2 Chronicles 5, 6
1 So all the work that Solomon did for the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in everything his father David had dedicated, the silver and the gold and all the furnishings. And he put them in the treasuries of the house of God.
The Ark Is Brought to the Temple
2 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the families of the sons of Israel, in Jerusalem, that they might bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David, which is Zion. 3 Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with the king at the feast in the seventh month. 4 All the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark. 5 Then they brought up the ark, the tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy furnishings in the tabernacle. The priests and the Levites carried it. 6 And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel assembled with him in fear before the ark, sacrificing more sheep and oxen than could be counted or numbered. 7 Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim. 8 For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. 9 And the poles extended so that the ends of the poles of the ark could be seen from the holy place, in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day. 10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets Moses put there at Horeb when the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel when they came out of Egypt.
The Glory of God’s Presence
11 And when the priests came from the holy place (for all the priests who were present were sanctified before being separated into divisions), 12 and the Levites and the singers of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in white linen, having cymbals, stringed instruments, and harps, and with them were one hundred twenty priests sounding with trumpets; 13 and the trumpeters and singers were as one voice in sounding the trumpet and singing and in praising and thanking the Lord. And when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, they praised the Lord, saying:
“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good,
For His mercy endures forever.”
The house was filled with a cloud of the Lord’s glory, 14 so the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
Solomon Speaks to the People
1 Then Solomon said:
“The Lord said He would dwell in the dark cloud.
2 But I built a house to your name, a house holy to You,
And prepared for You a place to dwell forever.”
3 Then the king turned around and blessed the whole assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. 4 And he said, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who fulfilled with His hands what He spoke with His mouth to my father David, saying, 5 ‘Since the day I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that My name might be there, nor did I choose any man to be a ruler over My people Israel; 6 yet I chose Jerusalem so that My name may be there, and I chose David to be over My people Israel.’
7 “Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel; 8 but the Lord said to my father David, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well by having it in your heart, 9 but you shall not build the house, for your son who will come from your body, he shall build the house for My name.’ 10 So the Lord fulfilled the word He spoke, and I took my father David’s place and sat on the throne of Israel as the Lord said, and I built the house for the name of the Lord God of Israel. 11 And there I put the ark containing the covenant which the Lord made with Israel.”
The King’s Prayer of Dedication
12 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands; 13 for Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court. And he stood on it, knelt down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven. 14 And he said, “Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven or on earth like You, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts. 15 You held true to what You promised Your servant David, my father; You spoke with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hands, as it is this day. 16 Now, 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, if your sons guard the way they walk in My law, as you walked before Me.’ 17 And now, Lord God of Israel, confirm the word You spoke to Your servant David.
18 “Will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. What is this house I built! 19 Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, Lord my God, and listen to the supplication and the prayer Your servant prays before You today, 20 so day and night Your eyes may be open toward this house, toward the place where You said You would put Your name, that You may hear the prayer Your servant prays in this place. 21 And may You hear the supplication of Your servant and Your people Israel when they pray in this place. Hear from Your dwelling place in heaven, and when You hear, be merciful. 22 If anyone sins against his neighbor and takes an oath, and comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this temple, 23 then from heaven hear and act and judge Your servants, bringing retribution on the wicked by bringing his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous by giving to him according to his righteousness.
24 “Or if Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they sinned against You, and return and confess Your name, and pray and supplicate before You in this house, 25 then hear from heaven and have mercy on the sins of Your people Israel and bring them back to the land You gave to them and their fathers. 26 When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they sinned against You, when they pray in this place and confess Your name and turn from their sin because You afflict them, 27 then hear in heaven and have mercy on the sins of Your servants and Your people Israel, so You may teach them the good way for them to walk and send rain on Your land, the land You gave as an inheritance to Your people. 28 When there is famine in the land, death and blight and mildew and locusts and grasshoppers, when their enemies besiege their cities, whatever plague or whatever sickness there may be; 29 whatever prayer, whatever supplication anyone makes, or all Your people Israel make, when each one knows his own burden and his own grief and spreads out his hands in this house; 30 then hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, and forgive them. And give to everyone according to his ways, for You know his heart, since You alone know the hearts of the sons of men; 31 so they may fear Your ways as long as they live in the land You gave our fathers.
32 “And whenever a foreigner, not of Your people Israel, comes from a far country for the sake of Your great name, and for Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, and prays in this house, 33 then hear from Your dwelling place in heaven. Do everything the foreigner calls to You to do, so all the peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, so they may know this house I built is called by Your name. 34 When Your people go to battle against their enemies, wherever You send them, when they pray to You in the city You choose and in the house I built in Your name, 35 then hear their prayer and their supplication from heaven and sustain their cause.
36 “When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You strike them and deliver them to the enemy, and they are taken captive to a land far or near, 37 when they turn their hearts back to You in the land where they were carried in captivity, and repent and supplicate You in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We sinned, we have done wrong and committed wickedness,’ 38 and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity where they were carried captive, and pray toward their land You gave their fathers, the city You chose, and the house I built for Your name, 39 then hear their prayer and their supplications from Your dwelling place in heaven and sustain their cause, and be merciful to Your people who sinned against You.
40 “My God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and let Your ears be attentive to the prayer made in this place. 41 Now therefore:
“Arise Lord God, to Your resting place,
You and the ark of Your strength;
Let Your priests, Lord God, be clothed with salvation;
And let Your sons rejoice in goodness.
42 Lord God, do not turn away the face of Your Anointed;
Remember the mercies of Your servant David.”
Psalm 118:97–112
97 How I love Your law, O Lord;
It is my meditation the whole day long.
98 You make me wiser than my enemies with Your commandment,
For it is mine forever.
99 I understand more than all my teachers,
For Your testimonies are my meditation.
100 I understand more than the elders,
For I search Your commandments.
101 I withheld my feet from every evil way,
That I might keep Your words.
102 I did not turn away from Your judgments,
For You taught me Your law.
103 How sweet to my taste are Your teachings,
More than honey and the honeycomb in my mouth.
104 I gained understanding because of Your commandments;
Therefore, I hate every unrighteous way.
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my paths.
106 I swore and confirmed
That I would keep the judgments of Your righteousness.
107 I was humbled exceedingly;
O Lord, give me life according to Your word.
108 Be well-pleased with the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord,
And teach me Your judgments.
109 My soul is always in Your hands,
And I have not forgotten Your law.
110 Sinners set snares for me,
But I did not wander from Your commandments.
111 I inherited Your testimonies forever,
For these are the exceeding joy of my heart.
112 I inclined my heart to do Your ordinances
Forever for a reward.
Proverbs 26:14–17
14 A slothful man who is sent on his way says,
“There is a lion in the way.”
15 As a door turns upon its hinge,
So does a slothful man upon his bed.
16 When a slothful man hides his hand in his bosom,
He shall be unable to bring it to his mouth.
17 A slothful man appears wiser to himself
Than he who satisfactorily brings back a message.
John 11:38–57
38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”
41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
42 “And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”
43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”
44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
The Plot to Kill Jesus
(Matt. 26:1–5; Mark 14:1, 2; Luke 22:1, 2)
45 Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him.
46 But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did.
47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs.
48 “If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.”
49 And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all,
50 “nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.”
51 Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,
52 and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.
53 Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death.
54 Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples.
55 And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.
56 Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, “What do you think—that He will not come to the feast?”
57 Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might seize Him.