2 Chronicles 8

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

It came about at the end of twenty years, during which Solomon had built the house of Yahweh and his own house,

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

that Solomon rebuilt the towns that Hiram had given to him, and he settled the people of Israel in them.

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

Solomon attacked Hamathzobah and defeated it.

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

He built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath.

5 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].

Also he built Beth Horon the Upper and Beth Horon the Lower, cities fortified with walls, gates, and bars.

6 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.

He built Baalath and all the store cities that he possessed, and all the cities for his chariots and the cities for his horsemen, and whatever he wished to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the lands under his rule.

7 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.

As for all the people who were left of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who did not belong to Israel,

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

their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the people of Israel had not destroyed—Solomon made them into forced laborers, which they are to this day.

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

However, Solomon made no forced laborers of the people of Israel. Instead, they became his soldiers, his commanders, his officers, and commanders of his chariot forces and his horsemen.

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

These were also the chief officers managing the supervisors who belonged to King Solomon, 250 of them, who supervised the people who did the work.

11 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.”

Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David to the house that he had built for her, for he said, “My wife must not live in the house of David king of Israel, because wherever the ark of Yahweh has come is holy.”

12 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.

Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to Yahweh on his altar that he had built in front of the portico.

13 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.

He offered sacrifices just as the daily schedule required; he offered them, following the directions found in the commandment of Moses, on the Sabbath days, the new moons, and on the set festivals three times every year: the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Shelters.

14 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.

In keeping with the decrees of his father David, Solomon appointed the divisions of the priests to their work, and the Levites to their positions, in order to praise God and to serve before the priests, as the daily schedule required. He also appointed the gatekeepers by their divisions to every gate, for David, the man of God, had also commanded this.

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

These people did not deviate from the commands of the king to the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the storerooms.

16 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.

All the work ordered by Solomon was completed, from the day the foundation of the house of Yahweh was laid until it was finished. The house of Yahweh was completed.

17 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.

Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and then to Elath on the coast, in the land of Edom.

18 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.

Hiram sent him ships commanded by his own officers, men who knew the sea, and with the servants of Solomon they went to Ophir and they took from there 450 talents of gold and brought it to King Solomon.