¹³ King Solomon conscripted laborers^(A) 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. Adoniram^(B) 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 hundred^[a] foremen^(C) who supervised the project and directed the workers.

³⁸ In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple was finished in all its details^(A) according to its specifications.^(B) He had spent seven years building it.

Gifts for Building the Temple

29 Then King David said to the whole assembly: “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced.^(A) The task is great, because this palatial structure is not for man but for the Lord God. ² With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God—gold^(B) for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise,^[a](C) stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in large quantities.^{(D) 3} Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided^(E) for this holy temple: ⁴ three thousand talents^[b] of gold (gold of Ophir)^(F) and seven thousand talents^[c] of refined silver,^(G) for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings, ⁵ for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now, who is willing to consecrate themselves to the Lord today?”

⁶ Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials^(H) in charge of the king’s work gave willingly.^{(I) 7} They^(J) gave toward the work on the temple of God five thousand talents^[d] and ten thousand darics^[e] of gold, ten thousand talents^[f] of silver, eighteen thousand talents^[g] of bronze and a hundred thousand talents^[h] of iron. ⁸ Anyone who had precious stones^(K) gave them to the treasury of the temple of the Lord in the custody of Jehiel the Gershonite.^(L)

¹⁰ When the builders laid^(A) the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets,^(B) and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise^(C) the Lord, as prescribed by David^(D) king of Israel.^{(E) 11} With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:

And all the people gave a great shout^(G) of praise to the Lord, because the foundation^(H) of the house of the Lord was laid. ¹² But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple,^(I) wept^(J) aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. ¹³ No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy^(K) from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.

¹⁰ “Who dares despise the day^(A) of small things,^(B) since the seven eyes^(C) of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone^[a] in the hand of Zerubbabel?”^(D)