Chronicles II 8
1 And it came to pass after twenty years, in which Solomon built the house of the Lord, and his own house,
It had taken twenty years for Solomon to build the Temple of the Lord and his own palace.
2 that Solomon rebuilt the cities which Chiram had given to Solomon, and caused the children of Israel to dwell in them.
Solomon rebuilt the towns Hiram had given him, and sent Israelites to live there.
3 And Solomon came to Baesoba, and fortified it.
Then Solomon attacked Hamath-zobah and captured it.
4 And he built Thoedmor in the wilderness, and all the strong cities which he built in Emath.
He built Tadmor in the wilderness and also built all the storehouse towns in Hamath.
5 And he built Baethoron the upper, and Baethoron the lower, strong cities, —they had walls, gates, and bars;
He rebuilt Upper and Lower Beth-horon, fortified cities with walls and barred gates,
6 and Balaath, and all the strong cities which Solomon had, and all his chariot cities, and cities of horsemen, and all things that Solomon desired according to his desire of building, in Jerusalem, and in Libanus, and in all his kingdom.
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 people that was left of the Chettites, and the Amorites, and the Pherezites, and the Evites, and the Jebusites, who are 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 but were of the children of them whom the children Israel destroyed not, that were left after them in the land, even them did Solomon make tributaries 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 any of the children of Israel servants in his kingdom; for, behold, [they were] warriors and rulers, and mighty [men], and captains of chariots and 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 And these are the chiefs of the officers of king Solomon, two hundred and fifty overseeing the work amongst the people.
They were also King Solomon's chief officers, 250 men who supervised the people.
11 And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharao from the city of David to the house which he had built for her: for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the city of David, the king of Israel, for [the place] is holy into which the ark of the Lord has entered.
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 offered up to the Lord whole burnt offerings on the altar which he had built to the Lord before the temple,
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 according to the daily rate, to offer up [sacrifices] according to the commandments of Moses, on the sabbaths, and at the new moons, and at the feasts, three times in the year, at the feast of unleavened bread, and at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of tabernacles.
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 established, according to the order of his father David, the courses of the priests, and [that] according to their public ministrations: and the Levites [were appointed] over their charges, to praise and minister before the priests according to the daily order: and the porters were appointed according to their courses to the different gates: for thus [were] the commandments of David the man of God.
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 They transgressed not the commandments of the king concerning the priests and the Levites with regard to everything else, and with regard to the treasures.
They followed David's instructions exactly regarding the priests, the Levites, and anything to do with the treasuries.
16 Now all the work had been prepared from the day when the foundation was laid, until Solomon finished the house of the Lord.
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 Gasion Gaber, and to Aelath near the sea in the land of Idumea.
After this Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Eloth on the coast of the land of Edom.
18 And Chiram sent by the hand of his servants ships, and servants skilled in naval affairs; and they went with the servants of Solomon to Sophira, and brought thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and they came 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.
