Solomon Completes His Construction^(A)

8 It took Solomon 20 years to build the Lord’s house and his own house. ² He rebuilt the cities Huram gave him, and he had Israelites live in them.

³ Then Solomon went to Hamath Zobah and conquered it. ⁴ He rebuilt Tadmor in the desert and built all the storage cities in Hamath. ⁵ He rebuilt Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon into cities fortified with walls, double-door gates, and bars. ⁶ ⌞He also rebuilt⌟ Baalath and all the storage cities that he owned. He built all the cities for his chariots, all the cities for his war horses, and whatever ⌞else⌟ he wanted to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, or the entire territory that he governed.

⁷ The Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites had been left ⌞in the land⌟ because the Israelites had not been able to destroy them.^[a] They were not Israelites, ⁸ but they had descendants who were still in the land. Solomon drafted them for slave labor. (They are still ⌞slaves⌟ today.) ⁹ But Solomon didn’t make any of the Israelites slaves for his projects. Instead, they were the soldiers, officers, generals, and commanders of his chariot and cavalry units.

¹⁰ These were the officers in charge of King Solomon’s projects: 250 foremen for the people who did the work.

¹¹ Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter from the City of David to a palace he had built for her. He said, “My wife will not live in the palace of King David of Israel because these places where the Lord’s ark has come are holy.”

¹² Then Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings to the Lord on the Lord’s altar that he built in front of the entrance hall. ¹³ He sacrificed every day, on weekly days of rest—holy days, on the New Moon Festivals, and on the three annual festivals (the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Booths) as Moses had commanded. ¹⁴ As Solomon’s father David had directed, he set up the divisions of priests for their service and the ⌞divisions of⌟ Levites for their appointed places. ⌞The Levites⌟ were to lead in praising ⌞the Lord⌟ and to serve beside the priests by doing whatever needed to be done each day. Solomon also set up divisions of doorkeepers at every gate because this is what David, the man of God, had commanded. ¹⁵ No one neglected the king’s orders to the priests or the Levites in any matter, including the ⌞temple’s⌟ finances. ¹⁶ All of Solomon’s work was carried out from the day the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid until it was completed. The Lord’s temple was ⌞now⌟ finished.

¹⁷ Then Solomon went to the coast near Ezion Geber and Elath in Edom. ¹⁸ Huram sent his own servants and his experienced sailors with ships to Solomon. They went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir, got 33,750 pounds of gold, and brought it to King Solomon.