1 Kings 9:15-28

International Children’s Bible

¹⁵ King Solomon had forced slaves to build the Temple and the palace. Then he had them fill in the land on the east side of the city. And he had them build the wall around Jerusalem. He also had them rebuild the cities of Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. ¹⁶ (In the past the king of Egypt had attacked Gezer and captured it. He had burned it and killed the Canaanites who lived there. Then he gave it to his daughter as a wedding present. His daughter married Solomon. ¹⁷ So Solomon rebuilt it.) He also built the cities of Lower Beth Horon, ¹⁸ Baalath and Tadmor, which is in the Judean desert. ¹⁹ King Solomon also built cities where he could store grain and supplies. And he built cities for his chariots and chariot soldiers. Solomon built whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon and everywhere he ruled.

²⁰ There were people in the land who were not Israelites. There were some Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. ²¹ The Israelites had not been able to destroy them from the land. So Solomon forced them to work for him as slaves. And they are still slaves today. ²² But Solomon did not force any Israelites to be his slaves. The Israelites were his soldiers, government leaders, officers, captains and chariot commanders and drivers.

²³ There were 550 supervisors over Solomon’s projects. They were supervisors over the men who did the work.

²⁴ The daughter of the king of Egypt moved from the old part of Jerusalem to the palace. This was the palace Solomon had built for her. Then Solomon filled in the land on the east side of the city.

²⁵ Three times each year Solomon offered whole burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar. This is the altar he had built for the Lord. Solomon also burned incense before the Lord. So he finished the work on the Temple.

²⁶ Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber. This town is near Elath. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Aqaba, in the land of Edom. ²⁷ King Hiram had sailors who knew much about the sea. So he sent them to serve in Solomon’s ships with Solomon’s men. ²⁸ Solomon’s ships sailed to Ophir. From there they brought back about 32,000 pounds of gold to King Solomon.