1 Kings 5
1 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;
When Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father, he sent ambassadors to Solomon because Hiram had always been David's friend.
2 and Solomon sendeth unto Hiram, saying,
So Solomon sent this message back to Hiram,
3 '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.
“As you know, my father David was not able to build a Temple to honor the Lord his God because of the wars fought against him from every direction, until the Lord had conquered his enemies.
4 'And now, Jehovah my God hath given rest to me round about, there is no adversary nor evil occurrence,
But now the Lord my God has given me peace all around—no enemies, no bad things happening.
5 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.
So I plan to build a Temple to honor the Lord my God, as the Lord told my father David. He said to him, ‘Your son whom I will place on your throne to succeed you will build the Temple to honor me.’
6 '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.'
So please order some cedars of Lebanon to be cut down for me. My workers will assist your workers, and I will pay your workers at the rate that you decide, for you know that we don't have anyone who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”
7 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.'
When Hiram heard Solomon's message, he was very happy and said, “Praise the Lord today, for he has given David a wise son to lead this great nation!”
8 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,
Hiram sent this reply to Solomon: “Thank you for your message. As for the cedar and cypress timber, I will do everything you want.
9 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.'
My workers will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will have them floated in rafts by sea to wherever you decide. I will have the rafts broken apart there, and you can take the logs away. In return I would like you to provide food for my household.”
10 And Hiram is giving to Solomon cedar-trees, and fir-trees, all his desire,
So Hiram provided Solomon with as much cedar and cypress timber that he wanted,
11 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.
Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 cors of wheat for food and 20,000 cors of olive oil for his household. Solomon provided this to Hiram every year.
12 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.
The Lord gave Solomon wisdom just as he had promised him. Hiram and Solomon had a good relationship and they made a peace treaty with each other.
13 And king Solomon lifteth up a tribute out of all Israel, and the tribute is thirty thousand men,
King Solomon drafted a labor force of 30,000 from all of Israel.
14 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.
He sent them in shifts of 10,000 each month to Lebanon, so that they were one month in Lebanon and two months at home, Adoniram was in charge of the labor force.
15 And king Solomon hath seventy thousand bearing burdens, and eighty thousand hewing in the mountain,
Solomon had 70,000 porters and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country,
16 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.
as well as 3,300 foremen he placed in charge of the workers.
17 And the king commandeth, and they bring great stones, precious stone, to lay the foundation of the house, hewn stones;
Following the king's orders, they quarried large blocks of stone that were expensive to produce, and laid these dressed stones as the foundation for the Temple.
18 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.
So Solomon's and Hiram's builders, together with the Gebalites, cut the stone. They prepared the timber and stone to build the Temple.
