Hiram’s Building Materials

5 King Hiram of Tyre^(A) sent his emissaries to Solomon when he heard that he had been anointed king in his father’s place,^(B) for Hiram had always been friends with David.^(C)

² Solomon sent this message to Hiram: ³ “You know my father David was not able to build a temple for the name of the Lord his God. This was because of the warfare all around him until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.^{(D) 4} The Lord my God has now given me rest on every side; there is no enemy or misfortune.^{(E) 5} So I plan to build a temple for the name of the Lord my God,^(F) according to what the Lord promised my father David: ‘I will put your son on your throne in your place, and he will build the temple for my name.’^(G)

⁶ “Therefore, command that cedars from Lebanon be cut down for me. My servants will be with your servants, and I will pay your servants’ wages according to whatever you say, for you know that not a man among us knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”^(H)

⁷ When Hiram heard Solomon’s words, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the Lord today!^(I) He has given David a wise son to be over this great people!” ⁸ Then Hiram sent a reply to Solomon, saying, “I have heard your message; I will do everything you want regarding the cedar and cypress timber. ⁹ My servants will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will make them into rafts to go by sea to the place you indicate. I will break them apart there, and you can take them away. You then can meet my needs by providing my household with food.”^(J)

¹⁰ So Hiram provided Solomon with all the cedar and cypress timber he wanted, ¹¹ and Solomon provided Hiram with one hundred twenty thousand bushels^[a] of wheat as food for his household and one hundred twenty thousand gallons^[b] of oil from crushed olives.^(K) Solomon did this for Hiram year after year.

¹² The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he had promised him.^(L) There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.^(M)

Solomon’s Workforce

¹³ Then King Solomon drafted forced laborers from all Israel;^(N) the labor force numbered thirty thousand men. ¹⁴ He sent ten thousand to Lebanon each month in shifts; one month they were in Lebanon, two months they were at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor. ¹⁵ Solomon had seventy thousand porters and eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountains,^{(O) 16} not including his thirty-three hundred^[c] deputies^(P) in charge of the work. They supervised the people doing the work. ¹⁷ The king commanded them to quarry large, costly stones to lay the foundation of the temple with dressed stones.^{(Q) 18} So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders,^(R) along with the Gebalites,^(S) quarried the stone and prepared the timber and stone for the temple’s construction.