1 Kings 9
9
God Appears to Solomon Again
(2 Chr 7.11–22)
1After King Solomon had finished building the Temple and the palace and everything else he wanted to build, 2#1 Kgs 3.5; 2 Chr 1.7the LORD appeared to him again, as he had in Gibeon. 3The LORD said to him, “I have heard your prayer. I consecrate this Temple which you have built as the place where I shall be worshipped for ever. I will watch over it and protect it for all time. 4If you will serve me in honesty and integrity, as your father David did, and if you obey my laws and do everything I have commanded you, 5#1 Kgs 2.4I will keep the promise I made to your father David when I told him that Israel would always be ruled by his descendants. 6But if you or your descendants stop following me, if you disobey the laws and commands I have given you, and worship other gods, 7then I will remove my people Israel from the land that I have given them. I will also abandon this Temple which I have consecrated as the place where I am to be worshipped. People everywhere will ridicule Israel and treat her with contempt. 8#2 Kgs 25.9; 2 Chr 36.19This Temple will become a pile of ruins,#9.8 Some ancient translations a pile of ruins; Hebrew high. and everyone who passes by will be shocked and amazed. ‘Why did the LORD do this to this land and this Temple?’ they will ask. 9People will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the LORD their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt. They gave their allegiance to other gods and worshipped them. That is why the LORD has brought this disaster on them.’ ”
Solomon's Agreement with Hiram
(2 Chr 8.1–2)
10It took Solomon twenty years to build the Temple and his palace. 11King Hiram of Tyre had provided him with all the cedar and pine and with all the gold he wanted for this work. After it was finished, King Solomon gave Hiram twenty towns in the region of Galilee. 12Hiram went to see them, and he did not like them. 13So he said to Solomon, “So these, my brother, are the towns you have given me!” For this reason the area is still called Cabul.#9.13 Cabul: This name sounds like “ke-bal”, the Hebrew for “worthless”. 14Hiram had sent Solomon more than four tonnes of gold.
Further Achievements of Solomon
(2 Chr 8.3–18)
15King Solomon used forced labour to build the Temple and the palace, to fill in land on the east side of the city, and to build the city wall. He also used it to rebuild the cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16(The king of Egypt had attacked Gezer and captured it, killing its inhabitants and setting fire to the city. Then he gave it as a wedding present to his daughter when she married Solomon, 17and Solomon rebuilt it.) Using his forced labour, Solomon also rebuilt Lower Beth Horon, 18Baalath, Tamar in the Judean wilderness, 19the cities where his supplies were kept, the cities for his horses and chariots, and everything else he wanted to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and elsewhere in his kingdom. 20-21For his forced labour Solomon used the descendants of the people of Canaan whom the Israelites had not killed when they took possession of their land. These included Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, whose descendants continue to be slaves down to the present time. 22Solomon did not make slaves of Israelites; they served as his soldiers, officers, commanders, chariot captains, and horsemen.
23There were 550 officials in charge of the forced labour working on Solomon's various building projects.
24Solomon filled in the land on the east side of the city, after his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt, had moved from David's City to the palace Solomon built for her.
25 #
Ex 23.17; 34.23; Deut 16.16 Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built to the LORD. He also burnt incense#9.25 Hebrew has two additional words, the meaning of which is unclear. to the LORD. And so he finished building the Temple.
26King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Eziongeber, which is near Elath, on the shore of the Gulf of Aqaba, in the land of Edom. 27King Hiram sent some experienced seamen from his fleet to serve with Solomon's men. 28They sailed to the land of Ophir, and brought back to Solomon more than fourteen tonnes of gold.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
1 Kings 9
9
God’s Promise and Warning
1Now it happened when Solomon had finished building the house (temple) of the Lord and the king’s house (palace), and all else which he was pleased to do, 2that the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, just as He had appeared to him #9:2 See 3:4-15.at Gibeon. 3The Lord told him, “I have heard your prayer and supplication which you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built by putting My Name and My Presence there forever. My eyes and My heart shall be there perpetually. 4As for you, if you walk (live your life) before Me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, acting in accordance with everything that I have commanded you, and will keep My statutes and My precepts, 5then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I promised your father David, saying, ‘You shall not be without a man (descendant) on the throne of Israel.’
6“But if you or your sons turn away 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, 7then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and I will cast out of My sight the house which I have consecrated for My Name and Presence. Then Israel will become a proverb (a saying) and a byword (object of ridicule) among all the peoples. 8This house (temple) will become a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by will be appalled and #9:8 Or hiss.sneer and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this house?’ 9And they [who know] will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and they have chosen other gods and have worshiped and served them; that is the reason the Lord has brought on them all this adversity.’ ”
Cities Given to Hiram
10Now at the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the temple of the Lord and the palace of the king 11(Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with as much cedar and cypress timber [from Lebanon] and gold as he desired), at that time King Solomon gave Hiram #9:11 These cities were either sold to Hiram in exchange for the gold or used as collateral for a loan of the gold (v 14).twenty cities in the land of Galilee (northern Israel). 12So Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they #9:12 Lit were not right in his eyes.did not please him. 13He said, “What are these cities [good for] which you have given me, my brother?” So they have been called the land of Cabul (like nothing, unproductive) to this day. 14And Hiram sent to the king 120 talents of gold.
15Now this is the account of the forced labor which King Solomon conscripted to build the house of the Lord, his own house, the #9:15 The exact nature of the Millo is unclear, but most scholars believe it was some sort of military fortification such as a tower, a citadel, a significant part of a wall or even an earth-fill or terraced hillside. It was located on the eastern side of the City of David. It was later repaired by King Hezekiah.Millo (fortification), the wall of Jerusalem, [and the fortress cities of] Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer, burned it with fire and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and he had given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. 17So Solomon rebuilt [and fortified] Gezer and Lower Beth-horon, 18Baalath and #9:18 In 2 Chr 8:4 Tadmor.Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah, 19and all the storage cities [for surplus provisions] which Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots and cities for his horsemen, and whatever it pleased Solomon to build #9:19 Because of Solomon’s extensive building program and his extravagant expenditures, he resorted to forced labor and heavy taxation. These oppressive policies, combined with his son’s lack of good judgment contributed to the division of Solomon’s kingdom. Shortly after his death, his son King Rehoboam rebuffed the people’s appeal for relief and declared his intention to add to their burdens (12:11).in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land under his rule. 20As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the sons (descendants) of Israel, 21their children who were left after them in the land, whom the Israelites were unable to completely destroy, from them Solomon levied (conscripted) forced laborers, even to this day (the date of this writing). 22But Solomon did not make slaves of the sons of Israel; for they were men of war (soldiers), his servants, his officers, his captains, his chariot commanders, and his horsemen.
23These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work, five hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people doing the work.
24As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter came up from the City of David to her house which Solomon had built for her, then he built the Millo (fortification).
25Three times a year [during the #9:25 I.e. the Feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Booths.major annual festivals] Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built to the Lord, and he burned incense with them before the Lord. So he finished the house [of the Lord].
26King Solomon built a fleet of ships in Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds), in the land of Edom. 27And Hiram [king of Tyre] sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon. 28They came to #9:28 The location of this wealthy trading port is a subject of debate among scholars and archeologists. Possible sites considered include Pakistan, India, Zimbabwe, Yemen, and other ports in Arabia and Africa.Ophir and took four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.
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