1 Kings 5

5 ¹ When Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king in place of his father, he sent his servants to him, for Hiram had always loved David. ² And Solomon sent this message to Hiram: ³ You know that David my father was not able to build a house for the name of our Father, because of the warfare that surrounded him on every side, until our Father put his enemies under the soles of his feet. ⁴ But now my Father has given me rest on every side; there is no adversary and no calamity.

⁵ So I intend to build a house for the name of my Father, as our Father promised David my father when he said, "Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he will build the house for my name."

⁶ Now therefore command that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My servants will work alongside your servants, and I will pay you whatever wages you set, for you know that no one among us knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.

Hiram Answers Solomon

⁷ When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, "Blessed be the LORD this day, who has given David a wise son over this great people." ⁸ And Hiram sent word to Solomon: "I have heard the message you sent me; I will do all you desire concerning the cedar and cypress timber." ⁹ My servants will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will float them as rafts by sea to the place you appoint. There I will break them apart, and you can take them away. And you, in turn, will meet my need by providing food for my household.

¹⁰ So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and cypress timber he desired, ¹¹ and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat as food for his household, and twenty cors of pressed oil. This Solomon gave to Hiram year after year. ¹² And our Father gave Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty together.

Solomon Gathers the Workers

¹³ King Solomon raised a labor force out of all Israel, and the levy numbered thirty thousand men. ¹⁴ He sent them to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they were a month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the labor force. ¹⁵ Solomon had seventy thousand who carried loads and eighty thousand who quarried stone in the hill country, ¹⁶ besides Solomon's thirty-three hundred chief officers who supervised the work and directed the people who did it. ¹⁷ At the king's command they quarried great, costly stones to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stone. ¹⁸ So Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders, together with the men of Gebal, shaped them and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house.