¹⁵ Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscripted^(A) to build the Lord’s temple, his own palace, the terraces,^[a](B) the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor,^(C) Megiddo and Gezer.^{(D) 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,^(E) Solomon’s wife. ¹⁷ And Solomon rebuilt Gezer.) He built up Lower Beth Horon,^{(F) 18} Baalath,^(G) and Tadmor^[b] in the desert, within his land, ¹⁹ as well as all his store cities^(H) and the towns for his chariots^(I) and for his horses^[c]—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,^(J) Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites^(K) (these peoples were not Israelites). ²¹ Solomon conscripted the descendants^(L) of all these peoples remaining in the land—whom the Israelites could not exterminate^[d](M)—to serve as slave labor,^(N) as it is to this day. ²² But Solomon did not make slaves^(O) 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^(P) in charge of Solomon’s projects—550 officials supervising those who did the work.