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 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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