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And it was done, when Solomon had performed the building of the house of the Lord, and the building of the king, and all thing that he coveted, and would make, (And it was done, when Solomon had finished building the House of the Lord, and the king’s house, and all the things that he desired, and would make,)

the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, as he (had) appeared to him (before) in Gibeon.

And the Lord said to him, I have heard thy prayer, and thy beseeching, that thou hast besought before me; I have hallowed this house, that thou hast builded, that I should set there my name without end (I have dedicated, or consecrated, this House which thou hast built, and I have set my name there forevermore); and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there in all days.

Also if thou goest before me, as thy father went, in simpleness of heart, and in equity, and doest all things which I have commanded to thee, and keepest my dooms, and my lawful things, (And if thou goest before me, as thy father went, with integrity, and uprightness, and doest all the things which I have commanded to thee, and obeyest my judgements, and my laws,)

I shall set the throne of thy realm upon Israel without end, as I spake to David, thy father, and said, A man of thy kin shall not be taken away from the throne of Israel.

Forsooth if by turning away, ye and your sons turn away, and follow not me, and keep not my behests and ceremonies, which I have set forth to you, but ye go, and worship alien gods, and honour them, (But if by turning away, ye or your sons turn away, and do not follow me, and do not obey my commands and statutes, which I have set forth to you, but ye go, and worship other gods, and honour them,)

I shall do away Israel from the face of the land which I gave to them; and I shall cast away from my sight the temple, which I [have] hallowed to my name (and I shall throw away from my sight the Temple which I have dedicated, or consecrated, in honour of my name); and Israel shall be into a proverb and into a fable, to all peoples.

And this house shall be into (an) ensample of God’s offence; each man that shall pass by it, shall wonder, and shall hiss, and shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus to this land, and to this house?

And they shall answer, For they forsook their Lord God, that led the fathers of them out of Egypt; and they followed alien gods (and they followed other gods), and worshipped them, and honoured them; therefore the Lord hath brought in upon them all this evil.

10 Soothly when twenty years were [ful]filled, after that Solomon had builded (the) twain houses (after that Solomon had begun to build the two houses), that is, the house of the Lord, and the house of the king,

11 while Hiram, king of Tyre, gave to Solomon trees of cedar, and of fir, and gold, by all thing that he had needful; then Solomon gave to Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. (and Hiram, the king of Tyre, had given to Solomon cedar, and fir, or pine, trees, and gold, yea, all the things that he had need of; then Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.)

12 And Hiram went out of Tyre that he should see the cities, which Solomon had given to him, and those pleased not him; (And Hiram went out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given to him, and they did not please him;)

13 and he said, Whether these be the cities, which thou, brother, hast given to me? And he called those cities the land of Cabul, that is, displeasing (that is, The Displeasing Land), unto this day.

14 Also Hiram (had) sent to king Solomon sixscore talents of gold.

15 This is the rent, which Solomon raised, to build the house of the Lord, and his own house, (and the) Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer.

16 (For) Pharaoh, king of Egypt, (had) ascended, and took Gezer, and burnt it by fire; and he killed (the) Canaanites, that dwelled in the city, and gave it into (a) dower to his daughter, the wife of Solomon. (For Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had gone up, and took Gezer, and burned it down; and he killed the Canaanites, who lived in that city, and gave it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.)

17 Therefore Solomon builded Gezer (And so Solomon rebuilt Gezer), and the lower Bethhoron,

18 and Baalath, and Tadmor in the land of (the) wilderness;

19 and he made strong all the towns, that pertained to him, and were without (a) wall, and the cities of chariots, and the cities of knights, and whatever thing (it) pleased him to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his power.

20 (And) Solomon made tributaries unto this day (of) all the people, that (were) left of the Amorites, Hittites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites, which be not of the sons of Israel,

21 the sons of these heathen men, that dwelled in the land, that is, which the sons of Israel might not destroy. (the sons of these heathen, who continued to live in the land, that is, they whom the Israelites did not destroy.)

22 Soothly king Solomon ordained not any man of the sons of Israel to serve, that is, in vile works, and of the fields, but they were men of war, and servants of him, and princes, and dukes, and masters of his chariots and horses. (And King Solomon did not let any man of the Israelites serve in slavery, or in the fields, but they all were warriors, and his servants, and the leaders, and the masters, of his chariots and of his horsemen.)

23 And five hundred and fifty princes were sovereigns over all the works of Solomon, the which princes had the people subject to them, and commanded to [the] works ordained (and were in charge of the ordained works).

24 And the daughter of Pharaoh went up from the city of David into her house, which house Solomon had builded to her (which house Solomon had built for her); then he builded (the) Millo.

25 Also Solomon offered in three times by all years burnt sacrifices and peaceable sacrifices, on the altar which he had builded to the Lord; and he burnt incense before the Lord, and the temple was performed. (And three times each year Solomon offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings, on the altar which he had built to the Lord, and he burned incense before the Lord. And so the Temple was completed.)

26 Also king Solomon made a navy in Eziongeber, which is beside Elath, in the brink of the Red Sea, in the land of Idumea. (And King Solomon also made a navy in Eziongeber, which is beside Elath, on the Gulf of Akabah, or Aqaba, in the land of Edom.)

27 And Hiram sent in that navy his servants, (those who were) shipmen, and knowing of the sea, with the servants of Solomon; (And Hiram sent some of his servants, those who were shipmen, and knowledgeable about the sea, to be in that navy with Solomon’s servants;)

28 and when they had come into Ophir, they brought from thence gold of four hundred and twenty talents to king Solomon. (and when they had gone to Ophir, they brought back gold from there worth four hundred and twenty talents for 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