Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him as king in place of his father, for Hiram had always been a friend for David. Then Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, "You knew David my father, that he was not able to build a house for the name of Yahweh his God, in view of the warfare which surrounded him, until Yahweh placed them under the soles of his feet. But now Yahweh my God has given me rest all around me. There is no adversary, and there is no bad occurrence. Here I am, intending to build a house for the name of Yahweh my God, as Yahweh promised to my father David, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will set in your place on your throne, shall build the house for my name.’ So then, command that they may cut cedars for me from Lebanon, and let my servants be with your servants. The wage of your servants I will give to you according to all that you say, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians." When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly, and he said, "Blessed be Yahweh this day, who has given to David a wise son over this great people." Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, "I have heard what you have sent to me; I will do all of your desire concerning the timber of cedars and concerning the timber of cypresses. My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will make them into rafts in the sea to float to the place which you indicated to me. Then I shall break them up there, and you may carry them further, and you shall meet my needs by giving food for my house." So Hiram was giving to Solomon the cedar timbers and the cypress timbers, everything he needed. Then Solomon gave to Hiram twenty thousand dry measures of wheat as food for his household, and twenty dry measures of specially prepared olive oil; thus Solomon gave to Hiram year by year. Yahweh gave wisdom to Solomon as he promised to him, and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a covenant.

Then King Solomon conscripted a forced labor from all Israel, and the forced labor numbered thirty thousand men. He sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand every month; the work groups were a month in Lebanon and two months at home; now Adoniram was over the forced labor. Solomon had seventy thousand common laborers and eighty thousand stone craftsmen in the hill country. Besides the chiefs of the officers Solomon had, there were three thousand three hundred having charge over the people who were doing the work. When the king commanded, they quarried great stones and precious stones to lay the foundation of the house with hewn stones. So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites hewed stones, and they prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.

And Solomon planned to build a house for the name of Yahweh and a royal palace for himself. And Solomon assigned seventy thousand men to bear burdens and eighty thousand quarriers in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred men to supervise them. And Solomon sent word to Huram king of Tyre, saying, "As you have dealt with David my father and sent cedar to him to build for himself a house in which to live, please deal with me. Look, I am building a house for the name of Yahweh my God to dedicate to him, to offer sweet spices of incense before him, and for the regular rows of bread, and burnt offerings for mornings, evenings, Sabbaths, and new moon festivals, and for appointed feasts of Yahweh our God which are everlasting for Israel. And the house that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. Now who indeed has adequate strength to build a house for him? For the heavens and the highest heavens are not able to contain him. Now who am I that I would build a house for him, except to burn incense before him? So then, send to me skilled men to work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and with purple, crimson, and blue fabric, knowledgeable in engraving, with the skilled men who are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father has established. Send me trees of cedar, cypress, and algum from Lebanon, for I myself know that your servants are knowledgeable in cutting the trees of Lebanon. Now see, my servants will be with your servants to prepare trees in abundance for me, for the house that I am building will be great and wonderful. Now see, I will provide twenty thousand dry measures of crushed wheat, twenty thousand dry measures of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil to the woodcarvers and those who cut timber."

Then Huram king of Tyre answered in a letter, and he sent word to Solomon: "Because Yahweh loves his people, he has made you king over them." Then Huram said, "Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who has made the heavens and the earth, who has given to King David a wise son knowing discretion and understanding, who will build for Yahweh a house and a royal palace for himself. So now I have sent a skilled man, knowledgeable and with understanding: my master Huram, a son of a woman from the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, knowledgeable for working with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and with purple, blue, and crimson fabric, and with fine linen, for engraving any engraving and devising any plan that is given to him, with your skilled men and the skilled men of my lord David your father. Now as for the wheat, barley, oil, and wine that my lord mentioned, let him send that to his servants. And we ourselves will cut trees from Lebanon according to all your need, and we will bring them to you on rafts over the sea to Joppa, so that you may bring them up to Jerusalem."

Then Solomon counted all the resident alien men who were in the land of Israel after the census that David his father had taken of them. And there were found one hundred and fifty-three thousand. And he appointed from them seventy thousand to bear burdens, eighty thousand to quarry in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred overseers to make the people work.

Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may progress and be honored, just as also it was with you, and that we may be delivered from evil and wicked people, for not all have the faith. But the Lord is faithful, who will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are both doing and you will do the things that we are commanding. Now may the Lord direct your hearts toward the love of God and toward the patient endurance of Christ.

But we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who lives irresponsibly and not according to the tradition that they received from us. For you yourselves know how it is necessary to imitate us, that we did not behave irresponsibly among you, nor did we eat bread from anyone without paying, but with toil and labor, we were working night and day in order not to be a burden to any of you, not that we do not have the right, but so that we may give ourselves as an example to you, so that you may imitate us. For even when we were with you, we used to command this to you: that if anyone does not want to work, neither should he eat. For we hear that some among you are living irresponsibly, working at nothing, but being busybodies. Now we command and we exhort such people in the Lord Jesus Christ that, working with quietness, they eat their own bread. But as for you, brothers, do not be discouraged while doing what is right. But if anyone does not obey our message through this letter, take note not to associate with him, in order that he may be put to shame. And do not consider him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

Now may the Lord of peace himself grant you peace through everything in every way. May the Lord be with all of you. The greeting is by my hand, Paul’s, which is a sign of genuineness in every letter: this is how I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you.