2 Chronicles · Bible in Basic English
2 Chronicles 2 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Now it was Solomon's purpose to put up a house for the name of the Lord and a house for himself as king.
1 Now Solomon decided to build a house for Yahweh’s name, and a house for his kingdom.
2 And Solomon had seventy thousand men numbered for transport, and eighty thousand for cutting stone in the mountains, and three thousand, six hundred as overseers.
2 Solomon counted out seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand men who were stone cutters in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them.
3 And Solomon sent to Huram, king of Tyre, saying, As you did for my father David, sending him cedar-trees for the building of his house,
3 Solomon sent to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, “As you dealt with David my father, and sent him cedars to build him a house in which to dwell, so deal with me.
4 See! I am building a house for the name of the Lord my God, to be made holy to him, where perfumes of sweet spices will be burned before him, and the holy bread will be placed at all times, and burned offerings will be offered morning and evening, on the Sabbaths and at the new moons, and on the regular feasts of the Lord our God. This is a law for ever to Israel.
4 Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of Yahweh my God, to dedicate it to him, to burn before him incense of sweet spices, for the continual show bread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, on the new moons, and on the set feasts of Yahweh our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel.
5 And the house which I am building is to be great, for our God is greater than all gods.
5 “The house which I am building will be great, for our God is greater than all gods.
6 But who may have strength enough to make a house for him, seeing that the heaven and the heaven of heavens are not wide enough to be his resting-place? who am I then to make a house for him? But I am building it only for the burning of perfume before him.
6 But who is able to build him a house, since heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain him? Who am I then, that I should build him a house, except just to burn incense before him?
7 So now send me an expert worker in gold and silver and brass and iron? in purple and red and blue, and in the cutting of all sorts of ornament, to be with the expert workmen who are here in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom my father David got together.
7 “Now therefore send me a man skillful to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue, and who knows how to engrave engravings, to be with the skillful men who are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father provided.
8 And send me cedar-trees, cypress-trees and sandal-wood from Lebanon, for, to my knowledge, your servants are expert wood-cutters in Lebanon; and my servants will be with yours,
8 “Send me also cedar trees, cypress trees, and algum trees out of Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut timber in Lebanon. Behold, my servants will be with your servants,
9 To get trees for me in great numbers, for the house which I am building is to be great and a wonder.
9 even to prepare timber in abundance for me; for the house which I am about to build will be great and wonderful.
10 And I will give as food to your servants, the wood-cutters, twenty thousand measures of grain, and twenty thousand measures of barley and twenty thousand measures of wine and twenty thousand measures of oil.
10 Behold, I will give to your servants, the cutters who cut timber, twenty thousand cors of beaten wheat, twenty thousand baths of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.”
11 Then Huram, king of Tyre, sent Solomon an answer in writing, saying, Because of his love for his people the Lord has made you king over them.
11 Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, “Because Yahweh loves his people, he has made you king over them.”
12 And Huram said, Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, maker of heaven and earth, who has given to David the king a wise son, full of wisdom and good sense, to be the builder of a house for the Lord and a house for himself as king.
12 Huram continued, “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who has given to David the king a wise son, endowed with discretion and understanding, who would build a house for Yahweh and a house for his kingdom.
13 And now I am sending you a wise and expert man, Huram who is as my father,
13 Now I have sent a skillful man, endowed with understanding, Huram-abi,
14 The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, whose father was a man of Tyre, an expert worker in gold and silver and brass and iron, in stone and wood, in purple and blue and fair linen and red, trained in the cutting of every sort of ornament and the invention of every sort of design; let him be given a place among your expert workmen and those of my lord, your father David.
14 the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan; and his father was a man of Tyre. He is skillful to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in iron, in stone, in timber, in purple, in blue, in fine linen, and in crimson, also to engrave any kind of engraving and to devise any device, that there may be a place appointed to him with your skillful men, and with the skillful men of my lord David your father.
15 So now let my lord send to his servants the grain and the oil and the wine as my lord has said;
15 “Now therefore, the wheat, the barley, the oil, and the wine which my lord has spoken of, let him send to his servants;
16 And we will have wood cut from Lebanon, as much as you have need of, and will send it to you on flat boats by sea to Joppa, and from there you may take it up to Jerusalem.
16 and we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as you need. We will bring it to you in rafts by sea to Joppa; then you shall carry it up to Jerusalem.”
17 Then Solomon took the number of all the men from strange lands who were living in Israel, as his father David had done; there were a hundred and fifty-three thousand, six hundred.
17 Solomon counted all the foreigners who were in the land of Israel, after the census with which David his father had counted them; and they found one hundred fifty-three thousand six hundred.
18 Seventy thousand he put to the work of transport, eighty thousand to cutting stone in the mountains, and three thousand, six hundred as overseers to put the people to work.
18 He set seventy thousand of them to bear burdens, eighty thousand who were stone cutters in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred overseers to assign the people their work.
Cross references (18)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 1 Kings 5:5; 1 Chronicles 22:10; Deuteronomy 12:11; 1 Kings 8:18; 1 Kings 8:20
- 2 2 Chronicles 2:18; 1 Kings 5:15–16
- 3 1 Chronicles 14:1; 2 Samuel 5:11; 1 Kings 5:1–11
- 4 Exodus 30:7; Exodus 25:30; 2 Chronicles 2:1; 1 Kings 8:63; Leviticus 24:5–9
- 5 1 Chronicles 16:25; Psalm 135:5; Exodus 15:11; Psalm 86:8–9; Jeremiah 10:6
- 6 2 Chronicles 6:18; Isaiah 66:1; 1 Kings 8:27; Acts 7:48–49; 1 Chronicles 29:14
- 7 Exodus 31:3–5; 2 Chronicles 2:13–14; 1 Chronicles 22:15–16; 1 Kings 7:14; Isaiah 60:10
- 8 1 Kings 5:6; 1 Kings 10:11; 2 Chronicles 9:10–11
- 9 2 Chronicles 7:21; 1 Kings 9:8; 2 Chronicles 2:5
- 10 1 Kings 5:11; Ezra 7:22; 1 Kings 7:26; Romans 13:7–8; Luke 10:7
- 11 2 Chronicles 9:8; 1 Kings 10:9; Psalm 72:17; Deuteronomy 7:7–8
- 12 Psalm 33:6; Revelation 4:11; 1 Peter 1:3; 1 Kings 5:7; Psalm 136:5–6
- 13 2 Chronicles 4:16
- 14 2 Chronicles 2:7; Exodus 31:3–4; 1 Kings 7:13–14
- 15 2 Chronicles 2:10; 1 Kings 5:11
- 16 Joshua 19:46; 1 Kings 5:8–9; Acts 10:32; Ezra 3:7; John 1:3
- 17 1 Chronicles 22:2; 1 Kings 5:13–16; 1 Kings 9:20–21; 2 Chronicles 8:7–8; 2 Chronicles 2:2
- 18 2 Chronicles 2:2
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences