2 Chronicles 8
1 Solomon’s [workers] worked for 20 years to build the temple and the king’s palace.
It had taken twenty years for Solomon to build the Temple of the Lord and his own palace.
2 Then his [workers] rebuilt the cities that [King] Hiram had given back to Solomon, and Solomon sent Israelis to live in those cities.
Solomon rebuilt the towns Hiram had given him, and sent Israelites to live there.
3 Solomon’s [army] then went to Hamath-Zobah [town] and captured it.
Then Solomon attacked Hamath-zobah and captured it.
4 His workers also rebuilt walls around Tadmor [town] in the desert, and in [the] Hamath [region] in all the towns where they kept supplies.
He built Tadmor in the wilderness and also built all the storehouse towns in Hamath.
5 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].
He rebuilt Upper and Lower Beth-horon, fortified cities with walls and barred gates,
6 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.
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 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.
There were some people who remained in the land: the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—people who were not Israelites.
8 They were descendants of groups whom the Israelis had not completely destroyed. Solomon forced them to become his slaves, and they are still slaves.
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 force Israelis to work for him. Israelis became his soldiers and commanders of his chariots and his chariot-drivers.
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 They were also King Solomon’s chief officials. There were 250 of them, and they supervised the workers.
They were also King Solomon's chief officers, 250 men who supervised the people.
11 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.”
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 The priests and other descendants of Levi obeyed completely everything that the king commanded, including [taking care of] the storerooms.
They followed David's instructions exactly regarding the priests, the Levites, and anything to do with the treasuries.
16 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.
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 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.
After this Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Eloth on the coast of the land of Edom.
18 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.
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.
