1 Kings - The Old Testament

¹ Solomon was overlord of all the kingdoms from the River to the territory of the Philistines and the Egyptian border. They brought tribute and served him all his life long.

² The daily provisions for Solomon were: thirty measures of fine flour and sixty measures of meal,

³ ten fattened oxen, twenty free-grazing oxen, one hundred sheep, besides deer and gazelles, roebucks and fattened poultry.

⁴ For he was master of all Transeuphrates -- of all the kings of Transeuphrates from Tiphsah to Gaza -- and he enjoyed peace on all his frontiers.

⁵ Judah and Israel lived in security, everyone under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan to Beersheba, throughout the lifetime of Solomon.

⁶ And Solomon had four thousand stalls of horses for his chariots and twelve thousand cavalrymen.

⁷ These administrators provided the food for Solomon and for all those who were admitted by him to the royal table, each for the period of a month; they ensured that nothing was wanting.

⁸ They also provided the barley and straw for the horses and draught animals, where required, each according to the quota demanded of him.

⁹ God gave Solomon immense wisdom and understanding, and a heart as vast as the sand on the sea-shore.

¹⁰ The wisdom of Solomon surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt.

¹¹ He was wiser than anyone else, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, than the sons of Mahol, Heman, Calcol and Darda; his fame spread to all the surrounding nations.

¹² He composed three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five.

¹³ He could discourse on plants from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop growing on the wall; and he could discourse on animals and birds and reptiles and fish.

¹⁴ Men from all nations came to hear Solomon's wisdom, and he received gifts from all the kings in the world, who had heard of his wisdom.

¹⁵ Hiram king of Tyre sent an embassy to Solomon, having learnt that he had been anointed king in succession to his father and because Hiram had always been a friend of David.

¹⁶ And Solomon sent this message to Hiram,

¹⁷ 'You are aware that my father David was unable to build a temple for the name of Yahweh his God, on account of the wars waged on him from every side, until Yahweh put his enemies under the soles of his feet.

¹⁸ But now Yahweh my God has given me peace on every side: not one enemy, no calamities.

¹⁹ I propose, then, to build a temple for the name of Yahweh my God, in accordance with what Yahweh told my father David, "Your son whom I shall place on your throne to succeed you will be the man to build a temple for my name."

²⁰ So now have cedars of Lebanon cut down for me; my servants will work with your servants, and I shall pay for the hire of your servants at whatever rate you fix. As you know, we have no one as skilled in felling trees as the Sidonians.'

²¹ When Hiram heard what Solomon had said, he was delighted. 'Now blessed be Yahweh,' he said, 'who has given David a wise son to rule over this great people!'

²² And Hiram sent word to Solomon, 'I have received your message. For my part, I shall supply you with all you require in the way of cedar wood and juniper.

²³ Your servants will bring these down from Lebanon to the sea, and I shall have them towed by sea to any place you name; I shall discharge them there, and you will take them over. For your part, you will see to the provisioning of my household as I desire.'

²⁴ So Hiram provided Solomon with all the cedar wood and juniper he wanted

²⁵ while Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand kor of wheat to feed his household, and twenty thousand kor of pure oil. Solomon gave Hiram this every year.

²⁶ Yahweh gave Solomon wisdom as he had promised him; good relations persisted between Solomon and Hiram, and the two of them concluded a treaty.

²⁷ King Solomon raised a levy throughout Israel for forced labour: the levy numbered thirty thousand men.

²⁸ He sent these to Lebanon in relays, ten thousand a month; they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoram was in charge of the forced labour.

²⁹ Solomon also had seventy thousand porters and eighty thousand quarrymen in the mountains,

³⁰ as well as the administrators, officials who supervised the work, three thousand three hundred of them in charge of the men employed in the work.

³¹ At the king's orders they quarried huge stones, special stones for the laying of the temple foundations, dressed stones.

³² Solomon's workmen and Hiram's workmen and the Giblites cut and assembled the wood and stone for the building of the Temple.