1 Kings 9:15-28
New Living Translation
Solomon’s Many Achievements
15 This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon conscripted to build the Lord’s Temple, the royal palace, the supporting terraces,[a] the wall of Jerusalem, and the cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 (Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer, killing the Canaanite population and burning it down. He gave the city to his daughter as a wedding gift when she married Solomon. 17 So Solomon rebuilt the city of Gezer.) He also built up the towns of Lower Beth-horon, 18 Baalath, and Tamar[b] in the wilderness within his land. 19 He built towns as supply centers and constructed towns where his chariots and horses[c] could be stationed. He built everything he desired in Jerusalem and Lebanon and throughout his entire realm.
20 There were still some people living in the land who were not Israelites, including Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 21 These were descendants of the nations whom the people of Israel had not completely destroyed.[d] So Solomon conscripted them as slaves, and they serve as forced laborers to this day. 22 But Solomon did not conscript any of the Israelites for forced labor. Instead, he assigned them to serve as fighting men, government officials, officers and captains in his army, commanders of his chariots, and charioteers. 23 Solomon appointed 550 of them to supervise the people working on his various projects.
24 Solomon moved his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter, from the City of David to the new palace he had built for her. Then he constructed the supporting terraces.
25 Three times each year Solomon presented burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord. He also burned incense to the Lord. And so he finished the work of building the Temple.
26 King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, a port near Elath[e] in the land of Edom, along the shore of the Red Sea.[f] 27 Hiram sent experienced crews of sailors to sail the ships with Solomon’s men. 28 They sailed to Ophir and brought back to Solomon some sixteen tons[g] of gold.
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- 9:15 Hebrew the millo; also in 9:24. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
- 9:18 An alternate reading in the Masoretic Text reads Tadmor.
- 9:19 Or and charioteers.
- 9:21 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.
- 9:26a As in Greek version (see also 2 Kgs 14:22; 16:6); Hebrew reads Eloth, a variant spelling of Elath.
- 9:26b Hebrew sea of reeds.
- 9:28 Hebrew 420 talents [14 metric tons].
1 Kings 9:15-28
Common English Bible
15 This is the story of the labor gang that King Solomon put together to build the Lord’s temple and his own palace, as well as the stepped structure, the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer: (16 Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, had attacked and captured Gezer, setting it on fire. He killed the Canaanites who lived in the city and gave it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.) 17 Solomon built Gezer, Lower Beth-horon, 18 Baalath, and Tamar in the wilderness (within the land), 19 along with all the storage cities that belonged to Solomon, as well as the cities used for storing chariots and cavalry and whatever he wanted to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and throughout his kingdom. 20 Any non-Israelite people who remained of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites— 21 that is, the descendants of such people who were still in the land because the Israelites weren’t able to wipe them out—Solomon forced into the labor gangs that are still in existence today. 22 However, Solomon didn’t force the Israelites to work as slaves; instead, they became warriors, his servants, his leaders, his officers, and those in charge of his chariots and cavalry.
23 These were the chief officers over Solomon’s work: five hundred fifty had charge of the people who did the work. 24 When Pharaoh’s daughter went up from David’s City to the palace he had built for her, Solomon built the stepped structure. 25 Three times a year Solomon would offer entirely burned offerings and well-being sacrifices on the altar that he had built for the Lord. Along with this he would burn incense to the Lord. In this way, he completed the temple.[a] 26 King Solomon built a fleet near Eloth in Ezion-geber, on the coast of the Reed Sea[b] in the land of Edom. 27 Hiram sent his expert sailors on the fleet along with Solomon’s workers. 28 They went to Ophir for four hundred twenty kikkars of gold, which they brought back to King Solomon.
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- 1 Kings 9:25 Heb uncertain
- 1 Kings 9:26 Traditionally Red Sea
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