Open English Translation 1KI Chapter 5

5 Then King Hiram of Tsor (Tyre) sent his servants to Shelomoh when he heard that he’d been anointed as king to replace his father, because Hiram had always been a friend of David. 2 Shelomoh replied to Hiram, 3 “You yourself knew David my father, and you knew that he wasn’t able to build a temple for his God Yahweh his God because of the constant state of warfare until Yahweh would allow us to defeat all our enemies. 4 But now, my God Yahweh has enabled us to have peace from all around. We have no enemy, and there’s no threat of danger. 5 So listen, I’m planning to build a residence for my God Yahweh, just as Yahweh spoke to my father David, ‘Your son who I’ll put in your place on your throne, he’ll be the one to build the house to honour me.’[ref] 6 So now, please give the command to fell cedars for me from the Lebanon forest. Let my servants accompany your servants and I’ll pay your servants’ wages whatever amount you set, because you yourself know that there are no other workers who know how to fell trees like the Tsidonians.”

7 When Hiram got Shelomoh’s message, he was very happy and said, “Blessed be Yahweh today, who has given David a wise son to rule over that great nation.” 8 He sent this message back to Shelomoh, “I’ve received the message that you sent me and I myself will supervise everything you want including cedar and cypress logs. 9 My servants will transport them down from the forest to the ocean, and I’ll get them tied into rafts and float them to the place you specify and disassemble the rafts. Then it’ll be up to you to get them where you need them. All I ask for, is food for my family and workers.”

10 So Hiram supplied all the cedar and cypress logs that Shelomoh ordered 11 and each year Shelomoh supplied Hiram with three thousand tonnes of wheat and four hundred thousand litres of pure olive oil. 12 Yahweh gave Shelomoh wisdom just like he’d said he would, and there was peace between Hiram and Shelomoh and the two of them made a treaty with each other.

13 King Shelomoh forced thirty thousand men from all over Israel to become his workers, 14 and each month he sent a group of ten thousand of them to work in Lebanon. Each group would spend a month in Lebanon and then two months at home again. Adoniram was put in charge of all that.[ref] 15 Shelomoh also forced eighty thousand men to cut stones in the hill country and seventy thousand men to haul loads. 16 Then besides Shelomoh’s chief officers who were in charge of the work, there were another three thousand three hundred supervisors of the workers. 17 The king commanded them to quarry large, valuable blocks of dressed stone for the temple foundations. 18 Shelomoh’s and Hiram’s workers and the Gebalites shaped the stones and prepared the timber for building the temple.