2 Chronicles Chapter 3
Showing all 17 verses for 2 Chronicles Chapter 3.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. "
"Then Solomon began building the LORD's house in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David, at the site David had prepared - the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite."
The hardest chapters of your story aren't wasted - I can turn the very ground where you once suffered into the foundation for something lasting and good. Don't be ashamed of where you've been; it can become sacred ground.
"And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign. "
"He began building on the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign."
Give your important beginnings a clear starting point - name the day, commit to it. I honour deliberate, dated commitments more than vague intentions that never quite start.
"Now these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed for the building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. "
"These were the foundations Solomon laid for building God's house: the length, by the old standard of measurement, was sixty cubits, and the width twenty cubits."
You don't need the biggest platform or the grandest scale to build something that truly matters. Pour your care and devotion into what you have, however modest it looks from outside.
"And the porch that was in the front of the house, the length of it was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the height was an hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with pure gold. "
"The porch at the front of the house was twenty cubits long, matching the width of the house, and a hundred and twenty cubits high; he covered it inside with pure gold."
What people encounter first when they come to you - your welcome, your presence - matters. Let the entrance to your life be marked by genuine warmth and care, not indifference.
"And the greater house he cieled with fir tree, which he overlaid with fine gold, and set thereon palm trees and chains. "
"He panelled the main hall's ceiling with fir wood, covered it with fine gold, and decorated it with palm tree carvings and chain patterns."
The way you decorate and shape the spaces you live and work in can quietly speak values to everyone who enters them. Let your surroundings, however you can, reflect life and growth rather than emptiness.
"And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty: and the gold was gold of Parvaim. "
"He decorated the house with precious stones for beauty, and the gold used was gold from Parvaim."
When something deserves your best, don't settle for the convenient or the cheap version. Let your effort match the true worth of what you're building or giving.
"He overlaid also the house, the beams, the posts, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubims on the walls. "
"He covered the house - its beams, doorposts, walls, and doors - with gold, and had cherubim figures carved into the walls."
Let your integrity run all the way through, not just in the parts of your life other people can see. I care about the beams behind the wall as much as the gold on the surface.
"And he made the most holy house, the length whereof was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits: and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents. "
"He built the Most Holy Place, its length matching the width of the house at twenty cubits, and its width also twenty cubits, and overlaid it with fine gold weighing about six hundred talents."
What you do when no one's watching - the innermost room of your own life - matters more to me than the parts everyone can see. Invest your best there, even though it's private.
"And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. And he overlaid the upper chambers with gold. "
"The gold nails weighed fifty shekels, and he also overlaid the upper rooms with gold."
Don't dismiss the small details of your work or your relationships as unworthy of care. I notice the nails as much as I notice the grand gestures.
"And in the most holy house he made two cherubims of image work, and overlaid them with gold. "
"In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim as carved figures and covered them with gold."
Some things in your life deserve to be protected and treated as sacred, set apart from casual use or careless handling. Guard what matters most to you.
"And the wings of the cherubims were twenty cubits long: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub. "
"The cherubim's wings together spanned twenty cubits: one wing of the first cherub, five cubits, reached the wall of the house, and its other wing, also five cubits, reached the wing of the second cherub."
The details you get right are what let your bigger vision actually stand up and function. Don't neglect precision in service of a grand overall idea.
"And one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was five cubits also, joining to the wing of the other cherub. "
"The other cherub's wing, also five cubits, reached the wall of the house, and its other wing, five cubits also, joined the wing of the first cherub."
The people and things that support you best often work like these two cherubim - distinct on their own, but built to meet in the middle and complete something together. Look for that kind of balance in your own relationships.
"The wings of these cherubims spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces were inward. "
"The cherubim's wings spread out twenty cubits altogether; they stood on their feet, facing inward towards the room."
I want the most important places in your life to feel held and watched over, not exposed and unprotected. Build that same sense of safety around what and who you love.
"And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon. "
"He made the curtain (veil) of blue, purple, and crimson thread and fine linen, and had cherubim woven into it."
I know what it is to stand on the far side of a barrier, longing for closeness. What once kept people at a distance from the sacred, love has since torn open - you're not meant to stay separated from what matters most.
"Also he made before the house two pillars of thirty and five cubits high, and the chapiter that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. "
"He also made two pillars in front of the house, thirty-five cubits tall, each topped with a five-cubit capital."
Notice the thresholds in your own life - the moments of transition and passage. I want you to cross them with intention, not just wander through them unaware.
"And he made chains, as in the oracle, and put them on the heads of the pillars; and made an hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains. "
"He made chains, like those in the inner sanctuary, and put them on top of the pillars, along with a hundred pomegranates attached to the chains."
Let the things you build and decorate your life with point towards growth and life, not just impressiveness. Beauty means more when it points beyond itself to something life-giving.
"And he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz. "
"He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right side and one on the left, and named the one on the right Jachin, and the one on the left Boaz."
Let the entryway into your own life carry a quiet declaration too - that you're established, that your strength doesn't come from yourself alone. Walk through your days between those same two truths.