1 Kings 9
New American Standard Bible
God’s Promise and Warning
9 (A)Now it came about when Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord and (B)the king’s house, and (C)all [a]that Solomon desired to do, 2 that (D)the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 And the Lord said to him, “(E)I have heard your prayer and your plea which you have offered before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built, (F)by putting My name there forever, and (G)My eyes and My heart will be there [b]always. 4 As for you, (H)if you walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and honesty, acting in accordance with everything that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My ordinances, 5 then (I)I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I [c]promised to your father David, saying, ‘[d]You shall not be deprived of a man on 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 placed before you, but you go and serve other gods and worship them, 7 (K)then I will cut Israel off from the land which I have given them, and (L)the house which I have consecrated for My name, I will [e]expel from My sight. So (M)Israel will become a saying and an object of derision among all peoples. 8 And this house will become (N)a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by it will be appalled and [f]hiss and say, ‘(O)Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and this house?’ 9 And they will say, ‘(P)Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and they [g]adopted other gods and worshiped and served them, for that reason the Lord has brought all this adversity on them.’”
Cities Given to Hiram
10 (Q)Now it came about (R)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 (Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and juniper timber and gold, [h]satisfying all his desire), that King Solomon then gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. 12 So Hiram left Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they [i]did not please him. 13 And he said, “What are these cities which you have given me, my brother?” So [j]they have been called the land of [k](S)Cabul to this day. 14 (T)And Hiram sent to the king [l]120 talents of gold.
15 Now this is the account of the forced labor which King Solomon (U)conscripted to build the house of the Lord, his own house, the [m](V)Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, (W)Hazor, (X)Megiddo, and (Y)Gezer. 16 For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and overthrown Gezer and burned it with fire, and killed the (Z)Canaanites who lived in the city; and he 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, that is, (AD)the cities for [n]his chariots and the cities for [o](AE)his horsemen, and [p](AF)everything that it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land [q]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)their descendants who were left after them in the land, (AH)whom the sons of Israel were unable to completely eliminate, (AI)from them Solomon conscripted (AJ)forced laborers, as they are 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 commanders, his charioteers, his chariot commanders, and his horsemen.
23 These were the [r](AL)chief officers who were in charge of Solomon’s work, 550, (AM)who ruled 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)he then built the Millo.
25 Now (AP)three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he had built for the Lord, burning incense with them on the altar which was before the Lord. So he finished the house.
26 King Solomon also built a (AQ)fleet of ships in (AR)Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the [s]Red Sea, in the land of Edom. 27 (AS)And Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon. 28 And they went to (AT)Ophir and received [t]420 talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 9:1 Lit Solomon’s desire which he was pleased to do
- 1 Kings 9:3 Lit all the days
- 1 Kings 9:5 Lit spoke
- 1 Kings 9:5 Lit There shall not be cut off to you a man
- 1 Kings 9:7 Lit send
- 1 Kings 9:8 Or whistle
- 1 Kings 9:9 Lit laid hold of
- 1 Kings 9:11 Lit to all
- 1 Kings 9:12 Lit were not right in his sight
- 1 Kings 9:13 Lit he called them
- 1 Kings 9:13 I.e., like nothing
- 1 Kings 9:14 About 4.5 tons or 4 metric tons
- 1 Kings 9:15 I.e., terraced structure
- 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 9:28 About 16 tons or 14 metric tons
1 Kings 9
New Revised Standard Version Updated 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,(A) 2 the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.(B) 3 The Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea that 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.(C) 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,(D) 5 then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised your father David, saying, ‘You shall never lack a successor on the throne of Israel.’(E)
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,(F) 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.(G) 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?’(H) 9 Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned 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 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,(I) 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.(J) 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.(K) 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(L) 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;(M) 17 so Solomon rebuilt Gezer), Lower Beth-horon,(N) 18 Baalath, Tadmor 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.(O) 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(P)— 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.(Q) 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.(R)
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.(S)
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.(T)
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.(U)
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.(V) 27 Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who were familiar with the sea, together with the servants of Solomon.(W) 28 They went to Ophir and imported from there four hundred twenty talents of gold that they delivered to King Solomon.(X)
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.