Chronicles II 8

1 And it came to pass after twenty years, in which Solomon built the house of the Lord, and his own house,

Solomon’s [workers] worked for 20 years to build the temple and the king’s palace.

2 that Solomon rebuilt the cities which Chiram had given to Solomon, and caused the children of Israel to dwell in them.

Then his [workers] rebuilt the cities that [King] Hiram had given back to Solomon, and Solomon sent Israelis to live in those cities.

3 And Solomon came to Baesoba, and fortified it.

Solomon’s [army] then went to Hamath-Zobah [town] and captured it.

4 And he built Thoedmor in the wilderness, and all the strong cities which he built in Emath.

His workers also rebuilt walls around Tadmor [town] in the desert, and in [the] Hamath [region] in all the towns where they kept supplies.

5 And he built Baethoron the upper, and Baethoron the lower, strong cities, —they had walls, gates, and bars;

They rebuilt Upper Beth-Horon [town] and Lower Beth-Horon [city], and built walls around them with gates [in the walls] and bars [to fasten the gates].

6 and Balaath, and all the strong cities which Solomon had, and all his chariot cities, and cities of horsemen, and all things that Solomon desired according to his desire of building, in Jerusalem, and in Libanus, and in all his kingdom.

They also rebuilt Baalath [town] and all the cities where supplies were kept and the cities where Solomon’s chariots and horses were kept. Solomon’s [workers] built whatever he wanted them to build, in Jerusalem and in Lebanon, and in other places in the area that he ruled.

7 [As for] all the people that was left of the Chettites, and the Amorites, and the Pherezites, and the Evites, and the Jebusites, who are not of Israel,

Solomon forced people from many other groups who were not Israelis to work for him like slaves. They were people from the Heth, Amor, Periz, Hiv, and Jebus people-groups.

8 but were of the children of them whom the children Israel destroyed not, that were left after them in the land, even them did Solomon make tributaries to this day.

They were descendants of groups whom the Israelis had not completely destroyed. Solomon forced them to become his slaves, and they are still slaves.

9 But Solomon did not make any of the children of Israel servants in his kingdom; for, behold, [they were] warriors and rulers, and mighty [men], and captains of chariots and horsemen.

But Solomon did not force Israelis to work for him. Israelis became his soldiers and commanders of his chariots and his chariot-drivers.

10 And these are the chiefs of the officers of king Solomon, two hundred and fifty overseeing the work among the people.

They were also King Solomon’s chief officials. There were 250 of them, and they supervised the workers.

11 And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharao from the city of David to the house which he had built for her: for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the city of David, the king of Israel, for [the place] is holy into which the ark of the Lord has entered.

Solomon moved his wife, who was the daughter of the king of Egypt, from [the place outside Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’ to the place that his workers had built for her. He said, “I do not want my wife to live in the palace that [my father] King David’s workers built, because the Sacred Chest [was in that palace for a while], and any place where the Sacred Chest has been is holy.”

12 Then Solomon offered up to the Lord whole-burnt-offerings on the altar which he had built to the Lord before the temple,

On the altar that Solomon’s [workers] had built in front of the entrance [to the temple], Solomon sacrificed many offerings that were to be completely burned.

13 according to the daily rate, to offer up [sacrifices] according to the commandments of Moses, on the sabbaths, and at the new moons, and at the feasts, three times in the year, at the feast of unleavened bread, and at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of tabernacles.

He did that to obey the rules about what sacrifices Moses had declared should be made. These included sacrifices for every day and for the Sabbath days and to celebrate each day on which there was a new moon and for the three other festivals that were celebrated each year. Those festivals were the Festival of Eating Unleavened Bread, the Harvest Festival, and the Festival of Living in Temporary Shelters.

14 And he established, according to the order of his father David, the courses of the priests, and [that] according to their public ministrations: and the Levites [were appointed] over their charges, to praise and minister before the priests according to the daily order: and the porters were appointed according to their courses to the different gates: for thus [were] the commandments of David the man of God.

Obeying what his father David had commanded, he appointed the groups of priests for their work, and he appointed the descendants of Levi to lead the people while they sang to praise Yahweh and while they assisted the priests in their daily work. He also appointed groups of them to guard all the gates, because that was also what David, the man who pleased God [very well], had commanded.

15 They transgressed not the commandments of the king concerning the priests and the Levites with regard to everything else, and with regard to the treasures.

The priests and other descendants of Levi obeyed completely everything that the king commanded, including [taking care of] the storerooms.

16 Now all the work had been prepared from the day when the foundation was laid, until Solomon finished the house of the Lord.

They did all the work [of building the temple] that Solomon told them to do, until it was all completed. So they finishing building the temple.

17 Then Solomon went to Gasion Gaber, and to Aelath near the sea in the land of Idumea.

Then some of Solomon’s men went to Ezion-Geber and Elath [cities] on the coast of the Red Sea, an area that belonged to the Edom people-group.

18 And Chiram sent by the hand of his servants ships, and servants skilled in naval affairs; and they went with the servants of Solomon to Sophira, and brought thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and they came to king Solomon.

King Hiram sent to Solomon from [Tyre city] some ships that were commanded by his officers. They were men who were experienced sailors. These men went in the ships with Solomon’s men to [the] Ophir [region] and brought back about 17 tons of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.