2 Chronicles 8
8
Solomon’s Many Achievements
1It took Solomon twenty years to build the Lord’s Temple and his own royal palace. At the end of that time, 2Solomon turned his attention to rebuilding the towns that King Hiram#8:2 Hebrew Huram, a variant spelling of Hiram; also in 8:18. had given him, and he settled Israelites in them.
3Solomon also fought against the town of Hamath-zobah and conquered it. 4He rebuilt Tadmor in the wilderness and built towns in the region of Hamath as supply centers. 5He fortified the towns of Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon, rebuilding their walls and installing barred gates. 6He also rebuilt Baalath and other supply centers and constructed towns where his chariots and horses#8:6 Or and charioteers. could be stationed. He built everything he desired in Jerusalem and Lebanon and throughout his entire realm.
7There were still some people living in the land who were not Israelites, including the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 8These were descendants of the nations whom the people of Israel had not destroyed. So Solomon conscripted them for his labor force, and they serve as forced laborers to this day. 9But Solomon did not conscript any of the Israelites for his labor force. Instead, he assigned them to serve as fighting men, officers in his army, commanders of his chariots, and charioteers. 10King Solomon appointed 250 of them to supervise the people.
11Solomon moved his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter, from the City of David to the new palace he had built for her. He said, “My wife must not live in King David’s palace, for the Ark of the Lord has been there, and it is holy ground.”
12Then Solomon presented burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar he had built for him in front of the entry room of the Temple. 13He offered the sacrifices for the Sabbaths, the new moon festivals, and the three annual festivals—the Passover celebration, the Festival of Harvest,#8:13 Or Festival of Weeks. and the Festival of Shelters—as Moses had commanded.
14In assigning the priests to their duties, Solomon followed the regulations of his father, David. He also assigned the Levites to lead the people in praise and to assist the priests in their daily duties. And he assigned the gatekeepers to their gates by their divisions, following the commands of David, the man of God. 15Solomon did not deviate in any way from David’s commands concerning the priests and Levites and the treasuries.
16So Solomon made sure that all the work related to building the Temple of the Lord was carried out, from the day its foundation was laid to the day of its completion.
17Later Solomon went to Ezion-geber and Elath,#8:17a As in Greek version (see also 2 Kgs 14:22; 16:6); Hebrew reads Eloth, a variant spelling of Elath. ports along the shore of the Red Sea#8:17b As in parallel text at 1 Kgs 9:26; Hebrew reads the sea. in the land of Edom. 18Hiram sent him ships commanded by his own officers and manned by experienced crews of sailors. These ships sailed to Ophir with Solomon’s men and brought back to Solomon almost seventeen tons#8:18 Hebrew 450 talents [15.3 metric tons]. of gold.
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2 Chronicles 8: NLT
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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2 Paralipomenon 8
8
1And at the end of twenty years after Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house:
2He built the cities which Hiram had given to Solomon, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.
3He went also into Emath Suba, and possessed it.
4And he built Palmira in the desert: and he built other strong cities in Emath.
5And he built Beth-horon the upper, and Beth-horon the nether, walled cities with gates and bars and locks;
6Balaath also, and all the strong cities that were Solomon's, and all the cities of the chariots, and the cities of the horsemen. All that Solomon had a mind, and designed, he built in Jerusalem, and in Libanus, and in all the land of his dominion.
7All the people that were left of the Hethites, and the Amorrhites, and the Pherezites, and the Hevites, and the Jebusites, that were not of the stock of Israel:
8Of their children, and of the posterity, whom the children of Israel had not slain, Solomon made to be the tributaries, unto this day.
9But of the children of Israel he set none to serve in the king's works: for they were men of war, and chief captains, and rulers of his chariots and horsemen.
10And all the chief captains of king Solomon's army were two hundred and fifty, who taught the people.
11And he removed the daughter of Pharao from the city of David, to the house which he had built for her. For the king said: My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, for it is sanctified: because the ark of the Lord came into it.
12Then Solomon offered holocausts to the Lord upon the altar of the Lord, which he had built before the porch,
13That every day an offering might be made on it according to the ordinance of Moses: in the sabbaths: and on the new moons: and on the festival days three times a year, that is to say, in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.
14And he appointed according to the order of David his father the offices of the priests in their ministries: and the Levites in their order to give praise, and minister before the priests according to the duty of every day: and the porters in their divisions by gate and gate. For so David, the man of God, had commanded.
15And the priests and Levites departed not from the king's commandments, as to any thing that he had commanded, and as to the keeping of the treasures.
16Solomon had all charges prepared, from the day that he founded the house of the Lord, until the day wherein he finished it.
17Then Solomon went to Asiongaber, and to Ailath, on the coast of the Red Sea, which is in the land of Edom.
18And Hiram sent him ships by the hands of his servants, and skilful mariners. And they went with Solomon's servants to Ophir: and they took thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought it to king Solomon.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.