2 Chronicles 8

1 Now at the end of twenty years, in which time Solomon had put up the house of the Lord and a house for himself,

Then, twenty years having passed since Solomon built the house of the Lord and his own house,

2 He took in hand the building up of the towns which Huram had given him, causing the children of Israel to make living-places for themselves there.

he built the cities that Hiram had given to Solomon, and he caused the sons of Israel to live there.

3 And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and overcame it.

Also, he went to Hamath Zobah, and he obtained it.

4 And he put up the buildings of Tadmor in the waste land, and of all the store-towns in Hamath;

And he built Palmira in the desert, and he built very fortified cities in Hamath.

5 And of Beth-horon the higher and the lower, walled towns with walls and doorways and locks;

And he built upper Beth-horon and lower Beth-horon, as walled cities, having gates and bars and locks,

6 And of Baalath, and all the store-towns which Solomon had, and the towns where he kept his war-carriages and his horse men, and everything which it was his pleasure to put up in Jerusalem and in Lebanon and in all the land under his rule.

as well as Baalath, and all the very strong cities which were of Solomon, and all the cities of the chariots, and the cities of the horsemen. Everything whatsoever that Solomon willed and decided, he built in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and throughout the entire land of his authority.

7 As for all the rest of the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel:

All the people who had been left from the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, those who were not from the stock of Israel,

8 Their men who were still living in the land, and whom the children of Israel had not put an end to, these Solomon put to forced work, as is done to this day;

those of their sons and their posterity whom the sons of Israel had not put to death, Solomon subjugated as tributaries, even to this day.

9 But Solomon did not make use of the children of Israel as servants for his work; they were men of war, his chiefs and his captains, and captains of his war-carriages and his horsemen.

But he did not appoint anyone from the sons of Israel to serve in the works of the king. For they were men of war, and first rulers, and commanders of his chariots and horsemen.

10 Now these were the chief men in authority whom King Solomon had: two hundred and fifty of them, in authority over the people.

Now all the leaders of the army of king Solomon were two hundred fifty, who were instructing the people.

11 Then Solomon made Pharaoh's daughter come up from the town of David to the house which he had made for her; for he said, I will not have my wife living in the house of David, king of Israel, because those places where the ark of the Lord has come are holy.

Truly, he transferred the daughter of Pharaoh, from the City of David, to the house that he had built for her. For the king said: “My wife shall not live in the house of David, king of Israel, for it has been sanctified. For the ark of the Lord has entered into it.”

12 Then Solomon made burned offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord which he had put up in front of the covered way,

Then Solomon offered holocausts to the Lord on the altar of the Lord, which he had constructed before the portico,

13 Offering every day what had been ordered by Moses, on the Sabbaths and at the new moon and at the regular feasts three times a year, that is at the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of weeks, and the feast of tents.

so that every day there would be an offering on it, in accord with the precept of Moses, on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and three times a year on the feast days, that is, on the solemnity of unleavened bread, and on the solemnity of weeks, and on the solemnity of tabernacles.

14 And he gave the divisions of the priests their places for their work, as ordered by his father David, and to the Levites he gave their work of praise and waiting on the priests, to do what was needed day by day; and he gave the door-keepers their places in turn at every door; for so David, the man of God, had given orders.

And he appointed, in accord with the plan of his father David, the offices of the priests in their ministries; and those of the Levites, in their orders, so that they might praise and minister before the priests according to the ritual of each day; and the porters, in their divisions, from gate to gate. For so had David, the man of God, instructed.

15 All the orders given by the king to the priests and Levites, in connection with any business or stores, were done with care.

Neither the priests, nor the Levites, transgressed against the commands of the king, in all that he had instructed, and in the keeping of the treasuries.

16 And all the work of Solomon was complete, from the day when he put the base of the Lord's house in position, till Solomon had come to the end of building the Lord's house.

Solomon had all the expenses prepared, from the day on which he founded the house of the Lord, even until the day when he perfected it.

17 Then Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Eloth by the sea in the land of Edom.

Then Solomon went away to Eziongeber, and to Eloth, on the coast of the Red Sea, which is in the land of Edom.

18 And Huram sent him, by his servants, ships and experienced seamen, who went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir and came back with four hundred and fifty talents of gold, which they took to King Solomon.

And Hiram sent to him ships, by the hands of his servants, sailors and skillful navigators of the sea, and they went away with the servants of Solomon to Ophir. And they took from there four hundred fifty talents of gold, and they brought it to king Solomon.