« | 1 Kings 9 | » |
1 So Solomon finished building the Temple of the LORD, as well as the royal palace. He completed everything he had planned to do.
2 Then the LORD appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had done before at Gibeon.
3 The LORD said to him, "I have heard your prayer and your petition. I have set this Temple apart to be holy-- this place you have built where my name will be honored forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear to my heart.
4 "As for you, if you will follow me with integrity and godliness, as David your father did, obeying all my commands, decrees, and regulations,
5 then I will establish the throne of your dynasty over Israel forever. For I made this promise to your father, David: 'One of your descendants will always sit on the throne of Israel.'
6 "But if you or your descendants abandon me and disobey the commands and decrees I have given you, and if you serve and worship other gods,
7 then I will uproot Israel from this land that I have given them. I will reject this Temple that I have made holy to honor my name. I will make Israel an object of mockery and ridicule among the nations.
8 And though this Temple is impressive now, all who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads in amazement. They will ask, 'Why did the LORD do such terrible things to this land and to this Temple?'
9 "And the answer will be, 'Because his people abandoned the LORD their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they worshiped other gods instead and bowed down to them. That is why the LORD has brought all these disasters on them.'"
10 It took Solomon twenty years to build the LORD's Temple and his own royal palace. At the end of that time,
11 he gave twenty towns in the land of Galilee to King Hiram of Tyre. (Hiram had previously provided all the cedar and cypress timber and gold that Solomon had requested.)
12 But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the towns Solomon had given him, he was not at all pleased with them.
13 "What kind of towns are these, my brother?" he asked. So Hiram called that area Cabul (which means "worthless"), as it is still known today.
14 Nevertheless, Hiram paid Solomon 9,000 pounds of gold.
15 This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon conscripted to build the LORD's Temple, the royal palace, the supporting terraces, the wall of Jerusalem, and the cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.
16 (Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer, killing the Canaanite population and burning it down. He gave the city to his daughter as a wedding gift when she married Solomon.
17 So Solomon rebuilt the city of Gezer.) He also built up the towns of Lower Beth-horon,
18 Baalath, and Tamar in the wilderness within his land.
19 He built towns as supply centers and constructed towns where his chariots and horses could be stationed. He built everything he desired in Jerusalem and Lebanon and throughout his entire realm.
20 There were still some people living in the land who were not Israelites, including Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
21 These were descendants of the nations whom the people of Israel had not completely destroyed. So Solomon conscripted them for his labor force, and they serve in the labor force to this day.
22 But Solomon did not conscript any of the Israelites for forced labor. Instead, he assigned them to serve as fighting men, government officials, officers and captains in his army, commanders of his chariots, and charioteers.
23 Solomon appointed 550 of them to supervise the people working on his various projects.
24 Solomon moved his wife, Pharaoh's daughter, from the City of David to the new palace he had built for her. Then he constructed the supporting terraces.
25 Three times each year Solomon presented burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built for the LORD. He also burned incense to the LORD. And so he finished the work of building the Temple.
26 King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, a port near Elath in the land of Edom, along the shore of the Red Sea.
27 Hiram sent experienced crews of sailors to sail the ships with Solomon's men.
28 They sailed to Ophir and brought back to Solomon some sixteen tons of gold.
The New Living Translation (NLT)
The New Living Translation (NLT) is a modern English translation of the Bible that aims to make the Scriptures accessible and engaging for contemporary readers. First published in 1996 by Tyndale House Publishers, the NLT was conceived as an effort to create a translation that combines both accuracy and readability. Unlike many other translations that focus on a word-for-word rendering of the original texts, the NLT employs a thought-for-thought translation philosophy, also known as dynamic equivalence. This approach prioritizes conveying the meaning and message of the original texts in a way that is natural and understandable in modern English.
One of the defining features of the NLT is its commitment to clarity and simplicity. The translators, a team of over 90 evangelical scholars, aimed to create a text that would be approachable for a wide audience, including those who may find traditional translations challenging to read. The NLT’s language is contemporary and conversational, making it particularly effective for public reading, teaching, and personal study. This emphasis on readability helps ensure that the profound messages of the Bible are easily grasped and retained by readers from various backgrounds and levels of biblical knowledge.
The NLT also incorporates a rich array of study aids designed to enhance the reader’s understanding of the biblical text. These include book introductions, footnotes, cross-references, and explanatory notes that provide historical, cultural, and theological context. These features are particularly useful for readers who seek a deeper comprehension of the Scriptures and their application to modern life. The translation also includes clear and concise headings that help guide readers through the narrative and thematic structure of each book, making it easier to follow and comprehend the overall message.
Despite its many strengths, the New Living Translation has faced some criticism, particularly from those who favor more literal translations. Critics argue that the dynamic equivalence approach, while making the text more readable, can sometimes result in a loss of the precise nuances and literary qualities of the original languages. Some scholars believe that certain theological concepts might be oversimplified in the process of making the text more accessible. Nevertheless, the NLT remains one of the most popular and widely used translations today, valued for its readability, clarity, and ability to convey the timeless truths of the Bible in a way that resonates with contemporary readers.