1 Kings 5

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

Hiram king of Tyre sent envoys to congratulate Solomon upon his accession, and Solomon replied by requesting cedar and cypress timber from Lebanon to build a house for the name of the Lord. Hiram agreed to float the timber by sea in exchange for food for his household, leading the two kings to establish a treaty of peace. Solomon then conscripted thirty thousand laborers from Israel, sending them to Lebanon in monthly shifts alongside seventy thousand porters, eighty thousand stonecutters, and thirty-three hundred foremen. These workers, including Solomon's builders, Hiram's builders, and the Gebalites, quarried large, costly stones and prepared timber to lay the foundation of the temple.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

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¹Now when Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king in his father’s place, he sent envoys to Solomon; for Hiram had always been a friend of David. ²And Solomon relayed this message to Hiram: ³“As you are well aware, due to the wars waged on all sides against my father David, he could not build a house for the Name of the LORD his God until the LORD had put his enemies under his feet. ⁴But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or crisis. ⁵So behold, I plan to build a house for the Name of the LORD my God, according to what the LORD said to my father David: ‘I will put your son on your throne in your place, and he will build the house for My Name.’ ⁶Now therefore, order that cedars of Lebanon be cut down for me. My servants will be with your servants, and I will pay your servants whatever wages you set, for you know that there are none among us as skilled in logging as the Sidonians.” ⁷When Hiram received Solomon’s message, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the LORD this day! He has given David a wise son over this great people!” ⁸Then Hiram sent a reply to Solomon, saying: “I have received your message; I will do all you desire regarding the cedar and cypress timber. ⁹My servants will haul the logs from Lebanon to the Sea, and I will float them as rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate the logs, and you can take them away. And in exchange, you can meet my needs by providing my household with food.” ¹⁰So Hiram provided Solomon with all the cedar and cypress timber he wanted, ¹¹and year after year Solomon would provide Hiram with 20,000 cors of wheat as food for his household, as well as 20,000 baths of pure olive oil. ¹²And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as He had promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty. ¹³Then King Solomon conscripted a labor force of 30,000 men from all Israel. ¹⁴He sent them to Lebanon in monthly shifts of 10,000 men, so that they would spend one month in Lebanon and two months at home. And Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor. ¹⁵Solomon had 70,000 porters and 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains, ¹⁶not including his 3,300 foremen who supervised the workers. ¹⁷And the king commanded them to quarry large, costly stones to lay the foundation of the temple with dressed stones. ¹⁸So Solomon’s and Hiram’s builders, along with the Gebalites, quarried the stone and prepared the timber and stone for the construction of the temple.

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.