Chronological

The Lord Comes to Solomon the Second Time

9 Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and all that he wanted to build. ² Then the Lord came to Solomon a second time, as He had come to him at Gibeon. ³ The Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer which you have prayed to Me. I have set apart this house you have built by putting My name there forever. My eyes and My heart will be there always. ⁴ As for you, walk before Me as your father David walked, with a true heart doing what is right. Do all that I have told you. Obey My Laws. If you do, ⁵ then I will make the throne of your rule over Israel last forever. It will be just as I promised your father David, saying, ‘You will never be without a man on the throne of Israel.’ ⁶ But if you or your sons turn away from following Me, and do not keep My Laws which I have given you, and go after other gods and worship them, if you do, ⁷ then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them. And I will put away from My eyes the house which I have set apart for My name. Israel will become a word of shame among all peoples. ⁸ This house will be broken to pieces. Everyone who passes by will be surprised and make a sound of wonder, and say, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this land and to this house?’ ⁹ And they will say, ‘Because they turned away from the Lord their God, Who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt. They took in other gods and worshiped them and served them. So the Lord has brought all this trouble upon them.’”

Solomon and Hiram

¹⁰ At the end of twenty years, Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king’s house. ¹¹ Hiram king of Tyre had given Solomon all the cedar and cypress trees and gold that he wanted. Then King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. ¹² But when Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities Solomon had given him, they did not please him. ¹³ He said, “What are these cities you have given me, my brother?” So they are called the land of Cabul to this day. ¹⁴ The gold Hiram sent to the king weighed as much as 120 men.

Other Things Solomon Did

¹⁵ Now King Solomon made men work to build the house of the Lord, his own house, the Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Meggido and Gezer. ¹⁶ For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer and burned it with fire. He killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and then gave it as a wedding-gift to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. ¹⁷ So Solomon built Gezer again, and the lower part of Beth-horon, ¹⁸ and Baalath and Tamar in the desert, in the land of Judah. ¹⁹ Solomon built all the store-cities that he had, the cities for his war-wagons, the cities for his horsemen, and all he wanted to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land under his rule. ²⁰ Now there were people left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, who were not of the people of Israel. ²¹ And their children were left after them in the land. The people of Israel were not able to destroy all of them. So Solomon made these people work for him, even to this day. ²² But Solomon did not make the people of Israel work for him. For they were men of war, his servants, his rulers, his captains, his war-wagon drivers, and his horsemen.

²³ These were the heads of the captains over Solomon’s work. There were 550 of them who ruled over the people doing the work.

²⁴ But Pharaoh’s daughter went up from the city of David to her own house which Solomon had built for her. Then he built the Millo.

²⁵ Three times a year Solomon gave burnt gifts and peace gifts on the altar he built to the Lord. He burned special perfume on the altar before the Lord. So he finished the house.

²⁶ King Solomon built a group of ships in Ezion-geber, near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. ²⁷ Hiram sent his servants with the ships, sailors who knew the sea. He sent them with the servants of Solomon. ²⁸ They went to Ophir and brought out gold weighing as much as 420 small men. And they brought it to King Solomon.

Some of the Things Solomon Has Done

8 It took Solomon twenty years to build the house of the Lord and his own house. At the end of that time, ² he built again the cities which Huram had given to him. And he had the people of Israel live in them. ³ Then Solomon went to Hamath-zobah, and took it. ⁴ He built Tadmor in the desert and all his store-cities in Hamath. ⁵ He built upper Beth-horon and lower Beth-horon. He made the city strong with walls, gates, and long pieces of iron. ⁶ Solomon built Baalath and all the store-cities he had. He built all the cities for his war-wagons, and the cities for his horsemen. He built whatever he wanted to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and in all the land under his rule.

⁷ There were people who were left of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel. ⁸ They were the children of those who were left in the land, whom the people of Israel had not destroyed. Solomon made all of these people do hard work, as they do to this day. ⁹ But he did not make the people of Israel do hard work. They were soldiers, leaders, captains of war-wagons, and his horsemen. ¹⁰ These were the head leaders of King Solomon. There were 250 who ruled over the people.

¹¹ Then Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the city of David to the house he had built for her. For he said, “My wife should not live in the house of David king of Israel. Because the places are holy where the special box of the Lord has come.”

¹² Then Solomon gave burnt gifts to the Lord on the Lord’s altar which he had built in front of the porch. ¹³ He gave a certain number of gifts every day, as Moses had said should be given. Gifts were given for the Days of Rest, the new moons, and the three special suppers each year. These special suppers were the Special Supper of Bread Without Yeast, the Special Supper of Weeks, and the Special Supper of Tents. ¹⁴ By the law of David his father, Solomon chose the religious leaders for their different duties. He chose the Levites for their duties of praise and helping the religious leaders for each day’s needs. And he chose who should be the gate-keepers at each gate. For David the man of God had said that this must be done. ¹⁵ They did all that the king had said the religious leaders and Levites must do in every duty and with the store-houses.

¹⁶ So all the work of Solomon was done, from the day the house of the Lord was begun until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was built.

¹⁷ Then Solomon went to Ezion-geber and Eloth on the shore of the sea, in the land of Edom. ¹⁸ Huram sent his servants to him with ships and servants who knew the sea. They went to Ophir together with Solomon’s servants to get gold. And they brought gold weighing as much as 450 men from there to King Solomon.