Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, as long as Solomon lived. Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.

And God gave Solomon great wisdom and understanding and largeness of heart. He was wiser than all men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame spread to all nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs and a thousand and five songs.

He taught about trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that springs out of the wall: he also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and insects and of fishes. And many people came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all nations of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

Hiram, hte king of Tyre sent his servants to honor Solomon, for he had heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram was a great friend of David.

Solomon sent a message to Hiram:

You know David my father could not build a temple to the name of the Lord his God because of the wars that were fought against him on every side. But the Lord put his enemies under the soles of his feet.

Now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor threat of war. and so I purpose to build atemple to the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord said to David my father, 'Your son, whom I wilol place on your throne in place of you shall build an house to my name.'

You kno that there is no one among us who has the skill to hew timber like the Sidonians. So please have them hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon. I will send my servants to help your servants and I will give wages for your servants.

When Hiram heard Solomon's message he was very happy, and said, "Blessed be the Lord this day, who hath given David a wise son to be over this great people."

Hiram sent to Solomon, "I have considered your requests and I will do everything you want concerning timber of cedar and fir. My servants will bring them down from hills of Lebanon to the sea then by sea in floats to the place you will name. You will receive them there and pay me in food for my household."

So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to all his desire. In return, Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil each year. The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as He had promised and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together.

King Solomon raised thirty thousand men from Israel to work in Lebanon, ten thousand a month: a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home: and Adoniram was over the project.

Solomon also had seventy thousand that laborers, and eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountains. Beside the chief of Solomon's officers who were over the work, there were three thousand and three hundred foremen.

The king commanded and they cut great stones to lay the foundation of the temple. Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders hewed them and they prepared timber and stones to build the house.

Children and their parents will enjoy these Ongoing Tales old testament bible stories, enhanced with electronic media and presented in serial with new postings monthly by Antelope Publishing.

The Judges of Israel    Price $9.95  
    Written by John Rutis
(Browser Readable E-Book on CD-ROM contains Music & No Sound Options)

The Life of Moses    Price $10.95  
    Written by John Rutis
(Browser Readable E-Book on CD-ROM contains Music & No Sound Options)

Stories from the Book of Genesis    Price $10.95  
    Written by Joanne and John Rutis
(Browser Readable E-Book on CD-ROM contains Music & No Sound Options)

Ongoing Tales From the Past

Old time fairy tales, poems and stories brought to new life with electronic media by Antelope Publishing. New postings monthly.

Editors Note: The old time illustrations, stories, poems and fairy tales found at this site come from old books that are out of copyright. The formatting, and electronic enhancement, however, is © Copyrighted by Antelope Publishing and may be reproduced only with the publisher's permission.

Copyright © 2006 Antelope Publishing All Rights Reserved

4319