2 Chronicles 8

Solomon’s Later Building Projects

8At the end of 20 years ^oduring which Solomon had built the Lord’s temple and his own palace— ²Solomon had rebuilt the cities Hiram ^pgave him and settled Israelites there— ³Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and seized it. ⁴He built Tadmor in the wilderness along with all the storage cities that he built in Hamath. ⁵He built Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon ^q—fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars ^r— ⁶Baalath, all the storage cities that belonged to Solomon, all the chariot cities, the cavalry cities, and everything Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, or anywhere else in the land of his dominion.

⁷As for all the peoples who remained of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not from Israel ^s— ⁸their descendants who remained in the land after them, those the Israelites had not completely destroyed—Solomon imposed forced labor on them; it is this way today. ^t9But Solomon did not consign the Israelites to be slaves for his work; they were soldiers, commanders of his captains, and commanders of his chariots and his cavalry. ¹⁰These were King Solomon’s deputies: 250 who ruled over the people.

¹¹Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh from the city of David to the house he had built for her, ^ufor he said, “My wife must not live in the house ^vof David king of Israel because the places the ark of the Lord has come into are holy.”

Public Worship Established at the Temple

¹²At that time ^wSolomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the Lord’s altar he had made in front of the portico. ^x13He followed the daily requirement ^yfor offerings according to the commandment of Moses ^zfor Sabbaths, New Moons, and the three annual appointed festivals: the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Booths. ^a14According to the ordinances of his father David, he appointed the divisions of the priests over their service, ^bof the Levites over their responsibilities to offer praise and to minister before the priests following the daily requirement, ^cand of the gatekeepers by their divisions with respect to each gate, ^dfor this had been the command of David, the man of God. ^e15They did not turn aside from the king’s command regarding the priests and the Levites concerning any matter or concerning the treasuries. ^f16All of Solomon’s work was carried out from the day the foundation was laid for the Lord’s temple until it was finished. So the Lord’s temple was completed.

Solomon’s Fleet

¹⁷At that time ^gSolomon went to Ezion-geber and to Eloth ^hon the seashore in the land of Edom. ¹⁸So Hiram ⁱsent ships to him by his servants along with crews of experienced seamen. They went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir, took from there 17 tons ^jof gold, and delivered it to King Solomon. ^k