1 Kings 9
9
The Lord Appears to Solomon
1Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. He had accomplished everything he had planned to do. 2The Lord appeared to him a second time. He had already appeared to him at Gibeon. 3The Lord said to him,
“I have heard you pray to me. I have heard you ask me to help you. You have built this temple. I have set it apart for myself. My Name will be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
4“But you must walk faithfully with me, just as your father David did. Your heart must be honest. It must be without blame. Do everything I command you to do. Obey my rules and laws. 5Then I will set up your royal throne over Israel forever. I promised your father David I would do that. I said to him, ‘You will always have a son from your family line on the throne of Israel.’
6“But suppose all of you turn away from me. Or your children turn away from me. You refuse to obey the commands and rules I have given you. And you go off to serve other gods and worship them. 7Then I will remove Israel from the land. It is the land I gave them. I will turn my back on this temple. I will do it even though I have set it apart for my Name to be there. Then Israel will be hated by all the nations. They will laugh and joke about Israel. 8This temple will become a pile of stones. All those who pass by it will be shocked. They will make fun of it. And they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done a thing like this to this land and temple?’ 9People will answer, ‘Because they have deserted the Lord their God. He brought out of Egypt their people of long ago. But they have been holding on to other gods. They’ve been worshiping them. They’ve been serving them. That’s why the Lord has brought all this horrible trouble on them.’ ”
Other Things Solomon Did
10Solomon built the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. It took him 20 years to construct those two buildings. 11King Solomon gave 20 towns in Galilee to Hiram, the king of Tyre. That’s because Hiram had provided him with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted. He had also provided Solomon with all the gold he wanted. 12Hiram went from Tyre to see the towns Solomon had given him. But he wasn’t pleased with them. 13“My friend,” he asked, “what have you given me? What kind of towns are these?” So he called them the Land of Kabul. And that’s what they are still called to this day. 14Hiram had sent four and a half tons of gold to Solomon.
15King Solomon forced people to work hard for him. Here is a record of what they did. They built the Lord’s temple and Solomon’s palace. They filled in the low places. They rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem. They built up Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. 16Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had attacked Gezer and captured it. He had set it on fire. He had killed the Canaanites who lived there. Then he had given Gezer as a wedding gift to his daughter. She was Solomon’s wife. 17Solomon rebuilt Gezer. He built up Lower Beth Horon 18and Baalath. He built up Tadmor in the desert. All those towns were in his land. 19He built up all the cities where he could store things. He also built up the towns for his chariots and horses. He built anything he wanted to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon and all the territory he ruled over.
20There were still many people left in the land who weren’t Israelites. They included Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 21They were children of the people who had lived in the land before the Israelites came. Those people had been set apart to the Lord in a special way to be destroyed. But the Israelites hadn’t been able to kill all of them. Solomon forced them to work very hard as his slaves. And they still work for Israel as slaves to this day. 22But Solomon didn’t force any of the Israelites to work as his slaves. Instead, some were his fighting men. Others were his government officials, his officers and his captains. Others were commanders of his chariots and chariot drivers. 23Still others were the chief officials in charge of Solomon’s projects. There were 550 officials in charge of those who did the work.
24Pharaoh’s daughter moved from the City of David up to the palace Solomon had built for her. After that, he filled in the low places near the palace.
25Three times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and friendship offerings. He sacrificed them on the altar he had built to honor the Lord. Along with the offerings, he burned incense to the Lord. So he carried out his duties for the temple.
26King Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber. It’s near Elath in Edom. It’s on the shore of the Red Sea. 27Hiram sent his men to serve on the ships together with Solomon’s men. Hiram’s sailors knew the sea. 28All of them sailed to Ophir. They brought back 16 tons of gold. They gave it to King Solomon.
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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I Kings 9
9
God’s Second Appearance to Solomon
1And #2 Chr. 7:11it came to pass, when Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord #1 Kin. 7:1and the king’s house, and #2 Chr. 8:6all Solomon’s desire which he wanted to do, 2that the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, #1 Kin. 3:5; 11:9; 2 Chr. 1:7as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3And the Lord said to him: #2 Kin. 20:5; Ps. 10:17“I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built #1 Kin. 8:29to put My name there forever, and #Deut. 11:12My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. 4Now if you #Gen. 17:1walk before Me #1 Kin. 11:4, 6; 15:5as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you #1 Kin. 8:61keep My statutes and My judgments, 5then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, #2 Sam. 7:12, 16; 1 Kin. 2:4; 6:12; 8:25; 1 Chr. 22:10; Matt. 1:6; 25:31as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’ 6#2 Sam. 7:14–16; 2 Chr. 7:19, 20; Ps. 89:30But if you or your sons at all turn from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, 7#(Lev. 18:24–29); Deut. 4:26; 2 Kin. 17:23; 25:21then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them; and this house which I have consecrated #(Jer. 7:4–14)for My name I will cast out of My sight. #Deut. 28:37; Ps. 44:14; Jer. 24:9Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 8And as for #2 Chr. 7:21this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and will hiss, and say, #(Deut. 29:24–26); Jer. 22:8, 9‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ 9Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore the Lord has brought all this #(Deut. 29:25–28)calamity on them.’ ”
Solomon and Hiram Exchange Gifts
10Now #1 Kin. 6:37, 38; 7:1; 2 Chr. 8:1it happened at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king’s house 11#1 Kin. 5:1(Hiram the king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress and gold, as much as he desired), that King Solomon then gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. 12Then Hiram went from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, but they did not please him. 13So he said, “What kind of cities are these which you have given me, my brother?” #Josh. 19:27And he called them the land of Cabul, as they are to this day. 14Then Hiram sent the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold.
Solomon’s Additional Achievements
15And this is the reason for #1 Kin. 5:13the labor force which King Solomon raised: to build the house of the Lord, his own house, the #2 Sam. 5:9; 1 Kin. 9:24Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, #Josh. 11:1; 19:36Hazor, #Josh. 17:11Megiddo, and #Josh. 16:10Gezer. 16(Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer and burned it with fire, #Josh. 16:10; Judg. 1:29had killed the Canaanites who dwelt in the city, and had given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.) 17And Solomon built Gezer, Lower #Josh. 10:10; 16:3; 21:22; 2 Chr. 8:5Beth Horon, 18#Josh. 19:44; 2 Chr. 8:4Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land of Judah, 19all the storage cities that Solomon had, cities for #1 Kin. 10:26; 2 Chr. 1:14his chariots and cities for his #1 Kin. 4:26cavalry, and whatever Solomon #1 Kin. 9:1desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
20#2 Chr. 8:7All the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel— 21that is, their descendants #Judg. 1:21–36; 3:1who were left in the land after them, #Josh. 15:63; 17:12, 13whom the children of Israel had not been able to destroy completely—#Judg. 1:28, 35from these Solomon raised #Ezra 2:55, 58; Neh. 7:57forced labor, as it is to this day. 22But of the children of Israel Solomon #(Lev. 25:39)made no forced laborers, because they were men of war and his servants: his officers, his captains, commanders of his chariots, and his cavalry.
23Others were chiefs of the officials who were over Solomon’s work: #2 Chr. 8:10five hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people who did the work.
24But #1 Kin. 3:1Pharaoh’s daughter came up from the City of David to #1 Kin. 7:8her house which Solomon had built for her. #2 Sam. 5:9; 1 Kin. 11:27; 2 Chr. 32:5Then he built the Millo.
25#Ex. 23:14–17; Deut. 16:16; 2 Chr. 8:12, 13Now three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he had built for the Lord, and he burned incense with them on the altar that was before the Lord. So he finished the temple.
26#2 Chr. 8:17, 18King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at #Num. 33:35; Deut. 2:8; 1 Kin. 22:48Ezion Geber, which is near Elath on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. 27#1 Kin. 5:6, 9; 10:11Then Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, seamen who knew the sea, to work with the servants of Solomon. 28And they went to #Job 22:24Ophir, and acquired four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.