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After King Solomon had finished building the Temple and the palace and everything else he wanted to build,
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the LORD appeared to him again, as he had in Gibeon.
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The LORD said to him, "I have heard your prayer. I consecrate this Temple which you have built as the place where I shall be worshiped forever. I will watch over it and protect it for all time.
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If you will serve me in honesty and integrity, as your father David did, and if you obey my laws and do everything I have commanded you,
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I will keep the promise I made to your father David when I told him that Israel would always be ruled by his descendants.
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But if you or your descendants stop following me, disobey the laws and commands I have given you, and worship other gods,
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then I will remove my people Israel from the land that I have given them. I will also abandon this Temple which I have consecrated as the place where I am to be worshiped. People everywhere will ridicule Israel and treat her with contempt.
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This Temple will become a pile of ruins, and everyone who passes by will be shocked and amazed. 'Why did the LORD do this to this land and this Temple?' they will ask.
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People will answer, 'It is because they abandoned the LORD their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt. They gave their allegiance to other gods and worshiped them. That is why the LORD has brought this disaster on them.' "
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It took Solomon twenty years to build the Temple and his palace.
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King Hiram of Tyre had provided him with all the cedar and pine and with all the gold he wanted for this work. After it was finished, King Solomon gave Hiram twenty towns in the region of Galilee.
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Hiram went to see them, and he did not like them.
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So he said to Solomon, "So these, my brother, are the towns you have given me!" For this reason the area is still called Cabul.
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Hiram had sent Solomon almost five tons of gold.
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King Solomon used forced labor to build the Temple and the palace, to fill in land on the east side of the city, and to build the city wall. He also used it to rebuild the cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.
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(The king of Egypt had attacked Gezer and captured it, killing its inhabitants and setting fire to the city. Then he gave it as a wedding present to his daughter when she married Solomon,
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and Solomon rebuilt it.) Using his forced labor, Solomon also rebuilt Lower Beth Horon,
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Baalath, Tamar in the wilderness of Judah,
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the cities where his supplies were kept, the cities for his horses and chariots, and everything else he wanted to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and elsewhere in his kingdom.
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For his forced labor Solomon used the descendants of the people of Canaan whom the Israelites had not killed when they took possession of their land. These included Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, whose descendants continue to be slaves down to the present time.
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Solomon did not make slaves of Israelites; they served as his soldiers, officers, commanders, chariot captains, and cavalry.
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There were 550 officials in charge of the forced labor working on Solomon's various building projects.
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Solomon filled in the land on the east side of the city, after his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt, had moved from David's City to the palace Solomon built for her.
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Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built to the LORD. He also burned incense to the LORD. And so he finished building the Temple.
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King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Eziongeber, which is near Elath on the shore of the Gulf of Aqaba, in the land of Edom.
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King Hiram sent some experienced sailors from his fleet to serve with Solomon's men.
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They sailed to the land of Ophir and brought back to Solomon about sixteen tons of gold.
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It took Solomon twenty years to build the Temple and his palace.
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He also rebuilt the cities that King Hiram had given him, and sent Israelites to settle in them.
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He captured the territory of Hamath and Zobah
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and fortified the city of Palmyra in the desert. He rebuilt all the cities in Hamath that were centers for storing supplies.
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Solomon also rebuilt the following cities: Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon (fortified cities with gates that could be barred),
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the city of Baalath, all the cities where he stored supplies, and the cities where his horses and chariots were stationed. He carried out all his plans for building in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and throughout the territory that he ruled over.
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Solomon employed at forced labor all the descendants of the people of Canaan whom the Israelites had not killed when they took possession of the land. These included Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, whose descendants continue to be slaves down to the present time.
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Israelites were not used at forced labor, but served as soldiers, officers, chariot commanders, and cavalry troops.
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There were 250 officials in charge of the forced labor working on the various building projects.
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Solomon moved his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt, from David's City to a house he built for her. He said, "She must not live in the palace of King David of Israel, because any place where the Covenant Box has been is holy."
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Solomon offered sacrifices to the LORD on the altar which he had built in front of the Temple.
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He offered burnt offerings according to the requirements of the Law of Moses for each holy day: Sabbaths, New Moon Festivals, and the three annual festivals---the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Harvest Festival, and the Festival of Shelters.
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Following the rules laid down by his father David, he organized the daily work of the priests and of the Levites who assisted the priests in singing hymns and in doing their work. He also organized the Temple guards in sections for performing their daily duties at each gate, in accordance with the commands of David, the man of God.
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The instructions which David had given the priests and the Levites concerning the storehouses and other matters were carried out in detail.
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By this time all of Solomon's projects had been completed. From the laying of the foundation of the LORD's Temple to its completion, all the work had been successful.
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Then Solomon went to Eziongeber and Elath, ports on the shore of the Gulf of Aqaba, in the land of Edom.
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King Hiram sent him ships under the command of his own officers and with experienced sailors. They sailed with Solomon's officers to the land of Ophir and brought back to Solomon about sixteen tons of gold.
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Give thanks to the LORD, because he is good; his love is eternal.
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Give thanks to the greatest of all gods; his love is eternal.
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Give thanks to the mightiest of all lords; his love is eternal.
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He alone performs great miracles; his love is eternal.
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By his wisdom he made the heavens; his love is eternal;
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he built the earth on the deep waters; his love is eternal.
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He made the sun and the moon; his love is eternal;
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the sun to rule over the day; his love is eternal;
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the moon and the stars to rule over the night; his love is eternal.
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He killed the first-born sons of the Egyptians; his love is eternal.
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He led the people of Israel out of Egypt; his love is eternal;
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with his strong hand, his powerful arm; his love is eternal.
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He divided the Red Sea; his love is eternal;
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he led his people through it; his love is eternal;
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but he drowned the king of Egypt and his army; his love is eternal.
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He led his people through the desert; his love is eternal.
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He killed powerful kings; his love is eternal;
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he killed famous kings; his love is eternal;
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Sihon, king of the Amorites; his love is eternal;
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and Og, king of Bashan; his love is eternal.
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He gave their lands to his people; his love is eternal;
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he gave them to Israel, his servant; his love is eternal.
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He did not forget us when we were defeated; his love is eternal;
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he freed us from our enemies; his love is eternal.
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He gives food to every living creature; his love is eternal.
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Give thanks to the God of heaven; his love is eternal.
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Now that we have been put right with God through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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He has brought us by faith into this experience of God's grace, in which we now live. And so we boast of the hope we have of sharing God's glory!
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We also boast of our troubles, because we know that trouble produces endurance,
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endurance brings God's approval, and his approval creates hope.
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This hope does not disappoint us, for God has poured out his love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit, who is God's gift to us.
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For when we were still helpless, Christ died for the wicked at the time that God chose.
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It is a difficult thing for someone to die for a righteous person. It may even be that someone might dare to die for a good person.
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But God has shown us how much he loves us---it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!
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By his blood we are now put right with God; how much more, then, will we be saved by him from God's anger!
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We were God's enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God's friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ's life!
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But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has now made us God's friends.
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Sin came into the world through one man, and his sin brought death with it. As a result, death has spread to the whole human race because everyone has sinned.
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There was sin in the world before the Law was given; but where there is no law, no account is kept of sins.
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But from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, death ruled over all human beings, even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam did when he disobeyed God's command. Adam was a figure of the one who was to come.
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But the two are not the same, because God's free gift is not like Adam's sin. It is true that many people died because of the sin of that one man. But God's grace is much greater, and so is his free gift to so many people through the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ.
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And there is a difference between God's gift and the sin of one man. After the one sin, came the judgment of "Guilty"; but after so many sins, comes the undeserved gift of "Not guilty!"
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It is true that through the sin of one man death began to rule because of that one man. But how much greater is the result of what was done by the one man, Jesus Christ! All who receive God's abundant grace and are freely put right with him will rule in life through Christ.
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So then, as the one sin condemned all people, in the same way the one righteous act sets all people free and gives them life.
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And just as all people were made sinners as the result of the disobedience of one man, in the same way they will all be put right with God as the result of the obedience of the one man.
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Law was introduced in order to increase wrongdoing; but where sin increased, God's grace increased much more.
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So then, just as sin ruled by means of death, so also God's grace rules by means of righteousness, leading us to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
