Solomon’s activities
1After Solomon had finished building Yahweh’s House, the royal palace, and everything he wanted to build, 2Yahweh appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3Yahweh said to him, “I have heard the prayer and supplication you made before me. I have consecrated this House you have built, that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there forever. 4As for you, if you will live in my presence, the way your father David did, with sincerity and uprightness, doing all that I have commanded you and keeping my decrees and laws, 5I will affirm your kingship in Israel forever, as I promised your father David when I said, ‘You shall always have someone from your family on the throne of Israel.’
6But if you or your children refuse to follow me, and disobey my commands and laws which I have set before you; if they serve and worship other gods, 7then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them and I will remove from my sight this House I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 8This House will be reduced to a heap of stones and everyone passing by will be astonished and jeer: ‘Why has Yahweh done such a thing to this land and to this House?’ 9Then people will answer: ‘Because they abandoned Yahweh their God who brought their ancestors out of the land of Egypt, and they followed other gods, worshiping and serving them. That is why Yahweh has brought all this evil on them’.”
10During these twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses – Yahweh’s House and the royal house – 11Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with as much cedar, cypress, timber and gold as he wanted. Then King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. 12But when Hiram left Tyre to visit the cities which Solomon had given him, he was displeased 13and said, “What kind of cities have you given me, my brother?” And that is why, to this day, they are called the land of Cabul. 14Hiram, however, had sent the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold.
15This is the account of the forced labor imposed by King Solomon for the building of Yahweh’s House and his own palace, the Millo as well as the wall of Jerusalem; the cities of Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. 16(Pharaoh king of Egypt had captured and burned Gezer, putting to death the Canaanites who dwelt there. Then he had given the city as dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.) 17So Solomon rebuilt Gezer, Lower Beth-horon, 18Baalath and Tamar in the desert, in the land of Judah, 19all the store-cities that Solomon had, the cities for his chariots and those for his horsemen, and whatever Solomon wanted to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and in all the land of his dominion.
20On all the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, who were not of the people of Israel – 21their descendants who were left in the land and whom the Israelites were unable to completely destroy – on all of these Solomon imposed forced labor and it remains so to this day. 22Of the people of Israel, however, Solomon made no slaves. They were the soldiers, his officials, his commanders, his captains, his chariot commanders and horsemen.
23The overseers of Solomon’s work, in charge of those who were working, were five hundred and fifty. 24When Pharaoh’s daughter went up from the city of David to her own house that Solomon had built for her, he began building the Millo.
25After Solomon had finished the House, he came three times a year to offer up burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he had built to Yahweh, burning incense before Yahweh. 26King Solomon built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, near Elath on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. 27Hiram sent his servants, seamen who were familiar with the sea, to serve in the fleet together with the servants of Solomon. 28They sailed for Ophir and brought back to King Solomon gold amounting to four hundred and twenty talents.
