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].
And Hiram 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 was ever a lover of David.
2 Solomon [gave those messengers] this message to take back to Hiram:
And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying:
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.
'Thou knowest how that David my father could not build a house for the name of the LORD his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the LORD put them under the soles of my 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 hath given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary, nor evil occurrence.
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.
And, behold, I purpose to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spoke unto David my father, saying: Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall 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 command thou that they hew me cedar-trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants; and I will give thee hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt say; for thou knowest that there is not among us any that hath skill to hew timber like unto the Zidonians.'
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!”
And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said: 'Blessed be the LORD this day, who hath given unto 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.
And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying: 'I have heard that which thou hast sent unto me; I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of cypress.
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 shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea; and I will make them into rafts to go by sea unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be broken up there, and thou shalt receive them; and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household.'
10 So Hiram [arranged for his workers to] supply all the cedar and cypress logs that Solomon wanted.
So Hiram gave Solomon timber of cedar and timber of cypress according to all his desire.
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 Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of beaten oil; thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.
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 promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together.
13 King Solomon forced 30,000 men from all over Israel to become his workers.
And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.
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.
And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses: a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home; and Adoniram was over the levy.
15 Solomon also forced 80,000 men to cut stones in the hilly area and 70,000 men to haul the stones [to Jerusalem].
And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bore burdens, and fourscore thousand that were hewers in the mountains;
16 And he also assigned 3,600 men to supervise their work.
besides Solomon's chief officers that were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, who bore rule over the people that wrought in the work.
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, and they quarried great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with hewn stone.
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.
And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the Gebalites did fashion them, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house.
