Chronological
Chapter 9
Promise and Warning to Solomon. 1 After Solomon finished building the house of the Lord, the house of the king, and everything else that he wanted to do, 2 (A)the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him in Gibeon. 3 The Lord said to him: I have heard the prayer of petition which you offered in my presence. I have consecrated this house which you have built and I set my name there forever; my eyes and my heart shall be there always. 4 As for you, if you walk before me as David your father did, wholeheartedly and uprightly, doing all that I have commanded you, keeping my statutes and ordinances, 5 (B)I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father: There shall never be wanting someone from your line on the throne of Israel. 6 But if ever you and your descendants turn from following me, fail to keep my commandments and statutes which I set before you, and proceed to serve other gods and bow down to them, 7 I will cut off Israel from the land I gave them and repudiate the house I have consecrated for my name. Israel shall become a proverb and a byword among all nations, 8 (C)and this house shall become a heap of ruins. Every passerby shall gasp in horror and ask, “Why has the Lord done such things to this land and to this house?” 9 And the answer will come: “Because they abandoned the Lord, their God, who brought their ancestors out of the land of Egypt, and they embraced other gods, bowing down to them and serving them. That is why the Lord has brought upon them all this evil.”
After Building the Temple.[a] 10 (D)After the twenty years during which Solomon built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the house of the king— 11 Hiram, king of Tyre, supplying Solomon with all the cedar wood, fir wood, and gold he wished, and King Solomon giving Hiram in return twenty cities in the land of Galilee— 12 Hiram left Tyre to see the cities Solomon had given him, but he was not satisfied with them. 13 So he said, “What are these cities you have given me, my brother?”[b] And he called them the land of Cabul, as they are called to this day. 14 Hiram, however, had sent King Solomon one hundred and twenty talents of gold.[c]
15 This is an account of the conscript labor force King Solomon raised in order to build the house of the Lord, his own house, Millo,[d] the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer 16 (Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had come up and taken Gezer and, after destroying it by fire and slaying all the Canaanites living in the city, had given it as a farewell gift to his daughter, Solomon’s wife; 17 Solomon then rebuilt Gezer), Lower Beth-horon, 18 Baalath, Tamar in the desert of Judah, 19 all his cities for supplies, cities for chariots and cities for cavalry, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in the entire land under his dominion. 20 All the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not Israelites— 21 those of their descendants who were left in the land and whom the Israelites had not been able to destroy under the ban—these Solomon conscripted as forced laborers, as they are to this day. 22 But Solomon made none of the Israelites forced laborers, for they were his fighting force, his ministers, commanders, adjutants, chariot officers, and cavalry. 23 There were five hundred fifty overseers answerable to Solomon’s governors for the work, directing the people engaged in the work.
24 (E)As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter went up from the City of David to her house, which he had built for her, Solomon built Millo. 25 Three times a year Solomon used to offer burnt offerings and communion offerings on the altar which he had built to the Lord, and to burn incense before the Lord.
Thus he completed the temple.[e]
Solomon’s Gifts.[f] 26 King Solomon also built a fleet at Ezion-geber, which is near Elath on the shore of the Red Sea in the land of Edom.[g] 27 To this fleet Hiram sent his own servants, expert sailors, with the servants of Solomon. 28 They went to Ophir, and obtained four hundred and twenty talents of gold and brought it to King Solomon.
Chapter 8
Public Works. 1 (A)After the twenty years during which Solomon built the house of the Lord and his own house, 2 he built up the cities which Huram had given him,[a] and settled Israelites there. 3 Then Solomon went to Hamath of Zoba and conquered it. 4 He built Tadmor[b] in the wilderness and all the supply cities, which he built in Hamath. 5 (B)He built Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars; 6 also Baalath, all the supply cities belonging to Solomon, and all the cities for the chariots, the cities for horses, and whatever else Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in the entire land under his dominion. 7 All the people who were left of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites who were not Israelites— 8 those of their descendants who were left in the land and whom the Israelites had not destroyed—Solomon conscripted as forced laborers, as they are to this day. 9 But Solomon made none of the Israelites forced laborers for his works, for they were his fighting force, commanders, adjutants, chariot officers, and cavalry. 10 They were also King Solomon’s two hundred and fifty overseers who directed the people.
Solomon’s Piety. 11 Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the house which he had built for her, for he said, “No wife of mine shall dwell in the house of David, king of Israel, for the places where the ark of the Lord has come are holy.”
12 In those times Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings to the Lord upon the altar of the Lord which he had built in front of the porch, 13 as was required to be done day by day according to the command of Moses, especially on the sabbaths, at the new moons, and on the fixed festivals three times a year: on the feast of the Unleavened Bread, the feast of Weeks, and the feast of Booths.(C)
14 And according to the ordinance of David his father he appointed the various divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites according to their functions of praise and attendance upon the priests, as the daily duty required. The gatekeepers by their divisions stood guard at each gate, since such was the command of David, the man of God.(D) 15 There was no deviation from the king’s command in whatever related to the priests and Levites or the treasuries. 16 All of Solomon’s work was carried out successfully from the day the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid until its completion. The house of the Lord was finished.
Glories of the Court. 17 In those times Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Elath on the seashore of the land of Edom.(E) 18 Huram had his servants send him ships and his own servants, expert seamen; they went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir, and obtained there four hundred and fifty talents of gold and brought it to King Solomon.(F)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.