Hiram was the king of Tyre. He heard that Solomon had been anointed as king. He heard that Solomon had become the next king after his father David. Hiram had always been David’s friend. So Hiram sent his messengers to Solomon.
Circumcision and uncircumcision aren’t worth anything to those who believe in Christ Jesus. The only thing that really counts is faith that shows itself through love.
King Hiram of Tyre replied to Solomon. He wrote a letter to him. In it Hiram said,“ The Lord loves his people. That’s why he has made you their king.”Hiram continued,“ I praise the Lord. He is the God of Israel. He made heaven and earth. He has given King David a wise son. You have good sense. You understand what is right. You will build a temple for the Lord. You will also build a palace for yourself.
With all my heart I want the temple of my God to be built. So I’m giving my personal treasures of gold and silver for it. I’m adding them to everything else I’ve provided for the holy temple.I’m giving 110 tons of gold and 260 tons of pure silver. Cover the walls of the buildings with it.Use it for the gold work and the silver work. Use it for everything the skilled workers will do. How many of you are willing to set yourselves apart to the Lord today?”Many people were willing to give. They included the leaders of families and the officers of the tribes of Israel. They included the commanders of thousands of men and commanders of hundreds. They also included the officials who were in charge of the king’s work.All of them gave to the work on God’s temple. They gave more than 190 tons of gold and 380 tons of silver. They also gave 675 tons of bronze and 3,800 tons of iron.Anyone who had valuable jewels added them to the treasure for the Lord’ s temple. Jehiel was in charge of the temple treasure. He was from the family line of Gershon.The people were happy when they saw what their leaders had been willing to give. The leaders had given freely. With their whole heart they had given everything to the Lord. King David was filled with joy.
So here is what I, Ezra, say to you people of Israel.“ Give praise to the Lord. He is the God of our people who lived long ago. He has put it in the king’s heart to bring honor to the Lord’ s temple in Jerusalem. The king has honored the Lord in his letter.The Lord has been kind to me. He has caused the king and his advisers to be kind to me. In fact, all the king’s powerful officials have been kind to me. The strong hand of the Lord my God helped me. That gave me new strength. So I gathered together leaders from Israel to go up to Jerusalem with me.”
