1 Kings 9
Expanded Bible
The Lord Appears to Solomon Again(A)
9 Solomon finished building the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord and ·his royal palace [L the king’s house] and everything he wanted to build. 2 Then the Lord appeared to him ·again [L a second time] just as he had done before, in Gibeon. 3 The Lord said to him: “I have heard your prayer and ·what you have asked me to do [L pleas/requests/supplications that you made before me]. I have ·made this Temple holy [L consecrated this house] that you built, and I ·will be worshiped there [L have put my name there] forever. ·I will watch over it and protect it always [L My eyes and my heart will be there all the days].
4 “But you must ·serve [walk before; follow] me as your father David did; ·he was fair and sincere […with integrity of heart and godliness/uprightness]. You must obey all I have commanded and keep my ·laws [statutes; decrees] and ·rules [regulations; judgments]. 5 If you do, I will ·make your kingdom strong [L establish the throne of your kingdom]. This is the promise I made to your father David—·that someone from his family would always rule [you will never lack a man/successor on the throne of] Israel [2 Sam. 7:16].
6 “But if you and your children do not follow me and obey the laws and ·commands [decrees] I have given you, and if you serve ·or [and] worship other gods, 7 I will ·force Israel to leave [banish/L cut off Israel from] the land I have given them, and I will ·leave [reject; disown; remove from my sight] this ·Temple [L house] that I have ·made holy [L consecrated for my name]. ·All the nations will make fun of Israel and speak evil about them [L Israel will become a byword/proverb among the nations/peoples]. 8 If the ·Temple is destroyed [L house becomes a heap of rubble], everyone who passes by will be ·shocked [astonished; appalled]. They will ·make fun of you [scoff; hiss] and ask, ‘Why did the Lord do this terrible thing to this land and this ·Temple [L house]?’ 9 People will answer, ‘This happened because they ·left [abandoned; deserted; forsook] the Lord their God. This was the God who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, but they ·decided to follow [embraced; adopted] other gods. They worshiped and served those gods, so the Lord brought all this ·disaster [adversity; calamity] on them.’”
Solomon’s Other Achievements(B)
10 By the end of twenty years, King Solomon had built two buildings—the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord and the ·royal palace [L king’s house]. 11 At that time King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, because Hiram had helped with the buildings. Hiram had given Solomon all the cedar, ·pine [juniper; cypress timber], and gold he wanted. 12 So Hiram traveled from Tyre to see the towns Solomon had given him, but when he saw them, he was not pleased. 13 He asked, “What ·good are these towns [kinds of towns have] you have given me, my brother?” So he named them the Land of ·Cabul [C meaning “worthless”], and they are still called that today. 14 Hiram had sent Solomon ·about nine thousand pounds [L 120 talents] of gold.
15 This is the account of the forced labor Solomon ·used [conscripted] to build the ·Temple [L house] and ·the palace [L his own house]. He had them fill in the ·land [terraces; L the Millo; C a fortification of uncertain type] and build the ·wall [fortifications] around Jerusalem. He also had them rebuild the cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 (In the past Pharaoh, king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. After burning it, he killed the Canaanites who lived there. Then he gave it as a ·wedding present [dowry] to his daughter, who married Solomon. 17 So Solomon rebuilt it.) He also built the cities of Lower Beth Horon 18 and Baalath, as well as Tadmor, which is in the ·desert [wilderness]. 19 King Solomon also built ·cities for storing grain and supplies [supply centers/cities/towns] and ·cities for [towns to station] his chariots and horses. He built whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and everywhere he ruled.
20 There were other people in the land who were not ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel]—Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 21 They were descendants of people that the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] had ·not destroyed [been unable to completely exterminate]. Solomon ·forced them to work for him as slaves [conscripted them for forced/slave labor], as is still true today. 22 But Solomon did not ·make slaves of [conscript] the Israelites. They were his soldiers, government ·leaders [officials], officers, captains, chariot commanders, and ·drivers [charioteers].
23 These were his ·most important officers [chief officials] over the work. There were five hundred fifty supervisors over the people who did the work on Solomon’s projects.
24 The daughter of ·the king of Egypt [L Pharaoh] moved from the old part of the City of David [C Jerusalem] to the ·palace [L house] that Solomon had built for her. Then Solomon ·filled in the surrounding land [built the terraces/Millo; 9:15].
25 Three times each year Solomon offered whole burnt offerings and ·fellowship [or peace; well-being] offerings [Lev. 3:1] on the altar he had built for the Lord. He also burned incense before the Lord. So he finished the ·work on the Temple [L house].
26 King Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber, a town near Elath on the shore of the ·Red Sea [or Sea of Reeds; Ex. 10:19], in the land of Edom. 27 Hiram sent ·skilled sailors [L seamen who knew the sea] to serve in these ships with Solomon’s ·men [servants]. 28 The ships sailed to Ophir and brought back ·about thirty-two thousand pounds [L 420 talents] of gold to King Solomon.
1 Kings 9
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 9
The Lord’s Promise to Solomon.1 When Solomon had completed the construction of the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, Solomon had accomplished all that he desired to do.
2 The Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 The Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you made before me, and I have consecrated the temple that you built by establishing my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. 4 And as for you, if you walk before me as David, your father, walked, in integrity of heart and righteousness, and you do all that I command you, and you observe my statutes and my ordinances, 5 then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever just as I promised David, your father, when I said, ‘You will not fail to have one who will reign upon the throne of Israel.’
6 “But if your children turn away from me, and they do not follow me nor do they observe my commandments or my statutes that I have set before you, and they go off to serve other gods, and they worship them, 7 then I will cut Israel off from the land that I have given them, and I will reject from my sight this temple that I have consecrated for my name. Israel will become a byword and a laughingstock among all the nations. 8 Although this temple is now exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and will hiss at it, and they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this land and to this temple?’ 9 Then they will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord, their God, who brought their fathers forth from the land of Egypt. They have embraced other gods, and they have worshiped them and served them. This is why the Lord has brought all of these disasters upon them.’ ”
10 Taking Account. At the end of twenty years during which Solomon built two buildings, the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, 11 King Solomon gave twenty towns that were in the land of Galilee to King Hiram, the king of Tyre, who had provided Solomon with all the cedar wood, fir, and gold that he desired. 12 When King Hiram traveled out from Tyre to inspect the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. 13 He said, “What kind of cities have you given me, my brother?” He has called the land Cabul up to the present day. 14 Now Hiram had sent the king one hundred twenty talents of gold.[a]
15 This is an account of the forced labor that King Solomon raised in order to build the temple of the Lord, his own palace, Millo, the walls of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 (Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had gone up and captured Gezer. He burned it down and killed the Canaanites who were living there. He gave it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. 17 Solomon then rebuilt Gezer.) He also built lower Beth-horon, 18 Baalath, and Tadmor in the desert, all of which were within his land. 19 Solomon also had storage cities for provisions, cities for his chariots, and cities for his horses. Solomon built whatever he desired in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and all the land that he ruled.
20 All of the people who survived from among the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites (for these people were not Israelites), 21 that is, their descendants who remained in the land (for the Israelites had not been able to wipe them out) were conscripted by Solomon to serve as slave labor, as is still true today.
22 Solomon did not reduce the Israelites to slavery. They were his fighting men, his officials, his princes, his captains, the commanders of his chariots, and his charioteers. 23 They were also the chief officials who were in charge of Solomon’s work projects. There were five hundred and fifty of them, and they supervised the men who did the work. 24 After Pharaoh’s daughter came up to the City of David, to the palace that he had built for her, he then built Millo.
25 Three times a year[b] Solomon offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar that he had built for the Lord. He also burnt incense on the altar before the Lord, and so he fulfilled his temple duties. 26 King Solomon built ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Elath on the Red Sea in the land of Edom. 27 Hiram sent some of his men who were sailors, seafaring men who knew the sea, to sail with Solomon’s men. 28 They sailed to Ophir[c] and brought back and delivered to King Solomon four hundred and twenty talents of gold.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 9:14 This was a considerable sum; even considering fluctuations in its value, it would be at least 5000 pounds that Hiram sent to Solomon.
- 1 Kings 9:25 Three times a year: on the great annual feasts of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and Booths (see Ex 23:4-19).
- 1 Kings 9:28 Ophir: a region rich in gold, probably on the western coast of Arabia.
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