1 Kings 9
Living Bible
9 When Solomon had finished building the Temple and the palace and all the other buildings he had always wanted, 2-3 the Lord appeared to him the second time (the first time had been at Gibeon) and said to him, “I have heard your prayer. I have hallowed this Temple that you have built and have put my name here forever. I will constantly watch over it and rejoice in it. 4 And if you live in honesty and truth as your father David did, always obeying me, 5 then I will cause your descendants to be the kings of Israel forever, just as I promised your father David when I told him, ‘One of your sons shall always be upon the throne of Israel.’
6 “However, if you or your children turn away from me and worship other gods and do not obey my laws, 7 then I will take away the people of Israel from this land that I have given them. I will take them from this Temple which I have hallowed for my name, and I will cast them out of my sight; and Israel will become a joke to the nations and an example and proverb of sudden disaster. 8 This Temple will become a heap of ruins, and everyone passing by will be amazed and will whistle with astonishment, asking, ‘Why has the Lord done such things to this land and this Temple?’ 9 And the answer will be, ‘The people of Israel abandoned the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt; they worshiped other gods instead. That is why the Lord has brought this evil upon them.’”
10 At the end of the twenty years during which Solomon built the Temple and the palace, 11-12 he gave twenty cities in the land of Galilee to King Hiram of Tyre as payment for all the cedar and cypress lumber and gold he had furnished for the construction of the palace and Temple. Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities, but he wasn’t at all pleased with them.
13 “What sort of deal is this, my brother?” he asked. “These cities are a wasteland!” (And they are still known as “The Wasteland” today.) 14 For Hiram had sent gold to Solomon valued at $3,500,000!
15 Solomon had conscripted forced labor to build the Temple, his palace, Fort Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, and the cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 Gezer was the city the king of Egypt conquered and burned, killing the Israeli population; later he had given the city to his daughter as a dowry—she was one of Solomon’s wives. 17-18 So now Solomon rebuilt Gezer along with Lower Beth-horon, Baalath, and Tamar, a desert city. 19 He also built cities for grain storage, cities in which to keep his chariots, cities for homes for his cavalry and chariot drivers, and resort cities near Jerusalem and in the Lebanon mountains and elsewhere throughout the land.
20-21 Solomon conscripted his labor forces from those who survived in the nations he conquered—the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. For the people of Israel had not been able to wipe them out completely at the time of the invasion and conquest of Israel, and they continue as slaves even today. 22 Solomon didn’t conscript any Israelis for this work, although they became soldiers, officials, army officers, chariot commanders, and cavalrymen. 23 And there were 550 men of Israel who were overseers of the labor forces.
Miscellaneous Notes:
24 King Solomon moved Pharaoh’s daughter from the City of David—the old sector of Jerusalem—to the new quarters he had built for her in the palace. Then he built Fort Millo.
25 After the Temple was completed, Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings three times a year on the altar he had built. And he also burned incense upon it.
26 King Solomon had a shipyard in Ezion-geber near Eloth on the Red Sea in the land of Edom, where he built a fleet of ships.
27-28 King Hiram supplied experienced sailors to accompany Solomon’s crews. They used to sail back and forth from Ophir, bringing gold to King Solomon, the total value of which was several million dollars each trip.
1 Kings 9
English Standard Version
The Lord Appears to Solomon
9 (A)As soon as Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord (B)and the king's house and (C)all that Solomon desired to build, 2 (D)the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 And 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, (E)by putting my name there forever. (F)My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. 4 And as for you, if you will (G)walk before me, (H)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, 5 (I)then 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.’ 6 (J)But 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 (K)then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, (L)and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, (M)and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 8 And this house will become a heap of ruins.[a] Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, (N)‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ 9 Then they will say, ‘Because (O)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.’”
Solomon's Other Acts
10 (P)At the end of (Q)twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king's house, 11 and 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. 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 (R)Cabul to this day. 14 Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents[b] of gold.
15 And this is the account of (S)the forced labor that King Solomon drafted to build the house of the Lord and his own house and (T)the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem and (U)Hazor and (V)Megiddo and Gezer 16 (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and had killed (W)the Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as dowry to (X)his daughter, Solomon's wife; 17 so Solomon rebuilt Gezer) and (Y)Lower Beth-horon 18 and Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah,[c] 19 and all the store cities that Solomon had, and (Z)the cities for his chariots, and the cities for (AA)his horsemen, and whatever Solomon (AB)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 (AC)their descendants who were left after them in the land, (AD)whom the people of Israel were unable to devote to destruction[d]—(AE)these Solomon drafted to be (AF)slaves, and so they are to this day. 22 But (AG)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.
23 These were the chief officers who were over Solomon's work: (AH)550 (AI)who had charge of the people who carried on the work.
24 But (AJ)Pharaoh's daughter went up from the city of David to (AK)her own house that Solomon had built for her. (AL)Then he built (AM)the Millo.
25 Three 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[e] before the Lord. So he finished the house.
26 King Solomon built a fleet of ships at (AN)Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. 27 And Hiram sent (AO)with the fleet his servants, seamen who were familiar with the sea, together with the servants of Solomon. 28 And they went to (AP)Ophir and brought from there gold, 420 talents, and they brought it to King Solomon.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 9:8 Syriac, Old Latin; Hebrew will become high
- 1 Kings 9:14 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms
- 1 Kings 9:18 Hebrew lacks of Judah
- 1 Kings 9:21 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
- 1 Kings 9:25 Septuagint lacks with it
1 Kings 9
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
9 And it came to pass when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all that he desired, and was pleased to do,
2 That the Lord appeared to him the second time, as he had appeared to him in Gabaon.
3 And the Lord said to him: I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, which thou hast made before me: I have sanctified this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever, and my eyes and my heart shall be there always.
4 And if thou wilt walk before me, as thy father walked, in simplicity of heart, and in uprightness: and wilt do all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my ordinances and my judgments,
5 I will establish the throne of thy kingdom over Israel for ever, as I promised David thy father, saying: There shall not fail a man of thy race upon the throne of Israel.
6 But if you and your children revolting shall turn away from following me, and will not keep my commandments, and my ceremonies, which I have set before you, but will go and worship strange gods, and adore them:
7 I will take away Israel from the face of the land which I have given them; and the temple which I have sanctified to my name, I will cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb, and a byword among all people.
8 And this house shall be made an example of: every one that shall pass by it, shall be astonished, and shall hiss, and say: Why hath the Lord done thus to this land, and to this house:
9 And they shall answer: Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and followed strange gods, and adored them, and worshipped them: therefore hath the Lord brought upon them all this evil.
10 And when twenty years were ended after Solomon had built the two houses, that is, the house of the Lord, and the house of the king,
11 (Hiram the king of Tyre furnishing Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and gold according to all he had need of.) then Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.
12 And Hiram came out of Tyre, to see the towns which Solomon had given him, and they pleased him not,
13 And he said: Are these the cities which thou hast given me, brother? And he called them the land of Chabul, unto this day.
14 And Hiram sent to king Solomon a hundred and twenty talents of gold.
15 This is the sum of the expenses, which king Solomon offered to build the house of the Lord, and his own house, and Mello, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Heser, and Mageddo, and Gazer.
16 Pharao the king of Egypt came up and took Gazer, and burnt it with fire: and slew the Chanaanite that dwelt in the city, and gave it for a dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife.
17 So Solomon built: Gazer, and Beth-horon the nether,
18 And Baalath, and Palmira in the land of the wilderness.
19 And all the towns that belonged to himself, and were not walled, he fortified, the cities also of the chariots, and the cities of the horsemen, and whatsoever he had a mind to build in Jerusalem, and in Libanus, and in all the land of his dominion.
20 All the people that were left of the Amorrhites, and Hethites, and Pherezites, and Hevites, and Jebusites, that are not of the children of Israel:
21 Their children, that were left in the land, to wit, such as the children of Israel had not been able to destroy, Solomon made tributary unto this day.
22 But of the children of Israel Solomon made not any to be bondmen, but they were men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and captains, and overseers of the chariots and horses.
23 And there were five hundred and fifty chief officers set over all the works of Solomon, and they had people under them, and had charge over the appointed works.
24 And the daughter of Pharao came up out of the city of David to her house, which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Mello.
25 Solomon also offered three times every year holocausts, and victims of peace offerings upon the altar which he had built to the Lord, and he burnt incense before the Lord: and the temple was finished.
26 And king Solomon made a fleet in Asiongaber, which is by Ailath on the shore of the Red Sea in the land of Edom.
27 And Hiram sent his servants in the fleet, sailors that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.
28 And they came to Ophir, and they brought from thence to king Solomon four hundred and twenty talents of gold.
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