Study Desk

^[a]Hiram king of Tyre^(a) sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that he had been anointed king in his father's place,^(b) for Hiram had always been friends with David.^(c)

Solomon sent this message to Hiram:

"You know my father David was not able to build a temple for the name of Yahweh his God. This was because of the warfare all around him until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.^(d)

The Lord my God has now given me rest all around; there is no enemy or crisis.^(e)

So I plan to build a temple for the name of Yahweh my God,^(f) according to what the Lord promised my father David: ‘I will put your son on your throne in your place, and he will build the temple for My name.'^(g)

"Therefore, command that cedars from Lebanon be cut down for me. My servants will be with your servants, and I will pay your servants' wages according to whatever you say, for you know that not a man among us knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians."^(h)

When Hiram heard Solomon's words, he greatly rejoiced and said, "May the Lord be praised today!⁽ⁱ⁾ He has given David a wise son to be over this great people!"

Then Hiram sent a reply to Solomon, saying, "I have heard your message; I will do everything you want regarding the cedar and cypress timber.

My servants will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will make them into rafts to go by sea to the place you indicate. I will break them apart there, and you can take them away. You then can meet my needs by providing my household with food."^(j)

So Hiram provided Solomon with all the cedar and cypress timber he wanted,

and Solomon provided Hiram with 100,000 bushels^[b] of wheat as food for his household and 110,000 gallons^[c] of oil from crushed olives.^(k) Solomon did this for Hiram year after year.

The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as He had promised him.^(l) There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.^(m)

Then King Solomon drafted forced laborers from all Israel;⁽ⁿ⁾ the labor force numbered 30,000 men.

He sent 10,000 to Lebanon each month in shifts; one month they were in Lebanon, two months they were at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor.

Solomon had 70,000 porters and 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains,^(o)

not including his 3,300^[d] deputies^(p) in charge of the work. They ruled over the people doing the work.

The king commanded them to quarry large, costly stones to lay the foundation of the temple with dressed stones.^(q)

So Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders,^(r) along with the Gebalites,^(s) quarried the stone and prepared the timber and stone for the temple's construction.

Solomon began to build the temple for the Lord in the four hundred eightieth year^(a) after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of his reign over Israel, in the second month, in the month of Ziv.^[a](b)

The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord ^(c) was 90 feet^[b] long, 30 feet^[c] wide, and 45 feet^[d] high.^(d)

The portico in front of the temple sanctuary was 30 feet^[e] long extending across the temple's width, and 15 feet deep^[f] in front of the temple.^(e)

He also made windows with beveled frames^[g] for the temple.^(f)

He then built a chambered structure^[h] along the temple wall, encircling the walls of the temple, that is, the sanctuary and the inner sanctuary.^(g) And he made side chambers^[i] all around.^(h)

The lowest chamber was 7½ feet^[j] wide, the middle was nine feet^[k] wide, and the third was 10½ feet^[l] wide. He also provided offset ledges for the temple all around the outside so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls.

The temple's construction used finished stones cut at the quarry so that no hammer, chisel, or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.⁽ⁱ⁾

The door for the lowest^[m] side chamber was on the right side of the temple. They^[n] went up a stairway^[o] to the middle chamber, and from the middle to the third.

When he finished building the temple,^(j) he paneled it with boards and planks of cedar.

He built the chambers along the entire temple, joined to the temple with cedar beams;^(k) each story was 7½ feet^[p] high.

The word of the Lord came to Solomon:^(l)

"As for this temple you are building—if you walk in My statutes, observe My ordinances, and keep all My commands by walking in them,^(m) I will fulfill My promise to you, which I made to your father David.⁽ⁿ⁾

I will live among the Israelites and not abandon My people Israel."^(o)

When Solomon finished building the temple,^[q](p)

he paneled the interior temple walls with cedar boards; from the temple floor to the surface of the ceiling he overlaid the interior with wood. He also overlaid the floor with cypress boards.^(q)

Then he lined 30 feet^[r] of the rear of the temple with cedar boards from the floor to the surface of the ceiling,^[s] and he built the interior as an inner sanctuary, the most holy place.^(r)

The temple, that is, the sanctuary in front of the most holy place,^[t] was 60 feet^[u] long.

The cedar paneling inside the temple was carved with ornamental gourds^(s) and flower blossoms. Everything was cedar;^(t) not a stone could be seen.

He prepared the inner sanctuary^(u) inside the temple to put the ark of the Lord 's covenant^(v) there.

The interior of the sanctuary was 30 feet^[v] long, 30 feet^[w] wide, and 30 feet^[x] high; he overlaid it with pure gold.^(w) He also overlaid the cedar altar.

Next, Solomon overlaid the interior of the temple with pure gold, and he hung^[y] gold chains^(x) across the front of the inner sanctuary^(y) and overlaid it with gold.

So he added the gold overlay to the entire temple until everything was completely finished, including the entire altar^(z) that belongs to the inner sanctuary.

In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim^(aa) 15 feet^[z] high out of olive wood.

One wing of the first cherub was 7½ feet long,^[aa] and the other wing was 7½ feet long. The wingspan was 15 feet^[ab] from tip to tip.

The second cherub also was 15 feet;^[ac] both cherubim had the same size and shape.

The first cherub's height was 15 feet^[ad] and so was the second cherub's.

Then he put the cherubim inside the inner temple. Since their wings were spread out, the first one's wing touched one wall while the second cherub's wing touched the other^[ae] wall, and in the middle of the temple their wings were touching wing to wing.^(ab)

He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

He carved all the surrounding temple walls with carved engravings—cherubim,^(ac) palm trees and flower blossoms—in both the inner and outer sanctuaries.

He overlaid the temple floor with gold in both the inner and outer sanctuaries.

For the entrance of the inner sanctuary, he made olive wood doors.^(ad) The pillars of the doorposts were five-sided.^[af]

The two doors were made of olive wood. He carved cherubim, palm trees, and flower blossoms on them and overlaid them with gold, hammering gold over the cherubim and palm trees.

In the same way, he made four-sided^[ag] olive wood doorposts for the sanctuary entrance.

The two doors^(ae) were made of cypress wood; the first door had two folding sides, and the second door had two folding panels.

He carved cherubim, palm trees, and flower blossoms on them and overlaid them with gold applied evenly over the carving.

He built the inner courtyard^(af) with three rows of dressed stone^(ag) and a row of trimmed cedar beams.

The foundation of the Lord 's temple was laid in Solomon's fourth year in the month of Ziv.

In his eleventh year in the eighth month, in the month of Bul,^[ah] the temple was completed in every detail and according to every specification.^(ah) So he built it in seven years.^(ai)

Solomon completed his entire palace complex after 13 years of construction.^(a)

He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon.^(b) It was 150 feet^[a] long, 75 feet^[b] wide, and 45 feet^[c] high on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on top of the pillars.

It was paneled above with cedar at the top of the chambers that rested on 45 pillars, 15 per row.

There were three rows of window frames, facing each other^[d] in three tiers.^[e](c)

All the doors and doorposts had rectangular frames, the openings facing each other^[f] in three tiers.^[g]

He made the hall of pillars 75 feet^[h] long and 45 feet^[i] wide. A portico was in front of the pillars, and a canopy with pillars^[j] was in front of them.

He made the Hall of the Throne where he would judge^(d)—the Hall of Judgment. It was paneled with cedar from the floor to the rafters.^[k]

Solomon's own palace where he would live, in the other courtyard behind the hall, was of similar construction. And he made a house like this hall for Pharaoh's daughter, his wife.^[l](e)

All of these buildings were of costly stones, cut to size and sawed with saws on the inner and outer surfaces, from foundation to coping and from the outside to the great courtyard.

The foundation was made of large, costly stones 12 and 15 feet^[m] long.

Above were also costly stones, cut to size, as well as cedar wood.

Around the great courtyard, as well as the inner courtyard of the Lord 's temple and the portico of the temple, were three rows of dressed stone and a row of trimmed cedar beams.^(f)

King Solomon had Hiram^[n](g) brought from Tyre.

He was a widow's son from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a bronze craftsman. Hiram had great skill,^(h) understanding, and knowledge to do every kind of bronze work. So he came to King Solomon and carried out all his work.⁽ⁱ⁾

He cast two hollow bronze pillars:^(j) each 27 feet^[o] high and 18 feet^[p] in circumference.^[q](k)

He also made two capitals^(l) of cast bronze to set on top of the pillars; 7½ feet^[r] was the height of the first capital, and 7½ feet^[s] was also the height of the second capital.

The capitals on top of the pillars had gratings of latticework, wreaths^[t] made of chainwork—seven for the first capital and seven for the second.

He made the pillars with two encircling rows of pomegranates on the one grating to cover the capital on top; he did the same for the second capital.

And the capitals on top of the pillars in the portico were shaped like lilies, six feet^[u] high.

The capitals on the two pillars were also immediately above the rounded surface next to the grating, and 200 pomegranates^(m) were in rows encircling each^[v] capital.

He set up the pillars at the portico⁽ⁿ⁾ of the sanctuary: he set up the right pillar and named it Jachin;^[w] then he set up the left pillar and named it Boaz.^[x](o)

The tops of the pillars were shaped like lilies. Then the work of the pillars was completed.^(p)

He made the cast metal reservoir,^[y](q) 15 feet^[z] from brim to brim, perfectly round. It was 7½ feet^[aa] high and 45 feet^[ab] in circumference.

Ornamental gourds^(r) encircled it below the brim, 10 every half yard,^[ac] completely encircling the reservoir.^(s) The gourds were cast in two rows when the reservoir was cast.

It stood on 12 oxen,^(t) three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The reservoir was on top of them and all their hindquarters were toward the center.

The reservoir was three inches^[ad] thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup or of a lily blossom. It held 11,000 gallons.^[ae]

Then he made 10 bronze water carts.^[af](u) Each water cart was six feet^[ag] long, six feet^[ah] wide, and 4½ feet^[ai] high.

This was the design of the carts: They had frames; the frames were between the cross-pieces,

and on the frames between the cross-pieces were lions, oxen, and cherubim.^(v) On the cross-pieces there was a pedestal above, and below the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging^[aj] work.

Each cart^(w) had four bronze wheels with bronze axles. Underneath the four corners of the basin were cast supports, each next to a wreath.

And the water cart's opening inside the crown on top was 18 inches^[ak] wide. The opening was round, made as a pedestal 27 inches^[al] wide. On it were carvings, but their frames were square, not round.

There were four wheels under the frames, and the wheel axles were part of the water cart; each wheel was 27 inches^[am] tall.

The wheels' design was similar to that of chariot wheels: their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all of cast metal.

Four supports were at the four corners of each water cart; each support was one piece with the water cart.

At the top of the cart was a band nine inches^[an] high encircling it; also, at the top of the cart, its braces and its frames were one piece with it.

He engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees^(x) on the plates of its braces and on its frames, wherever each had space, with encircling wreaths.

In this way he made the 10 water carts using the same casting, dimensions, and shape for all of them.

Then he made 10 bronze basins^(y)—each basin holding 220 gallons^[ao] and each was six feet^[ap] wide—one basin for each of the 10 water carts.

He set five water carts on the right side of the temple and five on the left side. He put the reservoir near the right side of the temple toward the southeast.^(z)

Then Hiram made^(aa) the basins, the shovels, and the sprinkling basins. So Hiram finished all the work that he was doing for King Solomon on the Lord 's temple:

two pillars;^(ab) bowls for the capitals that were on top of the two pillars; the two gratings for covering both bowls of the capitals that were on top of the pillars;^(ac)

the 400 pomegranates for the two gratings (two rows of pomegranates for each grating covering both capitals' bowls on top of the pillars^(ad));

the 10 water carts;^(ae) the 10 basins on the water carts;^(af)

the reservoir;^(ag) the 12 oxen underneath the reservoir;^(ah)

and the pots, shovels, and sprinkling basins.^(ai) All the utensils that Hiram made for King Solomon at the Lord 's temple were made of burnished bronze.

The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth^(aj) and Zarethan.^(ak)

Solomon left all the utensils unweighed because there were so many; the weight of the bronze was not determined.^(al)

Solomon also made all the equipment in the Lord 's temple: the gold altar; the gold table that the bread of the Presence was placed on;^(am)

the pure gold lampstands in front of the inner sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left;^(an) the gold flowers, lamps, and tongs;

the pure gold ceremonial bowls, wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, ladles,^[aq] and firepans;^(ao) and the gold hinges for the doors of the inner temple (that is, the most holy place) and for the doors of the temple sanctuary.

So all the work King Solomon did in the Lord 's temple was completed.^(ap) Then Solomon brought in the consecrated things of his father David^(aq)—the silver, the gold, and the utensils—and put them in the treasuries of the Lord 's temple.^(ar)

At that time Solomon assembled the elders^(a) of Israel,^(b) all the tribal heads^(c) and the ancestral leaders of the Israelites before him at Jerusalem in order to bring the ark of the Lord 's covenant from the city of David,^(d) that is Zion.^(e)

So all the men of Israel were assembled in the presence of King Solomon in the seventh month, the month of Ethanim,^[a] at the festival.^(f)

All the elders^(g) of Israel came, and the priests^(h) picked up the ark.⁽ⁱ⁾

The priests and the Levites brought the ark of the Lord , the tent of meeting,^(j) and the holy utensils that were in the tent.^(k)

King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel, who had gathered around him and were with him in front of the ark, were sacrificing sheep and cattle that could not be counted or numbered, because there were so many.^(l)

The priests brought the ark of the Lord 's covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the most holy place^(m) beneath the wings of the cherubim.

For the cherubim were spreading their wings over^[b] the place of the ark, so that the cherubim covered the ark and its poles from above.⁽ⁿ⁾

The poles were so long that their ends were seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen from outside the sanctuary; they are there to this day.^(o)

Nothing was in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had put there at Horeb,^[c](p) where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt.^(q)

When the priests came out of the holy place, the cloud filled the Lord 's temple,^(r)

and because of the cloud, the priests were not able to continue ministering, for the glory^(s) of the Lord filled the temple.

Then Solomon said: The Lord said that He would dwell in thick darkness.^(t)

I have indeed built an exalted temple^(u) for You, a place for Your dwelling forever.^(v)

The king turned around and blessed^(w) the entire congregation of Israel while they were standing.

He said: May the Lord God of Israel be praised! He spoke directly to my father David, and He has fulfilled the promise^(x) by His power. He said,

"Since the day I brought My people Israel out of Egypt,^(y) I have not chosen a city to build a temple in among any of the tribes of Israel, so that My name^(z) would be there. But I have chosen David to rule My people Israel."^(aa)

It was in the desire of my father David to build a temple for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.^(ab)

But the Lord said to my father David, "Since it was your desire to build a temple for My name, you have done well to have this desire.^(ac)

Yet you are not the one to build it; instead, your son, your own offspring, will build it for My name."^(ad)

The Lord has fulfilled what He promised. I have taken the place of my father David,^(ae) and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised.^(af) I have built the temple for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

I have provided a place there for the ark, where the Lord 's covenant is that He made with our ancestors when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.^(ag)

Then Solomon stood^(ah) before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire congregation of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.^(ai)

He said: Lord God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below,^(aj) keeping the gracious covenant with Your servants who walk before You with their whole heart.^(ak)

You have kept what You promised to Your servant, my father David. You spoke directly to him and You fulfilled Your promise by Your power as it is today.^(al)

Therefore, Lord God of Israel, keep what You promised to Your servant, my father David: You will never fail to have a man to sit before Me on the throne of Israel,^(am) if only your sons guard their walk before Me as you have walked before Me.^(an)

Now Lord ^[d] God of Israel, please confirm what You promised to Your servant, my father David.^(ao)

But will God indeed live on earth? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.^(ap)

Listen^[e] to Your servant's prayer and his petition,^(aq) Lord my God, so that You may hear the cry and the prayer that Your servant prays before You today,

so that Your eyes may watch over this temple night and day,^(ar) toward the place where You said: My name will be there,^(as) and so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.

Hear the petition of Your servant^(at) and Your people Israel, which they pray toward this place.^(au) May You hear in Your dwelling place in heaven. May You hear and forgive.

When a man sins against his neighbor and is forced to take an oath,^[f](av) and he comes to take an oath before Your altar in this temple,

may You hear in heaven and act. May You judge Your servants, condemning the wicked man by bringing what he has done on his own head and providing justice for the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.^(aw)

When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy, because they have sinned against You,^(ax) and they return to You and praise Your name, and they pray and plead with You for mercy in this temple,

may You hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel. May You restore them to the land You gave their ancestors.^(ay)

When the skies are shut and there is no rain, because they have sinned against You,^(az) and they pray toward this place and praise Your name, and they turn from their sins because You are afflicting them,^(ba)

may You hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel, so that You may teach them the good way they should walk in.^(bb) May You send rain on Your land that You gave Your people for an inheritance.^(bc)

When there is famine on the earth, when there is pestilence, when there is blight, mildew, locust, or grasshopper,^(bd) when their enemy besieges them in the region of their fortified cities,^[g] when there is any plague or illness,

whatever prayer or petition anyone from Your people Israel might have— each man knowing his own afflictions^[h](be) and spreading out his hands toward this temple^(bf)—

may You hear in heaven, Your dwelling place, and may You forgive, act, and repay the man, according to all his ways, since You know his heart, for You alone know every human heart,^(bg)

so that they may fear^(bh) You all the days they live on the land^(bi) You gave our ancestors.

Even for the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel but has come from a distant land^(bj) because of Your name—

for they will hear of Your great name, mighty hand,^(bk) and outstretched arm, and will come^(bl) and pray toward this temple—

may You hear in heaven, Your dwelling place, and do according to all the foreigner asks You for. Then all the people on earth will know^(bm) Your name, to fear You as Your people Israel do and know that this temple I have built is called by Your name.

When Your people go out to fight against their enemies,^[i] wherever You send them, and they pray to Yahweh in the direction of the city You have chosen^(bn) and the temple I have built for Your name,

may You hear their prayer and petition in heaven and uphold their cause.^(bo)

When they sin against You— for there is no one who does not sin^(bp)— and You are angry with them and hand them over to the enemy, and their captors deport them to the enemy's country^(bq)— whether distant or nearby—

and when they come to their senses^[j] in the land where they were deported and repent and petition You in their captors' land: "We have sinned and done wrong; we have been wicked,"^(br)

and when they return to You with their whole mind and heart in the land of their enemies who took them captive,^(bs) and when they pray to You in the direction of their land that You gave their ancestors, the city You have chosen,^(bt) and the temple I have built for Your name,

may You hear in heaven, Your dwelling place, their prayer and petition and uphold their cause.

May You forgive Your people who sinned against You and all their rebellions^[k] against You, and may You give them compassion in the eyes of their captors, so that they may be compassionate to them.^(bu)

For they are Your people and Your inheritance;^(bv) You brought them out of Egypt, out of the middle of an iron furnace.^(bw)

May Your eyes be open to Your servant's petition and to the petition of Your people Israel, listening to them whenever they call to You.

For You, Lord God , have set them apart as Your inheritance from all the people on earth, as You spoke through Your servant Moses when You brought their ancestors out of Egypt.^(bx)

When Solomon finished praying this entire prayer and petition to the Lord , he got up from kneeling before the altar of the Lord , with his hands spread out toward heaven,^(by)

and he stood and blessed the whole congregation of Israel^(bz) with a loud voice:

"May the Lord be praised! He has given rest^(ca) to His people Israel according to all He has said. Not one of all the good promises He made through His servant Moses has failed.^(cb)

May the Lord our God be with us as He was with our ancestors. May He not abandon us or leave us^(cc)

so that He causes us to be devoted^[l] to Him,^(cd) to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commands, statutes, and ordinances, which He commanded our ancestors.

May my words I have made my petition with before the Lord be near the Lord our God day and night, so that He may uphold His servant's cause and the cause of His people Israel, as each day requires,^(ce)

and so that all the peoples of the earth may know that Yahweh is God. There is no other!^(cf)

Let your heart be completely devoted to the Lord our God^(cg) to walk in His statutes and to keep His commands, as it is today."

The king and all Israel with him were offering sacrifices in the Lord 's presence.

Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the Lord : 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep.^(ch) In this manner the king and all the Israelites dedicated^(ci) the Lord 's temple.^(cj)

On the same day, the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the Lord 's temple because that was where he offered the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the fellowship offerings^(ck) since the bronze altar before the Lord was too small to accommodate the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the fellowship offerings.^(cl)

Solomon and all Israel with him—a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath^[m](cm) to the Brook of Egypt^(cn)—observed the festival at that time^(co) in the presence of the Lord our God, seven days, and seven more days—14 days.^[n](cp)

On the fifteenth day^[o] he sent the people away. So they blessed the king and went home to their tents rejoicing and with joyful hearts for all the goodness that the Lord had done for His servant David and for His people Israel.^(cq)

When Solomon finished building the temple of the Lord ,^(a) the royal palace, and all that Solomon desired to do,^(b)

the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time just as He had appeared to him at Gibeon.^(c)

The Lord said to him: I have heard your prayer and petition you have made before Me. I have consecrated this temple you have built, to put My name there forever;^(d) My eyes and My heart will be there at all times.^(e)

As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, with a heart of integrity and in what is right, doing everything I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and ordinances,^(f)

I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised your father David: You will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.^(g)

If you or your sons turn away from following Me and do not keep My commands—My statutes that I have set before you—and if you go and serve other gods and worship them,^(h)

I will cut off Israel from the land I gave them,⁽ⁱ⁾ and I will reject^[a] the temple I have sanctified for My name.^(j) Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples.^(k)

Though this temple is now exalted,^[b] everyone who passes by will be appalled and will mock.^[c] They will say: Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?^(l)

Then they will say: Because they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their ancestors out of the land of Egypt. They clung to other gods and worshiped and served them. Because of this, the Lord brought all this ruin on them.^(m)

At the end of 20 years during which Solomon had built the two houses, the Lord 's temple and the royal palace⁽ⁿ⁾—

Hiram king of Tyre^(o) having supplied him with cedar and cypress logs and gold^(p) for his every wish^(q)—King Solomon gave Hiram 20 towns in the land of Galilee.

So Hiram went out from Tyre to look over the towns that Solomon had given him, but he was not pleased with them.

So he said, "What are these towns you've given me, my brother?" So he called them the Land of Cabul,^[d] as they are still called today.^(r)

Now Hiram had sent the king 9,000 pounds^[e] of gold.^(s)

This is the account of the forced labor^(t) that King Solomon had imposed to build the Lord 's temple, his own palace, the supporting terraces,^(u) the wall of Jerusalem,^(v) and Hazor,^(w) Megiddo,^(x) and Gezer.^(y)

Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He then burned it down, killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and gave it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife.^(z)

Then Solomon rebuilt Gezer, Lower Beth-horon,^(aa)

Baalath,^(ab) Tamar^[f][g] in the Wilderness of Judah,

all the storage cities that belonged to Solomon, the chariot cities,^(ac) the cavalry cities,^(ad) and whatever Solomon desired to build^(ae) in Jerusalem, Lebanon, or anywhere else in the land of his dominion.

As for all the peoples who remained of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not Israelites—

their descendants who remained in the land after them, those whom the Israelites were unable to completely destroy^(af)—Solomon imposed forced labor on them; it is this way until today.^(ag)

But Solomon did not consign the Israelites to slavery;^(ah) they were soldiers, his servants, his commanders, his captains, and commanders of his chariots and his cavalry.

These were the deputies^(ai) who were over Solomon's work: 550 who ruled over the people doing the work.^(aj)

Pharaoh's daughter moved from the city of David^(ak) to the house that Solomon had built for her;^(al) he then built the terraces.^(am)

Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord , and he burned incense with them in the Lord 's presence.^(an) So he completed the temple.^(ao)

King Solomon put together a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber,^(ap) which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea in the land of Edom.

With the fleet, Hiram sent his servants, experienced seamen, along with Solomon's servants.

They went to Ophir^(aq) and acquired gold there—16 tons^[h]—and delivered it to Solomon.^(ar)