And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house of the Lord, and his own house,

That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.

And Solomon went to Hamathzobah, and prevailed against it.

And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath.

Also he built Bethhoron the upper, and Bethhoron the nether, fenced cities, with walls, gates, and bars;

And Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities, and the cities of the horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and throughout all the land of his dominion.

As for all the people that were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which were not of Israel,

But of their children, who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon make to pay tribute until this day.

But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no servants for his work; but they were men of war, and chief of his captains, and captains of his chariots and horsemen.

10 And these were the chief of king Solomon's officers, even two hundred and fifty, that bare rule over the people.

11 And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her: for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy, whereunto the ark of the Lord hath come.

12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the Lord on the altar of the Lord, which he had built before the porch,

13 Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.

14 And he appointed, according to the order of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges, to praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required: the porters also by their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded.

15 And they departed not from the commandment of the king unto the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures.

16 Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord, and until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was perfected.

17 Then went Solomon to Eziongeber, and to Eloth, at the sea side in the land of Edom.

18 And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and took thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.

Solomon Completes His Construction(A)

It took Solomon 20 years to build Yahweh’s house and his own house. He rebuilt the cities Huram gave him, and he had Israelites live in them.

Then Solomon went to Hamath Zobah and conquered it. He rebuilt Tadmor in the desert and built all the storage cities in Hamath. He rebuilt Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon into cities fortified with walls, double-door gates, and bars. He also rebuilt Baalath and all the storage cities that he owned. He built all the cities for his chariots, all the cities for his war horses, and whatever else he wanted to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, or the entire territory that he governed.

The Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites had been left in the land because the Israelites had not been able to destroy them.[a] They were not Israelites, but they had descendants who were still in the land. Solomon drafted them for slave labor. (They are still slaves today.) But Solomon didn’t make any of the Israelites slaves for his projects. Instead, they were the soldiers, officers, generals, and commanders of his chariot and cavalry units.

10 These were the officers in charge of King Solomon’s projects: 250 foremen for the people who did the work.

11 Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter from the City of David to a palace he had built for her. He said, “My wife will not live in the palace of King David of Israel because these places where Yahweh’s ark has come are holy.”

12 Then Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings to Yahweh on Yahweh’s altar that he built in front of the entrance hall. 13 He sacrificed every day, on weekly worship days, on the New Moon Festivals, and on the three annual festivals (the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Booths) as Moses had commanded. 14 As Solomon’s father David had directed, he set up the divisions of priests for their service and the divisions of Levites for their appointed places. The Levites were to lead in praising the Lord and to serve beside the priests by doing whatever needed to be done each day. Solomon also set up divisions of doorkeepers at every gate because this is what David, the man of Elohim, had commanded. 15 No one neglected the king’s orders to the priests or the Levites in any matter, including the temple’s finances. 16 All of Solomon’s work was carried out from the day the foundation of Yahweh’s temple was laid until it was completed. Yahweh’s temple was now finished.

17 Then Solomon went to the coast near Ezion Geber and Elath in Edom. 18 Huram sent his own servants and his experienced sailors with ships to Solomon. They went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir, got 33,750 pounds of gold, and brought it to King Solomon.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 8:7 “because the Israelites. . . .” This clause has been moved from verse 8 (in Hebrew) to express the complex Hebrew sentence structure more clearly in English.

Proiecte de construcţii în afara Ierusalimului

La sfârşitul celor douăzeci de ani, timp în care Solomon zidise Casa Domnului şi palatul său, Solomon s-a apucat să rezidească cetăţile pe care i le-a dat Hiram[a] şi să-i aşeze acolo pe israeliţi. Solomon s-a dus la Hamat-Ţoba şi a cucerit cetatea. A rezidit Tadmorul în pustie şi toate cetăţile pentru provizii pe care le zidise în Hamat. A rezidit Bet-Horonul de Sus şi Bet-Horonul de Jos, ca cetăţi fortificate cu ziduri, porţi şi zăvoare, Baalatul, precum şi toate cetăţile pentru provizii pe care Solomon le avea, împreună cu toate cetăţile pentru care şi cetăţile pentru cavalerie şi tot ceea ce şi-a dorit Solomon să zidească în Ierusalim, în Liban şi în toată ţara aflată sub stăpânirea sa. Iar pe toţi cei ce au mai rămas dintre hitiţi, amoriţi, periziţi, hiviţi, iebusiţi, – cei ce nu făceau parte din Israel, – adică dintre urmaşii acestora, care rămăseseră în ţară şi pe care israeliţii nu i-au nimicit, Solomon i-a folosit la muncă forţată şi aşa au rămas până astăzi. Dar Solomon nu i-a folosit pe israeliţi ca sclavi la lucrarea sa, căci aceştia îi slujeau ca ostaşi, căpetenii şi conducători de care şi de cavalerie. 10 Căpeteniile aflate în slujba regelui Solomon, puse să supravegheze poporul, erau în număr de două sute cincizeci.

11 Solomon a dus-o pe fiica lui Faraon din Cetatea lui David, în palatul pe care îl zidise pentru ea, căci zisese: „Să nu locuiască soţia mea în palatul lui David, regele lui Israel, pentru că locurile în care a intrat Chivotul Domnului sunt sfinte!“

12 Solomon aducea arderi de tot Domnului pe altarul Domnului, zidit în faţa porticului, 13 potrivit cu reglementările zilnice pentru jertfe, care fuseseră poruncite de Moise să fie aduse cu ocazia Sabatului, a lunii noi şi a celor trei sărbători anuale: Sărbătoarea Azimelor, Sărbătoarea Săptămânilor şi Sărbătoarea Corturilor. 14 Tot el a pus în slujbă, după hotărârea tatălui său, David, cetele preoţilor, potrivit slujbei lor, pe leviţi, potrivit responsabilităţilor lor de a lăuda pe Domnul şi de a sluji în prezenţa preoţilor după nevoile zilnice şi pe portari, potrivit cetelor lor, la fiecare poartă, întocmai cum poruncise David, omul lui Dumnezeu. 15 Nu s-au abătut în nici un fel de la porunca regelui cu privire la preoţi, la leviţi şi la vistierii. 16 Astfel a fost înfăptuită întreaga lucrare a lui Solomon, din ziua când s-a pus temelia Casei Domnului şi până în ziua când Casa Domnului a fost în totalitate isprăvită.

17 Atunci Solomon s-a dus la Eţion-Gheber şi Elat, pe ţărmul mării, în ţara Edomului. 18 Hiram i-a trimis, prin slujitorii săi, corăbii şi slujitori care cunoşteau marea, iar aceştia s-au dus în Ofir împreună cu slujitorii lui Solomon şi au luat de acolo patru sute cincizeci de talanţi[b] de aur, pe care i-au adus apoi regelui Solomon.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Cronici 8:2 TM: Huram, o variantă a lui Hiram; şi în v. 18
  2. 2 Cronici 8:18 Aproximativ 13,5 t