1 Kings 5

1Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that he had been anointed king in place of his father, for Hiram had always been a friend of David.

2Then Solomon sent this message to Hiram:

3“You know that my father David could not build a house for the name of Yahweh his God because of the wars waged against him on every side, until Yahweh put his enemies under the soles of my feet.

4But now Yahweh my God has given me rest on every side. There is no adversary and no misfortune.

5So I intend to build a house for the name of Yahweh my God, as Yahweh told my father David: ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, will build the house for my name.’

6Now then, give orders for cedars to be cut for me from Lebanon. My servants will work with your servants, and I will pay you whatever wages you set for your servants. For you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”

7When Hiram heard Solomon’s words, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be Yahweh today, who has given David a wise son to rule over this great people.”

8Then Hiram sent word to Solomon: “I have heard the message you sent me. I will do all you desire in the matter of cedar timber and cypress timber.

9My servants will bring the timber down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will make it into rafts to go by sea to the place you tell me. There I will break the rafts apart, and you can take the timber away. And you will meet my wishes by providing food for my household.”

10So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the cedar timber and cypress timber he wanted,

11and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat as food for his household, and twenty cors of pressed olive oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year after year.

12Yahweh gave Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.

13King Solomon conscripted forced laborers from all Israel, and the forced labor numbered thirty thousand men.

14He sent them to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month. They would spend one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor.

15Solomon also had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hill country,

16besides Solomon’s 3,300 chief officers who were over the work and supervised the people who did the work.

17At the king’s command they quarried large stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stone.

18So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the men of Gebal cut and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.