2 Chronicles 2
Solomon decided to build a house for the Lord and a palace for himself, and he prepared 70,000 men to carry loads, 80,000 to quarry stones, and 3,600 to oversee the work. He asked Hiram, the king of Tyre, to send him a skilled craftsman and materials, including cedar wood, to help with the construction. Hiram agreed to help, sending his skilled craftsman and offering to provide the needed wood in exchange for provisions. Solomon also took a census of the new converts in Israel and assigned them to work on the construction project.
1And Solomon resolved to build a house to the name of the Lord, and a palace for himself2And he numbered seventy thousand men to carry upon shoulders, and eighty thousand who were hewing stones in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred as their overseers3Also, he sent to Hiram, the king of Tyre, saying: "Just as you did for my father David, when you sent him cedar wood, so that he might build a house for himself, in which he then lived4do so also for me, so that I may build a house to the name of the Lord my God, so that I may consecrate it for the burning of incense before him, and for the smoke of aromatics, and for the perpetual bread of the presence, and for the holocausts, in morning and in evening, as well as on the Sabbaths and new moons and solemnities of the Lord our God forever, which have been commanded to Israel5For the house that I desire to build is great. For our God is great, above all gods6So then, who will be able prevail, so that he may build a worthy house for him? If heaven and the heavens of heavens cannot contain him, what am I that I would be able to build a house to him? But let it be for this only, so that incense may be burned before him7Therefore, send to me a learned man, who knows how to work with gold and silver, with brass and iron, with purple, scarlet, and hyacinth, and who knows how to carve engravings, along with these artisans that I have with me in Judea and Jerusalem, whom my father David has prepared8Then too, send to me cedar wood, and juniper, and pine from Lebanon. For I know that your servants know how to cut timber from Lebanon, and my servants will be with your servants9so that very much wood may be prepared for me. For the house that I desire to build is exceedingly great and glorious10In addition, I will give to your servants, the workers who will cut down the trees, for provisions: twenty thousand cor of wheat, and the same number of cor of barley, and twenty thousand measures of wine, as well as twenty thousand good measures of oil.11Then Hiram, the king of Tyre, said, by a letter that had been sent to Solomon: "Because the Lord loved his people, for this reason he appointed you to reign over them.12And he added, saying: "Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who gave to king David a son who is wise, and learned, and intelligent as well as prudent, so that he may build a house to the Lord, and a palace for himself13Therefore, I have sent my father Hiram to you; he is a prudent and very knowledgeable man14the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan, whose father was a Tyrian, who knows how to work with gold and silver, with brass and iron, and with marble and timber, as well as with purple, and hyacinth, and fine linen, and scarlet. And he knows how to carve every kind of engraving, and how to devise prudently whatever may be necessary to the work, with your artisans and with the artisans of my lord David, your father15Therefore, send the wheat and barley and oil and wine, which you, my lord, have promised, to your own servants16Then we will cut down as much wood from Lebanon as you will need, and we will convey them as rafts by sea to Joppa. Then it will be for you to transfer them to Jerusalem.17And so Solomon numbered all the new converts who were in the land of Israel, after the numbering that David his father had done, and they were found to be one hundred fifty thousand and three thousand six hundred18And he appointed seventy thousand of them, who would carry burdens on shoulders, and eighty thousand who would hew stones in the mountains, then three thousand and six hundred as overseers of the work of the people
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