M'lakhim Alef (1 Ki) 9
9
1After Shlomo had finished building the house of Adonai, the royal palace and everything else he wanted to build for himself, 2Adonai appeared to Shlomo a second time, as he had appeared to him in Giv‘on. 3Adonai said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea that you made before me: I am consecrating this house which you built and placing my name there forever; my eyes and heart will always be there. 4As for you, if you will live in my presence, as did David your father, in pureness of heart and uprightness, doing everything I have ordered you to do, and observing my laws and rulings; 5then I will establish the throne of your rulership over Isra’el forever, just as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You will never lack a man on the throne of Isra’el.’ 6But if you turn away from following me, you or your children, and do not observe my mitzvot and regulations which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, worshipping them; 7then I will cut off Isra’el from the land I have given them. This house, which I consecrated for my name, I will eject from my sight; and Isra’el will become an example to avoid and an object of scorn among all peoples. 8This house, now so exalted — everyone passing by will gasp in shock at the sight of it and will ask, ‘Why has Adonai done this to this land and to this house?’ 9But the answer will be, ‘It’s because they abandoned Adonai their God, who brought their ancestors out of the land of Egypt, and took hold of other gods, worshipping and serving them; this is why Adonai brought all these calamities on them.’”
10At the end of twenty years, during which time Shlomo had built the two buildings, the house of Adonai and the royal palace, 11King Shlomo gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of the Galil (recall that Hiram the king of Tzor had supplied Shlomo with cedar and cypress logs and with all the gold Shlomo wanted). 12Hiram came over from Tzor to see the cities Shlomo had given him, but he was not satisfied with them. 13He said, “What kind of cities are these which you have given me, my brother?” So they have been called the land of Kabul [good for nothing] till this day. 14(Hiram had sent the king four tons of gold.)
15Following is the account of the forced labor levied by King Shlomo for building the house of Adonai, his own palace, the Millo, the wall of Yerushalayim, and the cities of Hatzor, Megiddo and Gezer. 16Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, taken Gezer, burned it to the ground and killed the Kena‘ani living in the city; then he had given it as a dowry for his daughter, Shlomo’s wife. 17So Shlomo rebuilt Gezer; he also built Lower Beit-Horon, 18Ba‘alat, Tadmor in the desert, in the land, 19as well as all the cities that Shlomo had for storing supplies, the cities for his chariots, the cities for his horsemen, and the other buildings Shlomo wanted to build for himself in Yerushalayim, in the L’vanon and throughout the land he ruled. 20All the people still left from the Emori, Hitti, P’rizi, Hivi, and Y’vusi, who were not part of the people of Isra’el, 21that is, their descendants remaining after them in the land, whom the people of Isra’el were not able to destroy completely — from them Shlomo levied his forced laborers; as it is to this day. 22But Shlomo did not raise any of his forced labor from the people of Isra’el; rather, they were the soldiers, his servants, administrators and commanders, and the officials in charge of his chariots and horsemen. 23There were 550 chief officers over Shlomo’s work, in charge of the workers.
24Pharaoh’s daughter came up from the City of David to her house, which Shlomo had built for her. After that he built the Millo.
25Three times a year Shlomo offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he had built for Adonai, offering incense with them on the altar before Adonai. So he finished the house.
26King Shlomo built a fleet of ships in ‘Etzyon-Gever, by Elot on the shore of the Sea of Suf in the land of Edom. 27Hiram sent some of his own servants, experienced sailors who understood the sea, to serve with Shlomo’s servants. 28They went to Ofir and took from there gold, fourteen tons of it, which they brought back to King Shlomo.
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M'lakhim Alef (1 Ki) 9: CJB
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Learn More About Complete Jewish Bible1 Kings 9
9
The Lord’s Response to Solomon
1So Solomon finished building the Temple of the Lord, as well as the royal palace. He completed everything he had planned to do. 2Then the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had done before at Gibeon. 3The Lord said to him,
“I have heard your prayer and your petition. I have set this Temple apart to be holy—this place you have built where my name will be honored forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear to my heart.
4“As for you, if you will follow me with integrity and godliness, as David your father did, obeying all my commands, decrees, and regulations, 5then I will establish the throne of your dynasty over Israel forever. For I made this promise to your father, David: ‘One of your descendants will always sit on the throne of Israel.’
6“But if you or your descendants abandon me and disobey the commands and decrees I have given you, and if you serve and worship other gods, 7then I will uproot Israel from this land that I have given them. I will reject this Temple that I have made holy to honor my name. I will make Israel an object of mockery and ridicule among the nations. 8And though this Temple is impressive now, all who pass by will be appalled and will gasp in horror. They will ask, ‘Why did the Lord do such terrible things to this land and to this Temple?’
9“And the answer will be, ‘Because his people abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they worshiped other gods instead and bowed down to them. That is why the Lord has brought all these disasters on them.’”
Solomon’s Agreement with Hiram
10It took Solomon twenty years to build the Lord’s Temple and his own royal palace. At the end of that time, 11he gave twenty towns in the land of Galilee to King Hiram of Tyre. (Hiram had previously provided all the cedar and cypress timber and gold that Solomon had requested.) 12But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the towns Solomon had given him, he was not at all pleased with them. 13“What kind of towns are these, my brother?” he asked. So Hiram called that area Cabul (which means “worthless”), as it is still known today. 14Nevertheless, Hiram paid#9:14a Or For Hiram had paid. Solomon 9,000 pounds#9:14b Hebrew 120 talents [4,000 kilograms]. of gold.
Solomon’s Many Achievements
15This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon conscripted to build the Lord’s Temple, the royal palace, the supporting terraces,#9:15 Hebrew the millo; also in 9:24. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain. the wall of Jerusalem, and the cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16(Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer, killing the Canaanite population and burning it down. He gave the city to his daughter as a wedding gift when she married Solomon. 17So Solomon rebuilt the city of Gezer.) He also built up the towns of Lower Beth-horon, 18Baalath, and Tamar#9:18 An alternate reading in the Masoretic Text reads Tadmor. in the wilderness within his land. 19He built towns as supply centers and constructed towns where his chariots and horses#9:19 Or and charioteers. could be stationed. He built everything he desired in Jerusalem and Lebanon and throughout his entire realm.
20There were still some people living in the land who were not Israelites, including Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 21These were descendants of the nations whom the people of Israel had not completely destroyed.#9:21 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering. So Solomon conscripted them as slaves, and they serve as forced laborers to this day. 22But Solomon did not conscript any of the Israelites for forced labor. Instead, he assigned them to serve as fighting men, government officials, officers and captains in his army, commanders of his chariots, and charioteers. 23Solomon appointed 550 of them to supervise the people working on his various projects.
24Solomon moved his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter, from the City of David to the new palace he had built for her. Then he constructed the supporting terraces.
25Three times each year Solomon presented burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord. He also burned incense to the Lord. And so he finished the work of building the Temple.
26King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, a port near Elath#9:26a As in Greek version (see also 2 Kgs 14:22; 16:6); Hebrew reads Eloth, a variant spelling of Elath. in the land of Edom, along the shore of the Red Sea.#9:26b Hebrew sea of reeds. 27Hiram sent experienced crews of sailors to sail the ships with Solomon’s men. 28They sailed to Ophir and brought back to Solomon some sixteen tons#9:28 Hebrew 420 talents [14 metric tons]. of gold.
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