2 Chronicles 2:16

2 Chronicles 2:1-18

¹Solomon resolved to build a house for the name of YHWH and a house for his kingdom. ²Solomon counted seventy thousand men as carriers, and eighty thousand men as stonecutters in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred who directed them. ³Solomon sent to Huram, king of Tyre, saying, “Do with me as you did with David my father, when you sent him cedars to build himself a house to live in. ⁴Look, I am building a house for the name of YHWH my Elohim, to consecrate it to him, to offer up in smoke fragrant incense before him, and for the continual row of bread, and burnt offerings in the morning and in the evening, on the Sabbaths and at the new moons and at the appointed times of YHWH our Elohim; forever this is upon Israel. ⁵The house that I am building will be great, for our Elohim is greater than all the gods. ⁶But who will have the strength to build him a house, since the heavens and the heavens of the heavens cannot contain him? And who am I that I should build him a house, except to offer up in smoke before him? ⁷So now send me a wise man to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue, and who knows how to engrave engravings, with the wise men who are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father prepared. ⁸And send me cedar timber, cypress, and algum from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut the timber of Lebanon. And look, my servants will be with your servants, ⁹to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the house that I am building will be great and wonderful. ¹⁰And look, to the woodcutters, to those who cut the trees, to your servants, I give twenty thousand cors of crushed wheat, twenty thousand cors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.” ¹¹Huram, king of Tyre, said in writing, and sent it to Solomon: “Because of the love of YHWH for his people he has made you king over them.” ¹²Huram said, “Blessed be YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth, who has given to David the king a wise son, knowing prudence and understanding, who will build a house for YHWH and a house for his kingdom. ¹³So now I have sent a wise man, knowing understanding, Huram-abi, ¹⁴the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan, and his father is a man of Tyre; he knows how to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in iron, in stone, and in wood, in purple, in blue, in fine linen, and in crimson, and to engrave any engraving and to devise any design that may be assigned to him, with your wise men and the wise men of my lord David your father. ¹⁵So now, the wheat and the barley, the oil and the wine that my lord has spoken of, let him send to his servants. ¹⁶And we will cut timber from Lebanon, according to all your need, and bring it to you in rafts by sea to Joppa, and you will take it up to Jerusalem.” ¹⁷Solomon counted all the men, the resident aliens, who were in the land of Israel, after the count with which David his father had counted them; and they were found to be a hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand six hundred. ¹⁸He made of them seventy thousand carriers, eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred who directed, to make the people work.

1 Kings 5:1-18

¹And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, for he had heard that they had anointed him as king in place of his father; for Hiram had loved David all the days. ²And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, ³“You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of YHWH his Elohim because of the war with which they surrounded him, until YHWH put them under the soles of my feet. ⁴But now YHWH my Elohim has given me rest all around; there is no opponent and no evil occurrence. ⁵So look, I intend to build a house for the name of YHWH my Elohim, as YHWH spoke to David my father, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will set in your place on your throne, he shall build the house for my name.’ ⁶And now, command that they cut for me cedars from Lebanon; and my servants shall be with your servants, and the wages of your servants I will give you according to all that you say; for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.” ⁷And it happened, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be YHWH today, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.” ⁸And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard what you sent to me; I will do all your pleasure concerning timber of cedar and timber of cypress. ⁹My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will make them into rafts on the sea to the place that you will send word to me, and I will break them up there, and you will carry them away; and you will do my pleasure by giving food for my house.” ¹⁰So Hiram was giving Solomon timber of cedar and timber of cypress, all his pleasure. ¹¹And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand kors of wheat as sustenance for his house, and twenty kors of beaten oil; thus Solomon would give to Hiram year by year. ¹²And YHWH gave wisdom to Solomon, as he had spoken to him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a covenant. ¹³And King Solomon raised forced labor from all Israel, and the forced labor was thirty thousand men. ¹⁴And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts: a month they would be in Lebanon, two months at home; and Adoniram was over the forced labor. ¹⁵And Solomon had seventy thousand burden bearers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountains, ¹⁶besides the chiefs of the prefects of Solomon who were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, who ruled over the people who did the work. ¹⁷And the king commanded, and they quarried great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with hewn stones. ¹⁸And the builders of Solomon and the builders of Hiram and the Gebalites hewed them and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house.