1 Then Salomon determined to builde an house for the Name of the Lord, and an house for his kingdome. 2 And Salomon tolde out seuentie thousand that bare burdens, and fourescore thousande men to hewe stones in the mountaine, and three thousand and sixe hundreth to ouersee them. 3 And Salomon sent to Huram the king of Tyrus, saying, As thou hast done to Dauid my father, and didst sende him cedar trees to buylde him an house to dwell in, so do to me. 4 Behold, I buylde an house vnto the Name of the Lord my God, to sanctifie it vnto him, and to burne sweete incense before him, and for the continuall shewbread, and for the burnt offrings of the morning and euening, on the Sabbath dayes, and in the new moneths, and in the solemne feastes of the Lord our God: this is a perpetuall thing for Israel. 5 And the house which I buylde, is great: for great is our God aboue all gods. 6 Who is he then that can be able to buylde him an house, when the heauen, and the heauen of heauens can not conteine him? who am I then that I should buylde him an house? but I do it to burne incense before him. 7 Sende me nowe therefore a cunning man that can worke in golde, in siluer, and in brasse, and in yron, and in purple, and crimosin and blue silke, and that can graue in grauen worke with the cunning men that are with me in Iudah and in Ierusalem, whom Dauid my father hath prepared. 8 Sende mee also cedar trees, firre trees and Algummim trees from Lebanon: for I knowe that thy seruants can skill to hewe timber in Lebanon: and beholde, my seruantes shalbe with thine, 9 That they may prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which I doe buylde, is great and wonderfull. 10 And behold, I will giue to thy seruants the cutters and the hewers of timber twentie thousand measures of beaten wheate, and twentie thousand measures of barley, and twentie thousand baths of wine, and twentie thousand baths of oyle. 11 Then Huram King of Tyrus answered in writing which he sent to Salomon, Because the Lord hath loued his people, he hath made thee King ouer them. 12 Huram sayd moreouer, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which made the heauen and the earth, and that hath giuen vnto Dauid the King a wise sonne, that hath discretion, prudence and vnderstanding to buylde an house for the Lord, and a palace for his kingdome. 13 Now therefore I haue sent a wise man, and of vnderstanding of my father Hurams, 14 The sonne of a woman of the daughters of Dan: and his father was a man of Tyrus, and he can skill to worke in golde, in siluer, in brasse, in yron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue silke, and in fine linen, and in crimosin, and can graue in all grauen workes, and broyder in all broydered worke that shalbe giuen him, with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord Dauid thy father. 15 Now therefore the wheate and the barley, the oyle and the wine, which my lorde hath spoken of, let him send vnto his seruants. 16 And we wil cut wood in Lebanon as much as thou shalt neede, and will bring it to thee in raftes by the sea to Iapho, so thou mayest cary them to Ierusalem. 17 And Salomon nombred al the strangers that were in the land of Israel, after the nombring that his father Dauid had nombred them: and they were found an hundreth and three and fiftie thousand, and sixe hundreth. 18 And he set seuentie thousande of them to the burden, and fourescore thousande to hewe stones in the mountaine, and three thousande and sixe hundreth ouerseers to cause the people to worke.
Preparations for Building the Temple
(1 Kings 5.1-18)1 King Solomon decided to build a temple where the Lord would be worshiped, and also to build a palace for himself. 2 He put 70,000 men to work transporting materials, and 80,000 to work cutting stone in the hill country. There were 3,600 others responsible for supervising the work.
3 Solomon sent a message to King Hiram of Tyre: “Do business with me as you did with my father, King David, when you sold him cedar logs for building his palace. 4 I am building a temple to honor the Lord my God. It will be a holy place where my people and I will worship him by burning incense of fragrant spices, where we will present offerings of sacred bread to him continuously, and where we will offer burnt offerings every morning and evening, as well as on Sabbaths, New Moon Festivals, and other holy days honoring the Lord our God. He has commanded Israel to do this forever. 5 I intend to build a great temple, because our God is greater than any other god. 6 Yet no one can really build a temple for God, because even all the vastness of heaven cannot contain him. How then can I build a temple that would be anything more than a place to burn incense to God? 7 Now send me a man with skill in engraving, in working gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in making blue, purple, and red cloth. He will work with the craftsmen of Judah and Jerusalem whom my father David selected. 8 I know how skillful your lumbermen are, so send me cedar, cypress, and juniper logs from Lebanon. I am ready to send my men to assist yours 9 in preparing large quantities of timber, because this temple I intend to build will be large and magnificent. 10 As provisions for your lumbermen, I will send you 100,000 bushels of wheat, 100,000 bushels of barley, 110,000 gallons of wine, and 110,000 gallons of olive oil.”
11 King Hiram sent Solomon a letter in reply. He wrote, “Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you their king. 12 Praise the Lord God of Israel, Creator of heaven and earth! He has given King David a wise son, full of understanding and skill, who now plans to build a temple for the Lord and a palace for himself. 13 I am sending you a wise and skillful master metalworker named Huram. 14 His mother was a member of the tribe of Dan and his father was a native of Tyre. He knows how to make things out of gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood. He can work with blue, purple, and red cloth, and with linen. He can do all sorts of engraving and can follow any design suggested to him. Let him work with your skilled workers and with those who worked for your father, King David. 15 So now send us the wheat, barley, wine, and olive oil that you promised. 16 In the mountains of Lebanon we will cut down all the cedars you need, tie them together in rafts, and float them by sea as far as Joppa. From there you can take them to Jerusalem.”
Construction of the Temple Begins
(1 Kings 6.1-38)17 King Solomon took a census of all the foreigners living in the land of Israel, similar to the census his father David had taken. There were 153,600 resident foreigners. 18 He assigned 70,000 of them to transport materials and 80,000 to cut stones in the mountains, and appointed 3,600 supervisors to make sure the work was done.