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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1 Kings 9
9
The Lord Appears to Solomon Again
1So Solomon finished building the Temple of the Lord and his royal palace. Solomon finished building everything he wanted to build. 2Then the Lord appeared to him again. This was just as he had done before, in Gibeon. 3The Lord said to him: “I have heard your prayer. I have heard what you asked me to do. You built this Temple. And I have made it a holy place. So I will be worshiped there forever. I will watch over it and protect it always.
4“But you must serve me as your father David did. He was fair and sincere. You must obey my laws and do everything I command. 5If you do these things, I will allow your family to rule Israel forever. I made this promise to your father David. I told him that someone from his family would always be king over Israel.
6“But you and your children must follow me. You must obey the laws and commands I have given you. You must not go off to serve or worship other gods. 7If you do, I will force Israel to leave the land I have given them. I made the Temple holy for people to worship me there. But if you don’t obey me, I will tear it down. Then Israel will become a bad example, a joke, to other people. 8If the Temple is destroyed, everyone who sees it will be shocked. They will make fun of you and ask, ‘Why did the Lord do this? Why did he do this terrible thing to this land and this Temple?’ 9Other people will answer, ‘This happened because they left the Lord their God. He brought their ancestors out of Egypt. But they decided to follow other gods. They worshiped and served those gods. That is why the Lord brought all this disaster to them.’”
Solomon’s Other Activities
10By the end of 20 years, King Solomon had built the Temple of the Lord. And he had built the royal palace. 11At that time King Solomon gave 20 towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre. Solomon did this because Hiram had helped with the buildings. Hiram had given him all the cedar, pine and gold he wanted. 12So Hiram traveled from Tyre to see the towns Solomon had given him. When Hiram saw them, he was not pleased. 13He asked, “What are these towns you have given me, my brother?” So he named that land the Land of Cabul.# This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “worthless.” And it is still called that today. 14Hiram had sent to King Solomon about 9,000 pounds of gold.
15King Solomon had forced slaves to build the Temple and the palace. Then he had them fill in the land on the east side of the city. And he had them build the wall around Jerusalem. He also had them rebuild the cities of Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. 16(In the past the king of Egypt had attacked Gezer and captured it. He had burned it and killed the Canaanites who lived there. Then he gave it to his daughter as a wedding present. His daughter married Solomon. 17So Solomon rebuilt it.) He also built the cities of Lower Beth Horon, 18Baalath and Tadmor, which is in the Judean desert. 19King Solomon also built cities where he could store grain and supplies. And he built cities for his chariots and chariot soldiers. Solomon built whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon and everywhere he ruled.
20There were people in the land who were not Israelites. There were some Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 21The Israelites had not been able to destroy them from the land. So Solomon forced them to work for him as slaves. And they are still slaves today. 22But Solomon did not force any Israelites to be his slaves. The Israelites were his soldiers, government leaders, officers, captains and chariot commanders and drivers.
23There were 550 supervisors over Solomon’s projects. They were supervisors over the men who did the work.
24The daughter of the king of Egypt moved from the old part of Jerusalem to the palace. This was the palace Solomon had built for her. Then Solomon filled in the land on the east side of the city.
25Three times each year Solomon offered whole burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar. This is the altar he had built for the Lord. Solomon also burned incense before the Lord. So he finished the work on the Temple.
26Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber. This town is near Elath. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Aqaba, in the land of Edom. 27King Hiram had sailors who knew much about the sea. So he sent them to serve in Solomon’s ships with Solomon’s men. 28Solomon’s ships sailed to Ophir. From there they brought back about 32,000 pounds of gold to King Solomon.
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