This is the record of the forced laborers whom King Solomon drafted to build the Lord’s house, his own house, the Millo, the walls of Jerusalem, and ⌞the cities of⌟ Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.
The Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites had been left ⌞in the land⌟ because the Israelites had not been able to claim them for God by destroying them. They were not Israelites,
These were the officials of the province who settled in Jerusalem. Some Israelites, priests, Levites, temple servants, and descendants of Solomon’s servants settled in the cities of Judah. They lived on their own property in their own cities.
However, they did not force out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. So the Canaanites still live in Ephraim today, but they are required to do forced labor.
The Lord became angry with Israel. He said, “Because the people of this nation have rejected the promise I gave their ancestors and have not obeyed me,