1 Kings 4:33–5:14

³³And he spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows on the wall; he spoke also of animals and birds and creeping things and fish.

³⁴¹And men ^acame from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

CHAPTER 5

Covenant with Hiram King of Tyre

^11aThen Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for ^bHiram had ²always been one who loved David.

²And ^aSolomon sent word to Hiram, saying,

³“You know that ^aDavid my father was unable to build a house for the name of Yahweh his God because of the wars which surrounded him, until Yahweh put them under the soles of his feet.

⁴“But now ^aYahweh my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor ¹calamity.

⁵“So behold, ^aI ¹intend to build a house for the name of Yahweh my God, as Yahweh spoke to David my father, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he will build the house for My name.’

⁶“So now, command that they cut for me ^acedars from Lebanon, and my servants will be with your servants; and I will give you wages for your servants according to all that you say, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”

⁷Now it happened, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he was very glad and said, “Blessed be Yahweh today, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.”

⁸So Hiram sent word to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message which you have sent me; I will do ¹what you desire concerning the cedar and cypress timber.

⁹“My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea; and I will make them into rafts to go by sea ^ato the place where you ¹direct me, and I will have them broken up there, and you shall carry them away. Then ^byou shall accomplish my desire by giving food to my household.”

¹⁰So ¹Hiram ²gave Solomon ³as much as he desired of the cedar and cypress timber.

^11aSolomon then gave Hiram ¹20,000 kors of wheat as food for his household, and ²20 kors of beaten oil; thus Solomon would give Hiram year by year.

^12aNow Yahweh gave wisdom to Solomon, just as He ¹promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them cut a covenant.

¹³And ^aKing Solomon raised up forced laborers from all Israel; and the forced laborers ¹numbered 30,000 men.

¹⁴And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in ¹shifts; they were in Lebanon a month and two months at home. And ^aAdoniram was over the forced laborers.