Preparations and Materials for the Temple

5 ^[a] Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father; for Hiram always loved David. ² And Solomon sent word to Hiram, ³ “You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. ⁴ But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor misfortune. ⁵ And so I purpose to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set upon your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’ ⁶ Now therefore command that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me; and my servants will join your servants, and I will pay you for your servants such wages as you set; for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sido′nians.”

⁷ When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly, and said, “Blessed be the Lord this day, who has given to David a wise son to be over this great people.” ⁸ And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message which you have sent to me; I am ready to do all you desire in the matter of cedar and cypress timber. ⁹ My servants shall bring it down to the sea from Lebanon; and I will make it into rafts to go by sea to the place you direct, and I will have them broken up there, and you shall receive it; and you shall meet my wishes by providing food for my household.” ¹⁰ So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the timber of cedar and cypress that he desired, ¹¹ while Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat as food for his household, and twenty thousand^[b] cors of beaten oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year. ¹² And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and the two of them made a treaty.

¹³ King Solomon raised a levy of forced labor out of all Israel; and the levy numbered thirty thousand men. ¹⁴ And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in relays; they would be a month in Lebanon and two months at home; Adoni′ram was in charge of the levy. ¹⁵ Solomon also had seventy thousand burden-bearers and eighty thousand hewers of stone in the hill country, ¹⁶ besides Solomon’s three thousand three hundred chief officers who were over the work, who had charge of the people who carried on the work. ¹⁷ At the king’s command, they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones. ¹⁸ So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the men of Gebal did the hewing and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.