Day 152 – June 1, 2022

2 Chronicles 7-9

​¹ When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the house. ² And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord at that time because the glory of the Lord had filled the house. ³ When all the sons of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the house, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying:
“For He is good,
For His mercy endures forever.”
⁴ Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. ⁵ Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand calves and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. ⁶ And the priests stood at their posts along with the Levites and their instruments for the music of the Lord, which King David had made to praise the Lord, saying, “For His mercy endures forever,” with the hymns of David. The priests sounded trumpets opposite them, while all Israel stood. ⁷ Solomon consecrated the middle of the court of the house of the Lord. He offered burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar Solomon made was not able to receive the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat. ⁸ At that time Solomon kept the feast for seven days, and all Israel kept it with him, a very great assembly from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt. ⁹ And on the eighth day they held a sacred assembly, for they observed the dedication of the altar for seven days. ¹⁰ On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, he sent the people away to their habitations, joyful and glad of heart for the good that the Lord had done for David, for Solomon, and for His people Israel.
God Appears Again to Solomon
¹¹ So Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s house, and Solomon successfully accomplished everything that came into his heart to do in the house of the Lord and in his own house. ¹² Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. ¹³ If I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, ¹⁴ if My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will be merciful to their sins and heal their land. ¹⁵ Now My eyes will be open and My ears will hear the prayer of this place; ¹⁶ for now I have chosen and sanctified this house, so that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there all the day. ¹⁷ If you shall walk before Me as your father David and do everything I have commanded you, and will keep My statutes and My judgments; ¹⁸ then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ‘A man ruling in Israel shall not be removed from you.’ ¹⁹ But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments that I set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, ²⁰ then I will remove you from the land I gave them and I will cast from My sight this house which I have sanctified for My name, and I will make it a parable and a byword among all peoples.
²¹ “As to this proud house, everyone who passes will be astonished and say, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and this house?’ ²² Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods and worshiped them and served them. That is why He brought all this calamity on them.’ ”
  Solomon’s Other Accomplishments
​¹ Twenty years after Solomon built the house of the Lord and his own house, ² Solomon built the cities Hiram had given him and settled the sons of Israel there. ³ And Solomon went to Hamath Zobah and seized it. ⁴ And he built Tadmor in the desert and built all the fortified cities in Hamath. ⁵ He built Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon, cities fortified with walls, gates, and bars, ⁶ and Baalath and all the fortified cities Solomon had, and all the chariot cities and the cities of the cavalry, and everything Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all his kingdom. ⁷ All the people who were left of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of Israel— ⁸ that is, their sons who were left in the land after them, whom the sons of Israel did not destroy—from these Solomon raised forced labor, as it is done today. ⁹ But Solomon did not turn the sons of Israel into servants for his kingdom. Some were men of war, captains of his officers, captains of his chariots and his cavalry. ¹⁰ Others were chiefs of the officials of King Solomon, two hundred fifty, who ruled over the people.
¹¹ Now Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the house he built for her. For he said, “My wife shall not dwell in the house of David, king of Israel, because the place where the ark of the Lord has come is holy.”
¹² Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord he built before the temple, ¹³ according to the daily rate, offering according to the commandment of Moses, for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the three appointed yearly feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. ¹⁴ According to the order of David his father, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, the Levites for their duties—to praise and serve before the priests—as each day’s duty required, and he appointed the gatekeepers by their divisions at each gate, for so David the man of God commanded. ¹⁵ Concerning any matter or the treasuries, they did not depart from the command of the king to the priests and Levites. ¹⁶ Now all the work of Solomon was well ordered, from the day of the foundation until Solomon finished the house of the Lord.
¹⁷ Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and Elath on the seacoast, in the land of Edom. ¹⁸ And Hiram sent him ships by the hand of his servants, and servants who knew the sea. They went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, where they acquired four hundred fifty gold talents and brought them to King Solomon.
The Queen of Sheba Pays a Visit
​¹ Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions. She brought a very great retinue, camels that bore spices, an abundance of gold, and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about everything in her heart. ² Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing too difficult for Solomon to explain to her. ³ And when the queen of Sheba had seen Solomon’s wisdom, the house that he had built, ⁴ the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers and their apparel, and the burnt offerings he made in the house of the Lord, she was beside herself.
⁵ She said to the king, “What I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom was true. ⁶ However, I did not believe their words until I came and saw with my own eyes. And indeed what they told me was not the half of the greatness of your wisdom. You exceed the fame I heard. ⁷ Happy are your men, and happy are these servants of yours who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! ⁸ Blessed be the Lord your God, who was pleased to set you on His throne to be king for the Lord your God! Because your God loved Israel and established them forever, He made you king over them to do justice and righteousness.” ⁹ And she gave the king one hundred twenty talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. There were never such spices as those the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.
¹⁰ The servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon also brought gold from Ophir and pine wood and precious stones. ¹¹ The king made walkways of pine wood for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, and harps and stringed instruments for the singers, and there were none such as these seen before in the land of Judah. ¹² Now King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she desired, whatever she asked, much more than she had brought King Solomon. So she returned to her own land.
  Solomon’s Material Wealth
¹³ The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold, ¹⁴ not including what the traveling merchants and traders brought. And all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to King Solomon. ¹⁵ And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold. Six hundred shekels of hammered gold went into each shield, and each shield weighed six hundred shekels of gold. ¹⁶ He also made three hundred shields of hammered gold. Three hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
¹⁷ And the king made a great throne of ivory from elephant tusks and overlaid it with pure gold. ¹⁸ There were six steps fastened to the golden throne, and there were armrests on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests. ¹⁹ Twelve lions stood beside the six steps. Nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom. ²⁰ All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon. ²¹ The king’s ships went to Tarshish with Hiram’s servants. Once every three years the merchant ships returned, loaded with gold and silver and elephant tusks and monkeys.
²² So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom. ²³ And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear the wisdom God put in his heart. ²⁴ Each man brought his present, articles of silver and gold, garments, oil of myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, at a set rate every year. ²⁵ Solomon had four thousand female horses for chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem. ²⁶ So he reigned over all the kings from the river to the land of the foreigners, as far as the border of Egypt. ²⁷ The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees as abundant as the sycamores of the lowland. ²⁸ And they brought Solomon horses from Egypt and from all lands.
The Death of Solomon
²⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the words of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Joel the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? ³⁰ Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. ³¹ Then Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David his father. Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.
Psalm 118:113–128

¹¹³ Transgressors I hate,

But I love Your law.

¹¹⁴ You are my helper and my protector;

I hope in Your word.

¹¹⁵ Turn away from me, you evildoers,

And I shall search out the commandments of my God.

¹¹⁶ Uphold me according to Your teaching, and give me life;

And may You not disappoint my expectation.

¹¹⁷ Help me, and I shall be saved;

And I shall meditate always in Your ordinances.

¹¹⁸ You set at naught all who departed from Your ordinances,

For their thought is unrighteous.

¹¹⁹ I counted as transgressors all the sinners of the earth;

For this reason I always love Your testimonies.

¹²⁰ Nail my flesh with the fear of You,

For I fear You because of Your judgments.

¹²¹ I work judgment and righteousness;

Do not deliver me to those who wrong me.

¹²² Take Your servant to that which is good;

Do not let the arrogant falsely accuse me.

¹²³ My eyes strained to look at Your salvation

And at the teaching of Your righteousness.

¹²⁴ Deal with Your servant according to Your mercy

And teach me Your ordinances.

¹²⁵ I am Your servant; cause me to understand,

And I shall know Your testimonies.

¹²⁶ It is time for the Lord to act;

They broke Your law.

¹²⁷ For this reason I love Your commandments

More than gold and topaz.

¹²⁸ Therefore I directed myself to all Your commandments;

I hated every unrighteous way.

Proverbs 26:18–23

¹⁸ As he who lays hold of a dog’s tail,

So is he who is the mouthpiece of another’s cause.

¹⁹ As those who need correction speak to others,

He who first replies to the word shall be tripped up,

²⁰ So are all who set a trap for their own friends;

But when they are discovered, they say, “I did it in jest.”

²¹ A fire rages among many trees,

But where there is no disagreement, contention is at rest.

²² As a fireplace is for coals and wood for a fire,

So a contentious man kindles violence.

²³ The words of a talebearer are mild

And they strike into the innermost affections.

John 12:1–36

​¹ Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.
² There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.
³ Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
⁴ But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said,
⁵ “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”
⁶ This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.
⁷ But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.
⁸ “For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”
The Plot to Kill Lazarus
⁹ Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.
¹⁰ But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also,
¹¹ because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.
The Triumphal Entry
(Matt. 21:1–11; Mark 11:1–11; Luke 19:28–40)
¹² The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
¹³ took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:
“Hosanna!
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
The King of Israel!”
¹⁴ Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:
¹⁵ “Fear not, daughter of Zion;
Behold, your King is coming,
Sitting on a donkey’s colt.”
¹⁶ His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.
¹⁷ Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.
¹⁸ For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.
¹⁹ The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”
The Fruitful Grain of Wheat
²⁰ Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.
²¹ Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
²² Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.
²³ But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.
²⁴ “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
²⁵ “He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
²⁶ “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
Jesus Predicts His Death on the Cross
²⁷ “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.
²⁸ “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”
²⁹ Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.”
³⁰ Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake.
³¹ “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
³² “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”
³³ This He said, signifying by what death He would die.
³⁴ The people answered Him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”
³⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.
³⁶ “While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.