Solomon’s Letter to Hiram

2 Solomon decided to build a temple for the name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself,^{(A) 2} so he assigned 70,000 men as porters, 80,000 men as stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 as supervisors over them.^(B)

³ Then Solomon sent word to King Hiram^[a](C) of Tyre:^(D)

Do for me what you did for my father David. You sent him cedars to build him a house to live in.^{(E) 4} Now I am building a temple for the name of the Lord my God in order to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him,^(F) for displaying the rows of the Bread of the Presence continuously,^(G) and for sacrificing burnt offerings for the morning and the evening,^(H) the Sabbaths^(I) and the New Moons, and the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is ordained for Israel permanently. ⁵ The temple that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than any of the gods.^{(J) 6} But who is able to build a temple for him, since even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain him?^(K) Who am I then that I should build a temple for him except as a place to burn incense before him? ⁷ Therefore, send me an artisan who is skilled in engraving to work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and with purple, crimson, and blue yarn. He will work with the artisans who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem,^(L) appointed by my father David.^{(M) 8} Also, send me cedar, cypress, and algum^[b](N) logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut the trees of Lebanon. Note that my servants will be with your servants^{(O) 9} to prepare logs for me in abundance because the temple I am building will be great and wondrous. ¹⁰ I will give your servants, the woodcutters who cut the trees, one hundred twenty thousand bushels^[c] of wheat flour, one hundred twenty thousand bushels of barley, one hundred twenty thousand gallons^[d] of wine, and one hundred twenty thousand gallons of oil.