< 1 Kings 9 >

1 And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of Jehovah, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do,
After Solomon had finished the Lord's Temple and the royal palace, having accomplished everything he'd wanted to do,
2 that Jehovah appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.
the Lord appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.
3 And Jehovah said to him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, which thou have made before me. I have hallowed this house, which thou have built, to put my name there forever. And my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.
The Lord told him, “I have heard your prayer and your request to me. I have dedicated this Temple you have built by placing my name on it forever; I will always watch over it and take care of it.
4 And as for thee, if thou will walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and will keep my statutes and my ordinances,
As for you, if you follow my ways as your father David did, doing everything I've told you to do, and if you keep my laws and regulations,
5 then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom over Israel forever, according as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.
then I will make your throne secure forever. I made this agreement with your father David, telling him, ‘You will always have a descendant to rule over Israel.’
6 But if ye shall turn away from following me, ye or your sons, and not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but shall go and serve other gods, and worship them,
But if you or your descendants turn away and do not keep the laws and the commandments I have given you, and if you go and serve and worship other gods,
7 then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them. And this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight. And Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
then I will cut Israel off from the land I have given them. I will banish from my presence this Temple I have dedicated to my honor, and I will make it an object lesson of ridicule among the nations.
8 And though this house is so high, yet shall every man who passes by it be astonished, and shall hiss. And they shall say, Why has Jehovah done thus to this land, and to this house?
This Temple will become a pile of rubble. All who pass by it will be appalled and will hiss, saying, ‘Why has the Lord acted in such a way to this land and this Temple?’
9 and they shall answer, Because they forsook Jehovah their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshiped them, and served them; therefore has Jehovah brought all this evil upon them.
The answer will come, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their forefathers out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping them and serving them. That's why the Lord has brought all this trouble upon them.’”
10 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of Jehovah and the king's house
It took twenty years for Solomon to construct the two buildings—the Temple of the Lord and his own palace. After this,
11 (now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire), that king Solomon then gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.
King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, because Hiram had provided him with all the cedar and juniper and gold he wanted.
12 And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him. And they did not please him.
But when Hiram went from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, he was not happy with them.
13 And he said, What cities are these which thou have given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul to this day.
“What are these towns you have given me, my brother?” asked Hiram. He called them the land of Cabul, the name they are known by to this day.
14 And Hiram sent to the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold.
Even so, Hiram sent the king 120 talents of gold in payment.
15 And this is the reason for the conscription which king Solomon raised: to build the house of Jehovah, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer.
Here is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon imposed to build the Lord's Temple, his own palace, the terraces, and the wall of Jerusalem, as well as Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.
16 Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites who dwelt in the city, and given it for a portion to his daughter, Solomon's wife.
Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire, killed the Canaanites living in the town. He had then given it as a wedding dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife.
17 And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth-horon the nether,
Solomon rebuilt Gezer and lower Beth-horon,
18 and Baalath, and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land,
Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah,
19 and all the store-cities that Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
and all of Solomon's towns for storage, and the towns for his chariots and for his horsemen, plus whatever Solomon wanted to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and throughout his entire kingdom.
20 As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the sons of Israel,
The descendants of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (people who were not Israelites)
21 their sons who were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel were not able utterly to destroy, of them Solomon raised a conscription of bondservants to this day.
who remained in the land—those whom the Israelites were unable to destroy completely—were conscripted by Solomon to work as forced laborers, as they continue to do to this day.
22 But of the sons of Israel Solomon made no bondservants, but they were the men of war, and his servants, and his rulers, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots and of his horsemen.
But Solomon did not enslave any of the Israelites. They were his soldiers, officials, commanders, captains, chariot commanders, and horsemen.
23 These were the chief officers who were over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty, who bore rule over the people that labored in the work.
They were also the chief officers in charge of Solomon's programs: 550 in command of the people who carried out the work.
24 But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David to her house which Solomon had built for her. Then he built Millo.
Once Pharaoh's daughter had moved from the City of David to the palace that Solomon had built for her, he built the city terraces.
25 And three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he built to Jehovah, burning incense therewith, upon the altar that was before Jehovah. So he finished the house.
Three times each year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and friendship offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord, burning incense before the Lord with them, and so fulfilled what was required at the Temple.
26 And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.
King Solomon built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.
27 And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen who had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.
Hiram sent his sailors who knew the sea to serve in the fleet with Solomon's men.
28 And they came to Ophir, and fetched gold from there, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.
They sailed to Ophir and brought back 420 talents of gold from there and delivered it to Solomon.

< 1 Kings 9 >