1 Kings 9
9
Other events during Solomon's rule
The LORD appears to Solomon again
(2 Chronicles 7.11-22)
1The LORD's temple and Solomon's palace were now finished, and Solomon had built everything he wanted. 2Some time later the LORD appeared to him again in a dream, just as he had done at Gibeon.#1 K 3.5; 2 Ch 1.7. 3The LORD said:
I heard your prayer and what you asked me to do. This temple you have built is where I will be worshipped for ever. It belongs to me, and I will never stop watching over it.
4You must obey me, as your father David did, and be honest and fair. Obey my laws and teachings, 5and I will keep my promise to David that someone from your family will always be king of Israel.#1 K 2.4.
6But if you or any of your descendants disobey my commands or start worshipping foreign gods, 7I will no longer let my people Israel live in this land I gave them. I will desert this temple where I said I would be worshipped. Then people everywhere will think this nation is only a joke and will make fun of it. 8This temple will become a pile of rocks!#9.8 a pile of rocks: Some ancient translations; Hebrew “high”. Everyone who walks by will be shocked, and they will ask, “Why did the LORD do such a terrible thing to his people and to this temple?”#2 K 25.9; 2 Ch 36.19. 9Then they will answer, “We know why the LORD did this. The people of Israel rejected the LORD their God, who rescued their ancestors from Egypt, and they started worshipping other gods.”
Other things Solomon did
(2 Chronicles 8.1-18)
10It took twenty years for the LORD's temple and Solomon's palace to be built. 11Later, Solomon gave King Hiram of Tyre twenty towns in the region of Galilee to repay him for the cedar, pine, and gold he had given Solomon.
12When Hiram went to see the towns, he did not like them. 13He said, “Solomon, my friend, are these the kind of towns you want to give me?” So Hiram called the region Cabul because he thought it was worthless.#9.13 Cabul…worthless: Cabul sounds like the Hebrew word for “worthless”. 14He sent Solomon only five thousand kilogrammes of gold in return.
15After Solomon's workers had finished the temple and the palace, he ordered them to fill in the land on the east side of Jerusalem,#9.15 fill…Jerusalem: The Hebrew text has “build the Millo”, which probably refers to a landfill to strengthen and extend the hill where the city was built. to build a wall around the city, and to rebuild the towns of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.
16Earlier, the king of Egypt had captured the town of Gezer; he burnt it to the ground and killed the Canaanite people living there. Then he gave it to his daughter as a wedding present when she married Solomon. 17So Solomon had the town rebuilt.
Solomon made his workers rebuild Lower Beth-Horon, 18Baalath, and Tamar in the desert of Judah. 19They also built towns where he could keep his supplies and his chariots and horses. Solomon made them build whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and anywhere in his kingdom.
20-22Solomon did not force the Israelites to do his work. They were his soldiers, officials, leaders, commanders, chariot captains, and chariot drivers. But he did make slaves of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites who were living in Israel. These were the descendants of those foreigners the Israelites could not destroy, and they remained Israel's slaves.
23Solomon appointed five hundred and fifty officers to be in charge of his workers and to watch over his building projects.
24Solomon's wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt, moved from the older part of Jerusalem#9.24 the older…Jerusalem: See the note at 3.1. to her new palace. Then Solomon had the land on the east side of Jerusalem filled in.#9.24 the land…filled in: See the note at 9.15.
25Three times a year, Solomon burnt incense and offered sacrifices to the LORD on the altar he had built.#Ex 23.17; 34.23; Dt 16.16.
Solomon had now finished building the LORD's temple.
26He also had a lot of ships at Ezion-Geber, a town in Edom near Eloth on the Red Sea.#9.26 Red Sea: Hebrew yam suph, here referring to the Gulf of Aqaba, since the term is extended to include the north-eastern arm of the Red Sea (see also the note at Exodus 13.11). 27-28King Hiram let some of his experienced sailors go to the country of Ophir#9.27,28 Ophir: The location of this place is not known. with Solomon's own sailors, and they brought back about fourteen thousand kilogrammes of gold for Solomon.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
1 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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