1 Kings 5
English Standard Version
Preparations for Building the Temple
5 [a] Now (A)Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, (B)for Hiram always loved David. 2 And Solomon sent word to Hiram, 3 (C)“You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God (D)because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. 4 (E)But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune. 5 And so I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, (F)as the Lord said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on 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 Sidonians.”
7 As soon as 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 that 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 (G)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 20,000 cors[b] of wheat as food for his household, and 20,000[c] cors of beaten oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year. 12 And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, (H)as he promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.
13 King Solomon drafted (I)forced labor out of all Israel, and the draft numbered 30,000 men. 14 And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in shifts. They would be a month in Lebanon and two months at home. (J)Adoniram was in charge of the draft. 15 Solomon also (K)had 70,000 burden-bearers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country, 16 besides Solomon's 3,300 (L)chief officers who were over the work, (M)who had charge of the people who carried on the work. 17 At the king's command (N)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 (O)the men of Gebal did the cutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 5:1 Ch 5:15 in Hebrew
- 1 Kings 5:11 A cor was about 6 bushels or 220 liters
- 1 Kings 5:11 Septuagint; Hebrew twenty
1 Kings 5
Easy-to-Read Version
Solomon and Hiram
5 Hiram was the king of Tyre. He had always been David’s friend. So when Hiram heard that Solomon had become the new king after David, he sent his servants to Solomon. 2 This is what Solomon said to King Hiram:
3 “You remember that my father, King David, had to fight many wars all around him. So he was never able to build a temple to honor the Lord his God. King David was waiting until the Lord allowed him to defeat all his enemies. 4 But now the Lord my God has given me peace along all the borders of my country. I have no enemies, and my people are in no danger.
5 “The Lord made a promise to my father David. He said, ‘I will make your son king after you, and he will build a temple to honor me.’ Now, I plan to build that temple to honor the Lord my God. 6 And so I ask you to help me. Send your men to Lebanon to cut down cedar trees for me. My servants will work with yours. I will pay you any price that you decide as your servants’ wages, but I need your help. Our carpenters[a] are not as good as the carpenters of Sidon.”
7 Hiram was very happy when he heard what Solomon asked. He said, “I praise the Lord today for giving David a wise son to rule this great nation!” 8 Then Hiram sent this message to Solomon:
“I heard what you asked for. I will give you all the cedar trees and the fir trees you want. 9 My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea. Then I will tie them together and float them down the shore to the place you choose. There I will separate the logs, and you can take them from there. As payment for this, you will give food to all those who live in my palace.”
10 So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and fir logs that he wanted.
11 Solomon gave Hiram about 120,000 bushels[b] of wheat and about 120,000 gallons[c] of pure olive oil every year for his family.
12 The Lord made Solomon wise as he had promised. Hiram and Solomon made a treaty between themselves and were at peace with one another.
13 King Solomon forced 30,000 men of Israel to help in this work. 14 He chose a man named Adoniram to be in charge of them. Solomon divided the men into three groups with 10,000 men in each group. Each group worked one month in Lebanon and then went home for two months. 15 Solomon also forced 80,000 men to work in the hill country cutting stone. There were also 70,000 men to carry the stones. 16 There were 3300 men to supervise the workers. 17 King Solomon commanded them to cut large, expensive stones for the foundation of the Temple. 18 Then Solomon and Hiram’s builders and the men from Byblos[d] carved the stones and prepared them and the logs for use in building the Temple.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 5:6 carpenters People who work with wood. In ancient times, this also meant that they cut the trees.
- 1 Kings 5:11 120,000 bushels Literally, “20,000 cors” (4,400,000 l).
- 1 Kings 5:11 120,000 gallons Literally, “20,000 baths” (440,000 l).
- 1 Kings 5:18 Byblos Literally, “Gebal.”
1 Kings 5
King James Version
5 And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David.
2 And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying,
3 Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the Lord his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet.
4 But now the Lord my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent.
5 And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my name.
6 Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians.
7 And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the Lord this day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great people.
8 And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which thou sentest to me for: and I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir.
9 My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them: and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household.
10 So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to all his desire.
11 And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon 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 they two made a league together.
13 And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.
14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses: a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home: and Adoniram was over the levy.
15 And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains;
16 Beside the chief of Solomon's officers which were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the people that wrought in the work.
17 And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house.
18 And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.
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Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International