1 Kings 9

1 And it came to pass when Solomon had completed the building of the house of Jehovah, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do,

After Solomon had finished the Lord's Temple and the royal palace, having accomplished everything he'd wanted to do,

2 that Jehovah appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.

the Lord appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.

3 And Jehovah said to him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication which thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.

The Lord told him, “I have heard your prayer and your request to me. I have dedicated this Temple you have built by placing my name on it forever; I will always watch over it and take care of it.

4 And [as for] thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, [and] wilt keep my statutes and mine ordinances;

As for you, if you follow my ways as your father David did, doing everything I've told you to do, and if you keep my laws and regulations,

5 then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom over Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.

then I will make your throne secure forever. I made this agreement with your father David, telling him, ‘You will always have a descendant to rule over Israel.’

6 [But] if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments, my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them;

But if you or your descendants turn away and do not keep the laws and the commandments I have given you, and if you go and serve and worship other gods,

7 then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and the house, which I have hallowed to my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a by word among all peoples;

then I will cut Israel off from the land I have given them. I will banish from my presence this Temple I have dedicated to my honor, and I will make it an object lesson of ridicule among the nations.

8 and this house, [which] is high, every one that passes by it shall be astonished at, and shall hiss, and they shall say, Why has Jehovah done thus to this land and to this house?

This Temple will become a pile of rubble. All who pass by it will be appalled and will hiss, saying, ‘Why has the Lord acted in such a way to this land and this Temple?’

9 And they shall say, Because they forsook Jehovah their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have attached themselves to other gods, and have worshipped them and served them; therefore has Jehovah brought upon them all this evil.

The answer will come, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their forefathers out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping them and serving them. That's why the Lord has brought all this trouble upon them.’”

10 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of Jehovah and the king's house,

It took twenty years for Solomon to construct the two buildings—the Temple of the Lord and his own palace. After this,

11 Hiram the king of Tyre having furnished Solomon with cedar-trees and cypress-trees, and with gold, according to all his desire, — that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.

King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, because Hiram had provided him with all the cedar and juniper and gold he wanted.

12 And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him; and they did not please him.

But when Hiram went from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, he was not happy with them.

13 And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul to this day.

“What are these towns you have given me, my brother?” asked Hiram. He called them the land of Cabul, the name they are known by to this day.

14 And Hiram had sent to the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold.

Even so, Hiram sent the king 120 talents of gold in payment.

15 And this is the account of the levy which king Solomon raised, to build the house of Jehovah, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer.

Here is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon imposed to build the Lord's Temple, his own palace, the terraces, and the wall of Jerusalem, as well as Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.

16 — Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer, and burned it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife.

Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire, killed the Canaanites living in the town. He had then given it as a wedding dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife.

17 — And Solomon built Gezer, and lower Beth-horon,

Solomon rebuilt Gezer and lower Beth-horon,

18 and Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land,

Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah,

19 and all the store-cities that Solomon had, and cities for chariots, and cities for the horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and on Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

and all of Solomon's towns for storage, and the towns for his chariots and for his horsemen, plus whatever Solomon wanted to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and throughout his entire kingdom.

20 All the people that were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel,

The descendants of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (people who were not Israelites)

21 their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel were not able utterly to destroy, upon them did Solomon impose a tribute of bondservice until this day.

who remained in the land—those whom the Israelites were unable to destroy completely—were conscripted by Solomon to work as forced laborers, as they continue to do to this day.

22 But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen; but they were men of war, and his servants, and his chiefs, and his captains, and captains of his chariots, and his horsemen.

But Solomon did not enslave any of the Israelites. They were his soldiers, officials, commanders, captains, chariot commanders, and horsemen.

23 These were the chief superintendents that were over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty, that ruled over the people that wrought in the work.

They were also the chief officers in charge of Solomon's programs: 550 in command of the people who carried out the work.

24 But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David to her house which he had built for her: then he built Millo.

Once Pharaoh's daughter had moved from the City of David to the palace that Solomon had built for her, he built the city terraces.

25 And three times in the year did Solomon offer up burnt-offerings and peace-offerings upon the altar that he had built to Jehovah, and he burned incense upon that which was before Jehovah. So he finished the house.

Three times each year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and friendship offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord, burning incense before the Lord with them, and so fulfilled what was required at the Temple.

26 And king Solomon made a fleet of ships in Ezion-Geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.

King Solomon built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.

27 And Hiram sent in the fleet his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon;

Hiram sent his sailors who knew the sea to serve in the fleet with Solomon's men.

28 and they went to Ophir, and fetched thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.

They sailed to Ophir and brought back 420 talents of gold from there and delivered it to Solomon.