1 Kings 9
Legacy Standard Bible
Yahweh Appears to Solomon
9 (A)Now it happened when Solomon had completed building the house of Yahweh, and (B)the king’s house, and (C)all [a]that Solomon desired to do, 2 that (D)Yahweh appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 And Yahweh said to him, “(E)I have heard your prayer and your supplication, which you have made before Me; I have set apart as holy this house which you have built (F)by putting My name there forever, and (G)My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. 4 As for you, (H)if you will walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you and will keep My statutes and My judgments, 5 then (I)I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I [b]promised to your father David, saying, ‘You shall not have a man cut off from the throne of Israel.’
6 “(J)But if you or your sons indeed turn away from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have given before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 7 (K)then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and (L)the house which I have set apart as holy for My name, I will [c]cast out of My presence. So (M)Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 8 And this house will become [d](N)a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by will feel desolate and hiss and say, ‘(O)Why has Yahweh done thus to this land and to this house?’ 9 And they will say, ‘(P)Because they forsook Yahweh their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and took hold of other gods and worshiped them and served them, therefore Yahweh has brought all this calamity on them.’”
Cities Given to Hiram
10 (Q)Now it happened that (R)at the end of twenty years in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of Yahweh and the king’s house 11 (Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber and gold according to all his desire), that King Solomon then gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. 12 So Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they were not right in his eyes. 13 And he said, “What are these cities which you have given me, my brother?” So [e]they were called the land of [f](S)Cabul to this day. 14 (T)And Hiram sent to the king [g]120 talents of gold.
Solomon Builds Cities and Ships
15 Now this is the account of the forced labor which King Solomon (U)raised up to build the house of Yahweh, his own house, the [h](V)Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, (W)Hazor, (X)Megiddo, and (Y)Gezer. 16 For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and killed the (Z)Canaanites who lived in the city, and had (AA)given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. 17 So Solomon rebuilt Gezer and the lower (AB)Beth-horon 18 and (AC)Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah, 19 and all the storage cities which Solomon had, and (AD)the cities for [i]his chariots, and the cities for [j](AE)his horsemen, and [k](AF)all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land [l]under his rule. 20 As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, who were not of the sons of Israel, 21 (AG)namely, their sons who were left after them in the land (AH)whom the sons of Israel were unable to devote to destruction, from (AI)them Solomon raised up (AJ)forced laborers to this day. 22 But Solomon (AK)did not make slaves of the sons of Israel; for they were men of war, his servants, his princes, his captains, his chariot commanders, and his horsemen.
23 These were the [m](AL)chief deputies who were over Solomon’s work, 550, (AM)who had dominion over the people doing the work.
24 As soon as (AN)Pharaoh’s daughter came up from the city of David to her house which Solomon had built for her, (AO)then he built the Millo.
25 And (AP)three times in a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he built to Yahweh, burning incense with them on the altar which was before Yahweh. So he finished the house.
26 King Solomon also made a (AQ)fleet of ships in (AR)Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the [n]Red Sea, in the land of Edom. 27 (AS)And Hiram sent his servants with the fleet of ships, sailors who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon. 28 And they went to (AT)Ophir and took from there 420 talents of gold and brought it to King Solomon.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 9:1 Lit Solomon’s desire which he was pleased to do
- 1 Kings 9:5 Lit spoke
- 1 Kings 9:7 Lit send
- 1 Kings 9:8 Heb high
- 1 Kings 9:13 Lit he called them
- 1 Kings 9:13 Lit as good as nothing
- 1 Kings 9:14 Approx. 4.5 tons or 4 metric tons, a talent was approx. 75 lb. or 34 kg
- 1 Kings 9:15 Citadel
- 1 Kings 9:19 Lit the
- 1 Kings 9:19 Lit the
- 1 Kings 9:19 Lit the desire of Solomon which he desired to build in Jerusalem
- 1 Kings 9:19 Lit of
- 1 Kings 9:23 Or officers of the deputies
- 1 Kings 9:26 Lit Sea of Reeds
1 Kings 9
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 9
The Lord’s Promise to Solomon.1 When Solomon had completed the construction of the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, Solomon had accomplished all that he desired to do.
2 The Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 The Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you made before me, and I have consecrated the temple that you built by establishing my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. 4 And as for you, if you walk before me as David, your father, walked, in integrity of heart and righteousness, and you do all that I command you, and you observe my statutes and my ordinances, 5 then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever just as I promised David, your father, when I said, ‘You will not fail to have one who will reign upon the throne of Israel.’
6 “But if your children turn away from me, and they do not follow me nor do they observe my commandments or my statutes that I have set before you, and they go off to serve other gods, and they worship them, 7 then I will cut Israel off from the land that I have given them, and I will reject from my sight this temple that I have consecrated for my name. Israel will become a byword and a laughingstock among all the nations. 8 Although this temple is now exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and will hiss at it, and they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this land and to this temple?’ 9 Then they will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord, their God, who brought their fathers forth from the land of Egypt. They have embraced other gods, and they have worshiped them and served them. This is why the Lord has brought all of these disasters upon them.’ ”
10 Taking Account. At the end of twenty years during which Solomon built two buildings, the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, 11 King Solomon gave twenty towns that were in the land of Galilee to King Hiram, the king of Tyre, who had provided Solomon with all the cedar wood, fir, and gold that he desired. 12 When King Hiram traveled out from Tyre to inspect the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. 13 He said, “What kind of cities have you given me, my brother?” He has called the land Cabul up to the present day. 14 Now Hiram had sent the king one hundred twenty talents of gold.[a]
15 This is an account of the forced labor that King Solomon raised in order to build the temple of the Lord, his own palace, Millo, the walls of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 (Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had gone up and captured Gezer. He burned it down and killed the Canaanites who were living there. He gave it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. 17 Solomon then rebuilt Gezer.) He also built lower Beth-horon, 18 Baalath, and Tadmor in the desert, all of which were within his land. 19 Solomon also had storage cities for provisions, cities for his chariots, and cities for his horses. Solomon built whatever he desired in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and all the land that he ruled.
20 All of the people who survived from among the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites (for these people were not Israelites), 21 that is, their descendants who remained in the land (for the Israelites had not been able to wipe them out) were conscripted by Solomon to serve as slave labor, as is still true today.
22 Solomon did not reduce the Israelites to slavery. They were his fighting men, his officials, his princes, his captains, the commanders of his chariots, and his charioteers. 23 They were also the chief officials who were in charge of Solomon’s work projects. There were five hundred and fifty of them, and they supervised the men who did the work. 24 After Pharaoh’s daughter came up to the City of David, to the palace that he had built for her, he then built Millo.
25 Three times a year[b] Solomon offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar that he had built for the Lord. He also burnt incense on the altar before the Lord, and so he fulfilled his temple duties. 26 King Solomon built ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Elath on the Red Sea in the land of Edom. 27 Hiram sent some of his men who were sailors, seafaring men who knew the sea, to sail with Solomon’s men. 28 They sailed to Ophir[c] and brought back and delivered to King Solomon four hundred and twenty talents of gold.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 9:14 This was a considerable sum; even considering fluctuations in its value, it would be at least 5000 pounds that Hiram sent to Solomon.
- 1 Kings 9:25 Three times a year: on the great annual feasts of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and Booths (see Ex 23:4-19).
- 1 Kings 9:28 Ophir: a region rich in gold, probably on the western coast of Arabia.
1 Kings 9
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
God Appears Again to Solomon
9 When Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord and the king’s house and all that Solomon desired to build, 2 the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 The Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you made before me; I have consecrated this house that you have built, and put my name there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time. 4 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 ordinances, 5 then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised your father David, saying, ‘There shall not fail you a successor on the throne of Israel.’
6 “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, 7 then I will cut Israel off 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 taunt among all peoples. 8 This house will become a heap of ruins;[a] everyone passing by it will be astonished, and will hiss; and they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this house?’ 9 Then they will say, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, worshiping them and serving them; therefore the Lord has brought this disaster upon them.’”
10 At the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king’s house, 11 King Hiram of Tyre having 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. 12 But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, they did not please him. 13 Therefore he said, “What kind of cities are these that you have given me, my brother?” So they are called the land of Cabul[b] to this day. 14 But Hiram had sent to the king one hundred twenty talents of gold.
Other Acts of Solomon
15 This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon conscripted to build the house of the Lord and his own house, the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer 16 (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it down, had killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife; 17 so Solomon rebuilt Gezer), Lower Beth-horon, 18 Baalath, Tamar in the wilderness, within the land, 19 as well as all of Solomon’s storage cities, the cities for his chariots, the cities for his cavalry, and whatever Solomon desired to build, in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. 20 All 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— 21 their descendants who were still left in the land, whom the Israelites were unable to destroy completely—these Solomon conscripted for slave labor, and so they are to this day. 22 But of the Israelites Solomon made no slaves; they were the soldiers, they were his officials, his commanders, his captains, and the commanders of his chariotry and cavalry.
23 These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work: five hundred fifty, who had charge of the people who carried on the work.
24 But 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.
25 Three times a year Solomon used to offer up burnt offerings and sacrifices of well-being on the altar that he built for the Lord, offering incense[c] before the Lord. So he completed the house.
Solomon’s Commercial Activity
26 King Solomon built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea,[d] in the land of Edom. 27 Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who were familiar with the sea, together with the servants of Solomon. 28 They went to Ophir, and imported from there four hundred twenty talents of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 9:8 Syr Old Latin: Heb will become high
- 1 Kings 9:13 Perhaps meaning a land good for nothing
- 1 Kings 9:25 Gk: Heb offering incense with it that was
- 1 Kings 9:26 Or Sea of Reeds
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