2 Chronicles 2

1 Solomon ordered that a temple should be built where Yahweh would be worshiped and also that a palace should be built for himself.

Solomon ordered the building of a Temple to honor the Lord and a royal palace for himself.

2 He selected 70,000 men to carry the building supplies and 80,000 men to cut stones [(from quarries/walls of rock) in] the hills. He also chose 3,600 men to supervise them.

He allocated 70,000 men as laborers, 80,000 as stone cutters in the mountains, and 3,600 as foremen.

3 Solomon sent this message to King Hiram of Tyre [city]: “[Many years ago] when my father David was building his palace, you sent to him cedar logs. Will you send me cedar logs, too?

Solomon sent a message to Hiram, king of Tyre, telling him,

4 “We are about to build a temple where we will worship Yahweh our God. We want to dedicate it to be a place where we will burn fragrant incense to [honor] him, and a place to put loaves of sacred bread, and for making sacrifices every morning and every evening and every Sabbath day, and to celebrate on the day of every new moon and at other special religious festivals to [honor] Yahweh our God. We want to do those things forever, like Yahweh has commanded.

“Please do as you did with my father David when you sent him cedar timber for him to build a palace to live in. I'm about to start building a Temple to honor the Lord my God, dedicated to him, where he will be offered sweet-smelling incense, where the showbread will be always set out in rows, and where burnt offerings will be made every morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, at new moon festivals, and at the feasts of the Lord our God—this to be done forever in Israel.

5 [We want] this temple [to] be a great temple, because our God is greater than all other gods.

This Temple I am about to build must be impressive, because our God is greater than all gods.

6 But no one can really build a temple that would be big enough for God [to live in], because even the highest heavens are not big enough for him. And I am worthy only to build a place where we can burn sacrifices to him.

But who can build a Temple for him to live in, for the heavens, even highest heaven, cannot contain him, and who am I that I should dare to build him a house, except to burn incense to him?

7 Therefore, please send me a man who knows well how to make things from gold and silver and bronze and iron, and to make 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.

So please send me a master craftsman who is skilled in working with gold, silver, bronze, and iron; and in purple, scarlet, and blue fabrics. He must also know how to engrave, working together with my expert craftsmen from Judea and Jerusalem provided by my father David.

8 I know that your workers are skilled in cutting timber, so also please send me cedar logs, pine logs, and juniper logs from the Lebanon mountains. My workers will work with your workers.

Also send me cedar, cypress, and algum timber from Lebanon, for I know that your workers are skillful in cutting down the trees of Lebanon. I will send men to help your workers

9 In that way, those workers 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.

to produce a large quantity of timber because the Temple I'm building will be really large and very impressive.

10 I will pay your workers, the men who cut the logs, 100,000 bushels of ground wheat, 100,000 bushels of barley, 110,000 gallons of wine, and 110,000 gallons of olive oil.”

I will pay your workers, the wood-cutters, 20,000 cors of crushed wheat, 20,000 cors of barley, 20,000 baths of wine, and 20,000 baths of olive oil.”

11 [When] Hiram [received that message, he] replied by sending this message to Solomon: “Because Yahweh loves his people, he has appointed you to be their king.”

King Hiram of Tyre responded to Solomon by letter: “It's because the Lord loves his people that he has made you their king.”

12 [And Hiram added, ] “Praise Yahweh, the God to whom the Israeli people belong, the one who created the sky and the earth! He has given King David a wise son, one who is very smart/intelligent and who has good skill and understanding. He wants to build a temple for Yahweh and a palace for himself.

Hiram went on, “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth! He has given King David a wise son with insight and understanding who is going to build a Temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.

13 “I will be sending to you Huram-Abi, a man who is very skilled.

I'm sending you Hiram-Abi, a master craftsman who knows and understands what he's doing.

14 His mother was from the tribe of Dan, and his father was from [here in] Tyre. He is very 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/pattern that you give to him. He will work with your craftsmen, and the craftsmen who did work for your father, King David.

His mother is from the tribe of Dan and his father is from Tyre. He's an expert in working with gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, purple, blue, and crimson fabric, and fine linen. He can do all kinds of engraving and can make any design he's given. He'll work with your craftsmen and with the craftsmen of my lord, your father David.

15 “Now please send us the wheat and barley and olive oil and wine that you promised to send to us.

Now my lord, please send to us his servants the wheat, barley, olive oil, and wine he spoke about.

16 When you do that, my workers will cut from trees 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 Joppa [city]. From there, you [can arrange for] them [to be] taken up to Jerusalem.

We will cut all timber you need from Lebanon and take it to you by sea in rafts to Joppa. From there you can transport it 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.

Solomon had a census taken of all the foreigners in the land of Israel, like the census his father David had conducted, and found there were 153,600.

18 Solomon assigned 70,000 of them to carry materials, and 80,000 to cut stone [from quarries in] the hills, and 3,600 of them to supervise the others and be sure that they worked steadily.

He allocated 70,000 as laborers, 80,000 as stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 as foremen.