10 At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built these two buildings the temple of the LORD and the royal palace
11 King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, because Hiram had supplied him with all the cedar and juniper and gold he wanted.
12 But when Hiram went from Tyre to see the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them.
13 “What kind of towns are these you have given me, my brother?” he asked. And he called them the Land of Kabul, a name they have to this day.
14 Now Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents of gold.
15 Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscripted to build the LORD’s temple, his own palace, the terraces, the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer.
16 (Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire. He killed its Canaanite inhabitants and then gave it as a wedding gift to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.
17 And Solomon rebuilt Gezer.) He built up Lower Beth Horon,
18 Baalath, and Tadmor in the desert, within his land,
19 as well as all his store cities and the towns for his chariots and for his horses whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled.
20 There were still people left from the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (these peoples were not Israelites).
21 Solomon conscripted the descendants of all these peoples remaining in the land whom the Israelites could not exterminate to serve as slave labor, as it is to this day.
22 But Solomon did not make slaves of any of the Israelites; they were his fighting men, his government officials, his officers, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and charioteers.
23 They were also the chief officials in charge of Solomon’s projects 550 officials supervising those who did the work.
24 After Pharaoh’s daughter had come up from the City of David to the palace Solomon had built for her, he constructed the terraces.
25 Three times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built for the LORD, burning incense before the LORD along with them, and so fulfilled the temple obligations.
26 King Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber, which is near Elath in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea.
27 And Hiram sent his men sailors who knew the sea to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s men.
28 They sailed to Ophir and brought back 420 talents of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.

Reflection

Shades of Foolishness (9:10–14)
Up to this point, we have seen King Solomon exercising godly wisdom and obeying the Lord with consistency, but now we begin to see fissures in his leadership. Solomon has promised twenty Galilean towns to King Hiram of Tyre for the bountiful amounts of cedar, juniper, and gold that Hiram has supplied. When Hiram sees the towns, however, he deems them worthless. Solomon’s actions demonstrate a selfish and ungenerous attitude. He does not appear to care whether he is damaging his relationship with the other king. In our relationships with others, we may be prone to look out for our own interests first. However, may we remember Christ’s example and show generosity and care toward others.

- How generous and caring are you in your relationships? Who can you demonstrate more love and care to this week?

Shoots of Impurity (19:15–28)
While Solomon continues to bring worship to God and exercise political and military wisdom in building up his navy, he fails to keep watch over his soul. The foreign peoples who continue to work for Israel pose the danger of turning the Israelites toward their gods. We also see the allusion to idolatry with the mention of Solomon’s Egyptian wife, the daughter of the pharaoh. In our own lives, we need to cling to God and stay vigilant over our hearts especially as life gets busier for us with our careers and families. We must not become complacent but remember to be on guard against all forms of temptation so that we can be quick to eradicate them from our lives.

- What do you do to avoid the greatest temptations in your life? What can help you keep your guard in more challenging times? 

A letter to God 

Dear God, I confess that it can be so easy for me to lose sight of You and to slide toward temptation. Search my heart so that I may be quick to realize and repent from any entangling sins, and deliver me from present and future evil. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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