8. Then Hiram sent this message to Solomon: “I heard what you asked for. I will give you all the cedar trees and the fir trees you want.
9. My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea. Then I will tie them together and float them down the shore to the place you choose. There I will separate the logs, and you can take them from there. As payment for this, you will give food to all those who live in my palace.”
10. So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and fir logs that he wanted.
11. Solomon gave Hiram about 120,000 bushels of wheat and about 120,000 gallons of pure olive oil every year for his family.
12. The Lord made Solomon wise as he had promised. Hiram and Solomon made a treaty between themselves and were at peace with one another.
13. King Solomon forced 30,000 men of Israel to help in this work.
14. He chose a man named Adoniram to be in charge of them. Solomon divided the men into three groups with 10,000 men in each group. Each group worked one month in Lebanon and then went home for two months.
15. Solomon also forced 80,000 men to work in the hill country cutting stone. There were also 70,000 men to carry the stones.
16. There were 3300 men to supervise the workers.
17. King Solomon commanded them to cut large, expensive stones for the foundation of the Temple.
18. Then Solomon and Hiram’s builders and the men from Byblos carved the stones and prepared them and the logs for use in building the Temple.