2 Chronicles 2

Thomson^{(i) 1} Solomon having determined to build a house for the name of the Lord, and a house for his kingdom, ² collected seventy thousand men to carry burthens, and eighty thousand hewers of stone on the mountains; and the overseers over them, were three thousand six hundred. ³ And Solomon sent to Chiram, king of Tyre, saying, As thou hast dealt with my father David and sent him cedar to build himself a house to dwell in; ⁴ behold I his son am going to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, to be dedicated to him, that I may burn incense before him, and set bread continually in his presence, and that I may offer whole burnt offerings continually, morning and evening, and on the sabbaths, and at the new moons and festivals of the Lord our God; this being an ordinance forever to Israel. ⁵ And as the house which I am going to build is great; for great is the Lord our God above all gods, ⁶ and who is able to build a house for him? For the heaven and the heaven of heavens, cannot contain his glory; who then am I, that I should build a house for him, save only to burn incense before him? ⁷ Now therefore send me a man wise and skilled in working up gold and silver, and brass and iron, and purple and scarlet and blue, and who can engrave skilfully with the skilful men who are with me in Jerusalem, those materials which my father hath provided. ⁸ Send me also cedar and cypress and pine timber, from Libanus. As I know how expert thy servants are in cutting timber from Libanus, let thy servants therefore go with my servants, ⁹ to provide me timber in plenty: for the house which I am going to build, is to be great and glorious. ¹⁰ Now behold, I have assigned provisions for the Workmen who cut the timber, food for thy servants, twenty thousand cores of wheat, and twenty thousand cores of barley, and twenty thousand measures of wine, and twenty thou sand measures of oil. ¹¹ To this Chiram king of Tyre replied in writing, and sent to Solomon, saying, Because the Lord loved his people, he hath made thee king over them. ¹² Moreover Chiram said, Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who made the heaven and the earth, who hath given king David, a wise son endued with knowledge and understanding, to build a house for the Lord and a house for his kingdom. ¹³ Now therefore I have sent thee a man of wisdom and understanding, named after my father Chiram. ¹⁴ His mother was one of the daughters of Dan, but his father was a Tyrian. He is skilled in working up gold and silver, and brass and iron, and stones and wood; and in weaving purple and blue yarn, and cotton, and with scarlet; and engraving and executing every device to which thou shalt put him with thy artists, and the artists of my lord David, thy father. ¹⁵ And with regard to the wheat and the barley and the oil and the wine, which my lord hath mentioned, let him send them to his servants, ¹⁶ and we will cut timber from Libanus, as much as thou shalt want, and send it in floats by water to Joppa, that thou mayst convey it to Jerusalem. ¹⁷ When Solomon assembled all the strangers who were in the land of Israel, after the numbering which his father David had made of them, they were found to amount to a hundred and fifty three thousand six hundred. ¹⁸ So of these he appointed seventy thousand to carry burdens, and eighty thousand to hew stones, and three thousand six hundred to be overseers, to keep the people to work.