1Kings 9

The Lord’s Response to Solomon

9So Solomon finished building the Temple of the LORD, as well as the royal palace. He completed everything he had planned to do.H8010H3615H1129H1004H3068H4428H1004H8010H2837H2654H62132Then the LORD appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had done before at Gibeon.H3068H7200H8010H8145H7200H13913The LORD said to him, "I have heard your prayer and your petition. I have set this Temple apart to be holy—this place you have built where my name will be honored forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear to my heart.H3068H559H8085H8605H8467H2603H6440H6942H1004H1129H7760H8034H5704H5769H5869H3820H31174"As for you, if you will follow me with integrity and godliness, as David your father did, obeying all my commands, decrees, and regulations,H3212H6440H1732H1H1980H8537H3824H3476H6213H6680H8104H2706H49415then I will establish the throne of your dynasty over Israel forever. For I made this promise to your father, David: 'One of your descendants will always sit on the throne of Israel.'H6965H3678H4467H3478H5769H1696H1732H1H559H3772H376H3678H34786"But if you or your descendants abandon me and disobey the commands and decrees I have given you, and if you serve and worship other gods,H7725H7725H310H1121H8104H4687H2708H5414H6440H1980H5647H312H430H78127then I will uproot Israel from this land that I have given them. I will reject this Temple that I have made holy to honor my name. I will make Israel an object of mockery and ridicule among the nations.H3772H3478H6440H127H5414H1004H6942H8034H7971H6440H3478H4912H8148H59718And though this Temple is impressive now, all who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads in amazement. They will ask, 'Why did the LORD do such terrible things to this land and to this Temple?'H1004H5945H5674H8074H8319H559H3068H6213H776H10049"And the answer will be, 'Because his people abandoned the LORD their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they worshiped other gods instead and bowed down to them. That is why the LORD has brought all these disasters on them.'"H559H5800H3068H430H3318H1H776H4714H2388H312H430H7812H5647H3068H935H7451

Solomon’s Agreement with Hiram

10It took Solomon twenty years to build the LORD's Temple and his own royal palace. At the end of that time,H7097H6242H8141H8010H1129H8147H1004H1004H3068H4428H100411he gave twenty towns in the land of Galilee to King Hiram of Tyre. (Hiram had previously provided all the cedar and cypress timber and gold that Solomon had requested.)H2438H4428H6865H5375H8010H730H6086H1265H6086H2091H2656H227H4428H8010H5414H2438H6242H5892H776H155112But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the towns Solomon had given him, he was not at all pleased with them.H2438H3318H6865H7200H5892H8010H5414H3474H586913"What kind of towns are these, my brother?" he asked. So Hiram called that area Cabul (which means "worthless"), as it is still known today.H559H5892H5414H251H7121H776H3521H311714Nevertheless, Hiram paid

Solomon 9,000 pounds of gold.H2438H7971H4428H3967H6242H3603H2091

Solomon’s Many Achievements

15This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon conscripted to build the LORD's Temple, the royal palace, the supporting terraces

, the wall of Jerusalem, and the cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.H1697H4522H4428H8010H5927H1129H1004H3068H1004H4407H2346H3389H2674H4023H150716(Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer, killing the Canaanite population and burning it down. He gave the city to his daughter as a wedding gift when she married Solomon.H6547H4428H4714H5927H3920H1507H8313H784H2026H3669H3427H5892H5414H7964H1323H8010H80217So Solomon rebuilt the city of Gezer.) He also built up the towns of Lower Beth-horon,H8010H1129H1507H1032H848118Baalath, and Tamar

in the wilderness within his land.H1191H8412H4057H77619He built towns as supply centers and constructed towns where his chariots and horses

could be stationed. He built everything he desired in Jerusalem and Lebanon and throughout his entire realm.H5892H4543H8010H5892H7393H5892H6571H2837H8010H2836H1129H3389H3844H776H447520There were still some people living in the land who were not Israelites, including Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.H5971H3498H567H2850H6522H2340H2983H1121H347821These were descendants of the nations whom the people of Israel had not completely destroyed

. So Solomon conscripted them for his labor force, and they serve in the labor force to this day.H1121H3498H310H776H1121H3478H3201H2763H8010H5927H4522H5647H311722But Solomon did not conscript any of the Israelites for forced labor. Instead, he assigned them to serve as fighting men, government officials, officers and captains in his army, commanders of his chariots, and charioteers.H1121H3478H8010H5414H5650H582H4421H5650H8269H7991H8269H7393H657123Solomon appointed 550 of them to supervise the people working on his various projects.H8269H5324H8010H4399H2568H3967H2572H7287H5971H6213H439924Solomon moved his wife, Pharaoh's daughter, from the City of David to the new palace he had built for her. Then he constructed the supporting terraces.H6547H1323H5927H5892H1732H1004H1129H1129H440725Three times each year Solomon presented burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built for the LORD. He also burned incense to the LORD. And so he finished the work of building the Temple.H7969H6471H8141H8010H5927H5930H8002H4196H1129H3068H6999H4196H6440H3068H7999H100426King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, a port near Elath

in the land of Edom, along the shore of the Red Sea.H4428H8010H6213H590H6100H359H8193H5488H3220H776H12327Hiram sent experienced crews of sailors to sail the ships with Solomon's men.H2438H7971H590H5650H582H591H3045H3220H5650H801028They sailed to Ophir and brought back to Solomon some sixteen tons

of gold.H935H211H3947H2091H702H3967H6242H3603H935H4428H8010