2 Chronicles 1-4
1 When Solomon the son of David was firmly established over his kingdom, the Lord his God was with him and magnified him in honor.
2 Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, to the judges, to all the rulers over Israel, and to the heads of the families. 3 Solomon went with all the assembly to the high place at Gibeon, for the tabernacle of meeting with God was there, which Moses the servant of the Lord made in the wilderness. 4 David had brought up the ark of God from the city of Kirjath Jearim to the place he prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. 5 And the bronze altar made by Bezalel the son of Uri the son of Hur was there before the tabernacle of the Lord, and Solomon and the assembly enquired about it. 6 Solomon made an offering there on the bronze altar before the Lord, at the tabernacle of meeting, offering a thousand burnt offerings on it.
7 God appeared to Solomon that night and said to him, “Tell Me what you want Me to give you.” 8 And Solomon said to God, “You showed great mercy to David my father, and made me king in his place. 9 Now, Lord God, let Your name be established on my father David, for You made me king over a people numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 Give me wisdom and understanding, so that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can judge this great people of Yours?”
11 And God said to Solomon, “Because this was in your heart and you did not ask for riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor did you ask for long life, but you asked for wisdom and understanding for yourself, that you might judge My people over whom I made you king, 12 now I will give you this wisdom and understanding. I will also give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings before you possessed, nor shall any after you possess.” 13 So Solomon came to Jerusalem from the high place at Gibeon, from before the tabernacle of witness, and reigned over Israel.
Solomon’s Power and Riches
14 And Solomon collected chariots and horsemen. He had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities. And the people were with the king in Jerusalem. 15 The king made silver and gold as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as abundant in Judea as sycamores in the plain. 16 And Solomon had horses imported from Egypt; the king’s merchants paid the going price. 17 They acquired and imported from Egypt a chariot for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred fifty. They also brought them to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Syria. 18 Solomon said he would build a house in the name of the Lord and a house for his kingdom.
Solomon Plans to Build the Temple
1 Solomon selected seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand to quarry stone in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them.
2 Then Solomon sent to Hiram king of Tyre, saying, “As you dealt with David my father and sent him cedars to build himself a house to dwell in, 3 behold I, his son, am building a house for the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to Him, to burn sweet incense before Him, to offer showbread continually, and to offer up burnt offerings continually, morning and evening, and on the Sabbaths, on the New Moons, and on the festivals of the Lord our God. This is a perpetual ordinance for Israel; 4 and the house I am going to build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. 5 Who is able to build Him a house, since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain His glory? Who am I, then, to build Him a house, except to burn incense before Him? 6 Therefore send me at once a wise man skilled to work in gold and silver, in bronze and iron, in purple and crimson and blue, who can work skillfully with the skilled men with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided. 7 Also send me cedar and cypress and pine timber from Lebanon, for I know that your servants are skilled in cutting timber in Lebanon. And indeed my servants and your servants 8 will go to prepare an abundance of timber for me, because the house I am about to build is to be great and glorious. 9 And indeed to your servants, the woodsmen who cut timber, I gave twenty thousand kors of wheat, twenty thousand kors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.”
10 Then Hiram king of Tyre sent an answer in writing to Solomon: “Because the Lord loves His people, He made you king over them.” 11 Hiram also said, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, for He gave King David a wise son, endowed with prudence and understanding, who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal house for himself! 12 And now I have sent a skillful man, endowed with discernment, Huram my father, 13 the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, skilled at working in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, at weaving purple and blue, fine linen and crimson, and at making any engraving and accomplishing any plan that may be given to him, with your skillful men and with the skillful men of my lord David your father. 14 Now therefore, let my lord send his servants the wheat, the barley, the oil, and the wine he spoke of, 15 and we will cut as much wood from Lebanon as you need. We will bring it to you in rafts by sea to Joppa, and you will carry it to Jerusalem.”
Construction Begins on the Temple
16 Then Solomon gathered all the foreigners in the land of Israel, after the census in which David his father had numbered them. And there were found to be one hundred fifty-three thousand six hundred. 17 And he made seventy thousand of them bearers of burdens, eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountain, and three thousand six hundred to oversee the people’s work.
1 Now Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2 And he began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign. 3 This is the foundation Solomon laid for building the house of God. It was sixty cubits long (according to the former measure) and twenty cubits wide. 4 The vestibule in front of the sanctuary was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and one hundred twenty cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold. 5 He paneled the larger room with cypress and overlaid it with fine gold, and he carved palm trees and chain work on it. 6 He decorated the house with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was gold from Parvaim. 7 He also overlaid the house—the beams and doorposts, its walls and doors—with gold and carved cherubim on the walls. 8 And he made the most holy place. Its length corresponded to the width of the house, twenty cubits, and it was twenty cubits wide. He overlaid it as far as the cherubim with six hundred talents of fine gold. 9 The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He overlaid the upper room with gold.
10 In the most holy place he made two wooden cherubim and overlaid them with gold. 11 The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits in overall length. One wing of the one cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub; 12 one wing of the other cherub was five cubits as well, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing also was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim spanned twenty cubits overall. They stood on their feet and faced inward. 14 He made the veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and wove cherubim into it.
15 In front of the house he made two pillars thirty-five cubits high, and the capital on the top of each was five cubits. 16 He made wreaths of chain work, as in the inner sanctuary, and put them on top of the pillars. And he made one hundred pomegranates and put them on the wreaths of chain work. 17 Then he set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left. He called the one on the right hand Upholding, and he called the one on the left Strength.
The Temple Is Furnished
1 He made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high. 2 And he made the sea of cast bronze, ten cubits in diameter. It was completely round. It was five cubits high and thirty cubits around. 3 Under it were the likenesses of oxen encircling it all around, ten to a cubit, all the way around the sea. The oxen were cast in two rows when it was cast. 4 It stood on twelve oxen. Three looked toward the north, three looked toward the west, three looked toward the south, and three looked toward the east. The sea was set upon them, and all their back parts pointed inward. 5 It was a handbreadth thick and its brim was like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It contained three thousand baths. And he finished it.
6 He also made ten basins, and put five on the right side and five on the left, to wash what they offered for the burnt offering. The sea, however, was for the priests to wash in. 7 He made ten gold lampstands according to their design and set them in the temple, five on the right and five on the left. 8 He also made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the right and five on the left. And he made one hundred golden bowls.
9 He made the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid the door panels with bronze. 10 He set the sea on the right side toward the east. 11 Then Huram made the pots and the shovels and the bowls for the altar and all its utensils. So Huram finished the work he was to do for King Solomon for the house of God, 12 the two pillars and the bowl-shaped capitals on top of the two pillars, the two networks covering the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars; 13 four hundred pomegranates for the two networks—two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowl-shaped capitals on the pillars. 14 He made carts and put basins on the carts, 15 and one sea with twelve oxen under it, 16 and tripods and buckets and basins and forks and all the other utensils. Huram his master craftsman made them of pure bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord. 17 The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of Jordan between Succoth and Zeredah. 18 And Solomon had all these articles made in such great quantity that the weight of the bronze was not determined.
19 Solomon had all the furnishings made for the house of God, the golden altar and the tables for the showbread, 20 the lamp stands with their lamps of pure gold, to burn in the prescribed manner in front of the inner sanctuary, 21 with the tongs and the lamps and the cups and the censers of pure gold. 22 The door of the sanctuary, the inner door to the most holy place, and the doors of the main hall of the temple were gold.
Psalm 118:81–96
81 My soul earnestly longs for Your salvation,
And I hope in Your word.
82 My eyes strained to look at Your teaching,
Saying, “When will You comfort me?”
83 I am like a leather bag in a frost;
I did not forget Your ordinances.
84 How many are the days of Your servant?
When will You execute judgment for me upon those who persecute me?
85 Transgressors described their meditations to me,
But these are not like Your law, O Lord.
86 All Your commandments are truth;
They persecuted me unjustly; help me.
87 They almost ended my life on earth,
But I did not forsake Your commandments.
88 Give me life according to Your mercy,
And I shall keep the testimonies of Your mouth.
89 Forever, O Lord,
Your word continues in heaven.
90 Your truth continues from generation to generation;
You laid the foundation of the earth, and it continues.
91 By Your arrangement each day continues,
For all things are Your servants.
92 If Your law were not my meditation,
I would have perished in my humiliation.
93 I will never forget Your ordinances,
For in them You give me life, O Lord.
94 I am Yours; save me,
For I search Your ordinances.
95 Sinners waited for me to kill me;
I understood Your testimonies.
96 I saw the limit of every accomplishment;
Your commandment is exceedingly broad.
Proverbs 26:10–13
10 All flesh of men without discernment grievously suffers many things,
For their illusion is brought to nothing.
11 As when a dog returns to his own vomit and becomes despicable,
So is a man without discernment who returns to his own evil by his own sin.
12 There is shame that brings on sin,
And there is shame that is glory and grace.
13 I saw a man who seemed to himself to be wise,
But a man without discernment has more hope than he.
John 11:1–37
1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”
4 When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.
7 Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”
8 The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
10 “But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”
12 Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.”
13 However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.
14 Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.
15 “And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.”
16 Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”
I Am the Resurrection and the Life
17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.
18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away.
19 And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house.
21 Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
22 “But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
26 “And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
27 She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
Jesus and Death, the Last Enemy
28 And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.”
29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him.
30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him.
31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”
32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.
34 And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”
37 And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”