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¶ And when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD and the king’s house and all Solomon’s desire which he was pleased to do,

the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon.

And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication that thou hast made in my presence. I have sanctified this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever, and my eyes and my heart shall be there all the days.

And if thou wilt walk before me as David, thy father walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, keeping my statutes and my rights,

then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever as I spoke unto David, thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.

But if ye shall obstinately turn from following me, ye or your sons, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,

I will cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them, and this house, which I have sanctified unto my name, I will cast out of my sight, and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all peoples;

and at this house, which was high, any one that passes by it shall be astonished and shall hiss, and they shall say, Why has the LORD done thus unto this land and to this house?

And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt and have taken hold upon other gods and have worshipped them and served them; for this the LORD has brought upon them all this evil.

10 ¶ And it came to pass at the end of twenty years in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD and the king’s house

11 (for which Hiram, the king of Tyre, had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees and with gold, according to all his desire), that then King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.

12 And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they did not please him.

13 And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And they called them the land of Cabul unto this day.

14 And Hiram had sent the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold.

15 ¶ And this is the account of the levy which King Solomon raised to build the house of the LORD and his own house and Millo and the wall of Jerusalem and Hazor and Megiddo and Gezer.

16 For Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had gone up and taken Gezer and burnt it with fire and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city and given it for a gift unto his daughter, Solomon’s wife.

17 And Solomon built Gezer and Bethhoron, the lower,

18 and Baalath and Tadmor in the land of the wilderness,

19 likewise all the cities of store that Solomon had and cities for his chariots and cities for his horsemen and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem and in Lebanon and in all the land of his dominion.

20 And all the peoples that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which were not of the sons of Israel,

21 their children that were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel were not able utterly to destroy, upon those Solomon levied a tribute of bondservice unto this day.

22 But of the sons of Israel, Solomon did not impose service, but they were men of war, or his slaves or his princes or his captains or rulers of his chariots or his horsemen.

23 And those that Solomon had made princes and officers over Solomon’s work were five hundred and fifty, who bore rule over the people that wrought in the work.

24 But Pharaoh’s daughter came up out of the city of David unto her house which Solomon had built for her; then he built Millo.

25 And three times in a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he built unto the LORD, and he burnt incense upon the altar that was before the LORD, after the house was finished.

26 And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.

27 And Hiram sent in the navy his slaves, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the slaves of Solomon.

28 And they went to Ophir and brought gold from there, four hundred and twenty talents and brought it to king Solomon.

The Lord Appears to Solomon(A)

When Solomon had finished(B) building the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do, the Lord appeared(C) to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. The Lord said to him:

“I have heard(D) the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name(E) there forever. My eyes(F) and my heart will always be there.

“As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart(G) and uprightness, as David(H) your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws,(I) I will establish(J) your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail(K) to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’

“But if you[a] or your descendants turn away(L) from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you[b] and go off to serve other gods(M) and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land(N) I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name.(O) Israel will then become a byword(P) and an object of ridicule(Q) among all peoples. This temple will become a heap of rubble. All[c] who pass by will be appalled(R) and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’(S) People will answer,(T) ‘Because they have forsaken(U) the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why the Lord brought all this disaster(V) on them.’”

Solomon’s Other Activities(W)

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 juniper and gold(X) 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 Kabul,[d](Y) a name they have to this day. 14 Now Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents[e] of gold.(Z)

15 Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscripted(AA) to build the Lord’s temple, his own palace, the terraces,[f](AB) the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor,(AC) Megiddo and Gezer.(AD) 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,(AE) Solomon’s wife. 17 And Solomon rebuilt Gezer.) He built up Lower Beth Horon,(AF) 18 Baalath,(AG) and Tadmor[g] in the desert, within his land, 19 as well as all his store cities(AH) and the towns for his chariots(AI) and for his horses[h]—whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled.

20 There were still people left from the Amorites, Hittites,(AJ) Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites(AK) (these peoples were not Israelites). 21 Solomon conscripted the descendants(AL) of all these peoples remaining in the land—whom the Israelites could not exterminate[i](AM)—to serve as slave labor,(AN) as it is to this day. 22 But Solomon did not make slaves(AO) 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(AP) in charge of Solomon’s projects—550 officials supervising those who did the work.

24 After Pharaoh’s daughter(AQ) had come up from the City of David to the palace Solomon had built for her, he constructed the terraces.(AR)

25 Three(AS) times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship 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) at Ezion Geber,(AU) which is near Elath(AV) in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea.[j] 27 And Hiram sent his men—sailors(AW) who knew the sea—to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s men. 28 They sailed to Ophir(AX) and brought back 420 talents[k] of gold,(AY) which they delivered to King Solomon.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 9:6 The Hebrew is plural.
  2. 1 Kings 9:6 The Hebrew is plural.
  3. 1 Kings 9:8 See some Septuagint manuscripts, Old Latin, Syriac, Arabic and Targum; Hebrew And though this temple is now imposing, all
  4. 1 Kings 9:13 Kabul sounds like the Hebrew for good-for-nothing.
  5. 1 Kings 9:14 That is, about 4 1/2 tons or about 4 metric tons
  6. 1 Kings 9:15 Or the Millo; also in verse 24
  7. 1 Kings 9:18 The Hebrew may also be read Tamar.
  8. 1 Kings 9:19 Or charioteers
  9. 1 Kings 9:21 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
  10. 1 Kings 9:26 Or the Sea of Reeds
  11. 1 Kings 9:28 That is, about 16 tons or about 14 metric tons