The LORD's Covenant with Solomon

91 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, 2 that Jehovah appeared to Solomon the 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. 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; 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. 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; 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; 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? 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.

Solomon's Further Activities

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, 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. 12 And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him; and they did not please him. 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. 14 And Hiram had sent to the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold.

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. 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. 17 —And Solomon built Gezer, and lower Beth-horon, 18 and Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land, 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. 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, 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 27 And Hiram sent in the fleet his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon; 28 and they went to Ophir, and fetched thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.

Solomon's Further Activities

81 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the house of Jehovah and his own house, 2 that the cities which Huram had given to Solomon, Solomon built them and caused the children of Israel to dwell there. 3 And Solomon went to Hamath-Zobah, and overcame it. 4 And he built Tadmor, in the wilderness, and all the store-cities, which he built in Hamath. 5 And he built upper Beth-Horon and lower Beth-Horon, fortified cities, with walls, gates, and bars; 6 and Baalath, and all the store-cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for chariots, and the cities for the horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and on Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. 7 All the people that were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel, 8 their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel had not destroyed, upon them did Solomon impose tribute-service until this day. 9 But of the children of Israel, of them did Solomon make no bondmen for his work; but they were men of war, and chief of his captains, and captains of his chariots and his horsemen. 10 And these were the chief of king Solomon's superintendents, two hundred and fifty, that ruled over the people. 11 And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David to the house which he had built for her; for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the [places] are holy to which the ark of Jehovah has come.

12 Then Solomon offered up burnt-offerings to Jehovah on the altar of Jehovah, which he had built before the porch; 13 even as the duty of every day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and at the set feasts, three times in the year,—at the feast of unleavened bread, and at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of tabernacles. 14 And he appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites for their charges, to praise and serve before the priests, as the duty of every day required; and the doorkeepers by their divisions at every gate: for such was the commandment of David the man of God; 15 and they did not depart from the commandment of the king to the priests and the Levites concerning any matter, nor concerning the treasures. 16 And all the work of Solomon was prepared, to the day of the foundation of the house of Jehovah and to its completion. [So] the house of Jehovah was finished. 17 Then went Solomon to Ezion-geber, and to Eloth, on the seashore in the land of Edom. 18 And Huram sent him by his servants ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and fetched thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.