1 Kings 9

1 And it comes to pass, at Solomon’s finishing to build the house of YHWH, and the house of the king, and all the desire of Solomon that he delighted to do,

Now when Solomon had finished building the house of the LORD and the royal palace, and had achieved all that he had desired to do,

2 that YHWH appears to Solomon a second time, as He appeared to him in Gibeon,

the LORD appeared to him a second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon.

3 and YHWH says to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication with which you have made supplication before Me; I have hallowed this house that you have built to put My Name there for all time, and My eyes and My heart have been there [for] all the days.

And the LORD said to him: “I have heard your prayer and petition before Me. I have consecrated this temple you have built by putting My Name there forever; My eyes and My heart will be there for all time.

4 And you—if you walk before Me as your father David walked, in simplicity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, [and] you keep My statutes and My judgments,

And as for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, with a heart of integrity and uprightness, doing all I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and ordinances,

5 then I have established the throne of your kingdom over Israel for all time, as I spoke to your father David, saying, A man of yours is never cut off from [being] on the throne of Israel.

then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised your father David when I said, ‘You will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’

6 If you at all turn back—you and your sons—from after Me, and do not keep My commands [and] My statutes that I have set before you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them,

But if indeed you or your sons turn away from following Me and do not keep the commandments and statutes I have set before you, and if you go off to serve and worship other gods,

7 then I have cut off Israel from the face of the ground that I have given to them, and the house that I have hallowed for My Name I send away from My presence, and Israel has been for an allegory and for a byword among all the peoples;

then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and I will banish from My presence this temple I have sanctified for My Name. Then Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all peoples.

8 as for this house [that] is high, everyone passing by it is astonished, and has hissed, and they have said, Why has YHWH done this to this land and to this house?

And when this temple has become a heap of rubble, all who pass by it will be appalled and will hiss and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’

9 And they have said, Because that they have forsaken their God YHWH, who brought out their fathers from the land of Egypt, and they lay hold on other gods, and bow themselves to them and serve them; therefore YHWH has brought all this calamity on them.”

And others will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—because of this, the LORD has brought all this disaster upon them.’”

10 And it comes to pass, at the end of twenty years, that Solomon has built the two houses, the house of YHWH, and the house of the king.

Now at the end of the twenty years during which Solomon built these two houses, the house of the LORD and the royal palace,

11 Hiram king of Tyre has assisted Solomon with cedar-trees, and with fir-trees, and with gold, according to all his desire; then King Solomon gives to Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.

King Solomon gave twenty towns in the land of Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, who had supplied him with cedar and cypress logs and gold for his every desire.

12 And Hiram comes out from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon has given to him, and they have not been right in his eyes,

So Hiram went out from Tyre to inspect the towns that Solomon had given him, but he was not pleased with them.

13 and he says, “What [are] these cities that you have given to me, my brother?” And one calls them the land of Cabul to this day.

“What are these towns you have given me, my brother?” asked Hiram, and he called them the Land of Cabul, as they are called to this day.

14 And Hiram sends one hundred and twenty talents of gold to the king.

And Hiram had sent the king 120 talents of gold.

15 And this [is] the matter of the tribute that King Solomon has lifted up, to build the house of YHWH, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer

This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon imposed to build the house of the LORD, his own palace, the supporting terraces, and the wall of Jerusalem, as well as Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.

16 (Pharaoh king of Egypt has gone up and captures Gezer, and burns it with fire, and he has slain the Canaanite who is dwelling in the city, and gives it [as] presents to his daughter, wife of Solomon).

Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire, killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.

17 And Solomon builds Gezer, and the lower Beth-Horon,

So Solomon rebuilt Gezer, Lower Beth-horon,

18 and Ba‘alath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land,

Baalath, and Tamar in the Wilderness of Judah,

19 and all the cities of stores that King Solomon has, and the cities of the chariots, and the cities of the horsemen, and the desire of Solomon that he desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

as well as all the store cities that Solomon had for his chariots and horses —whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and throughout the land of his dominion.

20 The whole of the people that is left of the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, who [are] not of the sons of Israel—

As for all the people who remained of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites (the people who were not Israelites)—

21 their sons who are left behind them in the land, whom the sons of Israel have not been able to devote—he has even lifted up a tribute of service [on] them to this day.

their descendants who remained in the land, those whom the Israelites were unable to devote to destruction —Solomon conscripted these people to be forced laborers, as they are to this day.

22 And Solomon has not appointed a servant out of the sons of Israel, for they [are] the men of war, and his servants, and his heads, and his captains, and the heads of his chariots, and his horsemen.

But Solomon did not consign any of the Israelites to slavery, because they were his men of war, his servants, his officers, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and cavalry.

23 These [are] the five hundred and fifty heads of the officers who [are] over the work of Solomon, those ruling among the people who are laboring in the work.

They were also the chief officers over Solomon’s projects: 550 supervisors over the people who did the work.

24 Only, the daughter of Pharaoh went up out of the City of David to her house that [Solomon] built for her; then he built Millo.

As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter had come up from the City of David to the palace that Solomon had built for her, he built the supporting terraces.

25 And Solomon caused burnt-offerings and peace-offerings to ascend three times in a year on the altar that he built for YHWH, and he burned it as incense with that which [is] before YHWH, and finished the house.

Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built for the LORD, burning incense with them before the LORD. So he completed the temple.

26 And King Solomon has made a navy in Ezion-Geber, that is beside Eloth, on the edge of the Sea of Suph, in the land of Edom.

King Solomon also assembled a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea.

27 And Hiram sends his servants in the navy, shipmen knowing the sea, with servants of Solomon,

And Hiram sent his servants, men who knew the sea, to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s servants.

28 and they come to Ophir, and take four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and bring [it] to King Solomon.

They sailed to Ophir and imported gold from there—420 talents —and delivered it to Solomon.