5

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

¹Now ⚓Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, because he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, ⚓for Hiram had always loved David. ²Then ⚓Solomon sent to Hiram, saying:
³⚓You know how my father David could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God ⚓because of the wars which were fought against him on every side, until the Lord put his foes under the soles of his feet.
⁴But now the Lord my God has given me ⚓rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor evil occurrence.
⁵⚓And behold, I propose to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, ⚓as the Lord spoke to my father David, saying, “Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he shall build the house for My name.”
⁶Now therefore, command that they cut down ⚓cedars for me from Lebanon; and my servants will be with your servants, and I will pay you wages for your servants according to whatever you say. For you know there is none among us who has skill to cut timber like the Sidonians.
⁷So it was, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly and said,
Blessed be the Lord this day, for He has given David a wise son over this great people!
⁸Then Hiram sent to Solomon, saying:
I have considered the message which you sent me, and I will do all you desire concerning the cedar and cypress logs.
⁹My servants shall bring them down ⚓from Lebanon to the sea; I will float them in rafts by sea to the place you indicate to me, and will have them broken apart there; then you can take them away. And you shall fulfill my desire ⚓by giving food for my household.
¹⁰Then Hiram gave Solomon cedar and cypress logs according to all his desire. ¹¹⚓And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand kors of wheat as food for his household, and twenty kors of pressed oil. Thus Solomon gave to Hiram year by year.
¹²So the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, ⚓as He had promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty together.
¹³Then King Solomon raised up a labor force out of all Israel; and the labor force was thirty thousand men. ¹⁴And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts: they were one month in Lebanon and two months at home; ⚓Adoniram was in charge of the labor force. ¹⁵⚓Solomon had seventy thousand who carried burdens, and eighty thousand who quarried stone in the mountains, ¹⁶besides three thousand three hundred from the ⚓chiefs of Solomon’s deputies, who supervised the people who labored in the work. ¹⁷And the king commanded them to quarry large stones, costly stones, and⚓hewn stones, to lay the foundation of the temple. ¹⁸So Solomon’s builders, Hiram’s builders, and the Gebalites quarried them; and they prepared timber and stones to build the temple.