Βασιλειῶν Γʹ 5
1 καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Χιραμ βασιλεὺς Τύρου τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῦ χρῖσαι τὸν Σαλωμων ἀντὶ Δαυιδ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ ὅτι ἀγαπῶν ἦν Χιραμ τὸν Δαυιδ πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας
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 καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Σαλωμων πρὸς Χιραμ λέγων
So Solomon sent this message back to Hiram,
3 σὺ οἶδας Δαυιδ τὸν πατέρα μου ὅτι οὐκ ἐδύνατο οἰκοδομῆσαι οἶκον τῷ ὀνόματι κυρίου θεοῦ μου ἀπὸ προσώπου τῶν πολέμων τῶν κυκλωσάντων αὐτὸν ἕως τοῦ δοῦναι κύριον αὐτοὺς ὑπὸ τὰ ἴχνη τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ
“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 καὶ νῦν ἀνέπαυσε κύριος ὁ θεός μου ἐμοὶ κυκλόθεν οὐκ ἔστιν ἐπίβουλος καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀπάντημα πονηρόν
But now the Lord my God has given me peace all around—no enemies, no bad things happening.
5 καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ λέγω οἰκοδομῆσαι οἶκον τῷ ὀνόματι κυρίου θεοῦ μου καθὼς ἐλάλησεν κύριος ὁ θεὸς πρὸς Δαυιδ τὸν πατέρα μου λέγων ὁ υἱός σου ὃν δώσω ἀντὶ σοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν θρόνον σου οὗτος οἰκοδομήσει τὸν οἶκον τῷ ὀνόματί μου
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 καὶ νῦν ἔντειλαι καὶ κοψάτωσάν μοι ξύλα ἐκ τοῦ Λιβάνου καὶ ἰδοὺ οἱ δοῦλοί μου μετὰ τῶν δούλων σου καὶ τὸν μισθὸν δουλείας σου δώσω σοι κατὰ πάντα ὅσα ἐὰν εἴπῃς ὅτι σὺ οἶδας ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῖν εἰδὼς ξύλα κόπτειν καθὼς οἱ Σιδώνιοι
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 καὶ ἐγενήθη καθὼς ἤκουσεν Χιραμ τῶν λόγων Σαλωμων ἐχάρη σφόδρα καὶ εἶπεν εὐλογητὸς ὁ θεὸς σήμερον ὃς ἔδωκεν τῷ Δαυιδ υἱὸν φρόνιμον ἐπὶ τὸν λαὸν τὸν πολὺν τοῦτον
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 καὶ ἀπέστειλεν πρὸς Σαλωμων λέγων ἀκήκοα περὶ πάντων ὧν ἀπέσταλκας πρός με ἐγὼ ποιήσω πᾶν θέλημά σου ξύλα κέδρινα καὶ πεύκινα
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 οἱ δοῦλοί μου κατάξουσιν αὐτὰ ἐκ τοῦ Λιβάνου εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν ἐγὼ θήσομαι αὐτὰ σχεδίας ἕως τοῦ τόπου οὗ ἐὰν ἀποστείλῃς πρός με καὶ ἐκτινάξω αὐτὰ ἐκεῖ καὶ σὺ ἀρεῖς καὶ ποιήσεις τὸ θέλημά μου τοῦ δοῦναι ἄρτους τῷ οἴκῳ μου
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 καὶ ἦν Χιραμ διδοὺς τῷ Σαλωμων κέδρους καὶ πᾶν θέλημα αὐτοῦ
So Hiram provided Solomon with as much cedar and cypress timber that he wanted,
11 καὶ Σαλωμων ἔδωκεν τῷ Χιραμ εἴκοσι χιλιάδας κόρους πυροῦ καὶ μαχιρ τῷ οἴκῳ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἴκοσι χιλιάδας βεθ ἐλαίου κεκομμένου κατὰ τοῦτο ἐδίδου Σαλωμων τῷ Χιραμ κατ’ ἐνιαυτόν
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 καὶ κύριος ἔδωκεν σοφίαν τῷ Σαλωμων καθὼς ἐλάλησεν αὐτῷ καὶ ἦν εἰρήνη ἀνὰ μέσον Χιραμ καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον Σαλωμων καὶ διέθεντο διαθήκην ἀνὰ μέσον ἑαυτῶν
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 καὶ ἀνήνεγκεν ὁ βασιλεὺς φόρον ἐκ παντὸς Ισραηλ καὶ ἦν ὁ φόρος τριάκοντα χιλιάδες ἀνδρῶν
King Solomon drafted a labor force of 30,000 from all of Israel.
14 καὶ ἀπέστειλεν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸν Λίβανον δέκα χιλιάδες ἐν τῷ μηνί ἀλλασσόμενοι μῆνα ἦσαν ἐν τῷ Λιβάνῳ καὶ δύο μῆνας ἐν οἴκῳ αὐτῶν καὶ Αδωνιραμ ἐπὶ τοῦ φόρου
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 καὶ ἦν τῷ Σαλωμων ἑβδομήκοντα χιλιάδες αἴροντες ἄρσιν καὶ ὀγδοήκοντα χιλιάδες λατόμων ἐν τῷ ὄρει
Solomon had 70,000 porters and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country,
16 χωρὶς ἀρχόντων τῶν καθεσταμένων ἐπὶ τῶν ἔργων τῶν Σαλωμων τρεῖς χιλιάδες καὶ ἑξακόσιοι ἐπιστάται οἱ ποιοῦντες τὰ ἔργα
as well as 3,300 foremen he placed in charge of the workers.
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 καὶ ἡτοίμασαν τοὺς λίθους καὶ τὰ ξύλα τρία ἔτη
So Solomon's and Hiram's builders, together with the Gebalites, cut the stone. They prepared the timber and stone to build the Temple.
