Other things that Solomon did
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1 Solomon's workers worked for twenty years to build the temple and the king's palace. 2 Then his workers rebuilt the cities that King Hiram had given back to Solomon, and Solomon sent Israelis to live in those cities. 3 Solomon's army then went to the town of Hamath-Zobah and captured it. 4 They also rebuilt walls around the town of Tadmor in the desert, and built towns in the Hamath region to be places where they kept supplies. 5 They rebuilt the town of Upper Beth-Horon and the city of Lower Beth-Horon, and built walls around them with gates in the walls and bars to fasten the gates. 6 They also rebuilt the town of Baalath and all the cities where supplies were kept, and the cities where Solomon's chariots and horses were kept. Solomon's workers built whatever he wanted them to build, in Jerusalem and in Lebanon, and in other places in the area that he ruled.7 Solomon forced people from many other groups who were not Israelis to work for him like slaves. They were people from the Heth, Amor, Periz, Hiv, and Jebus people-groups. 8 They were descendants of groups whom the Israelis had not completely destroyed. Solomon forced them to become his slaves, and they are still slaves. 9 But Solomon did not force Israelis to work for him. Israelis became his soldiers and commanders of his chariots and his chariot-drivers. 10 They were also King Solomon's chief officials. There were 250 of them, and they supervised the workers.
11 Solomon moved his wife, who was the daughter of the king of Egypt, from the place outside Jerusalem called 'The City of David,' to the place that his workers had built for her. He said, “I do not want my wife to live in the palace that my father King David's workers built, because the Sacred Chest was in that palace for a while, and any place where the Sacred Chest has been is holy.”
12 On the altar that Solomon's workers had built in front of the entrance to the temple, Solomon brought many offerings that were to be completely burned. 13 He did that, obeying what sacrifices Moses had declared should be made every day and on the Sabbath days and to celebrate each day on which there was a new moon and on the three other festivals that were celebrated each year. Those festivals were the Festival of Eating Unleavened Bread and the Harvest Festival and the Festival of Living in Temporary Shelters. 14 Obeying what his father David had commanded, he appointed the groups of priests for their work, and he appointed the other descendants of Levi to lead the people while they sang to praise Yahweh, and while they assisted the priests in their daily work. He also appointed groups of them to guard all the gates, because that was also what David, the man who pleased God very well, had commanded. 15 The priests and the other descendants of Levi obeyed completely everything that the king commanded, including taking care of the storerooms.
16 Solomon's workers did all the work of building the temple that Solomon told them to do, until it was all completed. So they finished building the temple.
17 Then some of Solomon's men went to the cities of Ezion-Geber and Elath on the coast of the Red Sea, an area that belonged to the Edom people-group. 18 King Hiram sent him from Tyre some ships that were commanded by his officers. They were men who were experienced sailors. Those men went in the ships with Solomon's men to the Ophir region and brought back about seventeen tons of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.