1 Kings 5
1 Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon for he had heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father; for Hiram had always loved David.
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].
2 Solomon sent word to Hiram, saying,
Solomon [gave those messengers] this message to take back to Hiram:
3 “You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of Yahweh his God because of the wars that surrounded him, for during his lifetime Yahweh was putting his enemies under the soles of his feet.
“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.
4 But now, Yahweh my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor disaster.
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.
5 So I intend to build a temple for the name of Yahweh my God, as Yahweh spoke to David my father, saying, 'Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, will build the temple for my name.'
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.
6 Now therefore command that they cut cedars from Lebanon for me. My servants will join your servants, and I will pay you for your servants so that you are paid fairly for everything you agreed to do. For you know there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”
“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.”
7 When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “May Yahweh be blessed today, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.”
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!”
8 Hiram sent word to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message that you have sent to me. I will provide all the wood of cedar and cypress that you desire.
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.
9 My servants will bring the trees down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will make them into rafts to go by sea to the place that you direct me. I will have them broken up there, and you will take them away. You will do what I desire by giving food for my household.”
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.”
10 So Hiram gave Solomon all the timber of cedar and fir that he desired.
So Hiram [arranged for his workers to] supply all the cedar and cypress logs that Solomon wanted.
11 Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household and twenty measures of pure oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year.
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.
12 Yahweh gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a covenant.
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].
13 King Solomon conscripted labor out of all Israel. The forced laborers numbered thirty thousand men.
King Solomon forced 30,000 men from all over Israel to become his workers.
14 He sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts. One month they were in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was over the men who were subjected to forced labor.
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.
15 Solomon had seventy thousand who carried burdens and eighty thousand who were stonecutters in the mountains,
Solomon also forced 80,000 men to cut stones in the hilly area and 70,000 men to haul the stones [to Jerusalem].
16 besides Solomon's 3,300 chief officers who were over the work and who supervised the workers.
And he also assigned 3,600 men to supervise their work.
17 At the king's command they quarried large stones of high quality with which to lay the foundation of the temple.
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.
18 So Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the Gebalites did the cutting and prepared the timber and the stones to build the temple.
Solomon’s workers and Hiram’s workers and men from Gebal/Byblos [city] shaped the stones and prepared the timber to build the temple.
