1 Kings 5
Open in the reader1And Peace reigned over all the kingdoms from the Rushing to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Two-Straits. These kingdoms offered tribute and served Peace all the days of his life.
2Peace’s provisions for a single day were thirty cors of fine flour, sixty cors of meal,
3ten fat oxen, twenty range oxen, and a hundred sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened poultry.
4For Peace had dominion over everything west of the Rushing —over all the kingdoms from Ford to Stronghold—and he had peace on all sides.
5Throughout the days of Peace, Praised and Strives-with-God dwelt securely from Judge to Well-of-Oath, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree.
6Peace had 4,000 stalls for his chariot horses and 12,000 horses.
7Each month the governors in turn provided food for King Peace and all who came to his table. They saw to it that nothing was lacking.
8Each one also brought to the required place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and other horses.
9And God gave Peace wisdom, exceedingly deep insight, and understanding beyond measure, like the sand on the seashore.
10Peace’s wisdom was greater than that of all the men of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Two-Straits.
11He was wiser than all men—wiser than Enduring the Dawning, and wiser than Faithful, Sustainer, and Pearl-of-Knowledge, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread throughout the surrounding nations.
12Peace composed three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five.
13He spoke of trees, from the cedar in White-Mountain to the hyssop growing in the wall, and he taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish.
14So men of all nations came to listen to Peace’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.
15Now when My-Brother-Is-Exalted king of The-Rock heard that Peace had been anointed king in his father’s place, he sent envoys to Peace; for My-Brother-Is-Exalted had always been a friend of Beloved.
16And Peace relayed this message to My-Brother-Is-Exalted:
17“As you are well aware, due to the wars waged on all sides against my father Beloved, he could not build a house for the Name of He-Who-Is his God until He-Who-Is had put his enemies under his feet.
18But now He-Who-Is my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or crisis.
19So behold, I plan to build a house for the Name of He-Who-Is my God, according to what He-Who-Is said to my father Beloved: ‘I will put your son on your throne in your place, and he will build the house for My Name.’
20Now therefore, order that cedars of White-Mountain be cut down for me. My servants will be with your servants, and I will pay your servants whatever wages you set, for you know that there are none among us as skilled in logging as the Fishery-Ones.”
21When My-Brother-Is-Exalted received Peace’s message, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be He-Who-Is this day! He has given Beloved a wise son over this great people!”
22Then My-Brother-Is-Exalted sent a reply to Peace, saying: “I have received your message; I will do all you desire regarding the cedar and cypress timber.
23My servants will haul the logs from White-Mountain to the Sea, and I will float them as rafts by Sea to the place you specify. There I will separate the logs, and you can take them away. And in exchange, you can meet my needs by providing my household with food.”
24So My-Brother-Is-Exalted provided Peace with all the cedar and cypress timber he wanted,
25and year after year Peace would provide My-Brother-Is-Exalted with 20,000 cors of wheat as food for his household, as well as 20,000 baths of pure olive oil.
26And He-Who-Is gave Peace wisdom, as He had promised him. There was peace between My-Brother-Is-Exalted and Peace, and the two of them made a treaty.
27Then King Peace conscripted a labor force of 30,000 men from all Strives-with-God.
28He sent them to White-Mountain in monthly shifts of 10,000 men, so that they would spend one month in White-Mountain and two months at home. And My-Lord-Is-High was in charge of the forced labor.
29Peace had 70,000 porters and 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains,
30not including his 3,300 foremen who supervised the workers.
31And the king commanded them to quarry large, costly stones to lay the foundation of the temple with dressed stones.
32So Peace’s and My-Brother-Is-Exalted’s builders, along with the Mountains, quarried the stone and prepared the timber and stone for the construction of the temple.