1 Kings 5
1 Hiram, the king of Tyre [city], had always been a close friend of King David. When he heard that Solomon had been appointed to become the king after his father was no longer king, he sent some messengers to Solomon [to congratulate him].
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 Solomon [gave those messengers] this message to take back to Hiram:
And Solomon relayed this message to Hiram:
3 “You know that my father David [led his soldiers to] fight many wars against his enemies in the nearby countries. So he could not [arrange to] build a temple in which we [MTY] could worship Yahweh our God, until after Yahweh enabled [the Israeli army] to defeat [IDM] all his enemies.
“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 our God has enabled us to have peace with all the surrounding countries. [(There is no danger that/We do not need to worry that)] we will be attacked.
But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or crisis.
5 Yahweh promised my father David, ‘Your son, whom I will enable to be king after you are no longer king, will build a temple for me [MTY].’ Because of that, I have decided to build a temple in which we can worship [MTY] Yahweh our God.
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 “So [I am requesting that] you command your workers to cut cedar trees for me. My men will work with them, and I will pay your workers whatever you decide. [But] my men [cannot do the work alone, ] because they do not know how to cut down trees like your workers from Sidon [city] do.”
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 When Hiram heard the message from Solomon, he was very happy and said, “I praise Yahweh today for giving David a very wise son to rule that great nation!”
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 He sent this message back to Solomon: “I have heard the message that you sent to me, and I am ready to do what you ask. I will provide cedar and cypress logs.
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 workers will bring the logs down from [the] Lebanon [mountains] to the [Mediterranean] sea. Then they will [tie them together to] make rafts to float them [in the water] along the coast to the place that you indicate. Then my workers will untie the logs, and your workers will take them from there. What I want you to do is to supply food for the people who work in my palace.”
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 Hiram [arranged for his workers to] supply all the cedar and cypress logs that Solomon wanted.
So Hiram provided Solomon with all the cedar and cypress timber he wanted,
11 Each year Solomon gave Hiram 100,000 bushels of wheat and 110,000 gallons of pure [olive] oil to feed the people who worked in his palace.
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 Yahweh enabled Solomon to be wise, just like he had promised. Solomon and Hiram made a treaty/agreement that there would be peace between their [two governments/countries].
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 King Solomon forced 30,000 men from all over Israel to become his workers.
Then King Solomon conscripted a labor force of 30,000 men from all Israel.
14 Adoniram was their boss. Solomon divided the men into three groups. Each month 10,000 of them went to Lebanon and worked for a month there, and then they came back home for two months.
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 Solomon also forced 80,000 men to cut stones in the hilly area and 70,000 men to haul the stones [to Jerusalem].
Solomon had 70,000 porters and 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains,
16 And he also assigned 3,600 men to supervise their work.
not including his 3,300 foremen who supervised the workers.
17 The king also commanded his workers to cut huge blocks of stones from the quarries and to smooth the sides of the stones. Those huge stones were for the foundation of the temple.
And the king commanded them to quarry large, costly stones to lay the foundation of the temple with dressed stones.
18 Solomon’s workers and Hiram’s workers and men from Gebal/Byblos [city] shaped the stones and prepared the timber to build the temple.
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.
