1 Kings 5
Young's Literal Translation
5 And Hiram king of Tyre sendeth his servants unto Solomon, for he heard that they had anointed him for king instead of his father, for Hiram was a lover of David all the days;
2 and Solomon sendeth unto Hiram, saying,
3 `Thou hast known David my father, that he hath not been able to build a house to the name of Jehovah his God, because of the wars that have been round about him, till Jehovah's putting them under the soles of his feet.
4 `And now, Jehovah my God hath given rest to me round about, there is no adversary nor evil occurrence,
5 and lo, I am saying to build a house to the name of Jehovah my God, as Jehovah spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son whom I appoint in thy stead on thy throne, he doth build the house for My name.
6 `And now, command, and they cut down for me cedars out of Lebanon, and my servants are with thy servants, and the hire of thy servants I give to thee according to all that thou sayest, for thou hast known that there is not among us a man acquainted with cutting wood, like the Sidonians.'
7 And it cometh to pass at Hiram's hearing the words of Solomon, that he rejoiceth exceedingly, and saith, `Blessed [is] Jehovah to-day, who hath given to David a wise son over this numerous people.'
8 And Hiram sendeth unto Solomon, saying, I have heard that which thou hast sent unto me, I do all thy desire concerning cedar-wood, and fir-wood,
9 my servants bring down from Lebanon to the sea, and I make them floats in the sea unto the place that thou sendest unto me, and I have spread them out there; and thou dost take [them] up, and thou dost execute my desire, to give the food of my house.'
10 And Hiram is giving to Solomon cedar-trees, and fir-trees, all his desire,
11 and Solomon hath given to Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat, food for his house, and twenty cors of beaten oil; thus doth Solomon give to Hiram year by year.
12 And Jehovah hath given wisdom to Solomon as He spake to him, and there is peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they make a covenant both of them.
13 And king Solomon lifteth up a tribute out of all Israel, and the tribute is thirty thousand men,
14 and he sendeth them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month, by changes, a month they are in Lebanon, two months in their own house; and Adoniram [is] over the tribute.
15 And king Solomon hath seventy thousand bearing burdens, and eighty thousand hewing in the mountain,
16 apart from the heads of the officers of Solomon, who [are] over the work, three thousand and three hundred, those ruling over the people who are working in the business.
17 And the king commandeth, and they bring great stones, precious stone, to lay the foundation of the house, hewn stones;
18 and the builders of Solomon, and the builders of Hiram, and the Giblites hew, and prepare the wood and the stones to build the house.
1 Kings 5
Good News Translation
Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple(A)
5 King Hiram of Tyre had always been a friend of David's, and when he heard that Solomon had succeeded his father David as king, he sent ambassadors to him. 2 Solomon sent back this message to Hiram: 3 “You know that because of the constant wars my father David had to fight against the enemy countries all around him, he could not build a temple for the worship of the Lord his God until the Lord had given him victory over all his enemies. 4 But now the Lord my God has given me peace on all my borders. I have no enemies, and there is no danger of attack. 5 (B)The Lord promised my father David, ‘Your son, whom I will make king after you, will build a temple for me.’ And I have now decided to build that temple for the worship of the Lord my God. 6 So send your men to Lebanon to cut down cedars for me. My men will work with them, and I will pay your men whatever you decide. As you well know, my men don't know how to cut down trees as well as yours do.”
7 Hiram was extremely pleased when he received Solomon's message, and he said, “Praise the Lord today for giving David such a wise son to succeed him as king of that great nation!” 8 Then Hiram sent Solomon the following message: “I have received your message, and I am ready to do what you ask. I will provide the cedars and the pine trees. 9 My men will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the sea and will tie them together in rafts to float them down the coast to the place you choose. There my men will untie them, and your men will take charge of them. On your part, I would like you to supply the food for my men.”
10 So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the cedar and pine logs that he wanted, 11 and Solomon provided Hiram with 100,000 bushels of wheat and 110,000 gallons[a] of pure olive oil every year to feed his men.
12 The Lord kept his promise and gave Solomon wisdom. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they made a treaty with each other.
13 King Solomon drafted 30,000 men as forced labor from all over Israel, 14 (C)and put Adoniram in charge of them. He divided them into three groups of 10,000 men, and each group spent one month in Lebanon and two months back home. 15 Solomon also had 80,000 stone cutters in the hill country, with 70,000 men to carry the stones, 16 and he placed 3,300 foremen in charge of them to supervise their work. 17 At King Solomon's command they cut fine large stones for the foundation of the Temple. 18 Solomon's and Hiram's workers and men from the city of Byblos prepared the stones and the timber to build the Temple.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 5:11 Some ancient translations (and see 2 Ch 2.10) 110,000 gallons; Hebrew 1,100 gallons.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
