1 Kings 5
GOD’S WORD Translation
Preparations for Building the Temple(A)
5 [a]King Hiram of Tyre sent his officials to Solomon when he heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father. Hiram had always been David’s friend.
2 Solomon sent word to Hiram, by saying, 3 “You know that my father David was surrounded by war. He couldn’t build a temple for the name of the Lord our God until the Lord let him defeat his enemies. 4 But the Lord my God has surrounded me with peace. I have no rival and no trouble. 5 Now I’m thinking of building a temple for the name of the Lord my God as the Lord spoke to my father David: ‘Your son, whom I will put on your throne to succeed you, will build a temple for my name.’ 6 So order men to cut down cedars from Lebanon for me. My workers will work with your workers. I will pay you whatever wages you ask for your workers. You know we don’t have any skilled lumberjacks like those from Sidon.”
7 Hiram was very glad to hear what Solomon had said. Hiram responded, “May the Lord be praised today. He has given David a wise son to rule this great nation.”
8 Hiram sent men to Solomon to say, “I’ve received the message you sent me. I will do everything you want in regard to the cedar and cypress logs. 9 My workers will bring logs from Lebanon to the sea, and I will have them make them into rafts to go by sea to any place you specify. There I will have them taken apart, and you can use them. You can pay me by providing food for my palace.” 10 So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and cypress wood he wanted. 11 Solomon gave Hiram 120,000 bushels of wheat and 120,000 gallons of pure olive oil. Solomon paid Hiram this much every year.
12 The Lord gave Solomon wisdom as he had promised. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they made a treaty with one another.
13 King Solomon forced 30,000 men from all over Israel to work for him. 14 He sent a shift of 10,000 men to Lebanon for a month. They would spend one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of forced labor.
15 Solomon had 70,000 men who carried heavy loads, 70,000 who quarried stone in the mountains, 16 and 3,300 foremen who were in charge of the workers. 17 The king commanded them to quarry large, expensive blocks of stone in order to provide a foundation of cut stone for the temple. 18 Solomon’s workmen, Hiram’s workmen, and men from Gebal quarried the stone and prepared the logs and stone to build the temple.
Footnotes
- 5:1 1 Kings 5:1–18 in English Bibles is 1 Kings 5:15–32 in the Hebrew Bible.
1 Kings 5
New King James Version
Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple(A)
5 Now (B)Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, because he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, (C)for Hiram had always loved David. 2 Then (D)Solomon sent to Hiram, saying:
3 (E)You know how my father David could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God (F)because of the wars which were fought against him on every side, until the Lord put [a]his foes under the soles of his feet.
4 But now the Lord my God has given me (G)rest[b] on every side; there is neither adversary nor [c]evil occurrence.
5 (H)And behold, [d]I propose to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, (I)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.”
6 Now therefore, command that they cut down (J)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.
7 So 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!
8 Then 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.
9 My servants shall bring them down (K)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 (L)by giving food for my household.
10 Then Hiram gave Solomon cedar and cypress logs according to all his desire. 11 (M)And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand [e]kors of wheat as food for his household, and [f]twenty kors of pressed oil. Thus Solomon gave to Hiram year by year.
12 So the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, (N)as He had promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty together.
13 Then King Solomon raised up a labor force out of all Israel; and the labor force was thirty thousand men. 14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts: they were one month in Lebanon and two months at home; (O)Adoniram was in charge of the labor force. 15 (P)Solomon had seventy thousand who carried burdens, and eighty thousand who quarried stone in the mountains, 16 besides three thousand [g]three hundred from the (Q)chiefs of Solomon’s deputies, who supervised the people who labored in the work. 17 And the king commanded them to quarry large stones, costly stones, and (R)hewn stones, to lay the foundation of the [h]temple. 18 So Solomon’s builders, Hiram’s builders, and the Gebalites quarried them; and they prepared timber and stones to build the [i]temple.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 5:3 Lit. them
- 1 Kings 5:4 peace
- 1 Kings 5:4 misfortune
- 1 Kings 5:5 Lit. I am saying
- 1 Kings 5:11 Each about 5 bushels
- 1 Kings 5:11 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX, Syr. twenty thousand kors
- 1 Kings 5:16 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX six hundred
- 1 Kings 5:17 Lit. house
- 1 Kings 5:18 Lit. house
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
