7. Then I will cut Israel off from the land. It is the land I gave them. I will turn my back on this temple. I will do it even though I have set it apart for my Name to be there. Then Israel will be hated by all of the nations. They will laugh and joke about Israel.
8. "This temple is now grand and beautiful. But the time is coming when all those who pass by it will be shocked. They will make fun of it. And they will say, 'Why has the Lord done a thing like this to this land and temple?'
9. "People will answer, 'Because they have deserted the Lord their God. He brought their people out of Egypt. But they have been holding on to other gods. They've been worshiping them. They've been serving them. That's why the Lord has brought all of this horrible trouble on them.' "
10. Solomon built the Lord's temple and the royal palace. It took him 20 years to construct those two buildings.
11. King Solomon gave 20 towns in Galilee to Hiram. That's because Hiram had provided him with all of the cedar and pine logs he wanted. He had also provided him with all of the gold he wanted. Hiram was king of Tyre.
12. Hiram went from Tyre to see the towns Solomon had given him. But he wasn't pleased with them.
13. "My friend," he asked, "what have you given me? What kind of towns are these?" So he called them the Land of Cabul. And that's what they are still called to this very day.
14. Hiram had sent four and a half tons of gold to Solomon.
15. King Solomon forced people to work hard for him. Here is a record of what they did. They built the Lord's temple and Solomon's palace. They filled in the low places. They rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem. They built up Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer.
16. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had attacked Gezer and captured it. He had set it on fire. He had killed the Canaanites who lived there. Then he had given Gezer as a wedding gift to his daughter. She was Solomon's wife.
17. Solomon rebuilt Gezer. He built up Lower Beth Horon