1 Kings 9
Amplified Bible
God’s Promise and Warning
9 Now it happened when Solomon had finished building the house (temple) of the Lord and the king’s house (palace), and all else which he was pleased to do, 2 that the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, just as He had appeared to him [a]at Gibeon. 3 The Lord told him, “I have heard your prayer and supplication which you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built by putting My Name and My Presence there forever. My eyes and My heart shall be there perpetually. 4 As for you, if you walk (live your life) before Me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, acting in accordance with everything that I have commanded you, and will keep My statutes and My precepts, 5 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I promised your father David, saying, ‘You shall not be without a man (descendant) on the throne of Israel.’
6 “But if you or your sons turn away 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 then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and I will cast out of My sight the house which I have consecrated for My Name and Presence. Then Israel will become a proverb (a saying) and a byword (object of ridicule) among all the peoples. 8 This house (temple) will become a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by will be appalled and [b]sneer and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this house?’ 9 And they [who know] will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and they have chosen other gods and have worshiped and served them; that is the reason the Lord has brought on them all this adversity.’”
Cities Given to Hiram
10 Now at the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the temple of the Lord and the palace of the king 11 (Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with as much cedar and cypress timber [from Lebanon] and gold as he desired), at that time King Solomon gave Hiram [c]twenty cities in the land of Galilee (northern Israel). 12 So Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they [d]did not please him. 13 He said, “What are these cities [good for] which you have given me, my brother?” So they have been called the land of Cabul (like nothing, unproductive) to this day. 14 And Hiram sent to the king 120 talents of gold.
15 Now this is the account of the forced labor which King Solomon conscripted to build the house of the Lord, his own house, the [e]Millo (fortification), the wall of Jerusalem, [and the fortress cities of] Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer, burned it with fire and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and he had given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. 17 So Solomon rebuilt [and fortified] Gezer and Lower Beth-horon, 18 Baalath and [f]Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah, 19 and all the storage cities [for surplus provisions] which Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots and cities for his horsemen, and whatever it pleased Solomon to build [g]in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land under his rule. 20 As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the sons (descendants) of Israel, 21 their children who were left after them in the land, whom the Israelites were unable to completely destroy, from them Solomon levied (conscripted) forced laborers, even to this day (the date of this writing). 22 But Solomon did not make slaves of the sons of Israel; for they were men of war (soldiers), his servants, his officers, his captains, his chariot commanders, and his horsemen.
23 These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work, five hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people doing the work.
24 As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter came up from the City of David to her house which Solomon had built for her, then he built the Millo (fortification).
25 Three times a year [during the [h]major annual festivals] Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built to the Lord, and he burned incense with them before the Lord. So he finished the house [of the Lord].
26 King Solomon built a fleet of ships in Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds), in the land of Edom. 27 And Hiram [king of Tyre] sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon. 28 They came to [i]Ophir and took four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 9:2 See 3:4-15.
- 1 Kings 9:8 Or hiss.
- 1 Kings 9:11 These cities were either sold to Hiram in exchange for the gold or used as collateral for a loan of the gold (v 14).
- 1 Kings 9:12 Lit were not right in his eyes.
- 1 Kings 9:15 The exact nature of the Millo is unclear, but most scholars believe it was some sort of military fortification such as a tower, a citadel, a significant part of a wall or even an earth-fill or terraced hillside. It was located on the eastern side of the City of David. It was later repaired by King Hezekiah.
- 1 Kings 9:18 In 2 Chr 8:4 Tadmor.
- 1 Kings 9:19 Because of Solomon’s extensive building program and his extravagant expenditures, he resorted to forced labor and heavy taxation. These oppressive policies, combined with his son’s lack of good judgment contributed to the division of Solomon’s kingdom. Shortly after his death, his son King Rehoboam rebuffed the people’s appeal for relief and declared his intention to add to their burdens (12:11).
- 1 Kings 9:25 I.e. the Feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Booths.
- 1 Kings 9:28 The location of this wealthy trading port is a subject of debate among scholars and archeologists. Possible sites considered include Pakistan, India, Zimbabwe, Yemen, and other ports in Arabia and Africa.
1 Kings 9
Contemporary English Version
The Lord Appears to Solomon Again
(2 Chronicles 7.11-22)
9 The Lord's temple and Solomon's palace were now finished, and Solomon had built everything he wanted. 2 (A) Some time later the Lord appeared to him again in a dream, just as he had done at Gibeon. 3 (B) The Lord said:
I heard your prayer and what you asked me to do. This temple you have built is where I will be worshiped forever. It belongs to me, and I will never stop watching over it.
4 You must obey me, as your father David did, and be honest and fair. Obey my laws and teachings, 5 (C) and I will keep my promise to David that someone from your family will always be king of Israel.
6 But if you or any of your descendants disobey my commands or start worshiping foreign gods, 7 I will no longer let my people Israel live in this land I gave them. I will desert this temple where I said I would be worshiped. Then people everywhere will think this nation is only a joke and will make fun of it. 8 (D) This temple will become a pile of rocks![a] Everyone who walks by will be shocked, and they will ask, “Why did the Lord do such a terrible thing to his people and to this temple?” 9 Then they will answer, “We know why the Lord did this. The people of Israel rejected the Lord their God, who rescued their ancestors from Egypt, and they started worshiping other gods.”
Other Things Solomon Did
(2 Chronicles 8.1-18)
10 It took 20 years for the Lord's temple and Solomon's palace to be built. 11 Later, Solomon gave King Hiram of Tyre 20 towns in the region of Galilee to repay him for the cedar, pine, and gold he had given Solomon.
12 When Hiram went to see the towns, he did not like them. 13 He said, “Solomon, my friend, are these the kind of towns you want to give me?” So Hiram called the region Cabul because he thought it was worthless.[b] 14 He sent Solomon only five tons of gold in return.
15 After Solomon's workers had finished the temple and the palace, he ordered them to fill in the land on the east side of Jerusalem,[c] to build a wall around the city, and to rebuild the towns of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.
16 Earlier, the king of Egypt had captured the town of Gezer; he burned it to the ground and killed the Canaanite people living there. Then he gave it to his daughter as a wedding present when she married Solomon. 17 So Solomon had the town rebuilt.
Solomon ordered his workers to rebuild Lower Beth-Horon, 18 Baalath, and Tamar in the desert of Judah. 19 They also built towns where he could keep his supplies and his chariots and horses. Solomon ordered them to build whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and anywhere in his kingdom.
20-22 Solomon did not force the Israelites to do his work. They were his soldiers, officials, leaders, commanders, chariot captains, and chariot drivers. But he did make slaves of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites who were living in Israel. These were the descendants of those foreigners the Israelites could not destroy, and they remained Israel's slaves.
23 Solomon appointed 550 officers to be in charge of his workers and to watch over his building projects.
24 Solomon's wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt, moved from the older part of Jerusalem[d] to her new palace. Then Solomon had the land on the east side of Jerusalem filled in.[e]
25 (E) Three times a year, Solomon burned incense and offered sacrifices to the Lord on the altar he had built.
Solomon had now finished building the Lord's temple.
26 He also had a lot of ships at Ezion-Geber, a town in Edom near Eloth on the Red Sea.[f] 27-28 King Hiram let some of his experienced sailors go to the country of Ophir[g] with Solomon's own sailors, and they brought back about 14 tons of gold for Solomon.
Footnotes
- 9.8 a pile of rocks: Some ancient translations; Hebrew “high.”
- 9.13 Cabul … worthless: Cabul sounds like the Hebrew word for “worthless.”
- 9.15 fill … Jerusalem: The Hebrew text has “build the Millo,” which probably refers to a landfill to strengthen and extend the hill where the city was built.
- 9.24 the older … Jerusalem: See the note at 3.1.
- 9.24 the land … filled in: See the note at 9.15.
- 9.26 Red Sea: Hebrew yam suph, here referring to the Gulf of Aqaba, since the term is extended to include the northeastern arm of the Red Sea (see also the note at Exodus 13.11).
- 9.27,28 Ophir: The location of this place is not known.
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