1Kings 9 - Prayer Tents

The Lord’s Response to Solomon

9So Solomon finished building the Temple of the LORD, as well as the royal palace. He completed everything he had planned to do.H8010H3615H1129H1004H3068H4428H1004H8010H2837H2654H6213 2Then the LORD appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had done before at Gibeon.H3068H7200H8010H8145H7200H1391 3The LORD said to him, "I have heard your prayer and your petition. I have set this Temple apart to be holy - this place you have built where my name will be honored forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear to my heart.H3068H559H8085H8605H8467H2603H6440H6942H1004H1129H7760H8034H5704H5769H5869H3820H3117 4"As for you, if you will follow me with integrity and godliness, as David your father did, obeying all my commands, decrees, and regulations,H3212H6440H1732H1H1980H8537H3824H3476H6213H6680H8104H2706H4941 5then I will establish the throne of your dynasty over Israel forever. For I made this promise to your father, David: 'One of your descendants will always sit on the throne of Israel.'H6965H3678H4467H3478H5769H1696H1732H1H559H3772H376H3678H3478 6"But if you or your descendants abandon me and disobey the commands and decrees I have given you, and if you serve and worship other gods,H7725H7725H310H1121H8104H4687H2708H5414H6440H1980H5647H312H430H7812 7then I will uproot Israel from this land that I have given them. I will reject this Temple that I have made holy to honor my name. I will make Israel an object of mockery and ridicule among the nations.H3772H3478H6440H127H5414H1004H6942H8034H7971H6440H3478H4912H8148H5971 8And though this Temple is impressive now, all who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads in amazement. They will ask, 'Why did the LORD do such terrible things to this land and to this Temple?'H1004H5945H5674H8074H8319H559H3068H6213H776H1004 9"And the answer will be, 'Because his people abandoned the LORD their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they worshiped other gods instead and bowed down to them. That is why the LORD has brought all these disasters on them.'"H559H5800H3068H430H3318H1H776H4714H2388H312H430H7812H5647H3068H935H7451

Solomon’s Agreement with Hiram

10It took Solomon twenty years to build the LORD's Temple and his own royal palace. At the end of that time,H7097H6242H8141H8010H1129H8147H1004H1004H3068H4428H1004 11he gave twenty towns in the land of Galilee to King Hiram of Tyre. (Hiram had previously provided all the cedar and cypress timber and gold that Solomon had requested.)H2438H4428H6865H5375H8010H730H6086H1265H6086H2091H2656H227H4428H8010H5414H2438H6242H5892H776H1551 12But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the towns Solomon had given him, he was not at all pleased with them.H2438H3318H6865H7200H5892H8010H5414H3474H5869 13"What kind of towns are these, my brother?" he asked. So Hiram called that area Cabul (which means "worthless"), as it is still known today.H559H5892H5414H251H7121H776H3521H3117 14Nevertheless, Hiram paid Solomon 9,000 pounds of gold.H2438H7971H4428H3967H6242H3603H2091

Solomon’s Many Achievements

15This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon conscripted to build the LORD's Temple, the royal palace, the supporting terraces, the wall of Jerusalem, and the cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.H1697H4522H4428H8010H5927H1129H1004H3068H1004H4407H2346H3389H2674H4023H1507 16(Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer, killing the Canaanite population and burning it down. He gave the city to his daughter as a wedding gift when she married Solomon.H6547H4428H4714H5927H3920H1507H8313H784H2026H3669H3427H5892H5414H7964H1323H8010H802 17So Solomon rebuilt the city of Gezer.) He also built up the towns of Lower Beth-horon,H8010H1129H1507H1032H8481 18Baalath, and Tamar in the wilderness within his land.H1191H8412H4057H776 19He built towns as supply centers and constructed towns where his chariots and horses could be stationed. He built everything he desired in Jerusalem and Lebanon and throughout his entire realm.H5892H4543H8010H5892H7393H5892H6571H2837H8010H2836H1129H3389H3844H776H4475 20There were still some people living in the land who were not Israelites, including Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.H5971H3498H567H2850H6522H2340H2983H1121H3478 21These were descendants of the nations whom the people of Israel had not completely destroyed. So Solomon conscripted them for his labor force, and they serve in the labor force to this day.H1121H3498H310H776H1121H3478H3201H2763H8010H5927H4522H5647H3117 22But Solomon did not conscript any of the Israelites for forced labor. Instead, he assigned them to serve as fighting men, government officials, officers and captains in his army, commanders of his chariots, and charioteers.H1121H3478H8010H5414H5650H582H4421H5650H8269H7991H8269H7393H6571 23Solomon appointed 550 of them to supervise the people working on his various projects.H8269H5324H8010H4399H2568H3967H2572H7287H5971H6213H4399 24Solomon moved his wife, Pharaoh's daughter, from the City of David to the new palace he had built for her. Then he constructed the supporting terraces.H6547H1323H5927H5892H1732H1004H1129H1129H4407 25Three times each year Solomon presented burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built for the LORD. He also burned incense to the LORD. And so he finished the work of building the Temple.H7969H6471H8141H8010H5927H5930H8002H4196H1129H3068H6999H4196H6440H3068H7999H1004 26King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, a port near Elath in the land of Edom, along the shore of the Red Sea.H4428H8010H6213H590H6100H359H8193H5488H3220H776H123 27Hiram sent experienced crews of sailors to sail the ships with Solomon's men.H2438H7971H590H5650H582H591H3045H3220H5650H8010 28They sailed to Ophir and brought back to Solomon some sixteen tons of gold.H935H211H3947H2091H702H3967H6242H3603H935H4428H8010