1 Kings 5-9

Amplified Bible

Alliance with King Hiram

5 Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram had always been a friend of David. ² Then Solomon sent word to Hiram, saying, ³ “You know that David my father could not build a house (temple) for the Name (Presence) of the Lord his God because of the wars which surrounded him, until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.^{(A) 4} But now that the Lord my God has given me rest [from war] on every side, there is neither adversary nor misfortune [confronting me]. ⁵ Behold, I intend to build a house (temple) to the Name of the Lord my God, just as the Lord said to my father David: ‘Your son whom I will put on your throne in your place shall build the house for My Name and Presence.’ ⁶ So now, command that they cut cedar trees from Lebanon for me, and my servants will join your servants, and I will give you whatever wages you set for your servants. For you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the men of Sidon.”

⁷ When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the Lord this day, who has given David a wise son [to be king] over this great people.” ⁸ So Hiram sent word to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message which you sent to me; I will do everything you wish concerning the cedar and cypress timber. ⁹ My servants will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the [Mediterranean] sea, and I will have them made into rafts to go by sea to the place (port) that you direct me; then I will have them broken up there, and you shall carry them away. Then you shall ^[a]return the favor by providing food for my household.” ¹⁰ So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and cypress timber he desired, ¹¹ and Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 ^[b]kors of wheat as food for his household, and 20 kors of pure [olive] oil. Solomon gave all these to Hiram each year. ¹² The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, just as He promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.

Conscription of Laborers

¹³ King Solomon levied forced laborers from all Israel; and the forced laborers numbered 30,000 men. ¹⁴ He sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in shifts; one month they were in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced laborers. ¹⁵ Solomon had 70,000 burden bearers (transporters) and 80,000 stonemasons in the hill country [of Judah], ¹⁶ besides Solomon’s 3,300 chief deputies who were in charge of the project and who were in charge of the people doing the work. ¹⁷ The king gave orders, and they quarried great ^[c]stones, valuable stones, to lay the foundation of the house (temple) with cut stones. ¹⁸ So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the men of ^[d]Gebal cut and chiseled the stones, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house (temple).

The Building of the Temple

6 ^[e]Now it came about in the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv (April-May) which is the second month, that he began to build the Lord’s house (temple). ² The length of the house which King Solomon built for the Lord was ^[f]sixty cubits (90 ft.), its width twenty (30 ft.), and its height thirty cubits (45 ft.). ³ The porch in front of the main room of the house (temple) was twenty cubits long, corresponding to the width of the house, and its depth in front of the house was ten cubits. ⁴ He also made framed (artistic) window openings for the house. ⁵ Against the wall of the house he built ^[g]extensions around the walls of the house, around both the main room (Holy Place) and the ^[h]Holy of Holies; and he made side chambers all around. ⁶ The lowest story was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for he made offsets (niches) in the walls all around on the outside of the house so that the supporting beams would not be inserted into the walls of the house.

⁷ While it was being built, the house was built of stone prepared and finished (precut) at the quarry, and no hammer, axe, or iron tool of any kind was heard in the house while it was under construction.

⁸ The entrance to the lowest side chamber was on the right [or south] side of the house; and they would go up winding stairs to the middle [level], and from the middle to the third. ⁹ So Solomon built the house (temple) and finished it, and roofed the house with beams and boards of cedar. ¹⁰ Then he built the extensions [of rooms] against the entire house, each [story] five cubits high; and they were attached to the house with timbers of cedar.

¹¹ Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying, ¹² “Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes and execute My precepts and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will carry out My word (promises) with you which I made to David your father. ¹³ I will dwell among the sons (descendants) of Israel, and will not abandon My people Israel.”

¹⁴ So Solomon built the house (temple) and finished it. ¹⁵ He built the walls of the interior of the house [that is, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies] with boards of cedar, from the floor of the house to the rafters of the ceiling. He overlaid the interior with wood, and he overlaid the floor of the house with boards of cypress. ¹⁶ He built twenty cubits on the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the ceiling; he built its interior as the [inner] sanctuary, the Holy of Holies. ¹⁷ The [rest of the] house, that is, the temple in front of the Holy of Holies, was forty cubits long. ¹⁸ The cedar on the house within had wood carvings in the shape of gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was visible. ¹⁹ Then he prepared the Holy of Holies within the house in order to put the ark of the covenant of the Lord there. ²⁰ The Holy of Holies was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height (a cube), and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid the cedar altar [with gold]. ²¹ Solomon overlaid the interior of the house with pure gold, and he drew ^[i]chains of gold across the front of the Holy of Holies (inner sanctuary), and he overlaid it with gold. ²² Then he overlaid the entire house with gold, until the whole house was finished. He also overlaid the entire [incense] altar which was by the Holy of Holies with gold.

²³ Within the Holy of Holies he made two ^[j]cherubim (sculptured figures) of olive wood, each ten cubits high. ^24 [k]One wing of the cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing was also five cubits long; it was ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. ²⁵ The [wingspan of the] other cherub was also ten cubits. The measurements and cut (shape) of the two cherubim were the same; ²⁶ the height of the one cherub was ten cubits, as was the other. ²⁷ He put the cherubim [above the ark] inside the innermost room of the house, and their wings were spread out so that the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub was touching the other wall; and their inner wings were touching ^[l]each other in the middle of the house. ²⁸ Solomon also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

²⁹ He carved all the walls of the house all around with carved engravings of cherubim, palm-shaped decorations, and open flowers, [both] the inner and the outer sanctuaries. ³⁰ He overlaid the floor of the house with gold, [both] the inner and outer sanctuaries.

³¹ For the entrance of the Holy of Holies he made two [folding] doors of olive wood, the lintel (header above the door) and five-sided doorposts (frames). ³² So he made two doors of olive wood, and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm-shaped decorations, and open flowers; and overlaid them with gold; and he hammered out overlays of gold on the cherubim and palm decorations.

³³ Also he made for the entrance of the [outer] sanctuary (the Holy Place) four-sided doorposts (frames) of olive wood ³⁴ and two doors of cypress wood; the two leaves of the one door turned on pivots and were folding, and the two leaves of the other door also turned on pivots. ³⁵ He carved cherubim, palm-shaped decorations, and open flowers on the doors, and overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the carved work. ³⁶ He built the inner courtyard with three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams.

³⁷ In the fourth year [of King Solomon’s reign] the foundation of the Lord’s house was laid, in the [second] month, Ziv (April-May). ³⁸ In the eleventh year [of King Solomon’s reign] in the month of Bul (October-November), that is, the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts and in accordance with all its specifications. So he built it in seven years.

Solomon’s Palace

7 Now Solomon built his own house (palace) ^[m]in thirteen years, and he finished all of his house [in that time]. ² He also built the House of the Forest of Lebanon; its length was a hundred ^[n]cubits (150 ft.), its width fifty cubits (75 ft.), and its height thirty cubits (45 ft.), upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars. ³ And it was covered with cedar [as a roof] on the supporting beams that were upon the forty-five pillars, fifteen in each row. ⁴ There were artistic window frames in three rows, and window was opposite window in three tiers. ⁵ All the doorways and doorposts [and windows] had squared [artistic] frames, and window was opposite window in three tiers.

⁶ He also made the Hall of Pillars; its length was fifty cubits (75 ft.) and its width thirty cubits (45 ft.). There was a porch in front, and pillars and a threshold in front of them.

⁷ He made the hall for the throne where he was to judge, the Hall of Judgment; it was paneled with cedar from [one] floor to [another] floor.

⁸ His house where he was to live, the other courtyard behind the hall, was of similar workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.

⁹ All these were of expensive stones, of stone cut according to measure, sawed with saws, inside and outside; even from the foundation to the coping, and from the outside to the great courtyard.

¹⁰ The foundation was of expensive stones, large stones, stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits. ¹¹ And above [the foundation] were expensive stones, stones cut according to measure, and cedar. ¹² So the great courtyard all around had three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams like the inner courtyard of the house of the Lord, and the porch of the house.

Hiram’s Work in the Temple

¹³ Now King Solomon sent word and brought ^[o]Hiram [a skilled craftsman] from Tyre. ¹⁴ He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a craftsman in bronze. Hiram was filled with wisdom, understanding, and skill for doing any [kind of] work in bronze. So he came to King Solomon and did all his [bronze] work.

¹⁵ He cast the two pillars of bronze; the one pillar was eighteen cubits high, and a [measuring] line of twelve cubits measured the circumference of both. ¹⁶ He also made two capitals (crowns) of cast bronze to put on the tops of the pillars; the height of one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits. ¹⁷ There were nets of network (lattice-work) and twisted threads (wreaths) of chainwork for the capitals which were on the tops of the pillars, seven for one capital and seven for the other. ¹⁸ So Hiram made the pillars [in this manner], and two rows around on the one network to cover the capitals which were on the top of the pomegranates; and he did the same for the other capital. ¹⁹ The capitals which were upon the top of the pillars in the porch were of lily work (design), four cubits. ²⁰ The capitals were on the two pillars and also above and close to the rounded projection which was beside the network. There were two hundred pomegranates in rows around both capitals. ²¹ Hiram set up the pillars at the porch of the temple; he set up the right pillar and named it Jachin (may he establish), and he set up the left pillar and named it Boaz (in it is strength). ²² On the tops of the pillars was lily work (design). So the work of the pillars was finished.

²³ Now he made the Sea (basin) of cast metal, ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, five cubits high and thirty cubits in circumference.^{(B) 24} Under its brim were gourds encircling it ten to a cubit, completely surrounding the Sea; the gourds were in two rows, cast in one piece with it. ²⁵ It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three west, three south, and three east; the Sea was set on top of them, and all their rear parts pointed inward. ²⁶ It was a hand width thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand ^[p]baths.

²⁷ Then Hiram made ten bronze stands [for smaller basins]; the length of each stand was four cubits, its width was four cubits and its height was three cubits. ²⁸ This was the design of the stands: they had borders between the frames. ²⁹ On the borders between the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and on the frames there was a pedestal above. Beneath the lions and oxen were borders of hanging work. ³⁰ Now each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and its four feet had supports [for a basin]. Beneath the basin were cast supports with borders at each side. ³¹ Its opening inside the crown at the top measured a cubit, and its opening was round like the design of a pedestal, a cubit and a half. Also on its opening were carvings, and their borders were square, not round. ³² Underneath the borders were four wheels, and the axles of the wheels were on the stand. And the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half. ³³ The wheels were made like a chariot wheel: their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast. ³⁴ Now there were four supports at the four corners of each stand; the supports were part of the stand itself. ³⁵ On the top of the stand there was a circular piece half a cubit high, and on the top of the stand its supports and borders were part of it. ³⁶ And on the surface of its supports and its borders Hiram engraved cherubim, lions, and palm-shaped decorations, according to the [available] space for each, with borders all around. ³⁷ He made the ten stands like this: they all had one casting, one measure, and one form.

³⁸ Then he made ten basins of bronze; each basin held forty baths and was four cubits, and there was one basin on each of the ten stands. ³⁹ Then he placed the bases, five on the right [or south] side of the house and five on the left [or north] side; and he set the Sea [of cast metal] on the right side of the house toward the southeast.

⁴⁰ Now Hiram made the basins and the shovels and the bowls. So Hiram finished all the work which he did for King Solomon on the house of the Lord: ⁴¹ the two pillars and the [two] bowls of the capitals which were on the top of the two pillars, and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on top of the pillars; ⁴² and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for each network to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars; ⁴³ the ten stands and the ten basins on the stands; ⁴⁴ one Sea (basin), and the twelve oxen under the Sea; ⁴⁵ the pails, the shovels, and the bowls; all these utensils which Hiram made for King Solomon in the house of the Lord were of polished bronze. ⁴⁶ In the plain of the Jordan [River] the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan. ⁴⁷ Solomon left all the utensils unweighed, because there were so many; the weight of the bronze could not be determined.

⁴⁸ Solomon made all the [other] furniture which was in the house of the Lord: the [incense] altar of gold; the table of gold on which was the bread of the Presence; ⁴⁹ the lampstands of pure gold, five on the right side and five on the left, in front of the Holy of Holies (inner sanctuary); with the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold; ⁵⁰ the cups, snuffers, bowls, spoons, firepans—of pure gold; and the hinges of gold [both] for the doors of the inner house, the Holy of Holies, and for the doors of the house, the main room [the Holy Place].

⁵¹ So all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the Lord was completed. Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated—the silver, the gold, and the utensils—and he put them in the treasuries of the Lord’s house.

The Ark Brought into the Temple

8 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David, which is Zion. ² All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the feast in the month of Ethanim (September-October), that is, the seventh month. ³ All the elders of Israel came, and the priests carried the ark. ⁴ They brought up the ark of the Lord and the Tent of Meeting and all the holy utensils that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁵ King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, so many that they could not be counted or numbered. ⁶ Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, into the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim. ⁷ For the cherubim spread their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its [carrying] poles from above. ⁸ The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were visible from the Holy Place that was in front of the ^[q]Holy of Holies, but they were not visible from the outside; they are there to this day (the date of this writing). ⁹ There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb (Sinai), where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt.^{(C) 10} Now it happened that when the priests had come out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the Lord’s house, ¹¹ so the priests could not stand [in their positions] to minister because of the cloud, for the glory and brilliance of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house (temple).

Solomon Addresses the People

¹² Then Solomon said,

¹⁴ Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. ¹⁵ He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled it with His hand, saying, ¹⁶ ‘Since the day that I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I did not choose a [particular] city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name (Presence) would be in it, but I chose David to be over My people Israel.’ ¹⁷ Now it was [determined] in the heart of my father David to build a house (temple) for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁸ But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a house for My Name, you did well, in that it was in your heart. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son, who shall be born to you, it is he who shall build it for My Name [and My Presence].’ ²⁰ Now the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; I have risen in the place of my father David and have taken my seat on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and have built the house (temple) for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ²¹ There I have made a place [in the Holy of Holies] for the ark, in which is the covenant (solemn agreement) of the Lord, which He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”^(D)

The Prayer of Dedication

²² Then Solomon stood [in the courtyard] before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven. ²³ He said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below, who keeps the covenant and shows lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart; ²⁴ You who have kept what You ^[r]promised to Your servant my father David. You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled Your word with Your hand, as it is this day. ²⁵ Now therefore, O Lord, the God of Israel, keep for Your servant my father David that which You promised him when You said, ‘You shall not be without a man (descendant) to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way [of life] to walk before Me [according to my laws] as you have done.’ ²⁶ Now, O God of Israel, please let Your word which You have spoken to Your servant David my father be confirmed.

²⁷ But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built! ²⁸ Yet graciously consider the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, to listen to the [loud] cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You today; ²⁹ that Your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, ‘My Name (Presence) shall be there,’ that You may listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place. ³⁰ Listen to the prayer of Your servant and of Your people Israel which they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven, Your dwelling place; hear and forgive.

³¹ “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath [of innocence] and he comes to take the oath before Your altar in this house (temple), ³² then hear from heaven and act and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing his guilt on his own head, and justifying the righteous by rewarding him in accordance with his righteousness.

³³ “When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and then they turn to You again and praise Your Name and pray and ask for Your favor and compassion in this house (temple), ³⁴ then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave their fathers.

³⁵ “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and praise Your name and turn from their sin when You afflict them, ³⁶ then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and of Your people Israel; indeed, teach them the good way in which they should walk (live). And send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.

³⁷ “If there is famine in the land, or if there is pestilence (plague), blight, mildew, migratory locusts, or grasshoppers, if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities, whatever affliction or plague, whatever sickness [there is], ³⁸ whatever prayer or pleading is made by any individual, or by Your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart, and spreading his hands out toward this house; ³⁹ then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive and act and give to each according to his ways, whose heart (mind) You know, for You and You alone know the hearts of all the children of men, ⁴⁰ so that they may fear You [with reverence and awe] all the days that they live in the land which You have given to our fathers.

⁴¹ “Moreover, concerning a ^[s]foreigner who is not of Your people Israel, but comes from a far (distant) country for the sake of Your name [to plead with You] ⁴² (for they will hear of Your great name, Your strong hand [of power], and outstretched arm); when he comes and prays toward this house (temple), ⁴³ hear in heaven, Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls upon (prays to) You, so that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You [with reverence and awe], as do Your people Israel, and that they may know [without any doubt] that this house which I have built is called by Your name.

⁴⁴ “When Your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way You send them, and they pray to the Lord toward the city which You have chosen and the house that I have built for Your Name and Presence, ⁴⁵ then hear in heaven their prayer and their pleading, and maintain their right and defend their cause.

⁴⁶ “When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and hand them over to the enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the enemy’s land, [whether] far away or near; ⁴⁷ if they ^[t]take it to heart in the land where they have been taken captive, and they repent and pray to You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong and we have acted wickedly;’ ⁴⁸ if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, and they pray to You toward their land [of Israel] which You gave to their fathers, the city [of Jerusalem] which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your Name and Presence; ⁴⁹ then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven Your dwelling place, and maintain their right and defend their cause, ⁵⁰ and forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all the transgressions which they have committed against You, and make them objects of compassion before their captors, that they will be merciful to them ⁵¹ (for they are Your people and Your heritage, whom You brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace [of slavery and oppression]), ⁵² that Your eyes may be open to the supplication of Your servant and to the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them and be attentive to them whenever they call to You. ⁵³ For You singled them out from all the peoples of the earth as Your heritage, just as You declared through Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”

Solomon’s Benediction

⁵⁴ When Solomon finished offering this entire prayer and supplication to the Lord, he arose from before the Lord’s altar, where he had knelt down with his hands stretched toward heaven. ⁵⁵ And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying,

⁵⁶ “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, in accordance with everything that He promised. Not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He spoke through Moses His servant. ⁵⁷ May the Lord our God be with us as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us nor abandon us [to our enemies], ⁵⁸ that He may guide our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways [following Him] and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His precepts which He commanded our fathers. ⁵⁹ Let these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, so that He will maintain the cause and right of His servant and of His people Israel as each day requires, ⁶⁰ so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no one else. ⁶¹ Therefore, your hearts are to be wholly devoted to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as [you are doing] today.”

Dedicatory Sacrifices

⁶² Then the king and all [the people of] Israel with him [repeatedly] offered sacrifice before the Lord. ⁶³ Solomon offered as peace offerings to the Lord: 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the house (temple) of the Lord. ⁶⁴ On that same day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the house (temple) of the Lord; for he offered there the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to hold [all] the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the peace offerings.

⁶⁵ So at that time Solomon held the ^[u]feast, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath [on the northern border of Israel] to the ^[v]Brook of Egypt [at Israel’s southern border], before the Lord our God, for seven days and seven more days [beyond the prescribed period for the Feast of Booths], fourteen days in all. ⁶⁶ On the eighth (fifteenth) day he sent the people away and they blessed the king. Then they went to their tents joyful and in good spirits because of all the goodness which the Lord had shown to David His servant and Israel His people.

God’s Promise and Warning

9 Now it happened when Solomon had finished building the house (temple) of the Lord and the king’s house (palace), and all else which he was pleased to do, ² that the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, just as He had appeared to him ^[w]at Gibeon. ³ The Lord told him, “I have heard your prayer and supplication which you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built by putting My Name and My Presence there forever. My eyes and My heart shall be there perpetually. ⁴ As for you, if you walk (live your life) before Me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, acting in accordance with everything that I have commanded you, and will keep My statutes and My precepts, ⁵ then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I promised your father David, saying, ‘You shall not be without a man (descendant) on the throne of Israel.’

⁶ “But if you or your sons turn away from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, ⁷ then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and I will cast out of My sight the house which I have consecrated for My Name and Presence. Then Israel will become a proverb (a saying) and a byword (object of ridicule) among all the peoples. ⁸ This house (temple) will become a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by will be appalled and ^[x]sneer and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this house?’ ⁹ And they [who know] will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and they have chosen other gods and have worshiped and served them; that is the reason the Lord has brought on them all this adversity.’”

Cities Given to Hiram

¹⁰ Now at the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the temple of the Lord and the palace of the king ¹¹ (Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with as much cedar and cypress timber [from Lebanon] and gold as he desired), at that time King Solomon gave Hiram ^[y]twenty cities in the land of Galilee (northern Israel). ¹² So Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they ^[z]did not please him. ¹³ He said, “What are these cities [good for] which you have given me, my brother?” So they have been called the land of Cabul (like nothing, unproductive) to this day. ¹⁴ And Hiram sent to the king 120 talents of gold.

¹⁵ Now this is the account of the forced labor which King Solomon conscripted to build the house of the Lord, his own house, the ^[aa]Millo (fortification), the wall of Jerusalem, [and the fortress cities of] Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. ¹⁶ For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer, burned it with fire and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and he had given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. ¹⁷ So Solomon rebuilt [and fortified] Gezer and Lower Beth-horon, ¹⁸ Baalath and ^[ab]Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah, ¹⁹ and all the storage cities [for surplus provisions] which Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots and cities for his horsemen, and whatever it pleased Solomon to build ^[ac]in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land under his rule. ²⁰ As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the sons (descendants) of Israel, ²¹ their children who were left after them in the land, whom the Israelites were unable to completely destroy, from them Solomon levied (conscripted) forced laborers, even to this day (the date of this writing). ²² But Solomon did not make slaves of the sons of Israel; for they were men of war (soldiers), his servants, his officers, his captains, his chariot commanders, and his horsemen.

²³ These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work, five hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people doing the work.

²⁴ As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter came up from the City of David to her house which Solomon had built for her, then he built the Millo (fortification).

²⁵ Three times a year [during the ^[ad]major annual festivals] Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built to the Lord, and he burned incense with them before the Lord. So he finished the house [of the Lord].

²⁶ King Solomon built a fleet of ships in Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds), in the land of Edom. ²⁷ And Hiram [king of Tyre] sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon. ²⁸ They came to ^[ae]Ophir and took four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.