God Comes to Solomon Again

9 So Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple and his own palace. Solomon built all the things that he wanted to build. ²Then the Lord appeared to Solomon again, just as he had done before in the town of Gibeon. ³The Lord said to him: “I heard your prayer. I heard the things that you asked me to do. You built this temple. And I have made it a holy place. So I will be honored there forever. I will watch over it and think of it always. ⁴You must serve me the same way your father David did. He was fair and sincere. And you must obey my laws and do all the things that I commanded you. ⁵“If you do all these things, then I will make sure that the king of Israel is always someone from your family. This is the promise I made to your father David. I told him that Israel would always be ruled by one of his descendants.* ^6–7“But if you or your children stop following me, and don’t obey the laws and commands I have given you, and if you serve and worship other gods, then I will force Israel to leave the land I have given to them. Israel will be an example to other people. Other people will make jokes about Israel. I made the temple holy. It is the place where people honor me. But {if you don’t obey me,} then I will tear it down. ⁸This temple will be destroyed. Every person who sees it will be amazed. They will ask, ‘Why did the Lord do this terrible thing to this land and to this temple?’ ⁹Other people will answer, ‘This happened because they left the Lord their God. He brought their ancestors out of Egypt. But they decided to follow other gods. They began to worship and serve those gods. That is why the Lord caused all these bad things to happen to them.’” ¹⁰It took 20 years for King Solomon to build the Lord’s temple and the king’s palace.* ¹¹And after 20 years King Solomon gave 20 towns in Galilee to Hiram the king of Tyre. Solomon gave King Hiram these towns because Hiram helped Solomon build the temple and the palace. Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and pine and gold that Solomon wanted. ¹²So Hiram traveled from Tyre to see the towns that Solomon gave him. When Hiram saw those towns, he was not pleased. ¹³King Hiram said, “What are these towns that you have given me, my brother?” King Hiram named that land the Land of Cabul.* And that area is still called Cabul today. ¹⁴Hiram had sent to King Solomon about 9,000 pounds* of gold {to use in building the temple}. ¹⁵King Solomon forced slaves to work for him to build the temple and the palace. Then King Solomon used these slaves to build many other things. He built the Millo.* He also built the city wall around Jerusalem. Then he built again the cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. ¹⁶In the past, the king of Egypt fought against the city of Gezer and burned it. He killed the Canaanite people who lived there. Solomon married Pharaoh’s daughter. So Pharaoh gave that city to Solomon as a wedding present. ¹⁷Solomon built that city again. Solomon also built the city of Lower Beth Horon. ¹⁸King Solomon also built the cities of Baalath and Tamar in the Judean desert. ¹⁹King Solomon also built cities where he could store grain and things. And he built places for his chariots and his horses. King Solomon also built many things that he wanted in Jerusalem and in Lebanon and in all the places he ruled. ²⁰There were people in the land that were not Israelites. Those people were the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ²¹The Israelites had not been able to destroy those people. But Solomon forced them to work for him as slaves. They are still slaves today. ²²Solomon did not force any Israelites to be his slaves. The people of Israel were soldiers, government officials, officers, captains, and chariot commanders and drivers. ²³There were 550 supervisors over Solomon’s projects. They were bosses over the men who did the work. ²⁴Pharaoh’s daughter moved from the City of David to the big house that Solomon built for her. Then Solomon built the Millo.* ²⁵Three times each year Solomon offered burned sacrifices and fellowship offerings on the altar. This is the altar that Solomon built for the Lord. King Solomon also burned incense before the Lord. So he supplied the things needed for the temple. ²⁶King Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber. This town is near Elath on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. ²⁷King Hiram had some men who knew much about the sea. Those men often traveled in ships. King Hiram sent those men to serve in Solomon’s navy and work with Solomon’s men. ²⁸Solomon’s ships went to Ophir. The ships brought about 31,500 pounds* of gold back from Ophir to King Solomon.

descendants A person’s children and all of their future families. palace A large house for the king and his family. Cabul This name is like the Hebrew word meaning “worthless.” 9,000 pounds Or “4080kg. Literally, “120 talents.” Millo The Millo was probably a raised platform of land southeast of the temple area in Jerusalem. 31,500 pounds Or, “14,280kg.” Literally, “420 talents.”