Solomon Turns from the Lord

¹Now wKing Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, ²from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, x“You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. ³He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. ⁴For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and yhis heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, zas was the heart of David his father. ⁵For Solomon went after aAshtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after bMilcom the abomination of the Ammonites. ⁶So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. ⁷Then Solomon built a high place for cChemosh the abomination of Moab, and for dMolech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. ⁸And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.

The Lord Raises Adversaries

⁹And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because ehis heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, fwho had appeared to him twice ¹⁰and ghad commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded. ¹¹Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, hI will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. ¹²Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ¹³However, iI will not tear away all the kingdom, but jI will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem kthat I have chosen.”

¹⁴And the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. He was of the royal house in Edom. ¹⁵For lwhen David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the slain, he struck down every male in Edom ¹⁶(for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom). ¹⁷But Hadad fled to Egypt, together with certain Edomites of his father's servants, Hadad still being a little child. ¹⁸They set out from Midian and came to mParan and took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house and assigned him an allowance of food and gave him land. ¹⁹And Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. ²⁰And the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house. And Genubath was in Pharaoh's house among the sons of Pharaoh. ²¹But when Hadad heard in Egypt nthat David slept with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.” ²²But Pharaoh said to him, “What have you lacked with me that you are now seeking to go to your own country?” And he said to him, “Only let me depart.”

²³God also raised up as an adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master oHadadezer king of Zobah. ²⁴And he gathered men about him and became leader of a marauding band, pafter the killing by David. And they went to Damascus and lived there and made him king in Damascus. ²⁵He was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon, doing harm as Hadad did. And he loathed Israel and reigned over Syria.

²⁶qJeroboam the son of Nebat, ran Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow, also slifted up his hand against the king. ²⁷And this was the reason why he lifted up his hand against the king. tSolomon built the Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of David his father. ²⁸The man Jeroboam was very able, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious he gave him charge over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. ²⁹And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet uAhijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had dressed himself in a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the open country. ³⁰Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, vand tore it into twelve pieces. ³¹And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, wI am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes ³²(but xhe shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, ythe city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), ³³because they have1 forsaken me zand worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and they have not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my rules, as David his father did. ³⁴Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of David my servant whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes. ³⁵aBut I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand and will give it to you, ten tribes. ³⁶Yet to his son xI will give one tribe, that David my servant may always have ba lamp before me in Jerusalem, ythe city where I have chosen to put my name. ³⁷And I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. ³⁸And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, cI will be with you and dwill build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. ³⁹And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever.’” ⁴⁰Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt, to eShishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

⁴¹fNow the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? ⁴²And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. ⁴³And Solomon gslept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And hRehoboam his son reigned in his place.

Christ's Example of Humility

¹So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from flove, any gparticipation in the Spirit, any haffection and sympathy, ²icomplete my joy by being jof the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³Do nothing from kselfish ambition or lconceit, but in mhumility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴Let each of you nlook not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵oHave this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,1 ⁶pwho, though he was in qthe form of God, did not count equality with God ra thing to be grasped,2 ⁷but semptied himself, by taking the form of a tservant,3 ubeing born in the likeness of men. ⁸And being found in human form, he humbled himself by vbecoming obedient to the point of death, weven death on a cross. ⁹xTherefore yGod has zhighly exalted him and bestowed on him athe name that is above every name, ¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus bevery knee should bow, cin heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and devery tongue confess that Jesus Christ is eLord, to the glory of God the Father.

Lights in the World

¹²Therefore, my beloved, fas you have always gobeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³for hit is God who works in you, both to will and to work for ihis good pleasure.

¹⁴Do all things jwithout grumbling or kdisputing, ¹⁵that you may be blameless and innocent, lchildren of God mwithout blemish nin the midst of oa crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine pas lights in the world, ¹⁶holding fast to qthe word of life, so that in rthe day of Christ sI may be proud that tI did not run in vain or labor in vain. ¹⁷Even if I am to be upoured out as a drink offering upon vthe sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. ¹⁸Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

Timothy and Epaphroditus

¹⁹I hope in the Lord Jesus wto send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. ²⁰For I have no one xlike him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. ²¹For they all yseek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. ²²But you know Timothy's4 zproven worth, how aas a son5 with a father bhe has served with me in the gospel. ²³I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, ²⁴and cI trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.

²⁵I have thought it necessary to send to you dEpaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and efellow soldier, and your messenger and fminister to my need, ²⁶for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. ²⁷Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. ²⁸I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. ²⁹So greceive him in the Lord with all joy, and hhonor such men, ³⁰for he nearly died6 ifor the work of Christ, risking his life jto complete what was lacking in your service to me.

The Inner Temple

¹Then he brought me to mthe nave and measured the njambs. On each side six cubits1 was the breadth of the jambs.2 ²And the breadth of the entrance was ten cubits, and the sidewalls of the entrance were five cubits on either side. And he measured the length of the nave,3 oforty cubits, and its breadth, ptwenty cubits. ³Then he went qinto the inner room and measured the jambs of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the sidewalls on either side4 of the entrance, seven cubits. ⁴And he measured rthe length of the room, twenty cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits, across sthe nave. And he said to me, “This is tthe Most Holy Place.”

⁵Then he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits thick, and the breadth of uthe side chambers, four cubits, uall around the temple. ⁶And the side chambers were in three stories, one over another, vthirty in each story. There were offsets5 all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side chambers, wso that they should not be supported by the wall of the temple. ⁷And it became broader as it wound upward to the side chambers, because the temple was enclosed upward all around the temple. Thus the temple had a broad area upward, and xso one went up from the lowest story to the top story through the middle story. ⁸I saw also that the temple had a raised platform all around; the foundations of the side chambers measured a full reed of ysix long cubits. ⁹The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits. zThe free space between the side chambers of the temple ¹⁰and the aother chambers was a breadth of btwenty cubits all around the temple on every side. ¹¹And the doors of the cside chambers opened on dthe free space, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south. And the breadth of the free space was five cubits all around.

¹²The building that was facing ethe separate yard on the west side was seventy cubits broad, and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length ninety cubits.

¹³Then he measured the temple, fa hundred cubits long; and the yard and the building with its walls, a hundred cubits long; ¹⁴also the breadth of the east front of the temple and the yard, a hundred cubits.

¹⁵Then he measured the length of gthe building facing the yard that was at the back and hits galleries6 on either side, a hundred cubits.

The inside of the nave and the vestibules of the court, ¹⁶ithe thresholds and jthe narrow windows and the galleries all around the three of them, opposite the threshold, were paneled with wood all around, from the floor up to the windows (now the windows were covered), ¹⁷to the space above the door, even to the inner room, and on the outside. And on all the walls all around, inside and outside, was a measured pattern.7 ¹⁸It was carved of kcherubim and lpalm trees, a palm tree between cherub and cherub. Every cherub had two faces: ¹⁹ma human face toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved on the whole temple all around. ²⁰From the floor to above the door, cherubim and palm trees were carved; similarly the wall of the nave.

²¹The doorposts of nthe nave were squared, and in front of othe Holy Place was something resembling ²²pan altar of wood, three cubits high, two cubits long, and two cubits broad.8 Its corners, its base,9 and its walls were of wood. He said to me, “This is qthe table that is before the Lord.” ²³The nave and the Holy Place had each ra double door. ²⁴The double doors had two leaves apiece, stwo swinging leaves for each door. ²⁵And on the doors of the nave were carved cherubim and palm trees, tsuch as were carved on the walls. And there was ua canopy10 of wood in front of vthe vestibule outside. ²⁶And there were jnarrow windows and palm trees on either side, on the sidewalls of the vestibule, wthe side chambers of the temple, and the ucanopies.

Psalm 92

How Great Are Your Works

A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath.

¹fIt is good to give thanks to the Lord,

to sing praises to your name, gO Most High;

²to declare your hsteadfast love in ithe morning,

and your hfaithfulness by inight,

³to the music of jthe lute and jthe harp,

to the melody of jthe lyre.

⁴For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your kwork;

at lthe works of your hands I sing for joy.

⁵How mgreat are your works, O Lord!

Your nthoughts are very odeep!

⁶The stupid man cannot know;

the fool cannot understand this:

⁷that though pthe wicked sprout like grass

and all qevildoers flourish,

they are doomed to destruction forever;

⁸but you, O Lord, are ron high forever.

⁹For behold, your enemies, O Lord,

for behold, your enemies shall perish;

all evildoers shall be sscattered.

¹⁰But you have exalted my thorn like that of uthe wild ox;

you have vpoured over me1 fresh oil.

¹¹My weyes have seen the downfall of my enemies;

my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.

¹²xThe righteous flourish like the palm tree

and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

¹³They are planted in the house of the Lord;

they flourish in ythe courts of our God.

¹⁴They still bear fruit in old age;

they are ever full of sap and green,

¹⁵zto declare that the Lord is upright;

he is my arock, and there is bno unrighteousness in him.

Psalm 93

The Lord Reigns

¹cThe Lord reigns; he is drobed in majesty;

the Lord is erobed; he has fput on strength as his belt.

gYes, the world is established; hit shall never be moved.

²iYour throne is established from of old;

jyou are from everlasting.

³kThe floods have lifted up, O Lord,

the floods have lifted up their voice;

the floods lift up their roaring.

⁴Mightier than the thunders of many waters,

mightier than the waves of the sea,

lthe Lord mon high is mighty!

⁵Your ndecrees are very trustworthy;

oholiness befits your house,

O Lord, forevermore.