2 Chronicles 1

• 1. Solomon, the son of King David, now took firm control of the kingdom, for the LORD his God was with him and made him very powerful.
• 2. He called together all Israel--the generals and captains of the army, the judges, and all the political and clan leaders.
• 3. Then Solomon led the entire assembly to the hill at Gibeon where God's Tabernacle was located. This was the Tabernacle that Moses, the LORD's servant, had constructed in the wilderness.
• 4. David had already moved the Ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the special tent he had prepared for it in Jerusalem.
• 5. But the bronze altar made by Bezalel son of Uri and grandson of Hur was still at Gibeon in front of the Tabernacle of the LORD. So Solomon and the people gathered in front of it to consult the LORD.
• 6. There in front of the Tabernacle, Solomon went up to the bronze altar in the LORD's presence and sacrificed a thousand burnt offerings on it.
• 7. That night God appeared to Solomon in a dream and said, "What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!"
• 8. Solomon replied to God, "You have been so faithful and kind to my father, David, and now you have made me king in his place.
• 9. Now, LORD God, please keep your promise to David my father, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth!
• 10. Give me wisdom and knowledge to rule them properly, for who is able to govern this great nation of yours?"
• 11. God said to Solomon, "Because your greatest desire is to help your people, and you did not ask for personal wealth and honor or the death of your enemies or even a long life, but rather you asked for wisdom and knowledge to properly govern my people,
• 12. I will certainly give you the wisdom and knowledge you requested. And I will also give you riches, wealth, and honor such as no other king has ever had before you or will ever have again!"
• 13. Then Solomon returned to Jerusalem from the Tabernacle at the hill of Gibeon, and he reigned over Israel.
• 14. Solomon built up a huge military force, which included fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses. He stationed many of them in the chariot cities, and some near him in Jerusalem.
• 15. During Solomon's reign, silver and gold were as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones. And valuable cedarwood was as common as the sycamore wood that grows in the foothills of Judah.
• 16. Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt and from Cilicia; the king's traders acquired them from Cilicia at the standard price.
• 17. At that time, Egyptian chariots delivered to Jerusalem could be purchased for 600 pieces of silver, and horses could be bought for 150 pieces of silver. Many of these were then resold to the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.

2 Chronicles 2

• 1. Solomon now decided that the time had come to build a Temple for the LORD and a royal palace for himself.
• 2. He enlisted a force of 70,000 common laborers, 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country, and 3,600 foremen.
• 3. Solomon also sent this message to King Hiram at Tyre: "Send me cedar logs like the ones that were supplied to my father, David, when he was building his palace.
• 4. I am about to build a Temple to honor the name of the LORD my God. It will be a place set apart to burn incense and sweet spices before him, to display the special sacrificial bread, and to sacrifice burnt offerings each morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, at new moon celebrations, and at the other appointed festivals of the LORD our God. He has commanded Israel to do these things forever.
• 5. "This will be a magnificent Temple because our God is an awesome God, greater than any other.
• 6. But who can really build him a worthy home? Not even the highest heavens can contain him! So who am I to consider building a Temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices to him?
• 7. "So send me a master craftsman who can work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron; someone who is expert at dyeing purple, scarlet, and blue cloth; and a skilled engraver who can work with the craftsmen of Judah and Jerusalem who were selected by my father, David.
• 8. Also send me cedar, cypress, and almug logs from Lebanon, for I know that your men are without equal at cutting timber. I will send my men to help them.
• 9. An immense amount of timber will be needed, for the Temple I am going to build will be very large and magnificent.
• 10. I will pay your men 100,000 bushels of crushed wheat, 100,000 bushels of barley, 110,000 gallons of wine, and 110,000 gallons of olive oil. "
• 11. King Hiram sent this letter of reply to Solomon: "It is because the LORD loves his people that he has made you their king!
• 12. Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth! He has given David a wise son, gifted with skill and understanding, who will build a Temple for the LORD and a royal palace for himself.
• 13. "I am sending you a master craftsman named Huram-abi. He is a brilliant man,
• 14. the son of a woman from Dan in Israel; his father is from Tyre. He is skillful at making things from gold, silver, bronze, and iron. He also knows all about stonework, carpentry, and weaving. He is an expert in dyeing purple, blue, and scarlet cloth and in working with linen. He is also an engraver and can follow any design given to him. He will work with your craftsmen and those appointed by my lord David, your father.
• 15. "Send along the wheat, barley, olive oil, and wine that you mentioned.
• 16. We will cut whatever timber you need from the Lebanon mountains and will float the logs in rafts down the coast of the Mediterranean Sea to Joppa. From there you can transport the logs up to Jerusalem."
• 17. Solomon took a census of all foreigners in the land of Israel, like the census his father had taken, and he counted 153,600.
• 18. He enlisted 70,000 of them as common laborers, 80,000 as stonecutters in the hill country, and 3,600 as foremen.

2 Chronicles 3

• 1. So Solomon began to build the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to Solomon's father, King David. The Temple was built on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the site that David had selected.
• 2. The construction began in midspring, during the fourth year of Solomon's reign.
• 3. The foundation for the Temple of God was ninety feet long and thirty feet wide.
• 4. The foyer at the front of the Temple was thirty feet wide, running across the entire width of the Temple. The inner walls of the foyer and the ceiling were overlaid with pure gold. The roof of the foyer was thirty feet high.
• 5. The main room of the Temple was paneled with cypress wood, overlaid with pure gold, and decorated with carvings of palm trees and chains.
• 6. The walls of the Temple were decorated with beautiful jewels and with pure gold from the land of Parvaim.
• 7. All the walls, beams, doors, and thresholds throughout the Temple were overlaid with gold, and figures of cherubim were carved on the walls.
• 8. The Most Holy Place was thirty feet wide, corresponding to the width of the Temple, and it was also thirty feet deep. Its interior was overlaid with about twenty-three tons of pure gold.
• 9. They used gold nails that weighed about twenty ounces each. The walls of the upper rooms were also overlaid with pure gold.
• 10. Solomon made two figures shaped like cherubim and overlaid them with gold. These were placed in the Most Holy Place.
• 11. The total wingspan of the two cherubim standing side by side was 30 feet. One wing of the first figure was 7 1/2 feet long, and it touched the Temple wall. The other wing, also 7 1/2 feet long, touched one of the wings of the second figure.
• 12. In the same way, the second figure had one wing 7 1/2 feet long that touched the opposite wall. The other wing, also 7 1/2 feet long, touched the wing of the first figure.
• 13. So the wingspan of both cherubim together was 30 feet. They both stood and faced out toward the main room of the Temple.
• 14. Across the entrance of the Most Holy Place, Solomon hung a curtain made of fine linen and blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, with figures of cherubim embroidered on it.
• 15. For the front of the Temple, Solomon made two pillars that were 27 feet tall, each topped by a capital extending upward another 7 1/2 feet.
• 16. He made a network of interwoven chains and used them to decorate the tops of the pillars. He also made one hundred decorative pomegranates and attached them to the chains.
• 17. Then he set up the two pillars at the entrance of the Temple, one to the south of the entrance and the other to the north. He named the one on the south Jakin, and the one on the north Boaz.

New Living Translation: 128 of 324 days.