1 Kings Chapter 9
Yahveh Appears to Solomon
1 When Solomon had finished building Yahveh’s Temple, the king’s palace, and everything he wanted to do, 2 Yahveh appeared to him a second time like he did at Gibeon.
3 “I’ve heard your prayer and consecrated this Temple you’ve built by putting my name there permanently. My eyes and heart will always be there. 4 If you’ll follow me like your father did in the integrity of heart and godliness, do everything I tell you, keep my statutes and ordinances, 5 then I’ll make your throne secure over Israel permanently like I promised David, ‘You’ll always have a descendant on Israel’s throne.’
6 “But if you or your sons turn away from me to serve and worship other gods, 7 I’ll remove Israel from the land I’ve given them, and throw away the Temple I’ve consecrated. Israel will become a proverb, a byword among the nations. 8 This Temple will become a pile of ruins. Everybody that goes by will be amazed and gasp, ‘Why has Yahveh done this to this land and this Temple?’ 9 People will say, ‘Because they forsook Yahveh their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt. They adopted other gods and worshiped and served them.’” 1 Kg 9:1-9
Solomon’s Agreement with Hiram
10 At the end of the 20 years it took him to build Yahveh’s Temple and the king’s palace, King Solomon gave Hiram 20 towns in Galilee. ( 11 Hiram, king of Tyre, had supplied him with all the cedar, cypress, and gold he wanted.) 12 Hiram came out from Tyre to see them, but he didn’t like them. 13 “What are these towns you’ve given me, brother?” They’re still called The Land of Cabul [A Land as Good as Nothing]. 14 Nevertheless, Hiram sent Solomon 4½ tons 120 talents of gold.
Solomon’s Other Achievements
15 This is the conscripted labor King Solomon levied to build Yahveh’s Temple, his own palace, the Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had gone up and captured Gezer, burned it, killed the Canaanites in it, and gave it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. 17 Solomon rebuilt Gezer and the Lower Beth-horon, 18 Baalath, Tamar in the Wilderness of Judah, 19 his storage cities, cities for his chariots and cavalry, and everything he wanted to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and the land he ruled. 20 To this day Solomon has conscripted laborers from the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites 21 that Israel couldn’t destroy. 22 But he didn’t conscript Israelites for forced labor. They were soldiers, officials, officers, captains, chariot commanders, and cavalry. 1 Kg 9:10-22
23 550 chief officers oversaw Solomon’s work.
24 As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter came up from The City of David to the palace Solomon had built for her, he built the Millo.
25 Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he built to Yahveh, burning incense with them.
And so he finished the Temple.
26 He also built a fleet of ships in Ezion-geber, near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea in Edom. 27 Hiram sent experienced seamen with the fleet along with Solomon’s men. 28 They went to Ophir and brought back 15¾ tons 420 talents of gold to Solomon. 1 Kg 9:23-28