OET-RV 1KI Chapter 9

9 Once Shelomoh had finished the construction of the temple and his palace, and various other projects of his, 2 Yahweh appeared a second time to him, similar to his appearance at Gibeon[ref] 3 and said, “I’ve heard your prayer and your plea for favour requested from me. I’ve declared that this residence that you built is holy by associating my name with it forever, and my eyes and my heart will constantly be there.[fn] 4 And as for you, if you’ll behave with godliness just like your father David lived with total dedication and honesty, by following everything that I’ve commanded you including keeping my statutes and my judgments, 5 then I’ll continue your dynasty over Israel forever, just like I told your father David when I said, ‘your descendants will never be removed from Israel’s throne.’[ref] 6 If you or your descendants ever turn back from following me and don’t keep my commands and statutes, and you go and serve other gods and bow down to them, 7 then I’ll cut Israel off from the land that I’ve given them and from the temple that’s dedicated to my name—I’ll send them far away, and Israel will become an example and a laughing stock among all the other countries. 8 As this temple is on a hill and very visible, everyone who passes anywhere nearby will see it and will be appalled and will hiss and they’ll say, ‘What did the people do that was so bad that Yahweh did that to this country and to this temple?’[ref] 9 Then they’ll answer, ‘It’s because they abandoned their God Yahweh who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, but they held on to other gods and bowed down to them and served them. Therefore Yahweh brought all this calamity onto them.’ ”

10 It took twenty years for Shelomoh to construct the temple for Yahweh and the palace for himself. 11 King Hiram from Tsor (Tyre), had supported Shelomoh with cedar and cypress logs, and with gold—as much as he’d needed. So King Shelomoh gave him twenty cities in the Galilee region, 12 but when Hiram came down from Tsor to see the cities that Shelomoh had given him, he wasn’t very happy about them 13 and asked, “My friend, what sort of cities are these that you’ve given me?” and he called the area ‘Kabul’ (meaning ‘Worthless’), which it’s still called to this day. 14 Hiram had sent four tonnes of gold to Shelomoh.

15 Now this is the matter of the forced labour that King Shelomoh brought up to build Yahweh’s residence and his palace, the raised terraces and the Yerushalem city wall, and the cities of Hatsor, Megiddo and Gezer. 16 (Egypt’s King Far-oh had seized Gezer and set fire to it and killed the Canaanites who had lived in the city. Then he’d given it as a wedding present to his daughter when Shelomoh had married her.) 17 Shelomoh rebuilt Gezer and lower Beyt-Horon, 18 Baalat, Tadmor in the Yehudah wilderness, 19 all of Shelomoh’s storehouse cities, and the cities for his chariots and horses. They also built whatever else Shelomoh wanted—in Yerushalem, in Lebanon, and in the entire area of his dominion. 20 All the remaining Amorite, Hittite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Yebusite people (they weren’t descendants of Israel), 21 had descendants who continued living in Israel. These were people groups that the Israelis hadn’t been able to annihilate so Shelomoh used them for forced labour (where they remain to this day). 22 But he didn’t consign any Israelis to slavehood, because they were his warriors and servants, and his officers and captains, and the commanders of his chariots and horsemen. 23 Some were commanders of the five hundred and fifty work supervisors.

24 Once Far-oh’s daughter moved out of the City of David to the palace that he’d built for her, then he built the raised terraces.

25 Shelomoh offered burnt offerings and peace offerings three times that year on the altar that he’d built for Yahweh, and he burnt incense to Yahweh with it, and he completed the temple.[ref]

26 King Shelomoh constructed a fleet of ships in Ezion-Geber, which is near Eylot on the shore of the Red Sea in the Edom region. 27 King Hiram sent some of his servants who were experienced sailors to serve with Shelomoh’s men. 28 They sailed to Ofir and brought back fourteen tonnes of gold that they took to Shelomoh.