Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

5 Now King Hiram was the king of Tyre. He had always been a friend of David. Hiram heard that Solomon had been made king in David’s place. So he sent his messengers to Solomon. ² Then Solomon sent this message back to King Hiram: ³ “You remember that my father David had to fight many wars with the countries around him. So he was never able to build a temple for worship to the Lord his God. David was waiting until the Lord allowed him to defeat all his enemies. ⁴ But now the Lord my God has given me peace. There is peace on all sides of my country. I have no enemies now. My people are in no danger.

⁵ “The Lord made a promise to my father David. The Lord said, ‘I will make your son king after you. And he will build a temple for worship to me.’ Now, I plan to build that temple for worship to the Lord my God. ⁶ And so I ask for your help. Send your men to cut down cedar trees for me from Lebanon. My servants will work with yours. I will pay your servants whatever wages you decide. We don’t have anyone who can cut down trees as well as the people of Sidon can.”

⁷ When Hiram heard what Solomon asked, he was very happy. He said, “I thank the Lord today! He has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation!” ⁸ Then Hiram sent back this message to Solomon: “I received the message you sent. I will give you all the cedar and pine trees you want. ⁹ My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea. There I will tie them together. Then I will float them down the shore to the place you choose. There I will separate the logs, and you can take them away. In return you will give food to all those who live with me.” ¹⁰ So Hiram gave Solomon as much cedar and pine as he wanted. ¹¹ And Solomon gave Hiram about 125,000 bushels of wheat each year. It was to feed all those who lived with Hiram. And Solomon gave him about 115,000 gallons of pure olive oil every year.

¹² The Lord gave wisdom to Solomon as he had promised. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon. These two kings made a treaty between themselves.

¹³ King Solomon forced 30,000 men of Israel to help in this work. ¹⁴ He put a man named Adoniram over them. Solomon sent a group of 10,000 men each month to Lebanon. So each group worked in Lebanon one month. Then it went home for two months. ¹⁵ Solomon forced 80,000 men to work in the hill country, cutting stone. And he had 70,000 men to carry the stones. ¹⁶ There were also 3,300 men who directed the workers. ¹⁷ King Solomon commanded them to cut large blocks of fine stone. These were to be used for the foundation of the Temple. ¹⁸ Solomon’s and Hiram’s builders and the men from Byblos carved the stones. They prepared the stones and the logs for building the Temple.