¹⁷ At the king’s command they removed from the quarry^(A) large blocks of high-grade stone^(B) to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. ¹⁸ The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram^(C) and workers from Byblos^(D) cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.

¹⁷ Solomon took a census of all the foreigners^(A) residing in Israel, after the census^(B) his father David had taken; and they were found to be 153,600. ¹⁸ He assigned^(C) 70,000 of them to be carriers and 80,000 to be stonecutters in the hills, with 3,600 foremen over them to keep the people working.