1 S olomon planned to build a house for the name of the Lord, and a king’s house for himself.

¶ And Solomon determined to build a house for the name of the LORD and a house for his kingdom.

2 S o he picked 70, 000 men to carry loads, 80, 000 men to cut stones in the mountains, and 3, 600 men to watch over these men.

And Solomon counted seventy thousand men to bear burdens and eighty thousand to hew in the mountain, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them.

3 T hen Solomon sent word to King Huram of Tyre, saying, “You sent my father David cedar trees to build him a house to live in. Do the same for me.

And Solomon sent to Hiram, the king of Tyre, saying, As thou didst deal with David, my father, sending him cedars to build himself a house to dwell in, even so deal with me.

4 S ee, I am about to build a house for the name of the Lord my God. I will set it apart for Him. There special perfume will be burned before Him. The holy bread will be there all the time. Burnt gifts will be given morning and evening, on Days of Rest, on new moons, and during the special suppers of the Lord our God. This is to be done forever in Israel.

Behold, I must build a house unto the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him and to burn aromatic incense before him and for the continual showbread and for the burnt offerings morning and evening on the sabbaths and on the new moons and on the solemn feasts of the LORD our God, which is to be perpetual in Israel.

5 T he house I am about to build will be great. For our God is greater than all the gods.

And the house which I must build is great, for great is our God above all gods.

6 B ut who is able to build a house for Him? For the heavens and the highest heavens are not big enough to hold Him. So who am I, that I should build a house for Him, except as a place to burn special perfume before Him?

But who is so powerful as to build him a house, seeing the heavens and heavens of the heavens cannot contain him? Who am I then that I should build him a house, except to burn incense before him?

7 N ow send me an able man to work with gold, silver, brass, iron, and purple, red and blue cloth who knows how to cut all kinds of pictures. He will work with the able men I have in Judah and Jerusalem, whom my father David gave me.

Send me now, therefore, a wise man who knows how to work in gold and in silver and in brass and in iron and in purple and crimson and blue and that knows how to engrave figures with the craftsmen that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David, my father, provided.

8 S end me cedar, cypress and algum trees from Lebanon. I know you have able men who know how to do this work. My servants will work with your servants

Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and pine trees, out of Lebanon, for I know that thy slaves are skillful at cutting timber in Lebanon, and, behold, my slaves shall be with thy slaves

9 t o cut many trees for me. For the house I am about to build will be very great and beautiful.

to prepare me timber in abundance, for the house which I am about to build shall be great and wonderful.

10 I will give to your servants who cut trees, 200, 000 baskets of crushed grain, 200, 000 baskets of barley, 200, 000 bottles of wine, and 200, 000 bottles of oil.”

And, behold, I will give to thy slaves, the hewers that cut timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat and twenty thousand measures of barley and twenty thousand baths of wine and twenty thousand baths of oil.

11 T hen King Huram of Tyre answered by letter to Solomon, “The Lord has made you king over His people because He loves them.”

¶ Then Hiram, the king of Tyre, answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, Because the LORD has loved his people, he has placed thee as king over them.

12 T hen Huram said, “Honor and thanks be to the Lord, the God of Israel. He has made heaven and earth. And He has given King David a wise son. Wisdom and understanding have been given to David’s son who will build a house for the Lord and a king’s house for himself.

Hiram said, moreover, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, that made the heavens and the earth, who has given to King David a wise son with knowledge, good sense and understanding, that he might build a house for the LORD and a house for his kingdom.

13 N ow I am sending Huram-abi, an able man of understanding.

And now I have sent a wise man, with knowledge and understanding, of Hiram my father,

14 H e is the son of a Danite woman and a Tyrian father. He knows how to work with gold, silver, brass, iron, stone and wood and with purple, blue, and red cloth. He knows how to cut all kinds of pictures, any kind given him to do. He is to work with your able men, and with those of my lord David your father.

the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, skillful to work in gold and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, in fine linen, and in crimson; also to engrave any manner of figure and to invent any design which shall be put to him, with thy craftsmen and with the craftsmen of my lord David, thy father.

15 S o now let my lord send the grain, barley, oil and wine to his servant, as he has said.

Now, therefore, let my lord send unto his slaves the wheat and the barley, the oil and the wine, which he has spoken of;

16 W e will cut whatever trees you need in Lebanon, and bring them to you by ship to Joppa. Then you may carry them up to Jerusalem.”

and we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need, and we will bring it to thee in rafts by sea to Joppa, and thou shalt cause it to be carried up to Jerusalem.

17 S olomon numbered all those in Israel who were from other lands, using the number of them which his father David had taken. And 153, 600 were found.

And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel, after David, his father, had already numbered them; and one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred were found.

18 H e picked 70, 000 of them to carry loads, 80, 000 to cut stones in the mountains, and 3, 600 men to see that the people did their work.

And he set seventy thousand of them to be bearers of burdens and eighty thousand to be hewers in the mountain, and three thousand six hundred overseers to make the people work.