1 Kings 5:12-6:13

Complete Jewish Bible

¹²^(4:32)He composed 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs. ¹³^(4:33)He could discuss trees, from the cedar in the L’vanon to the hyssop growing out of the wall; he could discuss wild animals, poultry, reptiles and fish. ¹⁴^(4:34)People from all nations came to hear the wisdom of Shlomo, including kings from all over the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

¹⁵⁽¹⁾Hiram king of Tzor sent his servants to Shlomo, because he had heard that they had anointed him king in his father’s place, and Hiram had always loved David. ¹⁶⁽²⁾Shlomo returned this message to Hiram: ¹⁷⁽³⁾“You know that David my father wasn’t able to build a house for the name of Adonai his God, because of the wars that beset him from every side, until Adonai put his enemies under the soles of my feet. ¹⁸⁽⁴⁾But now Adonai my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor calamity. ¹⁹⁽⁵⁾So now I intend to build a house for the name of Adonai my God, in keeping with what Adonai said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, will be the one to build the house for my name.’ ²⁰⁽⁶⁾Therefore, order your people to cut down cedar trees from the L’vanon for me. My servants will be with your servants. I will pay your servants according to everything you say; for you know that we have no one among us as skilled in felling trees as the Tzidonim.”

²¹⁽⁷⁾When Hiram heard Shlomo’s message, he was very happy and said, “Blessed be Adonai today, who has given David a wise son to rule this great people.” ²²⁽⁸⁾Then Hiram sent Shlomo this message: “I have heard the message you sent me, and I will do everything you want concerning cedar logs and cypress logs. ²³⁽⁹⁾My servants will bring them down from the L’vanon to the sea. I will make them into rafts to go by sea to whatever place you tell me and will have them broken up there, and you will receive them. You will compensate me by providing food for my household.”

²⁴⁽¹⁰⁾So Hiram gave Shlomo all the cedar logs and cypress logs he wanted; ²⁵⁽¹¹⁾and Shlomo gave Hiram 100,000 bushels of wheat as food for his household and a thousand gallons of oil from pressed olives — this is what Shlomo gave Hiram each year. ²⁶⁽¹²⁾Adonai gave Shlomo wisdom, as he had promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Shlomo — the two of them formed an alliance together.

²⁷⁽¹³⁾King Shlomo conscripted 30,000 men from all Isra’el for forced labor. ²⁸⁽¹⁴⁾He sent them to the L’vanon in monthly relays of 10,000; they would stay a month in the L’vanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor.

²⁹⁽¹⁵⁾Shlomo had 70,000 men to carry loads and another 80,000 stonecutters in the hills, ³⁰⁽¹⁶⁾besides Shlomo’s 3,300 supervisors who were in charge of the people doing the work. ³¹⁽¹⁷⁾The king gave orders; and they quarried large stones, expensive stones, to lay the foundation of the house with cut stone. ³²⁽¹⁸⁾Shlomo’s and Hiram’s builders, along with the men from G’val, worked the stones and prepared the timber and stones for building the house.

6 It was in the 480th year after the people of Isra’el had left the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Shlomo’s reign over Isra’el, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of Adonai. ²The house which King Shlomo built for Adonai was 105 feet long, thirty-five feet wide and fifty-two-and-a-half feet high. ³The hall fronting the temple of the house was thirty-five feet long, the same as the width of the house itself, so that its seventeen-and-a-half-foot width extended frontward from the house. ⁴The windows he made for the house were wide on the inside and narrow on the outside. ⁵Against the wall of the house he built an annex all the way around; it went all the way around the walls of the house, including both the temple and the sanctuary. ⁶The lowest floor of the annex was eight-and-three-quarters feet wide, the middle floor ten-and-a-half feet wide and the third floor twelve-and-a-quarter feet wide; for he had made the outer part of the wall of the house step-shaped, so that the beams of the annex would not have to be attached to the house walls. ⁷For the house, when under construction, was built of stone prepared at the quarry; so that no hammer, chisel or iron tool of any kind was heard in the house while it was being built. ⁸The entrance to the lowest floor was on the south side of the house; a spiral staircase went up to the middle floor and on to the third. ⁹So he built the house, and after finishing it, he put its roof on — cedar planks over beams. ¹⁰Each floor of the annex surrounding the house was eight-and-three-quarters feet high and was attached to the house with beams of cedar.

¹¹Then this word of Adonai came to Shlomo: ¹²“Concerning this house which you are building: if you will live according to my regulations, follow my rulings and observe all my mitzvot and live by them, then I will establish with you my promise that I made to David your father — ¹³I will live in it among the people of Isra’el, and I will not abandon my people Isra’el.”