² Solomon sent this message to Hiram: ³ ‘You know my father David was not able to build a temple for the name of the Lord his God. This was because of the warfare all around him until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.^{(A) 4} The Lord my God has now given me rest on every side; there is no enemy or misfortune.^{(B) 5} So I plan to build a temple for the name of the Lord my God,^(C) according to what the Lord promised my father David: “I will put your son on your throne in your place, and he will build the temple for my name.”^(D)

⁶ ‘Therefore, command that cedars from Lebanon be cut down for me. My servants will be with your servants, and I will pay your servants’ wages according to whatever you say, for you know that not a man among us knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.’^(E)

¹⁰ So Hiram provided Solomon with all the cedar and cypress timber he wanted, ¹¹ and Solomon provided Hiram with four million four hundred thousand litres^[a] of wheat as food for his household and four hundred and forty thousand litres^[b] of oil from crushed olives.^(A) Solomon did this for Hiram year after year.