1 Kings 9

1 And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to perform,

After Solomon had finished the Lord's Temple and the royal palace, having accomplished everything he'd wanted to do,

2 That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.

the Lord appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.

3 And the LORD said to him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.

The Lord told him, “I have heard your prayer and your request to me. I have dedicated this Temple you have built by placing my name on it forever; I will always watch over it and take care of it.

4 And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, [and] wilt keep my statutes and my judgments:

As for you, if you follow my ways as your father David did, doing everything I've told you to do, and if you keep my laws and regulations,

5 Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.

then I will make your throne secure forever. I made this agreement with your father David, telling him, ‘You will always have a descendant to rule over Israel.’

6 [But] if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments [and] my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them:

But if you or your descendants turn away and do not keep the laws and the commandments I have given you, and if you go and serve and worship other gods,

7 Then will I cut off Israel from the land which I have given them; and this house which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a by-word among all people:

then I will cut Israel off from the land I have given them. I will banish from my presence this Temple I have dedicated to my honor, and I will make it an object lesson of ridicule among the nations.

8 And at this house [which] is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus to this land, and to this house?

This Temple will become a pile of rubble. All who pass by it will be appalled and will hiss, saying, ‘Why has the Lord acted in such a way to this land and this Temple?’

9 And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers from the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshiped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.

The answer will come, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their forefathers out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping them and serving them. That's why the Lord has brought all this trouble upon them.’”

10 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD, and the king's house,

It took twenty years for Solomon to construct the two buildings—the Temple of the Lord and his own palace. After this,

11 ([Now] Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire, ) that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.

King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, because Hiram had provided him with all the cedar and juniper and gold he wanted.

12 And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him not.

But when Hiram went from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, he was not happy with them.

13 And he said, What cities [are] these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul to this day.

“What are these towns you have given me, my brother?” asked Hiram. He called them the land of Cabul, the name they are known by to this day.

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

Even so, Hiram sent the king 120 talents of gold in payment.

15 And this [is] the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised, to build the house of the LORD, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer.

Here is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon imposed to build the Lord's Temple, his own palace, the terraces, and the wall of Jerusalem, as well as Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.

16 [For] Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it [for] a present to his daughter, Solomon's wife.

Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire, killed the Canaanites living in the town. He had then given it as a wedding dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife.

17 And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth-horon the nether,

Solomon rebuilt Gezer and lower Beth-horon,

18 And Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land,

Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah,

19 And all the cities of store that Solomon had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

and all of Solomon's towns for storage, and the towns for his chariots and for his horsemen, plus whatever Solomon wanted to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and throughout his entire kingdom.

20 [And] all the people [that were] left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who [were] not of the children of Israel,

The descendants of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (people who were not Israelites)

21 Their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bond-service to this day.

who remained in the land—those whom the Israelites were unable to destroy completely—were conscripted by Solomon to work as forced laborers, as they continue to do to this day.

22 But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bond-men: but they [were] men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots, and his horsemen.

But Solomon did not enslave any of the Israelites. They were his soldiers, officials, commanders, captains, chariot commanders, and horsemen.

23 These [were] the chief of the officers that [were] over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty, who bore rule over the people that wrought in the work.

They were also the chief officers in charge of Solomon's programs: 550 in command of the people who carried out the work.

24 But Pharaoh's daughter came up from the city of David to her house which [Solomon] had built for her: then he built Millo.

Once Pharaoh's daughter had moved from the City of David to the palace that Solomon had built for her, he built the city terraces.

25 And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt-offerings and peace-offerings upon the altar which he built to the LORD, and he burnt incense upon the altar that [was] before the LORD. So he finished the house.

Three times each year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and friendship offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord, burning incense before the Lord with them, and so fulfilled what was required at the Temple.

26 And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which [is] beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.

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

27 And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.

Hiram sent his sailors who knew the sea to serve in the fleet with Solomon's men.

28 And they came to Ophir, and imported from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought [it] to king Solomon.

They sailed to Ophir and brought back 420 talents of gold from there and delivered it to Solomon.