1As soon as Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord and the king’s house and all that Solomon desired to build, (1Ki 7:1; 1Ki 9:19; 2Ch 7:11; 2Ch 8:1; 2Ch 8:6)2the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. (1Ki 3:5; 1Ki 11:9)3And the Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. (De 11:12; 1Ki 8:16; 1Ki 8:29)4And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, (Ge 17:1; 1Ki 11:4; 1Ki 11:6; 1Ki 11:38; 1Ki 14:8; 1Ki 15:5)5then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’ (1Ki 2:4; 1Ki 6:12; 1Ch 22:10)6But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, (2Sa 7:14; Ps 89:30; Ps 89:32)7then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. (De 4:26; De 28:37; 2Ki 17:23; 2Ki 25:21; Ps 44:14; Jer 7:14)8And this house will become a heap of ruins.[1] Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ (De 29:24; Jer 22:8)9Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the Lord has brought all this disaster on them.’” (1Ki 18:18)
Solomon’s Other Acts
10At the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king’s house, (1Ki 6:37; 1Ki 7:1; 2Ch 8:1)11and Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber and gold, as much as he desired, King Solomon gave to Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.12But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, they did not please him.13Therefore he said, “What kind of cities are these that you have given me, my brother?” So they are called the land of Cabul to this day. (Jos 19:27)14Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents[2] of gold.15And this is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon drafted to build the house of the Lord and his own house and the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem and Hazor and Megiddo and Gezer (Jos 11:1; Jos 17:11; 2Sa 5:9; 1Ki 5:13; 1Ki 9:24)16(Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and had killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife; (Jos 16:10; 1Ki 3:1; 1Ki 7:8)17so Solomon rebuilt Gezer) and Lower Beth-horon (Jos 10:10)18and Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah,[3]19and all the store cities that Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. (1Ki 4:26; 1Ki 9:1; 1Ki 10:26; 2Ch 1:14; 2Ch 9:25)20All the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the people of Israel—21their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the people of Israel were unable to devote to destruction[4]—these Solomon drafted to be slaves, and so they are to this day. (Jos 15:63; Jos 17:12; Jud 1:21; Jud 1:27; Jud 1:28; Jud 1:29; Jud 3:1; Ezr 2:55; Ne 7:57; Ne 11:3)22But of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves. They were the soldiers, they were his officials, his commanders, his captains, his chariot commanders and his horsemen. (Le 25:39)23These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work: 550 who had charge of the people who carried on the work. (1Ki 5:16; 2Ch 8:10)24But Pharaoh’s daughter went up from the city of David to her own house that Solomon had built for her. Then he built the Millo. (2Sa 5:9; 1Ki 7:8; 1Ki 9:15; 1Ki 9:16; 1Ki 11:27; 2Ch 32:5)25Three times a year Solomon used to offer up burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar that he built to the Lord, making offerings with it[5] before the Lord. So he finished the house.26King 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. (Nu 33:35; De 2:8; 1Ki 22:48)27And Hiram sent with the fleet his servants, seamen who were familiar with the sea, together with the servants of Solomon. (1Ki 10:11)28And they went to Ophir and brought from there gold, 420 talents, and they brought it to King Solomon. (1Ki 10:11; 1Ki 22:48; 1Ch 29:4; Job 22:24; Job 28:16; Ps 45:9; Isa 13:12)
1 Kings 9
New International Version
The Lord appears to Solomon
1When Solomon had finished building the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do,2the Lord appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.3The Lord said to him: ‘I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there for ever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.4‘As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws,5I will establish your royal throne over Israel for ever, as I promised David your father when I said, “You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.”6‘But if you[1] or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you[2] and go off to serve other gods and worship them,7then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples.8This temple will become a heap of rubble. All[3] who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, “Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?”9People will answer, “Because they have forsaken the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshipping and serving them – that is why the Lord brought all this disaster on them.” ’
Solomon’s other activities
10At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built these two buildings – the temple of the Lord and the royal palace –11King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, because Hiram had supplied him with all the cedar and juniper and gold he wanted.12But when Hiram went from Tyre to see the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them.13‘What kind of towns are these you have given me, my brother?’ he asked. And he called them the Land of Kabul,[4] a name they have to this day.14Now Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents[5] of gold.15Here is the account of the forced labour King Solomon conscripted to build the Lord’s temple, his own palace, the terraces,[6] the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer.16(Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire. He killed its Canaanite inhabitants and then gave it as a wedding gift to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.17And Solomon rebuilt Gezer.) He built up Lower Beth Horon,18Baalath, and Tadmor[7] in the desert, within his land,19as well as all his store cities and the towns for his chariots and for his horses[8] – whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled.20There were still people left from the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (these peoples were not Israelites).21Solomon conscripted the descendants of all these peoples remaining in the land – whom the Israelites could not exterminate[9] – to serve as slave labour, as it is to this day.22But Solomon did not make slaves of any of the Israelites; they were his fighting men, his government officials, his officers, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and charioteers.23They were also the chief officials in charge of Solomon’s projects – 550 officials supervising those who did the work.24After Pharaoh’s daughter had come up from the City of David to the palace Solomon had built for her, he constructed the terraces.25Three times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord, burning incense before the Lord along with them, and so fulfilled the temple obligations.26King Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber, which is near Elath in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea.[10]27And Hiram sent his men – sailors who knew the sea – to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s men.28They sailed to Ophir and brought back 420 talents[11] of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.