Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, for he had heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, and Hiram had always loved David.
“Now therefore command that cedar trees from Lebanon be cut down for me, and my servants shall be with your servants, and I will pay your servants whatever you command, for you know that there are none among my people who can cut timber like the Sidonians.”
Now it happened as David dwelt in his house that he said to Nathan the prophet, “Behold, I am dwelling in a house of cedar while the ark of the Lord is under curtains.”
So David gave instructions to gather together those sojourning in the land of Israel, and he appointed stonemasons to cut hewn stones for building the house of God.
And Solomon designated seventy thousand men to carry materials, eighty thousand men to cut stone in the hills, and three thousand six hundred supervisors to oversee these men.
And Solomon sent word to Hiram king of Tyre saying, “As you did for David my father and sent him cedar trees in order to build for himself a house in which to dwell, so deal with me.
They gave money to the masons and carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and to the people of Tyre so that they would bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, at Joppa, according to the grant they had from Cyrus king of Persia.