Solomon

He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naftali, but his father was from Tzor, a bronze-worker filled with wisdom, understanding and skill for all kinds of bronze craftsmanship. He came to King Shlomo and did all his bronzework.

Hiram made the ash pots, shovels and sprinkling basins. With that, Hiram completed all the work he had done for King Shlomo in the house of ADONAI -

the ash pots, the shovels and the sprinkling basins. All these articles that Hiram made for King Shlomo in the house of ADONAI were of burnished bronze.

Shlomo did not weigh any of these objects, because there were so many of them; thus the total weight of the bronze could not be determined.

Shlomo made all the objects that were inside the house of ADONAI: the gold altar; the table of gold on which the showbread was displayed;

Thus all the work that King Shlomo did in the house of ADONAI was finished. After this, Shlomo brought in the gifts which David his father had dedicated - the silver, the gold and the utensils - and put them in the treasuries of the house of ADONAI.

Then Shlomo assembled all the leaders of Isra'el, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the paternal clans of the people of Isra'el, to King Shlomo in Yerushalayim, to bring the ark for the covenant of ADONAI out of the City of David, also known as Tziyon.

All the men of Isra'el assembled before King Shlomo at the festival in the month of Etanim, the seventh month.

King Shlomo and the whole community of Isra'el assembled in his presence were with him in front of the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen in numbers beyond counting or recording.

Shlomo said, "ADONAI said he would live in thick darkness.

Then Shlomo stood before the altar of ADONAI in the presence of the whole community of Isra'el, spread out his hands toward heaven,

When Shlomo had finished praying all this prayer and plea to ADONAI, he got up from in front of the altar of ADONAI, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven,

For the sacrifice of peace offerings which Shlomo offered to ADONAI, he offered 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. Thus the king and all the people of Isra'el dedicated the house of ADONAI.

So Shlomo celebrated the festival at that time. All Isra'el, a huge gathering [that had come all the way] from the entrance of Hamat to the Vadi [of Egypt], celebrated with him before ADONAI our God for seven days and then for seven more days - fourteen days in all.

After Shlomo had finished building the house of ADONAI, the royal palace and everything else he wanted to build for himself,

ADONAI appeared to Shlomo a second time, as he had appeared to him in Giv'on.

At the end of twenty years, during which time Shlomo had built the two buildings, the house of ADONAI and the royal palace,

King Shlomo gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of the Galil (recall that Hiram the king of Tzor had supplied Shlomo with cedar and cypress logs and with all the gold Shlomo wanted).

Hiram came over from Tzor to see the cities Shlomo had given him, but he was not satisfied with them.

Following is the account of the forced labor levied by King Shlomo for building the house of ADONAI, his own palace, the Millo, the wall of Yerushalayim, and the cities of Hatzor, Megiddo and Gezer.

Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, taken Gezer, burned it to the ground and killed the Kena'ani living in the city; then he had given it as a dowry for his daughter, Shlomo's wife.

So Shlomo rebuilt Gezer; he also built Lower Beit-Horon,

as well as all the cities that Shlomo had for storing supplies, the cities for his chariots, the cities for his horsemen, and the other buildings Shlomo wanted to build for himself in Yerushalayim, in the L'vanon and throughout the land he ruled.

that is, their descendants remaining after them in the land, whom the people of Isra'el were not able to destroy completely - from them Shlomo levied his forced laborers; as it is to this day.

But Shlomo did not raise any of his forced labor from the people of Isra'el; rather, they were the soldiers, his servants, administrators and commanders, and the officials in charge of his chariots and horsemen.