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2 Chronicles 2

1 And Solomon determined to build a house for the name of Jehovah, and a royal house for himself.
2 Solomon numbered seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand to quarry stone in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them.
3 And Solomon sent to Huram king of Tyre, saying: As you have dealt with David my father, and sent him cedars to build himself a house to dwell in,
4 behold, I am building a house for the name of Jehovah my God, to consecrate it to Him, to burn before Him spiced incense, for the continual Bread in Rows, for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, on the new moons, and on the set feasts of Jehovah our God, continually in Israel;
5 and the house which I am building will be great, for our God is greater than all gods;
6 but who is able to build Him a house, since the heavens and the Heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I then, that I should build Him a house, except to burn sacrifices with smoke before Him?
7 Therefore now, send me a skilled man to work in gold and silver, in bronze and iron, in purple and crimson and violet, who has skill to engrave carvings with the wise men who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom David my father has provided.
8 Also send me cedar, cypress and algum from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut timber in Lebanon; and behold my servants will be with your servants,
9 to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the house which I am building shall be great and wonderful.
10 And behold, I will give to your servants, the cutters who are cutting timber, twenty thousand kors of ground wheat, twenty thousand kors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.
11 And Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon: Because of Jehovah's love for His people, He has appointed you king over them.
12 Huram also said: Blessed is Jehovah the God of Israel, who has made the heavens and earth, for He has given King David a wise son, endowed with prudence and understanding, who will build a house for Jehovah and a royal house for himself.
13 And now I have sent a skillful man, having knowledge and understanding, Huram-abi,
14 (the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father, a man of Tyre), knowing how to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, purple and violet, fine linen and crimson, and to make any engraving and to accomplish any plan which may be given to him, with your craftsmen and with the craftsmen of my lord David your father.
15 Now therefore, the wheat, the barley, the oil, and the wine of which my lord has spoken, let him send to his servants.
16 And we will cut timber from Lebanon, as much as you need; we will bring it to you in rafts by sea to Joppa, and you will carry it up to Jerusalem.
17 And Solomon numbered all the foreign men who were in the land of Israel, after the census in which David his father had numbered them; and there were found to be one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred.
18 And he made seventy thousand of them bearers of burdens, eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountain, and three thousand six hundred overseers to make the people work.
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