Solomon and Hiram Exchange Gifts

10 Now (A)it happened at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king’s house 11 (B)(Hiram the king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress and gold, as much as he desired), that King Solomon then gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. 12 Then Hiram went from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, but they did not please him. 13 So he said, “What kind of cities are these which you have given me, my brother?” (C)And he called them the land of [a]Cabul, as they are to this day. 14 Then Hiram sent the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold.

Solomon’s Additional Achievements(D)

15 And this is the reason for (E)the labor force which King Solomon raised: to build the house of the Lord, his own house, [b]the (F)Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, (G)Hazor, (H)Megiddo, and (I)Gezer. 16 (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer and burned it with fire, (J)had killed the Canaanites who dwelt in the city, and had given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.) 17 And Solomon built Gezer, Lower (K)Beth Horon, 18 (L)Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land of Judah, 19 all the storage cities that Solomon had, cities for (M)his chariots and cities for his (N)cavalry, and whatever Solomon (O)desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

20 (P)All the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel— 21 that is, their descendants (Q)who were left in the land after them, (R)whom the children of Israel had not been able to destroy completely—(S)from these Solomon raised (T)forced labor, as it is to this day. 22 But of the children of Israel Solomon (U)made no forced laborers, because they were men of war and his servants: his officers, his captains, commanders of his chariots, and his cavalry.

23 Others were chiefs of the officials who were over Solomon’s work: (V)five hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people who did the work.

24 But (W)Pharaoh’s daughter came up from the City of David to (X)her house which [c]Solomon had built for her. (Y)Then he built the Millo.

25 (Z)Now three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he had built for the Lord, and he burned incense with them on the altar that was before the Lord. So he finished the temple.

26 (AA)King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at (AB)Ezion Geber, which is near [d]Elath on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. 27 (AC)Then Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, seamen who knew the sea, to work with the servants of Solomon. 28 And they went to (AD)Ophir, and acquired four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 9:13 Lit. Good for Nothing
  2. 1 Kings 9:15 Lit. The Landfill
  3. 1 Kings 9:24 Lit. he; cf. 2 Chr. 8:11
  4. 1 Kings 9:26 Heb. Eloth

Solomon’s Other Activities(A)

10 At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built these two buildings—the temple of the Lord and the royal palace— 11 King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, because Hiram had supplied him with all the cedar and juniper and gold(B) he wanted. 12 But when Hiram went from Tyre to see the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. 13 “What kind of towns are these you have given me, my brother?” he asked. And he called them the Land of Kabul,[a](C) a name they have to this day. 14 Now Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents[b] of gold.(D)

15 Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscripted(E) to build the Lord’s temple, his own palace, the terraces,[c](F) the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor,(G) Megiddo and Gezer.(H) 16 (Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire. He killed its Canaanite inhabitants and then gave it as a wedding gift to his daughter,(I) Solomon’s wife. 17 And Solomon rebuilt Gezer.) He built up Lower Beth Horon,(J) 18 Baalath,(K) and Tadmor[d] in the desert, within his land, 19 as well as all his store cities(L) and the towns for his chariots(M) and for his horses[e]—whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled.

20 There were still people left from the Amorites, Hittites,(N) Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites(O) (these peoples were not Israelites). 21 Solomon conscripted the descendants(P) of all these peoples remaining in the land—whom the Israelites could not exterminate[f](Q)—to serve as slave labor,(R) as it is to this day. 22 But Solomon did not make slaves(S) of any of the Israelites; they were his fighting men, his government officials, his officers, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and charioteers. 23 They were also the chief officials(T) in charge of Solomon’s projects—550 officials supervising those who did the work.

24 After Pharaoh’s daughter(U) had come up from the City of David to the palace Solomon had built for her, he constructed the terraces.(V)

25 Three(W) times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord, burning incense before the Lord along with them, and so fulfilled the temple obligations.

26 King Solomon also built ships(X) at Ezion Geber,(Y) which is near Elath(Z) in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea.[g] 27 And Hiram sent his men—sailors(AA) who knew the sea—to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s men. 28 They sailed to Ophir(AB) and brought back 420 talents[h] of gold,(AC) which they delivered to King Solomon.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 9:13 Kabul sounds like the Hebrew for good-for-nothing.
  2. 1 Kings 9:14 That is, about 4 1/2 tons or about 4 metric tons
  3. 1 Kings 9:15 Or the Millo; also in verse 24
  4. 1 Kings 9:18 The Hebrew may also be read Tamar.
  5. 1 Kings 9:19 Or charioteers
  6. 1 Kings 9:21 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
  7. 1 Kings 9:26 Or the Sea of Reeds
  8. 1 Kings 9:28 That is, about 16 tons or about 14 metric tons