you should do in order that you may govern well my people whom I have appointed you to rule. ¹² So I will enable you to be wise and to know what you should do to rule my people well. But I will also enable you to have a huge amount of money and for people everywhere to honor you, more any king before you, and more than any king who will come after you." ¹³ Then Solomon and the people who were with him all left the sacred tent at Gibeon, and they returned to Jerusalem. There he ruled the Israelite people.

¹⁴ Solomon acquired 1,400 chariots and twelve thousand men who rode on horses. He put some of the chariots and horses in Jerusalem, and put some of them in various other cities. ¹⁵ During the years that Solomon was king, silver and gold were as common in Jerusalem as stones, and lumber from cedar trees were as plentiful as lumber from ordinary sycamore trees in the foothills. ¹⁶ Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt and from the region of Kue. ¹⁷ In Egypt his men paid seven kilograms of silver for each chariot and one and seven-tenths kilograms of silver for each horse. They also sold many of them to the kings of the Heth and Aram people groups.

Chapter 2

¹ Solomon decided that a temple should be built where Yahweh would be worshiped, and also that he would build a palace for himself. ² He commanded seventy thousand men to carry the building supplies and eighty thousand men to cut stones from quarries in the hills. He also chose 3,600 men to supervise them.

³ Solomon sent this message to King Hiram of the city of Tyre:

         "Many years ago when my father David was building his palace, you sent him cedar logs. Will you send me cedar logs, too?

         ⁴ We are about to build a temple to set it apart for Yahweh, to burn for him incense made from fragrant spices, to always display before him the bread, and to burn animal offerings every morning and evening and day of rest, as well as at every new moon and on the other special festivals to honor Yahweh our God. We want to do these things forever, as Yahweh has commanded. ⁵ We want this temple to be a great temple, because our God is greater than all other gods. ⁶ But no one can build a place for God to live in, since even the heavens and the earth are not big enough for him. I myself an not worthy to build him a house, except as a place to offer sacrifices to him.

         ⁷ Therefore, please send me someone who is very good at making things from gold and silver and bronze and iron, and at making 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 I know that your workers are skilled in cutting timber, so also please send me cedar logs, pine logs, and algum from the Lebanon mountains. My workers will work with your workers. ⁹ In that way, they 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 I will pay to your workers, the men who cut the logs, 4,400 kiloliters of bushels of ground wheat, 4,400 kiloliters of barley, and 440 kiloliters of wine, and 440 kiloliters of olive oil."

¹¹ When Hiram received this message, he replied by sending a message back to Solomon:

         "Because Yahweh loves his people, he has appointed you to be their king. ¹² Let everyone praise Yahweh, the God to whom the Israelite people belong, the one who created the sky and the earth! He has given King David a wise son, one who is very intelligent and who has good skill and understanding. He wants to build a temple for Yahweh and a palace for himself. ¹³ I will send to you Huram-Abi, one of my skilled craftsmen. ¹⁴ His mother was from the tribe of Dan, and his father was from here in Tyre. He is 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 that you give to him. He will work with your craftsmen, and the craftsmen who did work for your father, King David.

         ¹⁵ Now please send us the wheat, barley, olive oil, and wine that you promised to send to us. ¹⁶ When you do that, my workers will cut 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 the city of Joppa. From there, you can arrange for men to take them up to Jerusalem."

¹⁷ 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 Solomon assigned seventy thousand of them to carry materials, and eighty thousand to cut stone from quarries in the hills, and 3,600 of them to supervise the others and be sure that they worked steadily.

Chapter 3

¹ Then Solomon's workers started to build the temple for Yahweh in Jerusalem. They built it on Mount Moriah, where an angel from Yahweh had appeared to his father David. They built it on the ground that Ornan, a descendant of the Jebus people group, had sold to David and where David said that it should be built. ² They began the work on the second day of the second month, when Solomon had been ruling almost four years.

³ The foundation of the temple was twenty-seven meters long and nine meters wide. ⁴ The entrance room across the front of the temple was also nine meters long, the same as the temple's width. The entrance room was also nine meters high. Solomon caused workmen to coat the interior of the entrance room with thin sheets of pure gold.

⁵ Solomon's workers used panels of pine wood to line the main hall of the temple. Then they covered those panels with very thin sheets of pure gold. On them they carved images of palm trees and designs that resembled chains. ⁶ They decorated the temple with very valuable stones. The gold that they used was from the land of Parvaim.

⁷ They covered the ceiling beams, doorframes, walls and doors of the temple with very thin sheets of gold. They also carved statues of winged creatures on the walls. ⁸ They also built the very holy place inside the temple. It was nine meters long, the same as the temple's width. The width of the very holy place was the same. They covered its walls with sheets of pure gold that altogether weighed about twenty metric tons. ⁹ Each gold nails weighed about one-half a kilogram. They also covered the walls of the upper rooms with thin sheets of gold.

¹⁰ Solomon's workers made two statues of creatures with wings to put inside the very holy place. They covered those statues with very thin sheets of gold. ^11-12 Each statue had two long wings. One wing of each statue touched the wall of the temple. The other wing of each statue touched a wing of the other statue. The wingspan of each cherub was about four and three-fifths meters across. One wing of each cherub touched the wall, while the other reached to the middle of room and touched the inner wing of the other cherub. Each wing was two and one-third meters long.

¹³ It was nine meters from the outer wing of the one statue to the outer wing of the other statue. The statues faced the doorway leading to the main room.

¹⁴ Solomon's workers made a curtain to separate the main room from the very holy place. It was made of blue, purple, and red thread and fine linen. Figures of winged creatures were embroidered on the curtain. ¹⁵ They made two bronze pillars and put them at the entrance of the temple. They were each sixteen meters high. A separate piece was attached to the top of each pillar; each of the top pieces was two and one-third meters high. ¹⁶ The workers made carvings that resembled chains and put them on top of the pillars. They made carvings that resembled pomegranates and attached them to the chains. There were one hundred of them. ¹⁷ They set up the pillars in front of the temple, one the south side of the entrance and the other on the north side. The one of the south side was named Jakin and the one on the north side was named Boaz.

Chapter 4

¹ Solomon's workers made a square bronze altar, nine meters long on each side, and four and three-fifths meters high. ² They also made a very large round tank that was called "The Sea," and it had a circumference of fourteen meters. ³ Below the outer rim there were small figures of bulls that were set in a circle, the bulls were placed 45 centimeters apart around the whole circle. The bulls were cast together in two rows, and they were also cast together with the metal basin that was called "The Sea." (Each row had three hundred figures of bulls.)

⁴ "The Sea" was set on twelve large figures of bulls, with the bulls facing outward. Three bulls faced north, three faced west, three faced south, and three faced east. ⁵ The sides of the tank were eight centimeters thick. The tank's brim was fashioned like the brim of a cup; it resembled a lily blossom. The tank held sixty-six kiloliters of water.

⁶ The craftsmen also made ten basins for washing the articles that were to be used in making offerings, and they set five on the south side, and five on the north side. In them the utensils used for the burnt offering were washed, and the priests washed themselves in the large bronze tank that was called "The Sea."

⁷ The craftsmen also made ten gold lampstands according to how Solomon had instructed them. They put them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north side.

⁸ They made ten tables and put them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north side. They also made one hundred gold basins.

⁹ They constructed one courtyard for the priests, and a larger courtyard for the other people. They made doors for the courtyards and covered them with thin sheets of bronze. ¹⁰ They placed the large tank that was called "The Sea" at the southeast corner of the temple.

¹¹ They also made pots and shovels for the ashes of the altar, and other small bowls.

So Huram and his workers finished the work that King Solomon had given him to do at the temple of God. ¹² These were the things that they made:

     the two large pillars

     the two bowl shaped tops on top of the pillars

the two sets of carvings that resembled chains to decorate the tops of the two pillars