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2 C H RO N I C L ES 8
17 “As for you, if you faithfully follow
me as David your father did, obeying all
my commands, decrees, and regulations,
18 then I will establish the throne of your
dynasty. For I made this covenant with
your father, David, when I said, ‘One of
your descendants will always rule over
Israel.’
19 “But if you or your descendants
abandon me and disobey the decrees and
commands I have given you, and if you
serve and worship other gods, 20 then I
will uproot the people 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 it an object of mockery and
ridicule among the nations. 21 And though
this Temple is impressive now, all who pass
by will be appalled. They will ask, ‘Why
did the Lord do such terrible things to this
land and to this Temple?’
22 “And the answer will be, ‘Because his
people abandoned the Lord, the God of their
ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt,
and they worshiped other gods instead and
bowed down to them. That is why he has
brought all these disasters on them.’”
Solomon’s Many Achievements
It took Solomon twenty years to build the
Lord’s Temple and his own royal palace. At
the end of that time, 2 Solomon turned his attention to rebuilding the towns that King Hiram*
had given him, and he settled Israelites in them.
3 Solomon also fought against the town of
Hamath-zobah and conquered it. 4 He rebuilt
Tadmor in the wilderness and built towns in
the region of Hamath as supply centers. 5 He
fortified the towns of Upper Beth-horon and
Lower Beth-horon, rebuilding their walls and
installing barred gates. 6 He also rebuilt Baalath and other 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.
7 There were still some people living in the
land who were not Israelites, including the
Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 8 These were descendants of the nations
whom the people of Israel had not destroyed. So
Solomon conscripted them for his labor force,
and they serve as forced laborers to this day.
9 But Solomon did not conscript any of the Israelites for his labor force. Instead, he assigned
them to serve as fighting men, officers in his
army, commanders of his chariots, and charioteers. 10 King Solomon appointed 250 of them
to supervise the people.
11 Solomon moved his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter, from the City of David to the new palace he
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had built for her. He said, “My wife must not live
in King David’s palace, for the Ark of the Lord
has been there, and it is holy ground.”
12 Then Solomon presented burnt offerings
to the Lord on the altar he had built for him
in front of the entry room of the Temple. 13 He
offered the sacrifices for the Sabbaths, the
new moon festivals, and the three annual festivals—the Passover celebration, the Festival of
Harvest,* and the Festival of Shelters—as Moses
had commanded.
14 In assigning the priests to their duties, Solomon followed the regulations of his father,
David. He also assigned the Levites to lead the
people in praise and to assist the priests in their
daily duties. And he assigned the gatekeepers
to their gates by their divisions, following the
commands of David, the man of God. 15 Solomon
did not deviate in any way from David’s commands concerning the priests and Levites and
the treasuries.
16 So Solomon made sure that all the work
related to building the Temple of the Lord was
carried out, from the day its foundation was laid
to the day of its completion.
17 Later Solomon went to Ezion-geber and
Elath,* ports along the shore of the Red Sea* in
the land of Edom. 18 Hiram sent him ships commanded by his own officers and manned by experienced crews of sailors. These ships sailed to
Ophir with Solomon’s men and brought back to
Solomon almost seventeen tons* of gold.
Visit of the Queen of Sheba
When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, she came to Jerusalem to test
him with hard questions. She arrived with a
large group of attendants and a great caravan
of camels loaded with spices, large quantities of
gold, and precious jewels. When she met with
Solomon, she talked with him about everything
she had on her mind. 2 Solomon had answers
for all her questions; nothing was too hard for
him to explain to her. 3 When the queen of Sheba realized how wise Solomon was, and when
she saw the palace he had built, 4 she was overwhelmed. She was also amazed at the food on
his tables, the organization of his officials and
their splendid clothing, the cup-bearers and
their robes, and the burnt offerings* Solomon
made at the Temple of the Lord.
5 She exclaimed to the king, “Everything I
heard in my country about your achievements*
and wisdom is true! 6 I didn’t believe what was
said until I arrived here and saw it with my
9
8:2 Hebrew Huram, a variant spelling of Hiram; also in 8:18.
8:6 Or and charioteers. 8:13 Or Festival of Weeks. 8:17a As
in Greek version (see also 2 Kgs 14:22; 16:6); Hebrew reads
Eloth, a variant spelling of Elath. 8:17b As in parallel text at
1 Kgs 9:26; Hebrew reads the sea. 8:18 Hebrew 450 talents
[15.3 metric tons]. 9:4 As in Greek and Syriac versions (see
also 1 Kgs 10:5); Hebrew reads and the ascent. 9:5 Hebrew
your words.