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5
1 When Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father, he sent ambassadors to Solomon because Hiram had always been David's friend. 2 So Solomon sent this message back to Hiram, 3 “As you know, my father David was not able to build a Temple to honor the Lord his God because of the wars fought against him from every direction, until the Lord had conquered his enemies.* “Conquered his enemies”: literally, “put them under the soles of his feet.” 4 But now the Lord my God has given me peace all around—no enemies, no bad things happening.
5 So I plan to build a Temple to honor the Lord my God, as the Lord told my father David. He said to him, ‘Your son whom I will place on your throne to succeed you will build the Temple to honor me.’ 6 So please order some cedars of Lebanon to be cut down for me. My workers will assist your workers, and I will pay your workers at the rate that you decide, for you know that we don't have anyone who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”
7 When Hiram heard Solomon's message, he was very happy and said, “Praise the Lord today, for he has given David a wise son to lead this great nation!” 8 Hiram sent this reply to Solomon:
“Thank you for your message. As for the cedar and cypress timber, I will do everything you want. 9 My workers will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will have them floated in rafts by sea to wherever you decide. I will have the rafts broken apart there, and you can take the logs away. In return I would like you to provide food for my household.”
10 So Hiram provided Solomon with as much cedar and cypress timber that he wanted, 11 Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 cors of wheat for food and 20,000 cors of olive oil for his household. Solomon provided this to Hiram every year. 12 The Lord gave Solomon wisdom just as he had promised him. Hiram and Solomon had a good relationship and they made a peace treaty with each other.
13 King Solomon drafted a labor force of 30,000 from all of Israel. 14 He sent them in shifts of 10,000 each month to Lebanon, so that they were one month in Lebanon and two months at home, Adoniram was in charge of the labor force. 15 Solomon had 70,000 porters and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country, 16 as well as 3,300 foremen he placed in charge of the workers. 17 Following the king's orders, they quarried large blocks of stone that were expensive to produce, and laid these dressed stones as the foundation for the Temple. 18 So Solomon's and Hiram's builders, together with the Gebalites, cut the stone. They prepared the timber and stone to build the Temple.

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*5:3 “Conquered his enemies”: literally, “put them under the soles of his feet.”

© 2018 Dr. Jonathan Gallagher