1 Kings 5:1–6:11
Preparations for Building the Temple
5 a When Hiramz king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David. 2 Solomon sent back this message to Hiram:
3 “You know that because of the warsa waged against my father David from all sides, he could not buildb a temple for the Name of the Lord his God until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.c 4 But now the Lord my God has given me restd on every side, and there is no adversarye or disaster. 5 I intend, therefore, to build a templef for the Name of the Lord my God, as the Lord told my father David, when he said, ‘Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.’g
6 “So give orders that cedarsh of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians.”
7 When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he was greatly pleased and said, “Praise be to the Lordi today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.”
8 So Hiram sent word to Solomon:
“I have received the message you sent me and will do all you want in providing the cedar and juniper logs. 9 My men will haul them down from Lebanon to the Mediterranean Seaj, and I will float them as rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate them and you can take them away. And you are to grant my wish by providing foodk for my royal household.”
10 In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted, 11 and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand corsb of wheat as foodl for his household, in addition to twenty thousand bathsc,d of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year. 12 The Lord gave Solomon wisdom,m just as he had promised him. There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.n
13 King Solomon conscripted laborerso from all Israel—thirty thousand men. 14 He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniramp was in charge of the forced labor. 15 Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, 16 as well as thirty-three hundrede foremenq who supervised the project and directed the workers. 17 At the king’s command they removed from the quarryr large blocks of high-grade stones to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. 18 The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiramt and workers from Byblosu cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.
6 In the four hundred and eightietha year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month,v he began to build the temple of the Lord.w
2 The templex that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high.b 3 The porticoy at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits,c and projected ten cubitsd from the front of the temple. 4 He made narrow windowsz high up in the temple walls. 5 Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms.a 6 The lowest floor was five cubitse wide, the middle floor six cubitsf and the third floor seven.g He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls.
7 In building the temple, only blocks dressedb at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron toolc was heard at the temple site while it was being built.
8 The entrance to the lowesth floor was on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third. 9 So he built the temple and completed it, roofing it with beams and cedard planks. 10 And he built the side rooms all along the temple. The height of each was five cubits, and they were attached to the temple by beams of cedar.
11 The word of the Lord camee to Solomon: