2 Chronicles 8

Lexham English Bible

Solomon’s Accomplishments and Deeds

8 And it happened that at the end of twenty years in which Solomon had built the house of Yahweh and his own house, ² Solomon also built the cities that Huram^[a] had given to him, and he settled the Israelites^[b] in them. ³ And Solomon went to Hamath-Zobah and laid siege upon it. ⁴ And he built Tadmor in the desert, and he built all the storage cities in Hamath. ⁵ He also built Upper Beth-Horon and Lower Beth-Horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars; ⁶ Baalath and all the storage cities that belonged to Solomon; all the cities for chariots^[c] and cities for horses; and any desire of Solomon that he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. ⁷ All the people who remained from the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites who were not from Israel, ⁸ from the descendants^[d] who were left over after them in the land, whom the Israelites had not destroyed, Solomon conscripted them as forced labor until this day. ⁹ But from the Israelites^[e] Solomon did not give as servants for his work, but they were men of war, his commanders of his officers, and commanders of his chariots^[f] and his horses. ¹⁰ And these were the commanders of the garrisons that belonged to King Solomon, two hundred and fifty who exercised authority over the people.

¹¹ And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh from the city of David to the house that he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not dwell in the house of David, king of Israel, for those places to which the ark of Yahweh has come are holy. ¹² Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to Yahweh on the altar of Yahweh that he had built before the portico, ¹³ as was the daily requirement,^[g] to offer up according to the commandments of Moses for Sabbaths, new moon festivals, and the three annual^[h] feasts: the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths. ¹⁴ And in accord with the ordinance of David his father he appointed working groups of priests for their service, Levites for their responsibilities for praise and cultic service before the priests according to the daily requirement,^[i] and the gatekeepers in their working groups, gate by gate. For thus David the man of God had commanded. ¹⁵ And they did not turn aside from the commandment of the king concerning the priests and the Levites concerning anything, and concerning the treasury rooms. ¹⁶ And Solomon accomplished all the work from the day the foundation stone was laid for the house of Yahweh until its completion, and the house of Yahweh was finished. ¹⁷ Then Solomon went to Ezion-Geber, and to Elath, on the edge of the sea in the land of Edom. ¹⁸ And Huram^[j] sent to him, by the hand of his servants, ships and servants knowledgeable of the sea. And they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and from there they collected four hundred and fifty talents of gold and brought it to King Solomon.