1And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD, and the king’s house, and all Solomon’s desire which he was pleased to do, 2That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon. 3And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. 4And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments: 5Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. 6But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: 7Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people: 8And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house? 9And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.
10¶ And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD, and the king’s house, 11(Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. 12And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him not.9.12 pleased…: Heb. were not right in his eyes 13And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day.9.13 Cabul: that is, displeasing, or, dirty 14And Hiram sent to the king sixscore talents of gold.
15¶ And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised; for to build the house of the LORD, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer. 16For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it for a present unto his daughter, Solomon’s wife. 17And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth-horon the nether, 18And Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land, 19And all the cities of store that Solomon had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.9.19 that which…: Heb. the desire of Solomon which he desired 20And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel, 21Their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bondservice unto this day. 22But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen: but they were men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots, and his horsemen. 23These were the chief of the officers that were over Solomon’s work, five hundred and fifty, which bare rule over the people that wrought in the work.
24¶ But Pharaoh’s daughter came up out of the city of David unto her house which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Millo.
25¶ And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he built unto the LORD, and he burnt incense upon the altar that was before the LORD. So he finished the house.9.25 upon the altar that: Heb. upon it, etc
26¶ And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.9.26 shore: Heb. lip 27And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon. 28And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.
Guds advarsel til Salomon
1Salomon var nu færdig med at bygge Herrens hus og sit eget palads. Han havde fuldført alt, hvad han havde sat sig for at gøre. 2-3Da viste Herren sig for ham igen, ligesom han tidligere havde gjort i Gibeon.
„Jeg har hørt den bøn, du bad for mit ansigt,” sagde Herren til ham. „Jeg har helliget det hus, du har bygget, for at jeg kunne have et sted at være. Jeg vil altid våge over det og have det i mine tanker.
4Og hvad dig angår, hvis du vil adlyde mig med et ærligt og oprigtigt hjerte, som din far gjorde, hvis du vil gøre alt, hvad jeg beder dig om, og overholde mine love og påbud, 5så vil jeg lade din slægt beholde tronen til evig tid, sådan som jeg lovede din far, da jeg sagde: ‚Der vil i al fremtid være en af dine efterkommere på Israels trone.’
6Men hvis du vender dig bort fra mig, eller dine efterkommere gør det, og hvis I ikke adlyder de befalinger, jeg har givet jer, men begynder at tilbede andre guder, 7så vil jeg jage mit folk ud af det land, jeg har givet dem, og jeg vil vende ryggen til mit hus her, som jeg ellers nu har gjort helligt. Da vil Israels folk blive genstand for hån og latterliggørelse blandt alle folkeslag. 8Mit hus skal lægges i ruiner, og enhver der går forbi, vil blive slået af forundring og foragteligt spørge: ‚Hvorfor har Herren været så hård mod dette land og dette hus?’ 9Og svaret skal lyde: ‚Fordi de svigtede Herren, deres Gud, som førte deres forfædre ud af Egypten. De vendte sig til andre guder, som de tilbad og tjente i stedet. Denne ulykke er Herrens straf over dem.’ ”
Salomons byggeprojekter
10I 20 år havde Salomon nok at gøre med de to store byggeprojekter, Herrens hus og sit eget palads. 11-12Da de var færdige, forærede han kong Hiram af Tyrus 20 byer i Galilæa-området som betaling for alt det cedertræ, cyprestræ og guld, han havde leveret. Men da Hiram kom for at se på byerne, var han langtfra tilfreds med dem.
13„Hvad er det for nogle elendige byer, du har givet mig?” udbrød han. Derefter blev dette område kaldt Kabul,9,13 Navnet hentyder muligvis til det hebraiske ord kebal, der betyder: „Det er det rene ingenting”. og det hedder det stadig. 14Hiram havde blandt andet leveret 4 tons guld til Salomon.
15Salomon havde udskrevet tvangsarbejdere til følgende byggeprojekter: Herrens hus, paladset, Jerusalems fæstning og bymur og genopbygningen af byerne Hatzor, Megiddo og Gezer. 16Gezer var den by, som Egyptens konge tidligere havde erobret og brændt ned til grunden efter at have dræbt indbyggerne. Da hans datter blev gift med kong Salomon, forærede han hende byen i bryllupsgave. 17-18Men nu var Salomon i færd med at genopbygge Gezer—og i øvrigt også byerne Nedre Bet-Horon, Ba’alat og ørkenbyen Tamar. 19Desuden byggede han nogle byer omkring de kongelige kornsiloer, og han oprettede vognbyer til sine stridsvogne og alle sine heste og ryttere. Han havde også mange andre projekter i gang i Jerusalem, i Libanons bjerge og flere andre steder i det store rige, han regerede over.
20-21Salomon udskrev sine tvangsarbejdere fra de folk, Israel havde besejret—amoritterne, hittitterne, perizzitterne, hivvitterne og jebusitterne. Det var nemlig aldrig lykkedes Israels folk at udrydde disse folkeslag helt—selv længe efter deres erobring af landet—ja, endnu den dag i dag findes der slaver, som nedstammer fra disse folk. 22Men han tvang ingen israelitter til slavearbejde. Mange af dem var i kongens tjeneste eller var med i hæren som fodfolk, officerer, vognstyrere eller ryttere. 23Andre arbejdede som opsynsmænd for slavearbejderne ved byggeprojekterne. Der var i alt 550 israelitiske opsynsmænd.
Forskellige oplysninger
24Efter at byggeriet var færdigt, flyttede kong Salomon sin kone, der var en egyptisk prinsesse, fra Davidsbyen til det palads, han havde bygget til hende. Derefter byggede han videre på Jerusalems fæstningsanlæg.
25På alteret foran templet ofrede Salomon de foreskrevne brændofre og takofre ved de tre store, årlige højtidsfester, og han brændte også røgelse.
26Kong Salomon havde et skibsværft i Etzjon-Geber nær Eilat i Edoms land ved Det Røde Hav. Der byggede han en flåde, 27og kong Hiram supplerede besætningerne med erfarne søfolk, 28som førte skibene til Ofir9,28 Ofir er et landområde måske omkring det sted, hvor Saudi-Arabiens nuværende hovedstad ligger eller i det nuværende Somalia. for at hente guld til kong Salomon. I alt hentede de over 14 tons guld.
