Hiram’s Reply

¹¹ Then King Hiram of Tyre wrote a letter^[a] and sent it to Solomon:

Because the Lord loves his people, he set you over them as king.^(A)

¹² Hiram also said:

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth!^(B) He gave King David a wise son with insight and understanding,^(C) who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.^{(D) 13} I have now sent Huram-abi,^[b] a skillful man who has understanding.^{(E) 14} He is the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan. His father is a man of Tyre. He knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, with purple, blue, crimson yarn, and fine linen. He knows how to do all kinds of engraving and to execute any design that may be given him. I have sent him to be with your artisans and the artisans of my lord, your father David. ¹⁵ Now, let my lord send the wheat, barley, oil, and wine to his servants as promised.^{(F) 16} We will cut logs from Lebanon, as many as you need, and bring them to you as rafts by sea to Joppa. You can then take them up to Jerusalem.^(G)

Solomon’s Workforce

¹⁷ Solomon took a census of all the resident alien men in the land of Israel, after the census that his father David had conducted,^(H) and the total was 153,600. ¹⁸ Solomon made 70,000 of them porters, 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 supervisors to make the people work.^(I)