2 Chronicles 2
1 Solomon counted 70,000 men to carry loads, 80,000 to cut stone in the mountains, and 3,600 to supervise them.
2 Solomon sent this message to Huram, king of Tyre: “You did the same for David my father: you sent him cedars so he could build a house to live in.
3 Now I am building a house for the name of the LORD my God, to set it apart for him, to burn fragrant incense before him, and to keep the bread continually set out; and to offer burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, at the new moons, and at the festivals of the LORD our God forever. This is what Israel is responsible for.
4 The house I am building will be great, because our God is greater than all gods.
5 Who would be strong enough to build him a house, since the heavens and even the highest heavens cannot contain him? And who am I to build him a house, except to burn offerings before him?
6 Now send me a skilled man to work in gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue, who also knows how to carve. He will work with the skilled craftsmen I have with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom my father David appointed.
7 Send me cedar, cypress, and algum timber from Lebanon as well, because I know your servants know how to cut the trees of Lebanon; my servants will work with your servants.
8 They will prepare a great quantity of timber for me, because the house I am building will be great and magnificent.
9 I will give your servants who cut the timber twenty thousand kors of milled wheat, twenty thousand kors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of olive oil.”
10 Huram, king of Tyre, replied in writing and sent this message to Solomon: “Because the LORD loves his people, he has made you king over them.”
11 Huram also said: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth! He gave King David a wise son, endowed with good judgment and understanding, who will build a house for the LORD and a palace for his kingdom.
12 Now I am sending a skilled man with understanding: Huram-Abi.
13 He is the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre. He knows how to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and in purple, blue, fine linen, and crimson. He can also do every kind of carving and carry out any design given to him, working with your craftsmen and the craftsmen of my lord David, your father.
14 Now send your servants the wheat, barley, olive oil, and wine that my lord mentioned.
15 We will cut timber from Lebanon, as much as you need, and bring it to you in rafts by sea as far as Joppa; then you can take it up to Jerusalem.”
16 Solomon counted all the resident foreigners in the land of Israel, following the census his father David had taken; they numbered 153,600.
17 He assigned 70,000 of them as carriers, 80,000 as stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 as supervisors to put the people to work.
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