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 sendeth his servants unto Solomon, for he heard that they had anointed him for king instead of his father, for Hiram was a lover of David all the days;
2 Solomon [gave those messengers] this message to take back to Hiram:
and Solomon sendeth unto 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 hast known David my father, that he hath not been able to build a house to the name of Jehovah his God, because of the wars that have been round about him, till Jehovah's putting them under the soles of 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.
'And now, Jehovah my God hath given rest to me round about, there is no 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 lo, I am saying to build a house to the name of Jehovah my God, as Jehovah spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son whom I appoint in thy stead on thy throne, he doth 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.”
'And now, command, and they cut down for me cedars out of Lebanon, and my servants are with thy servants, and the hire of thy servants I give to thee according to all that thou sayest, for thou hast known that there is not among us a man acquainted with cutting wood, like 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!”
And it cometh to pass at Hiram's hearing the words of Solomon, that he rejoiceth exceedingly, and saith, 'Blessed [is] Jehovah to-day, who hath given to David a wise son over this numerous 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 sendeth unto Solomon, saying, I have heard that which thou hast sent unto me, I do all thy desire concerning cedar-wood, and fir-wood,
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 bring down from Lebanon to the sea, and I make them floats in the sea unto the place that thou sendest unto me, and I have spread them out there; and thou dost take [them] up, and thou dost execute my desire, to give the food of my house.'
10 So Hiram [arranged for his workers to] supply all the cedar and cypress logs that Solomon wanted.
And Hiram is giving to Solomon cedar-trees, and fir-trees, 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 hath given to Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat, food for his house, and twenty cors of beaten oil; thus doth Solomon give 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 Jehovah hath given wisdom to Solomon as He spake to him, and there is peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they make a covenant both of them.
13 King Solomon forced 30,000 men from all over Israel to become his workers.
And king Solomon lifteth up a tribute out of all Israel, and the tribute is 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 sendeth them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month, by changes, a month they are in Lebanon, two months in their own house; and Adoniram [is] over the tribute.
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 king Solomon hath seventy thousand bearing burdens, and eighty thousand hewing in the mountain,
16 And he also assigned 3,600 men to supervise their work.
apart from the heads of the officers of Solomon, who [are] over the work, three thousand and three hundred, those ruling over the people who are working in the business.
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 commandeth, and they bring great stones, precious stone, to lay the foundation of the house, hewn 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.
and the builders of Solomon, and the builders of Hiram, and the Giblites hew, and prepare the wood and the stones to build the house.
