1 Kings 9

The Lord Appears to Solomon

1 *For ver. 1-9, see 2 Chr. 7:11-22As soon as Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord*ch. 7:1;2 Chr. 8:1and the king’s house and *ver. 19;2 Chr. 8:6all that Solomon desired to build, 2 *ch. 3:5;11:9the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 And the Lord said to him, "I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, *ch. 8:16,29by putting my name there forever. *Deut. 11:12My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. 4 And as for you, if you will *[Gen. 17:1] walk before me, *ch. 11:4,6,38;14:8;15:5as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, 5 *ch. 6:12;1 Chr. 22:10;See ch. 2:4then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’ 6 *[2 Sam. 7:14;Ps. 89:30,32]But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, 7 *Deut. 4:26;2 Kgs. 17:23;25:21then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, *Jer. 7:14and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, *Deut. 28:37;[Ps. 44:14]and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 8 And this house will become a heap of ruins.*9:8 Syriac, Old Latin; Hebrew will become high Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, *Deut. 29:24-26;Jer. 22:8,9‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ 9 Then they will say, ‘Because *ch. 18:18they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the Lord has brought all this disaster on them.’"

Solomon’s Other Acts

10 *For ver. 10-28, see 2 Chr. 8:1-18At the end of *[ch. 6:37,38;7:1]twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king’s house, 11 and Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber and gold, as much as he desired, King Solomon gave to Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. 12 But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, they did not please him. 13 Therefore he said, "What kind of cities are these that you have given me, my brother?" So they are called the land of *[Josh. 19:27]Cabul to this day. 14 Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents*9:14 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms of gold.

15 And this is the account of *ch. 5:13the forced labor that King Solomon drafted to build the house of the Lord and his own house and *ver. 24;See 2 Sam. 5:9the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem and *Josh. 11:1Hazor and *Josh. 17:11Megiddo and Gezer 16 (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and had killed *Josh. 16:10the Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as dowry to *ch. 3:1;7:8his daughter, Solomon’s wife; 17 so Solomon rebuilt Gezer) and *See Josh. 10:10Lower Beth-horon 18 and Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah,*9:18 Hebrew lacks of Judah19 and all the store cities that Solomon had, and *ch. 10:26;2 Chr. 1:14;9:25the cities for his chariots, and the cities for *ch. 4:26his horsemen, and whatever Solomon *ver. 1desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. 20 All the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the people of Israel— 21 *[Judg. 1:21,27,29;3:1] their descendants who were left after them in the land, *[Josh. 15:63;17:12] whom the people of Israel were unable to devote to destruction*9:21 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)—*Judg. 1:28these Solomon drafted to be *Ezra 2:55-58;Neh. 7:57-60;11:3slaves, and so they are to this day. 22 But *Lev. 25:39of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves. They were the soldiers, they were his officials, his commanders, his captains, his chariot commanders and his horsemen.

23 These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work: *[2 Chr. 8:10] 550 *ch. 5:16who had charge of the people who carried on the work.

24 But *[See ver. 16above] Pharaoh’s daughter went up from the city of David to *ch. 7:8her own house that Solomon had built for her. *ch. 11:27;[2 Sam. 5:9;2 Chr. 32:5] Then he built *See ver. 15the Millo.

25 Three times a year Solomon used to offer up burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar that he built to the Lord, making offerings with it*9:25 Septuagint lacks with it before the Lord. So he finished the house.

26 King Solomon built a fleet of ships at *ch. 22:48;Num. 33:35;Deut. 2:8Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. 27 And Hiram sent *ch. 10:11with the fleet his servants, seamen who were familiar with the sea, together with the servants of Solomon. 28 And they went to *ch. 10:11;22:48;1 Chr. 29:4;Job 22:24;28:16;Ps. 45:9;Isa. 13:12Ophir and brought from there gold, 420 talents, and they brought it to King Solomon.