Preparations to Build the Temple^(A)

5 ^[a]King Hiram of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he learned that Solomon^[b] had been anointed king to replace his father, because Hiram had been David’s lifelong friend.^{[c] 2} Solomon sent this message to Hiram:

⁷ As soon as Hiram received the message from Solomon, he became so ecstatic that he exclaimed, “Blessed be the Lord today, who has given David a wise son to rule this great people!” Then he sent this message to Solomon:

¹⁰ That’s how Hiram came to provide Solomon as much cedar and cypress timber as he needed. ¹¹ In return, Solomon paid Hiram 20,000 kors of wheat as food for his household, and 20 kors of beaten oil. Solomon provided this amount every year during the construction.^[g]

¹² The Lord continued giving Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised, and Hiram and Solomon entered into a peace treaty between themselves.

Conscripted Labor for the Building Program

¹³ King Solomon conscripted laborers from throughout Israel. The work force numbered 30,000 men. ¹⁴ He sent 10,000 men to Lebanon in shifts lasting one month. They worked one month in Lebanon for every two months they worked at home. Adoniram was placed in charge of the conscripted labor. ¹⁵ Solomon also employed 70,000 heavy-lift workers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country. ¹⁶ Solomon also employed 3,300 officials to supervise the work and to manage the people employed in the construction. ¹⁷ The king specified that large, expensive stones be quarried so the foundation of the Temple could be laid with cut stones. ¹⁸ As a result, Solomon’s builders worked with Hiram’s builders, accompanied by the Gebalites, to quarry the stone and to prepare the timber and other^[h] stone for the Temple’s construction.