3 Kingdoms 8
The Ark Is Brought to the Temple
1 Twenty years later, when Solomon finished building the house of the Lord and his own house, King Solomon assembled all the elders of Israel in Zion, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David, which is Zion,†
2 in the month of Ethanim.
3 The priests took up the ark
4 and the tabernacle of testimony and all the holy furnishings in the tabernacle of meeting.
5 King Solomon and all Israel were before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen without number.
6 Then the priests brought in the ark to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the holy of holies, under the wings of the cherubim.
7 For the cherubim spread their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and the holy things.
8 The holy staves extended so the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place, in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside.
9 Nothing was in the ark except the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, after they came out of the land of Egypt.
10 When the priests came out of the holy place, the cloud filled the house,
11 so the priests could not stand there ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house.
Solomon Speaks to the People
12 Then the king turned around and blessed the whole assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing.
13 He said, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel today, who spoke with His mouth about my father David, and fulfilled it with His hands, saying,
14 ‘Since the day I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house for My name to be there; but I chose for My Name to be in Jerusalem, and I chose David to be over My people Israel.’
15 Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
16 But the Lord said to David my father, ‘Since it was in your heart to build a temple for My name, you did well that it was in your heart.
17 But you shall not build the temple, but your son who will come from your body, he shall build the temple for My name.’
18 So the Lord fulfilled His word which He spoke; and I fill the position of my father David, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised; and I have built a temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
19 There I made a place for the ark which contains the covenant of the Lord, which He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
Solomon’s Dedication Prayer
20 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven;†
21 and he said, “O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below, who keep Your covenant and Your mercy with Your servant who walks before You with all his heart.
22 You have kept what You promised Your servant David my father; You have both spoken with Your mouth, and fulfilled it with Your hand, as today.
23 Now, O Lord God of Israel, keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel, so long as your people guard and keep their ways to walk before Me, as you walked before Me.’
24 So now, O Lord God of Israel, let the word be confirmed You spoke to Your servant David my father.
25 “But will God indeed dwell with men on earth? If the heaven and the heaven of heaven will not be sufficient for You, how much less even this temple I built in Your name?†
26 Yet, O Lord God of Israel, regard my prayer, which Your servant is praying before You today,
27 that Your eyes may be open toward this temple day and night, toward the place of which You said, ‘My name shall be there,’ to hear the prayer Your servant prays in this place day and night.
28 You will hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. You will hear in Your dwelling place in heaven, and You will be merciful.
29 “When anyone sins against his neighbor, or if he takes up an oath that he should swear, and comes and redeems himself before Your altar in this temple,
30 You will hear in heaven, and act, and judge Your people Israel; condemning the wicked, bringing his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous by giving to him according to his righteousness.
31 “When Your people Israel are defeated before their enemies because they sinned against You, and when they turn back to You, and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication to You in this house,
32 then You will hear in heaven and be propitious to the sins of Your people Israel; and You will bring them back to the land You gave their fathers.
33 “When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, and when they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sins, whenever they humble themselves—
34 You will hear from heaven, and be propitious to the sins of Your servant and Your people Israel; that You may teach them the good way in which to walk, and send rain on the land You gave Your people as an inheritance.
35 “When there is famine in the land; when there is death; when there is burning, locusts, or blight; when their enemy besieges them in one of their cities; whatever plague or affliction there is;
36 whatever prayer and supplication shall be offered by any man, as each one might know the plague of his heart, and will spread out his hands toward this house—
37 You will hear in heaven from Your dwelling place, and be propitious and act; and You will give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know; for You alone know the hearts of all the children of men.
38 So they will fear You all the days they live in the land which You gave to our fathers.
39 “Even the foreigner who is not of Your people,†
40 when he comes and prays in this temple,
41 You will hear in heaven from Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You. This so all people will know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel. They will know Your name is called upon in this house I built.
42 “When Your people go out to battle against their enemies wherever You send them, and when they pray in the name of the Lord toward the city You chose, and the temple I built for Your name—
43 then You will hear their prayer and supplication in heaven. You will make a righteous judgment for them.
44 When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy; and they are taken captive to the land of the enemy, far or near;
45 yet when they turn their hearts in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong,’
46 and they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and pray to You toward their land You gave to their fathers, the city You chose, and the temple I built for Your name—
47 then You will hear in heaven from Your dwelling place;
48 and You will be propitious in their unrighteousness in which they sinned against You, and in all their transgressions by which they broke faith with You; and You will grant them compassion before those who took them captive, and they will have compassion on them;
49 for they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out of the land of Egypt, out of the midst of the iron furnace.
50 “Let Your eyes and Your ears be open to the supplication of Your servant and the supplication of Your people Israel, to hear them about everything, whenever they call to You.
51 For You, O Lord and Master, separated them from all the peoples of the earth to be Your inheritance, as You said by Your servant Moses when You brought our fathers out of Egypt.”
52 Then Solomon said concerning the house he had finished building: “The Lord made known the sun in heaven; He spoke to those dwelling in darkness, ‘Build My house, a house of splendor for yourself, To dwell in newness.’ ” Behold, is this not written in the book of the ode?
Solomon Blesses the People
53 When Solomon finished praying all his prayer and supplication to the Lord, he rose up from before the altar of the Lord, after kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.
54 Then he stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel with a loud voice and said,
55 “Blessed be the Lord this day, who gave rest to His people Israel, just as He promised. Not one word has failed of all His good words He spoke through His servant Moses.
56 “May the Lord our God be with us as He was with our fathers. May He not leave us nor forsake us,†
57 that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep all His commandments and His statutes that He commanded our fathers.
58 May these words with which I have made supplication before the Lord stand near the Lord our God day and night, to maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel as each day may require;
59 that all the peoples of the earth may know the Lord is God, and there is no other.
60 Let your heart therefore be perfect to the Lord our God, that you walk piously in His statutes, and keep His commandments, as today.”
Solomon Consecrates the Temple
61 Then the king and all the children of Israel offered sacrifices before the Lord.
62 King Solomon made a sacrifice of peace offerings and offered it to the Lord: twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord.
63 On that day, the king consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the Lord. There he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offerings and the peace offerings.
64 On that day, Solomon made a feast, and all Israel was with him, a great assembly from the entrance of Hamath to the river of Egypt, before the Lord our God in the house he built, eating, drinking, and rejoicing before the Lord our God for seven days.†
65 On the eighth day, he sent the people away and blessed them. Each one went to his tent, joyful and with a good heart for all the good the Lord did for His servant David and for Israel His people.
Psalms 88
20 Then You spoke to Your holy ones in a vision, And You said, “I established help for a mighty one; I raised up a chosen one from My people;
21 I found David My servant; I anointed him with My holy oil.
22 For My hand shall support him, And My arm shall strengthen him.
23 The enemy shall have no advantage against him, And the son of lawlessness shall not continue doing evil to him;
24 I will cut his enemies to pieces before his face, And I shall put to flight those who hate him.
25 My truth and My mercy are with him, And in My name shall his horn be exalted;
26 I will put his hand in the sea And his right hand in the rivers.
27 He shall call upon Me, saying, ‘You are my Father, My God, and the protector of my salvation’;
28 I shall make him, my firstborn, Higher than the kings of the earth.
29 I shall keep My mercy for him forever, And My covenant shall be trustworthy with him.
30 I shall establish his seed unto ages of ages And his throne as the days of heaven.
31 If his sons forsake My law And do not walk in My judgments,
32 If they profane My ordinances And do not keep My commandments,
33 I shall visit their transgressions with a rod And their sins with a whip;
34 But I will not turn away My mercy from him, Nor will I act unjustly with My truth,
35 Nor will I profane My covenant, And I will not reject the things that proceeded from My lips.
36 Once for all I swore in My holy place, That I would not lie to David:
37 His seed shall remain forever, And his throne as the sun before Me,
38 And as the moon that is established forever And is a faithful witness in heaven.” (Pause)
Proverbs of Solomon 19
Mercy and Malice
1 A man’s lack of discernment maltreats his ways, And in his heart he blames God.†
2 Wealth adds many friends, But the poor man is even forsaken by an existing friend.
3 A false witness shall not be unpunished, And he who accuses unrighteously shall not escape.
4 Many men serve in the presence of kings, But every evil man becomes a reproach to another man.
5 Every man who hates his poor brother, He shall be far from friendship.
6 Good understanding will draw near those who know it, And a man with discernment will find it.†
Luke 13
What Happens to the Unrepentant
1 There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.†
2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things?
3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.
4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem?
5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
The Critical Time of Repentance
6 He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.†
7 Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’
8 But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.
9 And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’ ”
A Woman Healed on the Sabbath
10 Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.†
11 And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up.
12 But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.”
13 And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
14 But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.”
15 The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it?
16 So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?”†
17 And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.
Parables of the Kingdom
18 Then He said, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?
19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden; and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.Ӡ
20 And again He said, “To what shall I liken the kingdom of God?
21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.”