2Ch 8 | EE | STEP | After 20 years, Solomon had built the house of the LORD and his own house.

2 Chronicles 8

Solomon builds more villages

1 After 20 years, Solomon had built the house of the LORD and his own house. 2 After that, he built in the towns that Huram had given to him. And he sent Israelites to live in them. 3 Then Solomon went to Hamath-Zobah. And he won the fight with the people who lived there. 4 He made Tadmor in the desert and the towns that he had built in Hamath to store things stronger. 5 He built again Higher Beth-Horon and Lower Beth-Horon. He made those cities strong and he put walls with strong gates round them. 6 And he built Baalath and more towns to store things. And he built other towns for his chariots and for his men who rode horses to live in. He built in Jerusalem, Lebanon or in any place that he ruled. He built anything that he wanted to build in all those places.

Solomon causes people who are not Israelites to become his slaves

7 Some people who were not Israelites still lived in the country. They were the people called Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 8 They were descendants of the people from those nations that the Israelites had not killed. Solomon caused them to work as slaves for him. And they are still slaves today. 9 But Solomon did not cause any Israelites to become slaves for his work. But they were his soldiers, their officers, and the men who drove his chariots. Or they were his soldiers who rode on horses. 10 King Solomon’s most important officers were 250 Israelites who ruled over the people.

Solomon gives a house to Pharaoh‘s daughter

11 Solomon brought Pharaoh‘s daughter up from David’s city into the house that he had built for her. He did that because, he said, ‘My wife must not live in the house of David the king of Israel. The LORD‘s Covenant Box has been there, so that house is holy.’

How the priests and the Levites worked in the Temple

12 Solomon had built an altar in front of the door of the temple. Now he gave sacrifices by fire to the LORD on it. 13 He told the priests and the Levites what they must do every day. Moses had told them what they must do every Sabbath, every New Moon and during three special feasts each year. Those three special feasts were the feast of unleavened bread, the feast-of-weeks and the feast-of-shelters. 14 Solomon gave jobs to groups of priests as his father, David, had described. He caused the Levites to be leaders of the praise. And they had to help the priests as they needed it each day. And he told the guards at each gate when each guard should work. He was doing as David, God’s servant, had said. 15 All the priests and all the Levites were careful to do what the king had said about everything. And that included how they kept the valuable things safe. They did not change his words.

16 Solomon’s servants did all Solomon’s work. They started on the day when they put down the floor of the LORD‘s house. And they worked until they had finished it. So they finished the house of the LORD.

Solomon’s men fetch gold from Ophir

17 Then Solomon went to Ezion-Geber and to Eloth by the edge of the sea. Those towns were in the country called Edom. 18 And Huram sent ships to him with his own men. They had their own officers who knew the sea. Those officers sailed with Solomon’s servants to Ophir. And they returned with 17,000 kilos (38,000 pounds) of gold and they gave it to King Solomon.