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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. 1 Kings 9:1 Lit Solomon’s desire which he was pleased to do
  2. 1 Kings 9:5 Lit spoke
  3. 1 Kings 9:7 Lit send
  4. 1 Kings 9:8 Heb high
  5. 1 Kings 9:13 Lit he called them
  6. 1 Kings 9:13 Lit as good as nothing
  7. 1 Kings 9:14 Approx. 4.5 tons or 4 metric tons, a talent was approx. 75 lb. or 34 kg
  8. 1 Kings 9:15 Citadel
  9. 1 Kings 9:19 Lit the
  10. 1 Kings 9:19 Lit the
  11. 1 Kings 9:19 Lit the desire of Solomon which he desired to build in Jerusalem
  12. 1 Kings 9:19 Lit of
  13. 1 Kings 9:23 Or officers of the deputies
  14. 1 Kings 9:26 Lit Sea of Reeds
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1 Kings 9
New English Translation

The Lord Gives Solomon a Promise and a Warning

9 After Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the other construction projects he had planned,[a] 2 the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, in the same way he had appeared to him at Gibeon.[b] 3 The Lord said to him, “I have answered[c] your prayer and your request for help that you made to me. I have consecrated this temple you built by making it my permanent home;[d] I will be constantly present there.[e] 4 You must serve me with integrity and sincerity, just as your father David did. Do everything I commanded and obey my rules and regulations.[f] 5 Then I will allow your dynasty to rule over Israel permanently,[g] just as I promised your father David, ‘You will not fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’[h]

6 “But if you or your sons ever turn away from me, fail to obey the regulations and rules I instructed you to keep,[i] and decide to serve and worship other gods,[j] 7 then I will remove Israel from the land[k] I have given them, I will abandon this temple I have consecrated with my presence,[l] and Israel will be mocked and ridiculed[m] among all the nations. 8 This temple will become a heap of ruins;[n] everyone who passes by it will be shocked and will hiss out their scorn,[o] saying, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?’ 9 Others will then answer,[p] ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who led their ancestors[q] out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served.[r] That is why the Lord has brought all this disaster down on them.’”

Foreign Affairs and Building Projects

10 After twenty years, during which Solomon built the Lord’s temple and the royal palace,[s] 11 King Solomon gave King Hiram of Tyre twenty towns in the region of Galilee, because Hiram had supplied Solomon with cedars, evergreens, and all the gold he wanted. 12 When Hiram went out from Tyre to inspect the towns Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them.[t] 13 Hiram asked,[u] “Why did you give me these towns, my friend?”[v] He called that area the region of Cabul, a name which it has retained to this day.[w] 14 Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents[x] of gold.

15 Here are the details concerning the work crews[y] King Solomon conscripted[z] to build the Lord’s temple, his palace, the terrace, the wall of Jerusalem, and the cities of[aa] Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 (Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer. He burned it and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city. He gave it as a wedding present to his daughter, who had married Solomon.) 17 Solomon built up Gezer, lower Beth Horon, 18 Baalath, Tadmor in the wilderness,[ab] 19 all the storage cities that belonged to him,[ac] and the cities where chariots and horses were kept.[ad] He built whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and throughout his entire kingdom.[ae] 20 Now several non-Israelite peoples were left in the land after the conquest of Joshua, including the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.[af] 21 Their descendants remained in the land (the Israelites were unable to wipe them out completely). Solomon conscripted them for his work crews, and they continue in that role to this very day.[ag] 22 Solomon did not assign Israelites to these work crews;[ah] the Israelites served as his soldiers, attendants, officers, charioteers, and commanders of his chariot forces.[ai] 23 These men were also in charge of Solomon’s work projects; there were a total of 550 men who supervised the workers.[aj] 24 Solomon built the terrace as soon as Pharaoh’s daughter moved up from the City of David[ak] to the palace Solomon built for her.[al]

25 Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings[am] on the altar he had built for the Lord, burning incense along with them before the Lord. He made the temple his official worship place.[an]

26 King Solomon also built ships[ao] in Ezion Geber, which is located near Elat in the land of Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea. 27 Hiram sent his fleet and some of his sailors, who were well acquainted with the sea, to serve with Solomon’s men.[ap] 28 They sailed[aq] to Ophir, took from there 420 talents[ar] of gold, and then brought them to King Solomon.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 9:1 tn Heb “and all the desire of Solomon which he wanted to do.”
  2. 1 Kings 9:2 sn In the same way he had appeared to him at Gibeon. See 1 Kgs 3:5.
  3. 1 Kings 9:3 tn Heb “I have heard.”
  4. 1 Kings 9:3 tn Heb “by placing my name there perpetually” (or perhaps, “forever”).
  5. 1 Kings 9:3 tn Heb “and my eyes and my heart will be there all the days.”
  6. 1 Kings 9:4 tn Heb “As for you, if you walk before me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, by doing all which I commanded you, [and] you keep my rules and my regulations.” Verse 4 is actually a lengthy protasis (“if” section) of a conditional sentence, the apodosis (“then” section) of which appears in v. 5.
  7. 1 Kings 9:5 tn Heb “I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever.”
  8. 1 Kings 9:5 tn Heb “there will not be cut off from you a man from upon the throne of Israel.”
  9. 1 Kings 9:6 tn Heb “which I placed before you.”
  10. 1 Kings 9:6 tn Heb “and walk and serve other gods and bow down to them.”
  11. 1 Kings 9:7 tn Heb “I will cut off Israel from upon the surface of the land.”
  12. 1 Kings 9:7 tn Heb “and the temple which I consecrated for my name I will send away from before my face.”sn Instead of “I will send away,” the parallel text in 2 Chr 7:20 has “I will throw away.” The two verbs sound very similar in Hebrew, so the discrepancy is likely due to an oral transmissional error.
  13. 1 Kings 9:7 tn Heb “will become a proverb and a taunt,” that is, a proverbial example of destruction and an object of reproach.
  14. 1 Kings 9:8 tn Heb “and this house will be high [or elevated].” The statement makes little sense in this context, which predicts the desolation that judgment will bring. Some treat the clause as concessive, “Even though this temple is lofty [now].” Others, following the lead of several ancient versions, emend the text to, “this temple will become a heap of ruins.”
  15. 1 Kings 9:8 tn Heb “hiss,” or perhaps “whistle.” This refers to a derisive sound one would make when taunting an object of ridicule.
  16. 1 Kings 9:9 tn Heb “and they will say.”
  17. 1 Kings 9:9 tn Heb “fathers.”
  18. 1 Kings 9:9 tn Heb “and they took hold of other gods and bowed down to them and served them.”
  19. 1 Kings 9:10 tn Heb “the two houses, the house of the Lord and the house of the king.”
  20. 1 Kings 9:12 tn Heb “they were not agreeable in his eyes.”
  21. 1 Kings 9:13 tn Heb “and he said.”
  22. 1 Kings 9:13 tn Heb “my brother.” Kings allied through a parity treaty would sometimes address each other as “my brother.” See 1 Kgs 20:32-33.
  23. 1 Kings 9:13 tn Heb “he called them the land of Cabul to this day.” The significance of the name is unclear, though it appears to be disparaging. The name may be derived from a root, attested in Akkadian and Arabic, meaning “bound” or “restricted.” Some propose a wordplay, pointing out that the name “Cabul” sounds like a Hebrew phrase meaning, “like not,” or “as good as nothing.”
  24. 1 Kings 9:14 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 9,000 pounds of gold (cf. NCV, NLT); CEV “five tons”; TEV “4,000 kilogrammes.”
  25. 1 Kings 9:15 sn The work crews. This Hebrew word מַס (mas) refers to a group of laborers conscripted for royal or public service.
  26. 1 Kings 9:15 tn Heb “raised up.”
  27. 1 Kings 9:15 tn The words “the cities of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  28. 1 Kings 9:18 tn The Hebrew text has “in the wilderness, in the land.”
  29. 1 Kings 9:19 tn Heb “to Solomon.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  30. 1 Kings 9:19 tn Heb “the cities of the chariots and the cities of the horses.”
  31. 1 Kings 9:19 tn Heb “and the desire of Solomon which he desired to build in Jerusalem and in Lebanon and in all the land of his kingdom.”
  32. 1 Kings 9:20 tn Heb “all the people who were left from the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not from the sons of Israel.”
  33. 1 Kings 9:21 tn Heb “their sons who were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel were unable to wipe out, and Solomon raised them up for a crew of labor to this day.”
  34. 1 Kings 9:22 sn These work crews. The work crews referred to here must be different than the temporary crews described in 5:13-16.
  35. 1 Kings 9:22 tn Heb “officers of his chariots and his horses.”
  36. 1 Kings 9:23 tn Heb “these [were] the officials of the governors who were over the work belonging to Solomon, five hundred fifty, the ones ruling over the people, the ones doing the work.”
  37. 1 Kings 9:24 sn The phrase City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
  38. 1 Kings 9:24 tn Heb “As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter went up from the City of David to her house which he built for her, then he built the terrace.”
  39. 1 Kings 9:25 tn Or “tokens of peace”; NIV, TEV “fellowship offerings.”
  40. 1 Kings 9:25 tn Heb “and he made complete the house.”
  41. 1 Kings 9:26 tn Or “a fleet” (in which case “ships” would be implied).
  42. 1 Kings 9:27 tn Heb “and Hiram sent with the fleet his servants, men of ships, [who] know the sea, [to be] with the servants of Solomon.”
  43. 1 Kings 9:28 tn Heb “went.”
  44. 1 Kings 9:28 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 31,500 pounds of gold (cf. NCV); CEV, NLT “sixteen tons”; TEV “more than 14,000 kilogrammes.”
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