עֵץ

(The fleet of Hiram that brought gold from Ophir also brought from Ophir a great cargo of almug wood and precious stones.

The king made the almug wood into steps for the house of the LORD and for the king’s palace, and into lyres and harps for the singers. Never before had such almug wood been brought in, nor has such been seen again to this day.)

They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.

Then King Asa summoned all the men of Judah, with no exceptions, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timbers Baasha had used for building. And with these materials King Asa built up Geba of Benjamin, as well as Mizpah.

So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow gathering sticks. Elijah called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, so that I may drink.”

But she replied, “As surely as the LORD your God lives, I have no bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. Look, I am gathering a couple of sticks to take home and prepare a meal for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and die.”

Get two bulls for us. Let the prophets of Baal choose one bull for themselves, cut it into pieces, and place it on the wood but not light the fire. And I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood but not light the fire.

Next, he arranged the wood, cut up the bull, placed it on the wood,

…and said, “Fill four waterpots and pour the water on the offering and on the wood.” “Do it a second time,” he said, and they did it a second time. “Do it a third time,” he said, and they did it a third time.

Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water in the trench.

And you shall attack every fortified city and every city of importance. You shall cut down every good tree, stop up every spring, and ruin every good field with stones.”

They destroyed the cities, and each man threw stones on every good field until it was covered. They stopped up every spring and cut down every good tree. Only Kir-haraseth was left with stones in place, but men with slings surrounded it and attacked it as well.

So Elisha went with them, and when they came to the Jordan, they began to cut down some trees.

“Where did it fall?” asked the man of God. And when he showed him the place, the man of God cut a stick, threw it there, and made the iron float.

Then they would put the counted money into the hands of those who supervised the work on the house of the LORD, who in turn would pay those doing the work—the carpenters, builders,

…masons, and stonecutters. They also purchased timber and dressed stone to repair the damage to the house of the LORD, and they paid the other expenses of the temple repairs.

And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

They set up for themselves sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.

They have cast their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods, but only wood and stone—the work of human hands.

…to the carpenters, builders, and masons—to buy timber and dressed stone to repair the temple.

Now Hiram king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs, stonemasons, and carpenters, to build a palace for him.

Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth.

Once again there was a battle with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

Ornan said to David, “Take it! May my lord the king do whatever seems good to him. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering—I will give it all.”

…and more cedar logs than could be counted; for the Sidonians and Tyrians had brought a large quantity of cedar logs to David.

Now behold, I have taken great pains to provide for the house of the LORD—100,000 talents of gold, 1,000,000 talents of silver, and bronze and iron too great to be weighed. I have also provided timber and stone, and you may add to them.

You also have many workers: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and men skilled in every kind of work—

Now with all my ability I have made provision for the house of my God—gold for the gold articles, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron, and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and slabs of marble—all in abundance.

Send me also cedar, cypress, and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants have skill to cut timber there. And indeed, my servants will work with yours

…to prepare for me timber in abundance, because the temple I am building will be great and wonderful.

I will pay your servants, the woodcutters, 20,000 cors of ground wheat, 20,000 cors of barley, 20,000 baths of wine, and 20,000 baths of olive oil.”

He is the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan, and his father is a man of Tyre. He is skilled in work with gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, purple, blue, and crimson yarn, and fine linen. He is experienced in every kind of engraving and can execute any design that is given him. He will work with your craftsmen and with those of my lord, your father David.

We will cut logs from Lebanon, as many as you need, and we will float them to you as rafts by sea down to Joppa. Then you can take them up to Jerusalem.”

He paneled the main room with cypress, which he overlaid with fine gold and decorated with palm trees and chains.

(The servants of Hiram and of Solomon who brought gold from Ophir also brought algum wood and precious stones.

The king made the algum wood into steps for the house of the LORD and for the king’s palace, and into lyres and harps for the singers. Never before had anything like them been seen in the land of Judah.)

Then King Asa brought all the men of Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timbers Baasha had used for building. And with these materials he built up Geba and Mizpah.

And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

They also gave money to the carpenters and builders to buy dressed stone, as well as timbers for couplings and beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to deteriorate.

They gave money to the masons and carpenters, and food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre to bring cedar logs from Lebanon to Joppa by sea, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.

And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house I will occupy.” And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.

Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for this occasion. At his right side stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, and at his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hash-baddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.

…and that they should proclaim this message and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the hill country and bring back branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.”