3 Kingdoms 2:26-3:27
26 Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go to Anathoth, to your field, for you are deserving of death today; but I will not put you to death, because you carried the ark of the Lord God before my father, and because you were afflicted every time my father was afflicted.” 27 So Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, to fulfill the word of the Lord He spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
28 Then the news came to Joab the son of Zeruiah, for Joab leaned toward Adonijah and not toward Solomon. So Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord and took hold of the horns of the altar. 29 They told King Solomon, “Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord. He is there, holding the horns of the altar.” Solomon sent word to Joab, saying, “Why did you flee to the altar?” Joab said, “Because I was afraid to face you, and I fled to the Lord.” Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, kill and bury him.” 30 So Benaiah went to Joab in the tabernacle of the Lord and said to him, “The king says to come out.” But he said, “No, I am not coming out. I am going to die here.” So Benaiah brought back word to the king, saying, “This is what Joab said, this is what he answered me.” 31 Then the king said to him, “Go, and do as he said. Strike him down and bury him, and remove from me and from my father’s house today the blood Joab shed for no reason. 32 The Lord will turn the blood of his unrighteousness back on his own head, because he struck down two men, Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah, who were more righteous and better than he; and yet he killed them with the sword. My father David did not know of their blood being shed. 33 That is why their blood was returned upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his descendants forever. But upon David and his descendants, upon his house and his throne, let there be peace forever from the Lord.” 34 So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, struck and killed him; and he buried him in his own house in the wilderness. 35 The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in Joab’s place over the army, and the kingdom was established in Jerusalem. Then the king made Zadok the first priest in the place of Abiathar.
The Wisdom of Solomon
36 The Lord gave discernment to Solomon, exceedingly great wisdom, and a heart as broad as the sand alongside the sea. 37 Solomon’s discernment was multiplied exceedingly, beyond the discernment of all the sons of the ancient ones and all the wise men of Egypt. 38 Then he took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the City of David until he should complete his house, and before all the house of the Lord, and the wall surrounding Jerusalem. In seven years he made and completed them.
Building the Citadel
39 Solomon had seventy thousand chosen men and eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountain. 40 Thus Solomon made the sea, the undergirding, the great basins, the pillars, the fountain of the open court, and the sea of bronze. 41 He also built the citadel and its battlements, and divided the City of David in two. Consequently, the daughter of Pharaoh went up from the City of David into the house he built for her. Then he built the citadel. 42 Solomon went up three times a year to offer whole burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he built for the Lord, and to burn incense before the Lord; and he completed the house. 43 Now these were the governors put in charge over the works of Solomon—three thousand six hundred overseers of the people doing the work. 44 He also built Ashur and Megiddo, and Gezer and Beth-Horon the greater, and Baalath. 45 However, it was after he built the house of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem that he built those cities.
46 While still living, David commanded Solomon, saying, “Behold, take with you Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite from Hebron, 47 who cursed me with a grievous curse in the day I was going to the encampments. 48 But he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘He shall not be put to death with the sword.’ 49 Now therefore, do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man and know what to do to him. But bring his gray hair with blood down to the grave.”
Shimei Is Killed
50 Then the king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and do not leave for any reason. 51 For on the day you go out and cross the Brook Kidron, know for certain you shall surely die; and your blood shall be on your own head.” So the king forced him to take an oath that day. 52 Then Shimei said to the king, “What you have said is good, O my lord and king. Thus your servant will do.” So Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem three years.
53 Now at the end of three years, two of Shimei’s slaves ran away to Achish the son of Maachah, king of Gath. They told Shimei, saying, “Behold, your slaves are in Gath.” 54 Shimei then arose, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to seek his slaves. So Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath. 55 But Solomon was told Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and brought back his servants.
56 Then the king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord and warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain on the day you leave Jerusalem and go to the right or the left, you shall surely die’? 57 Why then did you not keep the oath of the Lord and the commandment I gave you?” 58 The king also said to Shimei, “You know and your heart acknowledges all the wickedness you did to my father David, and now the Lord has returned your wickedness on your own head. 59 But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.” 60 So King Solomon commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck Shimei down; and he died. 61 Thus King Solomon was exceedingly prudent and wise, and Judah and all Israel were as many as the sand of the sea in number, eating and drinking and rejoicing.
The Reign of King Solomon
62 Now Solomon was ruler in all the kingdoms; and they brought him gifts, and served Solomon all the days of his life. 63 Then Solomon went to open the domain of Lebanon, 64 and he built Thermae in the desert. 65 Moreover, Solomon’s daily provision was thirty measures of the finest wheat flour and sixty measures of ground meal, ten chosen calves and twenty pastured oxen and a hundred sheep, and, besides this, deer and gazelles and choice fed hens, 66 because there was a governor all along the opposite shore of the river from Raphia unto Gaza, in all the kingdoms on the opposite shore of the river. 67 Thus he had peace from all his territories around him, and Judah and Israel dwelt confidently, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree, eating and drinking from Dan to Beersheba all the days of Solomon.
68 Now Solomon’s officials were Azariah, the son of Zadok, the priest, and Orniah, the son of Nathan, who was ruler of the standing guard, and Edram was over his house, and Zoba the scribe, and Baasha, the son of Achithalam, writing memoirs, and Abi, the son of Joab, the chief captain, and Achira, the son of Edrahi, over the labor force, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the temple-court and over the brickworks, and Zechariah, the son of Nathan, the counselor. 69 Solomon had forty thousand breeding horses for chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. 70 So there was a ruler in every kingdom from the river to the land of the foreigners and the boundaries of Egypt.
71 Thus Solomon the son of David ruled over Israel and Judah in Jerusalem.
Offerings to False Gods
1 Meanwhile the people burned incense on the high places, because there was still no house built for the name of the Lord. 2 But Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 3 Now the king arose and went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on the altar at Gibeon.
God Appears to Solomon
4 The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and the Lord said to him, “Make a particular request for yourself.” 5 Solomon said, “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, and with You in righteousness and uprightness of heart. You have continued this great kindness for him, and gave him a son to sit on his throne, as I do today. 6 Now, O Lord my God, You made Your servant king in place of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 7 Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You chose, a great people, who will not be numbered. 8 Therefore give Your servant a heart to hear and judge Your people in righteousness, and to discern between good and evil. For who can judge this great people of Yours?”
9 The Lord was pleased that Solomon asked this. 10 So the Lord said to him, “Because you asked for this, and have not asked for long life for yourself; nor have you asked for riches, nor for the life of your enemies, but asked understanding for yourself, to understand judgment— 11 behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you an understanding and wise heart, so there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall anyone like you arise after you. 12 I also gave you what you did not ask—both riches and honor—so there has been no man like you among kings. 13 If you walk in My ways, and keep My statutes and commandments, as your father David did, then I will multiply your days.”
14 Solomon awoke, and indeed it was a dream. He arose and came to Jerusalem and stood before the altar, before the ark of the covenant of the Lord in Zion. He offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for himself and all his servants.
Solomon’s Judgment
15 Now two women who were prostitutes appeared before the king and stood before him. 16 One woman said, “O my lord, this woman and I dwell in the same house, and we gave birth in the house. 17 On the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were together. No one was with us in the house except the two of us. 18 But this woman’s son died that night, because she lay on him. 19 So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from my side; and she laid him in her bosom, and her dead child in my bosom. 20 When I rose in the morning to nurse my son, he was dead. But when I had examined him in the morning, indeed, he was not my son whom I bore.” 21 Then the other woman said, “No, but the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.” Thus they spoke before the king.
22 Then the king said to them, “One says, ‘This is my son, who lives, and your son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No, but your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’ ” 23 So the king said, “Bring me a sword.” They brought a sword before the king. 24 The king then said, “Divide the living nursing child in two, and give half to this woman and half to the other.” 25 But the woman whose son was living spoke up to the king, for she yearned with compassion for her son. She said, “My lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him.” But the other said, “Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him.” 26 So the king answered and said, “Give the child to the one who said, ‘By no means kill him.’ She is his mother.” 27 Then all Israel heard this judgment the king rendered, and they feared the king; for they saw the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.
Psalm 99
1 A psalm of thanksgiving.
Shout aloud to the Lord, all the earth;
2 Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before Him with great joy.
3 Know this: the Lord, He is God;
He made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving
And into His courts with hymns;
Give thanks to Him; praise His name;
5 For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth is from generation to generation.
Psalm 100
1 A psalm by David.
O Lord, I will sing to You of mercy and judgment;
2 I will sing and understand in a blameless way;
When will You come to me?
I walked in the innocence of my heart in the midst of my house.
3 I have not set any lawless thing before my eyes;
I hated those who commit transgressions;
4 A crooked heart shall not cleave to me;
As for the evil man who turned away from me,
I did not know him.
5 He who secretly slanders his neighbor,
This one I chased away;
The one with an arrogant eye and insatiable heart,
With this one I did not eat.
6 My eyes were on the faithful of the earth, so they might dwell with me;
He who walks in a blameless way, this one ministered to me.
7 He who acts arrogantly did not dwell in the midst of my house;
He who speaks unjustly did not prosper before my eyes.
8 In the morning I slew all the sinners of the earth,
So as to destroy from the city of the Lord all the workers of lawlessness.
Proverbs 21:11–15
11 A righteous man understands the hearts of the ungodly,
And he despises the ungodly in their evils.
12 He who closes his ears that he might not listen to the weak,
He will also call upon someone, and there will be no one listening.
13 A secret gift calms anger,
But he who refrains from giving gifts stirs up strong anger.
14 It is the joy of the righteous to do judgment,
But a holy man is unclean before evildoers.
15 A man who wanders from the way of righteousness
Shall rest in an assembly of giants.
Luke 19:28–48
28 When He had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
29 And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples,
30 saying, “Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here.
31 “And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you loosing it?’ thus you shall say to him, ‘Because the Lord has need of it.’ ”
32 So those who were sent went their way and found it just as He had said to them.
33 But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, “Why are you loosing the colt?”
34 And they said, “The Lord has need of him.”
35 Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him.
36 And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road.
37 Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen,
38 saying:
“ ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
39 And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”
40 But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”
Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem
41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it,
42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
43 “For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side,
44 “and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
(Matt. 21:12–17; Mark 11:15–19; John 2:12–25)
45 Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it,
46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”
47 And He was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him,
48 and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.