1 Kings 5
1 Now when Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king in his father’s place, he sent envoys to Solomon; for Hiram had always been a friend of David.
And Hiram the king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father; for Hiram had all the time been a lover of David.
2 And Solomon relayed this message to Hiram:
And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying,
3 “As you are well aware, due to the wars waged on all sides against my father David, he could not build a house for the Name of the LORD his God until the LORD had put his enemies under his feet.
Thou well knowest of David my father, that he was not able to build a house unto the name of the Lord his God, on account of the war wherewith his enemies encompassed him, until the Lord had put them under the soles of his feet.
4 But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or crisis.
But now hath the Lord my God given me rest on every side, there is neither adversary nor evil hinderance.
5 So behold, I plan to build a house for the Name of the LORD my God, according to what the LORD said to my father David: ‘I will put your son on your throne in your place, and he will build the house for My Name.’
And, behold, I purpose to build a house unto the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord hath spoken unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will place in thy room upon thy throne, he it is that shall build the house unto my name.
6 Now therefore, order that cedars of Lebanon be cut down for me. My servants will be with your servants, and I will pay your servants whatever wages you set, for you know that there are none among us as skilled in logging as the Sidonians.”
And now command thou that they hew me cedar-trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants; and the wages of thy servants will I give unto thee in accordance with all that thou wilt say; for thou well knowest that there is not among us a man that hath the skill to hew timber like unto the Zidonians.
7 When Hiram received Solomon’s message, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the LORD this day! He has given David a wise son over this great people!”
And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly; and he said, Blessed be the Lord this day, who hath given unto David a wise son over this numerous people.
8 Then Hiram sent a reply to Solomon, saying: “I have received your message; I will do all you desire regarding the cedar and cypress timber.
And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have heard what thou hast sent to me for: I will gladly execute all thy desire in respect of timber of cedar, and in respect of timber of fir.
9 My servants will haul the logs from Lebanon to the Sea, and I will float them as rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate the logs, and you can take them away. And in exchange, you can meet my needs by providing my household with food.”
My servants shall bring them down from the Lebanon unto the sea: and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place of which thou wilt send me word, and I will cause them to be taken apart there, and thou shalt take them away; and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving the food for my household.
10 So Hiram provided Solomon with all the cedar and cypress timber he wanted,
So Hiram gave Solomon cedar-trees and fir-trees, all his desire.
11 and year after year Solomon would provide Hiram with 20,000 cors of wheat as food for his household, as well as 20,000 baths of pure olive oil.
And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand kors of wheat as provision for his household, and twenty kors of beaten oil: thus did Solomon give to Hiram year by year.
12 And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as He had promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.
And the Lord gave wisdom unto Solomon, as he had spoken to him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they made a covenant with each other.
13 Then King Solomon conscripted a labor force of 30,000 men from all Israel.
And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.
14 He sent them to Lebanon in monthly shifts of 10,000 men, so that they would spend one month in Lebanon and two months at home. And Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor.
And he sent them into the Lebanon, ten thousand in each month by turns; one month they used to be in the Lebanon, two months at home: and Adoniram was over the levy.
15 Solomon had 70,000 porters and 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains,
And there belonged to Solomon seventy thousand bearers of burdens, and eighty thousand stone-cutters in the mountains;
16 not including his 3,300 foremen who supervised the workers.
Besides the chiefs who were appointed by Solomon over the work, three thousand and three hundred, who ruled over the people that wrought on the work.
17 And the king commanded them to quarry large, costly stones to lay the foundation of the temple with dressed stones.
And when the king commanded, they quarried out great stones, heavy stones, to lay the foundation of the house, and hewn stones.
18 So Solomon’s and Hiram’s builders, along with the Gebalites, quarried the stone and prepared the timber and stone for the construction of the temple.
And the builders of Solomon, and the builders of Hiram, and the Giblites hewed them; and so they prepared the wood and the stones to build the house.
