3 Kingdoms 8:53-10:33
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.
God Appears Again to Solomon
1 Now when Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord and the king’s house, and everything Solomon wanted to do, 2 the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as He appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 The Lord said to him, “I heard your prayer and the supplication you made before Me; I have done for you everything in your prayer. I consecrated this house you built to place My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there all the days. 4 Now if you walk before Me as your father David walked, with integrity of heart and in uprightness, and you do everything I commanded him and keep My statutes and My judgments, 5 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I said to David your father, saying, ‘There shall not fail a man to be ruler in Israel.’
6 “But if you or your sons turn from Me and do not keep My commandments and My statutes Moses set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, 7 then I will cut off Israel from the land I gave them. I will cast from My sight this house which I made holy by My name. Israel will be destroyed, and will become but prattle among the peoples. 8 As for this exalted house, everyone who passes by it will be astonished, and will hiss and say, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and to this house?’ 9 Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, and they embraced other gods and worshiped and served them. That is why the Lord brought all this calamity on them.’ ”
10 Then Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh from the City of David into the house he built for himself in those days.
The Pact with Hiram
11 Now twenty years later, after Solomon built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king’s house, 12 Hiram the king of Tyre helped supply Solomon, as much as he desired, with cedar and pine and gold. Then King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. 13 So Hiram went from Tyre to Galilee to see the cities Solomon gave him, but they were not pleasing to him. 14 He said, “What are these cities you gave me, my brother?” So he called them frontier cities to this day. 15 Then Hiram sent Solomon one hundred and twenty talents of gold. 16 King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion Geber, near Elath on the shore of the sea, in the land of Edom. 17 Then Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, seamen who knew the sea, to work with the servants of Solomon. 18 They came to Ophir, and acquired one hundred twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.
The Queen of Sheba
1 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. 2 She came to Jerusalem with a very large retinue, with camels that bore spices, a great deal of gold, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about everything in her heart. 3 So Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her. 4 When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house he built, 5 Solomon’s food, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers, and the burnt offering he offered in the house of the Lord, she was completely amazed.
6 Then she said to King Solomon, “The report I heard in my land about your words and your wisdom was true. 7 However, I did not believe those who told me until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed, half of what I see was not told me. You added to the good thing I heard in my land. 8 Happy are your wives, and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom. 9 Blessed be the Lord your God, who delights in you, setting you on the throne of Israel. For the Lord so loved Israel as to make it stand forever. Therefore He made you king over them, to make judgment and do righteousness.”
10 Then she gave Solomon one hundred twenty talents of gold, spices, and precious stones in great quantity. There was never again such abundance of spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. 11 The ships of Hiram that brought gold from Ophir also brought great quantities of uncut timber and precious stones. 12 The king made supports from the uncut timber for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, as well as harps and stringed instruments for the singers. There never again came such uncut timber, nor has the like been seen to this day. 13 Now King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she desired, whatever she asked, besides all he had given her by the hand of King Solomon. Then she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
Solomon’s Wealth
14 The weight of gold that came to Solomon in a year was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold, 15 in addition to that from traveling merchants, from the income of traders, from all the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the country. 16 Solomon made three hundred spears of hammered gold, with three hundred shekels of gold in each spear. 17 He also made three hundred weapons of hammered gold, with three minas of gold that went into each weapon. The king kept them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
18 Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory, overlaid with pure gold, 19 with six upward steps to the throne and busts of calves’ heads encircling the back. On each side of the seat were armrests with two lions standing on the side of the armrests. 20 Standing, one on each side of the six steps, were twelve lions. Nothing like this was made for any other kingdom. 21 All the drinking utensils of King Solomon were gold, as were the tubs for bathing. All the furniture of the house of the forest of Lebanon was completely overlaid with gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon, 22 for a ship of Tarshish, a merchant ship of the king’s stationed at sea with the fleet of Hiram, came once every three years, bringing gold, silver, and chiseled stones.
23 This is the outcome of the trading by which king Solomon built up the house of the Lord, the house of the king, the wall of Jerusalem, and the citadel; to fortify the City of David, Hazor and Megiddo, Gezer, Beth Horon the upper, Jethermath, and all the cities of the horsemen and the chariots. Solomon purposed to build the fortifications in Jerusalem and in all the land, so none of the people should rule over him— 24 the people left behind from the Cherethites, the Amorites, the Perezzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Jebusites and the Girgashites. These were the ones, and their children, not belonging to the children of Israel, that Israel was unable to utterly destroy from the land. Solomon made them pay tribute to this day. 25 Solomon did not deliver any of the sons of Israel to this work; instead, these were men of war, his servants, and those in charge of his chariots and horses.
26 So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and discernment. 27 Now the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear the wisdom God put in his heart. 28 Everyone brought presents: golden vessels, garments, oil of myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, at a set rate year by year. 29 Solomon had four thousand female horses for chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 30 Thus he was the leader of all the kings from the river as far as the land of the Philistines and as far as the borders of Egypt. 31 The king made gold and silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees as abundant as the sycamores in the lowland. 32 The importation of Solomon’s horses was from Egypt and Tekoa, and the merchants of the king purchased them at market price. 33 Now a chariot imported from Egypt cost one hundred shekels of silver, and a horse cost fifty. Thus it was that all the chariots and horses exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria came by way of the sea.
Psalm 102:1–12
1 By David.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And everything within me, bless His holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His rewards:
3 Who is merciful to all your transgressions,
Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from corruption,
Who crowns you with mercy and compassion,
5 Who satisfies your desire with good things;
And your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord shows mercies
And judgment to all who are wronged.
7 He made known His ways to Moses,
The things He willed to the sons of Israel.
8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not become angry to the end,
Nor will He be wrathful forever;
10 He did not deal with us according to our sins,
Nor reward us according to our transgressions;
11 For according to the height of heaven from earth,
So the Lord reigns in mercy over those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So He removes our transgressions from us.
Proverbs 21:26–30
26 The sacrifices of the ungodly are an abomination to the Lord,
For they offer them lawlessly.
27 A false witness shall perish,
But an obedient man will speak guardedly.
28 An ungodly man resists shamelessly to the face,
But the upright man himself understands his ways.
29 There is no wisdom, there is no courage,
There is no counsel for the ungodly.
30 The horse is prepared for the day of war,
But help is from the Lord.
Luke 21:1–19
1 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury,
2 and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.
3 So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all;
4 “for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”
Jesus Predicts the Destruction of the Temple
(Matt. 24:1, 2; Mark 13:1, 2)
5 Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said,
6 “These things which you see—the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down.”
The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age
(Matt. 24:3–14; Mark 13:3–13)
7 So they asked Him, saying, “Teacher, but when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?”
8 And He said: “Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time has drawn near.’ Therefore do not go after them.
9 “But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately.”
10 Then He said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
11 “And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.
12 “But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake.
13 “But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.
14 “Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer;
15 “for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.
16 “You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death.
17 “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake.
18 “But not a hair of your head shall be lost.
19 “By your patience possess your souls.