2 Chronicles 8

1 It had taken twenty years for Solomon to build the Temple of the Lord and his own palace.

Then, twenty years having passed since Solomon built the house of the Lord and his own house,

2 Solomon rebuilt the towns Hiram had given him, and sent Israelites to live there.

he built the cities that Hiram had given to Solomon, and he caused the sons of Israel to live there.

3 Then Solomon attacked Hamath-zobah and captured it.

Also, he went to Hamath Zobah, and he obtained it.

4 He built Tadmor in the wilderness and also built all the storehouse towns in Hamath.

And he built Palmira in the desert, and he built very fortified cities in Hamath.

5 He rebuilt Upper and Lower Beth-horon, fortified cities with walls and barred gates,

And he built upper Beth-horon and lower Beth-horon, as walled cities, having gates and bars and locks,

6 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.

as well as Baalath, and all the very strong cities which were of Solomon, and all the cities of the chariots, and the cities of the horsemen. Everything whatsoever that Solomon willed and decided, he built in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and throughout the entire land of his authority.

7 There were some people who remained in the land: the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—people who were not Israelites.

All the people who had been left from the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, those who were not from the stock of Israel,

8 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.

those of their sons and their posterity whom the sons of Israel had not put to death, Solomon subjugated as tributaries, even to this day.

9 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.

But he did not appoint anyone from the sons of Israel to serve in the works of the king. For they were men of war, and first rulers, and commanders of his chariots and horsemen.

10 They were also King Solomon's chief officers, 250 men who supervised the people.

Now all the leaders of the army of king Solomon were two hundred fifty, who were instructing the people.

11 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.”

Truly, he transferred the daughter of Pharaoh, from the City of David, to the house that he had built for her. For the king said: “My wife shall not live in the house of David, king of Israel, for it has been sanctified. For the ark of the Lord has entered into it.”

12 Then Solomon presented burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord he had built in front of the Temple's porch.

Then Solomon offered holocausts to the Lord on the altar of the Lord, which he had constructed before the portico,

13 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.

so that every day there would be an offering on it, in accord with the precept of Moses, on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and three times a year on the feast days, that is, on the solemnity of unleavened bread, and on the solemnity of weeks, and on the solemnity of tabernacles.

14 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.

And he appointed, in accord with the plan of his father David, the offices of the priests in their ministries; and those of the Levites, in their orders, so that they might praise and minister before the priests according to the ritual of each day; and the porters, in their divisions, from gate to gate. For so had David, the man of God, instructed.

15 They followed David's instructions exactly regarding the priests, the Levites, and anything to do with the treasuries.

Neither the priests, nor the Levites, transgressed against the commands of the king, in all that he had instructed, and in the keeping of the treasuries.

16 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.

Solomon had all the expenses prepared, from the day on which he founded the house of the Lord, even until the day when he perfected it.

17 After this Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Eloth on the coast of the land of Edom.

Then Solomon went away to Eziongeber, and to Eloth, on the coast of the Red Sea, which is in the land of Edom.

18 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.

And Hiram sent to him ships, by the hands of his servants, sailors and skillful navigators of the sea, and they went away with the servants of Solomon to Ophir. And they took from there four hundred fifty talents of gold, and they brought it to king Solomon.