1 When Solomon had finished building the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do, |
2 the LORD appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. |
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4 "As for you, if you walk before me in integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, |
5 I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, 'You shall never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.' |
6 "But if you1 9:6 The Hebrew is plural. or your sons turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you2 9:6 The Hebrew is plural. and go off to serve other gods and worship them, |
7 then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. |
8 And though this temple is now imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, 'Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?' |
9 People will answer, 'Because they have forsaken the LORD their God, who brought their fathers out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them-that is why the LORD brought all this disaster on them.' " |
10 At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built these two buildings-the temple of the LORD and the royal palace- |
11 King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, because Hiram had supplied him with all the cedar and pine and gold he wanted. |
12 But when Hiram went from Tyre to see the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. |
13 "What kind of towns are these you have given me, my brother?" he asked. And he called them the Land of Cabul,3 9:13 Cabul sounds like the Hebrew for good-for-nothing . a name they have to this day. |
14 Now Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents4 9:14 That is, about 4 1/2 tons (about 4 metric tons) of gold. |
15 Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscripted to build the LORD's temple, his own palace, the supporting terraces,5 9:15 Or the Millo; also in verse 24 the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. |
16 (Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire. He killed its Canaanite inhabitants and then gave it as a wedding gift to his daughter, Solomon's wife. |
17 And Solomon rebuilt Gezer.) He built up Lower Beth Horon, |
18 Baalath, and Tadmor6 9:18 The Hebrew may also be read Tamar . in the desert, within his land, |
19 as well as all his store cities and the towns for his chariots and for his horses7 9:19 Or charioteers -whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled. |
20 All the people left from the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (these peoples were not Israelites), |
21 that is, their descendants remaining in the land, whom the Israelites could not exterminate8 9:21 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the LORD , often by totally destroying them. -these Solomon conscripted for his slave labor force, as it is to this day. |
22 But Solomon did not make slaves of any of the Israelites; they were his fighting men, his government officials, his officers, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and charioteers. |
23 They were also the chief officials in charge of Solomon's projects-550 officials supervising the men who did the work. |
24 After Pharaoh's daughter had come up from the City of David to the palace Solomon had built for her, he constructed the supporting terraces. |
25 Three times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings9 9:25 Traditionally peace offerings on the altar he had built for the LORD , burning incense before the LORD along with them, and so fulfilled the temple obligations. |
26 King Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber, which is near Elath in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea.10 9:26 Hebrew Yam Suph ; that is, Sea of Reeds |
27 And Hiram sent his men-sailors who knew the sea-to serve in the fleet with Solomon's men. |
28 They sailed to Ophir and brought back 420 talents11 9:28 That is, about 16 tons (about 14.5 metric tons) of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon. |
