God’s Second Appearance to Solomon^(A)

9 And ^(B)it came to pass, when Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord ^(C)and the king’s house, and ^(D)all Solomon’s desire which he wanted to do, ² that the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, ^(E)as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. ³ And the Lord said to him: ^(F)“I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built ^(G)to put My name there forever, ^(H)and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. ⁴ Now if you ^(I)walk before Me ^(J)as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you ^(K)keep My statutes and My judgments, ⁵ then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, ^(L)as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’ ^6 (M)But if you or your sons at all ^[a]turn from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, ^7 (N)then I will ^[b]cut off Israel from the land which I have given them; and this house which I have consecrated ^(O)for My name I will cast out of My sight. ^(P)Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples. ⁸ And as for ^(Q)this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and will hiss, and say, ^(R)‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ ⁹ Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore the Lord has brought all this ^(S)calamity on them.’ ”

Solomon and Hiram Exchange Gifts

¹⁰ Now ^(T)it happened at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king’s house ^11 (U)(Hiram the king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress and gold, as much as he desired), that King Solomon then gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. ¹² Then Hiram went from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, but they did not please him. ¹³ So he said, “What kind of cities are these which you have given me, my brother?” ^(V)And he called them the land of ^[c]Cabul, as they are to this day. ¹⁴ Then Hiram sent the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold.

Solomon’s Additional Achievements^(W)

¹⁵ And this is the reason for ^(X)the labor force which King Solomon raised: to build the house of the Lord, his own house, ^[d]the ^(Y)Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, ^(Z)Hazor, ^(AA)Megiddo, and ^(AB)Gezer. ¹⁶ (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer and burned it with fire, ^(AC)had killed the Canaanites who dwelt in the city, and had given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.) ¹⁷ And Solomon built Gezer, Lower ^(AD)Beth Horon, ^18 (AE)Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land of Judah, ¹⁹ all the storage cities that Solomon had, cities for ^(AF)his chariots and cities for his ^(AG)cavalry, and whatever Solomon ^(AH)desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

^20 (AI)All the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel— ²¹ that is, their descendants ^(AJ)who were left in the land after them, ^(AK)whom the children of Israel had not been able to destroy completely—^(AL)from these Solomon raised ^(AM)forced labor, as it is to this day. ²² But of the children of Israel Solomon ^(AN)made no forced laborers, because they were men of war and his servants: his officers, his captains, commanders of his chariots, and his cavalry.

²³ Others were chiefs of the officials who were over Solomon’s work: ^(AO)five hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people who did the work.

²⁴ But ^(AP)Pharaoh’s daughter came up from the City of David to ^(AQ)her house which ^[e]Solomon had built for her. ^(AR)Then he built the Millo.

^25 (AS)Now three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he had built for the Lord, and he burned incense with them on the altar that was before the Lord. So he finished the temple.

^26 (AT)King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at ^(AU)Ezion Geber, which is near ^[f]Elath on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. ^27 (AV)Then Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, seamen who knew the sea, to work with the servants of Solomon. ²⁸ And they went to ^(AW)Ophir, and acquired four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.

Solomon’s Additional Achievements^(A)

8 It ^(B)came to pass at the end of ^(C)twenty years, when Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house, ² that the cities which ^[a]Hiram had given to Solomon, Solomon built them; and he settled the children of Israel there. ³ And Solomon went to Hamath Zobah and seized it. ^4 (D)He also built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the storage cities which he built in ^(E)Hamath. ⁵ He built Upper Beth Horon and ^(F)Lower Beth Horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars, ⁶ also Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities and the cities of the cavalry, and all that Solomon ^(G)desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

^7 (H)All the people who were left of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of Israel— ⁸ that is, their descendants who were left in the land after them, whom the children of Israel did not destroy—from these Solomon raised forced labor, as it is to this day. ⁹ But Solomon did not make the children of Israel ^[b]servants for his work. Some were men of war, captains of his officers, captains of his chariots, and his cavalry. ¹⁰ And others were chiefs of the officials of King Solomon: ^(I)two hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people.

¹¹ Now Solomon ^(J)brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the house he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places to which the ark of the Lord has come are holy.”

¹² Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord which he had built before the vestibule, ¹³ according to the ^(K)daily rate, offering according to the commandment of Moses, for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the ^(L)three appointed yearly ^(M)feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. ¹⁴ And, according to the ^[c]order of David his father, he appointed the ^(N)divisions of the priests for their service, ^(O)the Levites for their duties (to praise and serve before the priests) as the duty of each day required, and the ^(P)gatekeepers by their divisions at each gate; for so David the man of God had commanded. ¹⁵ They did not depart from the command of the king to the priests and Levites concerning any matter or concerning the ^(Q)treasuries.

¹⁶ Now all the work of Solomon was well-ordered ^[d]from the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was completed.

¹⁷ Then Solomon went to ^(R)Ezion Geber and ^[e]Elath on the seacoast, in the land of Edom. ^18 (S)And Hiram sent him ships by the hand of his servants, and servants who knew the sea. They went with the servants of Solomon to ^(T)Ophir, and acquired four hundred and fifty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.

Treatment of Church Members

5 Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, ² older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, with all purity.

Honor True Widows

³ Honor widows who are really widows. ⁴ But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and ^(A)to repay their parents; for this is ^[a]good and acceptable before God. ⁵ Now she who is really a widow, and left alone, trusts in God and continues in supplications and prayers ^(B)night and day. ⁶ But she who lives in ^[b]pleasure is dead while she lives. ⁷ And these things command, that they may be blameless. ⁸ But if anyone does not provide for his own, ^(C)and especially for those of his household, ^(D)he has denied the faith ^(E)and is worse than an unbeliever.

⁹ Do not let a widow under sixty years old be taken into the number, and not unless she has been the wife of one man, ¹⁰ well reported for good works: if she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work.

¹¹ But ^[c]refuse the younger widows; for when they have begun to grow wanton against Christ, they desire to marry, ¹² having condemnation because they have cast off their first ^[d]faith. ¹³ And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not. ¹⁴ Therefore I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully. ¹⁵ For some have already turned aside after Satan. ¹⁶ If any believing ^[e]man or woman has widows, let them ^[f]relieve them, and do not let the church be burdened, that it may relieve those who are really widows.

Honor the Elders

¹⁷ Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. ¹⁸ For the Scripture says, ^(F)“You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, ^(G)“The laborer is worthy of his wages.” ¹⁹ Do not receive an accusation against an elder except ^(H)from two or three witnesses. ²⁰ Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear.

²¹ I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the ^[g]elect angels that you observe these things without ^(I)prejudice, doing nothing with partiality. ²² Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor ^(J)share in other people’s sins; keep yourself pure.

²³ No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent ^[h]infirmities.

²⁴ Some men’s sins are ^(K)clearly evident, preceding them to judgment, but those of some men follow later. ²⁵ Likewise, the good works of some are clearly evident, and those that are otherwise cannot be hidden.