1It had taken twenty years for Solomon to build the Temple of the Lord and his own palace.

2Solomon rebuilt the towns Hiram had given him, and sent Israelites to live there.

3Then Solomon attacked Hamath-zobah and captured it.

4He built Tadmor in the wilderness and also built all the storehouse towns in Hamath.

5He rebuilt Upper and Lower Beth-horon, fortified cities with walls and barred gates,

6and also Baalath. He built all the storehouse towns that belonged to him, and all the towns where he kept his chariots and horses. He built everything he wanted to in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and throughout his entire kingdom.

7There were some people who remained in the land: the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—people who were not Israelites.

8They were the remaining descendants of the peoples that the Israelites had not destroyed. Solomon made them work as forced laborers, as they are to this day.

9But Solomon did not make any of the Israelites work as slaves. Instead, they were his military men, his officers, and commanders of his chariots and horsemen.

10They were also King Solomon's chief officers, 250 men who supervised the people. ²¹

11Solomon moved Pharaoh's daughter from the City of David to the palace he had built for her. For he said, “My wife cannot live in the palace of David king of Israel, because wherever the Ark of the Lord has gone are holy places.”

12Then Solomon presented burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord he had built in front of the Temple's porch.

13He followed the requirement for daily offerings as Moses had ordered for Sabbaths, new moons, and the three annual festivals—the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Shelters.

14Following the instructions of his father David, he assigned the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites in their responsibilities to offer praise, and to help the priests in their daily duties. He also assigned gatekeepers by their divisions at each gate as David, the man of God, had instructed.

15They followed David's instructions exactly regarding the priests, the Levites, and anything to do with the treasuries.

16This is how all Solomon's work was carried out, from the day the foundation was laid for the Lord's Temple until it was finished. So the Lord's Temple was completed.

17After this Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Eloth on the coast of the land of Edom.

18Hiram sent him ships under the command of his own officers, along with experienced sailors. They went with Solomon's men to Ophir where they loaded 450 talents of gold, which they then brought back to King Solomon.