2 Chronicles 8

1 And it came to pass, at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house of Yahweh, 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 Huram had given to Solomon, Solomon built them, —and caused, the sons 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 And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah, —and prevailed against it;

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

4 and he built Tadmor, in the wilderness, —and all the store 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 and he built Beth-horon, the upper, and Beth-horon, the nether, —fortified cities, with walls, and doors 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 store cities which pertained to Solomon, and all the chariot cities, and the cities of the horsemen, —and every delight of Solomon which he delighted to build in Jerusalem, and in the 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 that were left, of the Hittites 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 sons who were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel had not utterly destroyed, Solomon enrolled them as tributary—unto 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 sons of Israel, were there none whom he delivered up as bondmen unto his work, —for, they, were men of war, and his captains and his heroes, and captains over his chariots, and 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, moreover, were the chiefs of his officers whom King Solomon had, two hundred and fifty, —who wielded dominion over the people.

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

11 And, the daughter of Pharaoh, Solomon brought up, out of the city of David, unto the house which he had built for her, —for he said, A wife of mine must not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, for holy are those places whereinto the ark of Yahweh hath come.

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 up ascending-sacrifices, unto Yahweh, —upon the altar of Yahweh, 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 according to the duty of each a day upon [its own] day, offering up according to the commandment of Moses, for the sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the appointed feasts, three times in the year, —in the festival of unleavened cakes and in the festival of weeks, and in the festival of booths;

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 and he caused to stand, according to the regulation of David his father, the courses of the priests over their service and of the Levites over their charges, to offer praise and to minister before the priests, for the duty of each day upon its own day, and the gate-keepers in their courses, at every several gate, —for, such, was the commandment of David the man of God;

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 neither departed they from the commandment of the king, concerning the priests and the Levites as to any duty, or as to the treasuries.

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

16 So all the work of Solomon was prepared, from the day of founding the house of Yahweh, even as far as the finishing thereof, —complete was the house of Yahweh.

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 unto Eloth 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 Huram sent him—by the hand of his servants—ships, and servants skilled in the sea, and they came, with the servants of Solomon, towards Ophir, and took from thence, four hundred and fifty talents of gold, —and brought unto 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.