2 Chronicles 8

1 It happened at the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the house of the LORD, and his own house,

Solomon’s [workers] worked for 20 years to build the temple and the king’s palace.

2 that the cities which Hiram had given to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.

Then his [workers] rebuilt the cities that [King] Hiram had given back to Solomon, and Solomon sent Israelis to live in those cities.

3 Solomon went to Hamath Zobah, and prevailed against it.

Solomon’s [army] then went to Hamath-Zobah [town] and captured it.

4 He built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the storage cities, which he built in Hamath.

His workers also rebuilt walls around Tadmor [town] in the desert, and in [the] Hamath [region] in all the towns where they kept supplies.

5 Also he built Upper Beth Horon, and Lower Beth Horon, fortified cities, with walls, gates, and bars;

They rebuilt Upper Beth-Horon [town] and Lower Beth-Horon [city], and built walls around them with gates [in the walls] and bars [to fasten the gates].

6 and Baalath, and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

They also rebuilt Baalath [town] and all the cities where supplies were kept and the cities where Solomon’s chariots and horses were kept. Solomon’s [workers] built whatever he wanted them to build, in Jerusalem and in Lebanon, and in other places in the area that he ruled.

7 As for all the people who were left of the Hethites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel;

Solomon forced people from many other groups who were not Israelis to work for him like slaves. They were people from the Heth, Amor, Periz, Hiv, and Jebus people-groups.

8 of their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel did not destroy, of them Solomon conscripted for slave labor to this day.

They were descendants of groups whom the Israelis had not completely destroyed. Solomon forced them to become his slaves, and they are still slaves.

9 But of the children of Israel, Solomon made no slaves for his work; but they were men of war, and his commanders, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots and of his horsemen.

But Solomon did not force Israelis to work for him. Israelis became his soldiers and commanders of his chariots and his chariot-drivers.

10 These were the chief officers of king Solomon: five hundred fifty, who ruled over the people.

They were also King Solomon’s chief officials. There were 250 of them, and they supervised the workers.

11 Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the City of David to the house that he had built for her; for he said, "My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places where the ark of the LORD has come are holy."

Solomon moved his wife, who was the daughter of the king of Egypt, from [the place outside Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’ to the place that his workers had built for her. He said, “I do not want my wife to live in the palace that [my father] King David’s workers built, because the Sacred Chest [was in that palace for a while], and any place where the Sacred Chest has been is holy.”

12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of the LORD, which he had built before the porch,

On the altar that Solomon’s [workers] had built in front of the entrance [to the temple], Solomon sacrificed many offerings that were to be completely burned.

13 even as the duty of every day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the set feasts, three times in the year, in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tents.

He did that to obey the rules about what sacrifices Moses had declared should be made. These included sacrifices for every day and for the Sabbath days and to celebrate each day on which there was a new moon and for the three other festivals that were celebrated each year. Those festivals were the Festival of Eating Unleavened Bread, the Harvest Festival, and the Festival of Living in Temporary Shelters.

14 He appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, the divisions of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their offices, to praise, and to minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required; the doorkeepers also by their divisions at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded.

Obeying what his father David had commanded, he appointed the groups of priests for their work, and he appointed the descendants of Levi to lead the people while they sang to praise Yahweh and while they assisted the priests in their daily work. He also appointed groups of them to guard all the gates, because that was also what David, the man who pleased God [very well], had commanded.

15 They did not depart from the commandment of the king to the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures.

The priests and other descendants of Levi obeyed completely everything that the king commanded, including [taking care of] the storerooms.

16 Now all the work of Solomon was carried out from the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD, until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was completed.

They did all the work [of building the temple] that Solomon told them to do, until it was all completed. So they finishing building the temple.

17 Then went Solomon to Ezion Geber, and to Eilat, on the seashore in the land of Edom.

Then some of Solomon’s men went to Ezion-Geber and Elath [cities] on the coast of the Red Sea, an area that belonged to the Edom people-group.

18 And Hiram sent him ships and servants who had knowledge of the sea by the hands of his servants; and they came with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and fetched from there four hundred fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.

King Hiram sent to Solomon from [Tyre city] some ships that were commanded by his officers. They were men who were experienced sailors. These men went in the ships with Solomon’s men to [the] Ophir [region] and brought back about 17 tons of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.