The Lord Appears to Solomon
1Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. He had accomplished everything he had planned to do. 2The Lord appeared to him a second time. He had already appeared to him at Gibeon. 3The Lord said to him,
“I have heard you pray to me. I have heard you ask me to help you. You have built this temple. I have set it apart for myself. My Name will be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
4“But you must walk faithfully with me, just as your father David did. Your heart must be honest. It must be without blame. Do everything I command you to do. Obey my rules and laws. 5Then I will set up your royal throne over Israel forever. I promised your father David I would do that. I said to him, ‘You will always have a son from your family line on the throne of Israel.’
6“But suppose all of you turn away from me. Or your children turn away from me. You refuse to obey the commands and rules I have given you. And you go off to serve other gods and worship them. 7Then I will remove Israel from the land. It is the land I gave them. I will turn my back on this temple. I will do it even though I have set it apart for my Name to be there. Then Israel will be hated by all the nations. They will laugh and joke about Israel. 8This temple will become a pile of stones. All those who pass by it will be shocked. They will make fun of it. And they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done a thing like this to this land and temple?’ 9People will answer, ‘Because they have deserted the Lord their God. He brought out of Egypt their people of long ago. But they have been holding on to other gods. They’ve been worshiping them. They’ve been serving them. That’s why the Lord has brought all this horrible trouble on them.’ ”
Other Things Solomon Did
10Solomon built the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. It took him 20 years to construct those two buildings. 11King Solomon gave 20 towns in Galilee to Hiram, the king of Tyre. That’s because Hiram had provided him with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted. He had also provided Solomon with all the gold he wanted. 12Hiram went from Tyre to see the towns Solomon had given him. But he wasn’t pleased with them. 13“My friend,” he asked, “what have you given me? What kind of towns are these?” So he called them the Land of Kabul. And that’s what they are still called to this day. 14Hiram had sent four and a half tons of gold to Solomon.
15King Solomon forced people to work hard for him. Here is a record of what they did. They built the Lord’s temple and Solomon’s palace. They filled in the low places. They rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem. They built up Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. 16Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had attacked Gezer and captured it. He had set it on fire. He had killed the Canaanites who lived there. Then he had given Gezer as a wedding gift to his daughter. She was Solomon’s wife. 17Solomon rebuilt Gezer. He built up Lower Beth Horon 18and Baalath. He built up Tadmor in the desert. All those towns were in his land. 19He built up all the cities where he could store things. He also built up the towns for his chariots and horses. He built anything he wanted to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon and all the territory he ruled over.
20There were still many people left in the land who weren’t Israelites. They included Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 21They were children of the people who had lived in the land before the Israelites came. Those people had been set apart to the Lord in a special way to be destroyed. But the Israelites hadn’t been able to kill all of them. Solomon forced them to work very hard as his slaves. And they still work for Israel as slaves to this day. 22But Solomon didn’t force any of the Israelites to work as his slaves. Instead, some were his fighting men. Others were his government officials, his officers and his captains. Others were commanders of his chariots and chariot drivers. 23Still others were the chief officials in charge of Solomon’s projects. There were 550 officials in charge of those who did the work.
24Pharaoh’s daughter moved from the City of David up to the palace Solomon had built for her. After that, he filled in the low places near the palace.
25Three times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and friendship offerings. He sacrificed them on the altar he had built to honor the Lord. Along with the offerings, he burned incense to the Lord. So he carried out his duties for the temple.
26King Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber. It’s near Elath in Edom. It’s on the shore of the Red Sea. 27Hiram sent his men to serve on the ships together with Solomon’s men. Hiram’s sailors knew the sea. 28All of them sailed to Ophir. They brought back 16 tons of gold. They gave it to King Solomon.
Yehova Aonekera Solomoni
1Solomoni atatsiriza kumanga Nyumba ya Yehova ndi nyumba yaufumu, ndi kukwaniritsa kuchita zonse zimene ankafuna, 2Yehova anamuonekera kachiwiri, monga momwe anamuonekera ku Gibiyoni. 3Yehova ananena kwa iye kuti:
“Ndamva pemphero ndi pembedzero lako pa zimene wapempha pamaso panga. Ndayipatula Nyumba iyi, imene wamanga, poyikamo Dzina langa mpaka muyaya. Maso anga ndi mtima wanga zidzakhala pamenepo nthawi zonse.
4“Kunena za iwe, ukayenda pamaso panga mokhulupirika, mwangwiro ndi moona mtima monga momwe anachitira abambo ako Davide, ndi kuchita zonse zimene ndakulamula ndi kusamalitsa malangizo ndi malamulo anga, 5Ine ndidzakhazikitsa mpando wako waufumu pa Israeli mpaka muyaya, monga ndinalonjezera abambo ako Davide pamene ndinati, ‘Sipadzasowa munthu pa mpando waufumu wa Israeli.’
6“Koma ngati iwe kapena ana ako mudzapatuka ndi kuleka kusunga malamulo ndi mawu anga amene ndakupatsani ndi kupita kukatumikira milungu ina ndi kuyipembedza, 7pamenepo Ine ndidzazula Aisraeli mʼdziko limene ndinawapatsa ndiponso ndidzayikana Nyumba ino imene ndayipatula chifukwa cha Dzina langa. Pamenepo Aisraeli adzasanduka mwambi ndi chinthu chonyozedwa pakati pa anthu onse. 8Ndipo ngakhale kuti tsopano Nyumba ya Mulunguyi ndi yokongola kwambiri, onse amene adzadutsa pano adzadabwa kwambiri ndipo adzatsonya ndipo adzati, ‘Nʼchifukwa chiyani Yehova wachita chinthu chotere mʼdziko muno ndi pa Nyumba ya Mulunguyi?’ 9Anthu adzayankha kuti, ‘Nʼchifukwa chakuti asiya Yehova Mulungu wawo amene anatulutsa makolo awo mʼdziko la Igupto, ndipo akangamira milungu ina ndi kumayipembedza ndi kuyitumikira. Choncho Iye wabweretsa zovuta zonsezi.’ ”
Zina zimene Solomoni Anachita
10Patatha zaka makumi awiri, ndiye nthawi imene Solomoni anamanga nyumba ziwirizi: Nyumba ya Yehova ndi nyumba yaufumu, 11Mfumu Solomoni anapereka mizinda makumi awiri ya ku Galileya kwa Hiramu mfumu ya ku Turo chifukwa Hiramu nʼkuti atapereka mitengo yonse ya mkungudza ndi ya payini ndiponso golide yense zimene Solomoni ankazifuna. 12Koma Hiramu atabwera kuchokera ku Turo kudzaona mizinda imene Solomoni anamupatsa, sanasangalatsidwe nayo mizindayo. 13Iye anafunsa kuti, “Mʼbale wanga, kodi iyi nʼkukhala mizinda yondipatsa?” Ndipo iye anayitcha mizindayo Dziko la Kabuli, dzina lomwe amatchedwa mpaka lero lino. 14Koma Hiramu anali atatumiza kwa mfumu golide oposa makilogalamu 4,000.
15Izi ndi zimene anachita Mfumu Solomoni: Analamula anthu kuti agwire ntchito yathangata pomanga Nyumba ya Yehova, nyumba yake, malo achitetezo a Milo, mpanda wa Yerusalemu, Hazori, Megido ndi Gezeri. 16(Farao mfumu ya ku Igupto inali itathira nkhondo ndi kulanda Gezeri. Iye anatentha mzindawo. Anapha Akanaani amene ankakhala mʼmenemo ndipo kenaka anawupereka ngati mphatso yaukwati kwa mwana wake wamkazi amene anakwatiwa ndi Solomoni. 17Ndipo Solomoni anamanganso Gezeri.) Iye anamanga Beti-Horoni Wakumunsi, 18Baalati ndi Tadimori ku chipululu, mʼdziko lake lomwelo, 19pamodzinso ndi mizinda yake yosungira chuma ndiponso mizinda yosungiramo magaleta ndi akavalo ake. Anamanganso chilichonse chimene anafuna kumanga ku Yerusalemu, ku Lebanoni ndi ku madera onse amene iye ankalamulira.
20Panali anthu amene anatsala pakati pa mitundu ya Aamori, Ahiti, Aperezi, Ahivi ndi Ayebusi (anthu awa sanali Aisraeli). 21Zimenezi ndiye zinali zidzukulu zawo zotsalira mʼdzikoli, anthu amene Aisraeli sanathe kuwawononga kotheratu. Solomoni anawatenga ndi kukhala akapolo ake ogwira ntchito yathangata, monga zilili mpaka lero lino. 22Koma Solomoni sanagwiritse ntchito ya ukapolo Mwisraeli aliyense; iwo anali anthu ake ankhondo, nduna zake, atsogoleri a ankhondo, akapitawo ake, olamulira magaleta ndi oyendetsa magaleta ake. 23Amenewa ndiwo anali akuluakulu oyangʼanira ntchito za Solomoni. Anthu okwana 550 ndiwo ankayangʼanira anthu amene ankagwira ntchitowo.
24Mwana wamkazi wa Farao atachoka mu Mzinda wa Davide, kupita ku nyumba ya mfumu imene Solomoni anamumangira, Solomoni anamanga malo achitetezo a Milo.
25Katatu pa chaka Solomoni ankapereka nsembe zopsereza ndi nsembe zachiyanjano pa guwa lansembe limene anamangira Yehova ndiponso ankafukiza lubani pamaso pa Yehova. Potero ankakwaniritsa zoyenera kuchitika mu Nyumba ya Yehova.
26Mfumu Solomoni anapanganso sitima zapamadzi ku Ezioni Geberi, malo amene ali pafupi ndi Eloti ku Edomu, mʼmbali mwa Nyanja Yofiira. 27Ndipo Hiramu anatumiza anthu ake oyendetsa sitima zapamadzi amene ankadziwa za pa nyanja kuti aziyendetsa pamodzi ndi anthu a Solomoni. 28Iwo anapita ku Ofiri ndipo anakatenga golide okwana makilogalamu 14,000, amene anamupereka kwa Mfumu Solomoni.
