< 2 Chronicles 8 >

1 Now at the end of twenty years, in which time Solomon had put up the house of the Lord and a house for himself,
It had taken twenty years for Solomon to build the Temple of the Lord and his own palace.
2 He took in hand the building up of the towns which Huram had given him, causing the children of Israel to make living-places for themselves there.
Solomon rebuilt the towns Hiram had given him, and sent Israelites to live there.
3 And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and overcame it.
Then Solomon attacked Hamath-zobah and captured it.
4 And he put up the buildings of Tadmor in the waste land, and of all the store-towns in Hamath;
He built Tadmor in the wilderness and also built all the storehouse towns in Hamath.
5 And of Beth-horon the higher and the lower, walled towns with walls and doorways and locks;
He rebuilt Upper and Lower Beth-horon, fortified cities with walls and barred gates,
6 And of Baalath, and all the store-towns which Solomon had, and the towns where he kept his war-carriages and his horse men, and everything which it was his pleasure to put up in Jerusalem and in Lebanon and in all the land under his rule.
and also Baalath. He built all the storehouse towns that belonged to him, and all the towns where he kept his chariots and horses. He built everything he wanted to in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and throughout his entire kingdom.
7 As for all the rest of the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel:
There were some people who remained in the land: the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—people who were not Israelites.
8 Their men who were still living in the land, and whom the children of Israel had not put an end to, these Solomon put to forced work, as is done to this day;
They were the remaining descendants of the peoples that the Israelites had not destroyed. Solomon made them work as forced laborers, as they are to this day.
9 But Solomon did not make use of the children of Israel as servants for his work; they were men of war, his chiefs and his captains, and captains of his war-carriages and his horsemen.
But Solomon did not make any of the Israelites work as slaves. Instead, they were his military men, his officers, and commanders of his chariots and horsemen.
10 Now these were the chief men in authority whom King Solomon had: two hundred and fifty of them, in authority over the people.
They were also King Solomon's chief officers, 250 men who supervised the people.
11 Then Solomon made Pharaoh's daughter come up from the town of David to the house which he had made for her; for he said, I will not have my wife living in the house of David, king of Israel, because those places where the ark of the Lord has come are holy.
Solomon moved Pharaoh's daughter from the City of David to the palace he had built for her. For he said, “My wife cannot live in the palace of David king of Israel, because wherever the Ark of the Lord has gone are holy places.”
12 Then Solomon made burned offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord which he had put up in front of the covered way,
Then Solomon presented burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord he had built in front of the Temple's porch.
13 Offering every day what had been ordered by Moses, on the Sabbaths and at the new moon and at the regular feasts three times a year, that is at the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of weeks, and the feast of tents.
He followed the requirement for daily offerings as Moses had ordered for Sabbaths, new moons, and the three annual festivals—the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Shelters.
14 And he gave the divisions of the priests their places for their work, as ordered by his father David, and to the Levites he gave their work of praise and waiting on the priests, to do what was needed day by day; and he gave the door-keepers their places in turn at every door; for so David, the man of God, had given orders.
Following the instructions of his father David, he assigned the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites in their responsibilities to offer praise, and to help the priests in their daily duties. He also assigned gatekeepers by their divisions at each gate as David, the man of God, had instructed.
15 All the orders given by the king to the priests and Levites, in connection with any business or stores, were done with care.
They followed David's instructions exactly regarding the priests, the Levites, and anything to do with the treasuries.
16 And all the work of Solomon was complete, from the day when he put the base of the Lord's house in position, till Solomon had come to the end of building the Lord's house.
This is how all Solomon's work was carried out, from the day the foundation was laid for the Lord's Temple until it was finished. So the Lord's Temple was completed.
17 Then Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Eloth by the sea in the land of Edom.
After this Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Eloth on the coast of the land of Edom.
18 And Huram sent him, by his servants, ships and experienced seamen, who went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir and came back with four hundred and fifty talents of gold, which they took to King Solomon.
Hiram sent him ships under the command of his own officers, along with experienced sailors. They went with Solomon's men to Ophir where they loaded 450 talents of gold, which they then brought back to King Solomon.

< 2 Chronicles 8 >