< 1 Kings 5 >

1 And Hiram King of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon, for he had heard that, him, had they anointed king, in the room of his father, —for, Hiram, was, a lover, of, David continually.
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.
2 So Solomon sent unto Hiram, saying: —
And Solomon relayed this message to Hiram:
3 Thou, knewest David my father, how that he could not build a house unto the Name of Yahweh his God, because of the wars that were about him on every side, —until Yahweh should put them under the soles of his feet;
“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.
4 but, now, Yahweh my God hath given me rest on every side, —there is neither adversary nor incident of evil.
But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or crisis.
5 Behold me! then, purposing to build a house for the Name of Yahweh my God—even as Yahweh spake unto David my father, saying—Thy son, whom I will set in thy stead, upon thy throne, he, shall build the house for my Name.
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.’
6 Now, therefore, command thou that they fell me cedars, out of Lebanon, and, my servants, shall be, with thy servants, and, the hire of thy servants, will I give thee, according to all that thou shalt say, —for, thou, knowest, that, none amongst us, hath skill to fell timber, like the Zidonians.
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.”
7 And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, —and said: Blessed, be Yahweh, to-day, who hath given unto David a wise son, over this great people!
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!”
8 And Hiram sent unto Solomon, saying, I have heard that which thou hast sent unto me, —I, will do all thy desire, as to timber of cedar, and timber of fir.
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.
9 My servants, shall bring them down out of Lebanon unto the sea, and, I, will put them in rafts on the sea, unto the place of which thou shalt send me word, and will cause them to be discharged there, and, thou, shalt receive them, and, thou, shalt do my desire, by giving food for my household.
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.”
10 So then Hiram began giving unto Solomon timber of cedar, and timber of fir, even all his desire,
So Hiram provided Solomon with all the cedar and cypress timber he wanted,
11 and, Solomon, gave unto Hiram, twenty thousand measures of wheat, as food for his household, and twenty measures of beaten oil, —thus, used Solomon on to give unto Hiram, year by year.
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.
12 And, Yahweh, gave wisdom unto Solomon, as he promised him, —and it came to pass that there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and, they two, solemnised a covenant.
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.
13 And King Solomon raised a labour-band, out of all Israel, —and it came to pass that, the labour-band, was thirty thousand men.
Then King Solomon conscripted a labor force of 30,000 men from all Israel.
14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month, by courses, a month, were they in Lebanon, two months, at home, —and, Adoniram, was over the levy.
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.
15 And it came to pass that, Solomon, had seventy thousand bearers of burdens, —and eighty thousand hewers in the mountain;
Solomon had 70,000 porters and 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains,
16 besides the chiefs of Solomon’s officers, who were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, —who ruled over the people that wrought in the work.
not including his 3,300 foremen who supervised the workers.
17 And the king commanded, and they quarried great stones, costly stones, to found the house with hewn stones.
And the king commanded them to quarry large, costly stones to lay the foundation of the temple with dressed stones.
18 And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders with the Gebalites wrought them, —thus made they ready the timber and the stones, for building the house.
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.

< 1 Kings 5 >