8 After 20 years of constructing the Eternal’s house and his own house, ² Solomon built cities in the regions which Huram, king of Tyre, had given to Israel and settled the Israelites in them.

³ Then Solomon conquered Hamath-zobah in Aram. ⁴ He built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the storage cities in Hamath. ⁵ He also built upper Beth-horon and lower Beth-horon (fortified cities with walls, gates, and crossbeams in the territory of Ephraim), ⁶ Baalath (in the territory of Dan), all his storage cities, and all the cities for his chariots and his horsemen. Solomon built these in Jerusalem, in the region of Lebanon, and in all the lands he ruled to defend Israel’s territory.

^7-8 All of the non-Israelites who remained in Solomon’s kingdom, including descendants of Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, became conscripted laborers to this day. ⁹ But Solomon did not enslave the Israelites for his building projects. The Israelites were warriors, Solomon’s leaders and commanders of his chariots and horsemen, ¹⁰ and 250 of them were his chief officers who ruled over the people.

¹¹ Then Solomon moved his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter, from the city of David and away from the temple to a separate house which he built for her. Solomon thought, “My foreign wife will not live in the palace of David, king of Israel, because the places are holy where the Eternal’s covenant chest has entered.”

¹² So that it pleased God and followed the provisions of his father, Solomon gave burnt offerings on the Eternal’s altar, which he had built in front of the porch. ¹³ He did this daily (according to the commandment of Moses), weekly (on the Sabbaths), monthly (on the new moons), and at the three annual feasts (the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Booths). ¹⁴ Following the plans of his father David, Solomon assigned the temple duties to the priests, the Levites’ daily duties of praise and ministering before the priests, and the gatekeepers’ gate divisions. These plans had been laid out by David, a man who followed the True God. ¹⁵ The priests and the Levites followed all the commandments of their king, even those regarding the storehouses. ¹⁶ Solomon finished all this work, beginning with the groundbreaking of the Eternal’s temple and ending with its completion.

¹⁷ Then Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Eloth on the coast in Edom. ¹⁸ Huram sent his seafaring servants in ships to help Solomon’s servants sail to Ophir. There the servants took 450 talents of gold and brought them to King Solomon.