The Queen of Sheba

¹yNow when zthe queen of aSheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came bto test him with hard questions. ²She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels cbearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. ³And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her. ⁴And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, ⁵the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her.

⁶And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, ⁷but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard. ⁸eHappy are your men! Happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! ⁹fBlessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! gBecause the Lord loved Israel forever, he has made you king, hthat you may execute justice and righteousness.” ¹⁰iThen she gave the king 120 talents1 of gold, and a very great quantity of spices and precious stones. Never again came such an abundance of spices as these that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹¹Moreover, jthe fleet of Hiram, which brought kgold from Ophir, brought from Ophir a very great amount of almug wood and precious stones. ¹²And the king made of the almug wood supports for the house of the Lord and for the king's house, also lyres and harps for the singers. No such almug wood has come or been seen to this day.

¹³And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked besides what was given her by the bounty of King Solomon. So she turned and went back to her own land with her servants.

Solomon's Great Wealth

¹⁴lNow the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, ¹⁵besides that which came from the explorers and from the business of the merchants, and from all the kings of the west and from the governors of the land. ¹⁶King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold; 600 shekels2 of gold went into each shield. ¹⁷And he made 300 mshields of beaten gold; three minas3 of gold went into each shield. And the king put them in nthe House of the Forest of Lebanon. ¹⁸The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with the finest gold. ¹⁹The throne had six steps, and the throne had a round top,4 and on each side of the seat were armrests and two lions standing beside the armrests, ²⁰while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. The like of it was never made in any kingdom. ²¹All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of nthe House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. ²²For the king had oa fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the fleet of ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.5

²³pThus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. ²⁴And the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind. ²⁵Every one of them brought his present, articles of silver and gold, garments, myrrh,6 spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year.

²⁶qAnd Solomon gathered together rchariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the schariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ²⁷And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as tthe sycamore of the Shephelah. ²⁸And Solomon's uimport of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king's traders received them from Kue at a price. ²⁹A chariot could be imported from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver and a horse for 150, and so through the king's traders they were exported to all the kings of vthe Hittites and the kings of Syria.

Greeting

¹Paul and Timothy, servants1 of Christ Jesus,

To all the asaints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the boverseers2 and cdeacons:3

²dGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

³eI thank my God fin all my remembrance of you, ⁴always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, ⁵gbecause of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶And I am sure of this, that he who began ha good work in you iwill bring it to completion at jthe day of Jesus Christ. ⁷It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you kin my heart, for you are all lpartakers with me of grace,4 both min my imprisonment and in nthe defense and confirmation of the gospel. ⁸For oGod is my witness, phow I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. ⁹And it is my prayer that qyour love may abound more and more, rwith knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰so that you may approve what is excellent, sand so be pure and blameless tfor the day of Christ, ¹¹filled uwith the fruit of righteousness that comes vthrough Jesus Christ, wto the glory and praise of God.

The Advance of the Gospel

¹²I want you to know, brothers,5 that what has happened to me has really xserved to advance the gospel, ¹³so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard6 and yto all the rest that zmy imprisonment is for Christ. ¹⁴And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold ato speak the word7 without fear.

¹⁵bSome indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. ¹⁶The latter do it out of love, cknowing that I am put here for dthe defense of the gospel. ¹⁷The former proclaim Christ eout of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. ¹⁸What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

To Live Is Christ

Yes, and I will rejoice, ¹⁹for I know that fthrough your prayers and gthe help of hthe Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, ²⁰as it is my eager expectation and hope ithat I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full jcourage now as always Christ kwill be honored in my body, lwhether by life or by death. ²¹For to me mto live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²²If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. ²³nI am hard pressed between the two. My desire is oto depart and pbe with Christ, for that is far better. ²⁴But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. ²⁵qConvinced of this, rI know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your sprogress and tjoy in the faith, ²⁶so that in me uyou may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

²⁷Only vlet your manner of life be wworthy8 of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you xthat you are standing firm in one spirit, with yone mind zstriving side by side for the faith of the gospel, ²⁸and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is aa clear sign to them of their destruction, but bof your salvation, and that from God. ²⁹For cit has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also bsuffer for his sake, ³⁰engaged in the same dconflict that eyou saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Vision of the New Temple

¹wIn the twenty-fifth year xof our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, yin the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day, zthe hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me to the city.1 ²In avisions of God he brought me to the land of Israel, and set me down on ba very high mountain, on which was a structure like a city to the south. ³When he brought me there, behold, there was ca man whose appearance was dlike bronze, with ea linen cord and fa measuring reed in his hand. And he was standing in the gateway. ⁴And the man said to me, g“Son of man, hlook with your eyes, and hhear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you, for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you. iDeclare all that you see to the house of Israel.”

The East Gate to the Outer Court

⁵And behold, there was ja wall all around the outside of the temple area, and the length of the measuring reed in the man's hand was six long cubits, keach being a cubit and a handbreadth2 in length. So he measured the thickness of the wall, one reed; and the height, one reed. ⁶Then he went into lthe gateway facing east, mgoing up its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed deep.3 ⁷And nthe side rooms, one reed long and one reed broad; and the space between the side rooms, five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the vestibule of the gate at the inner end, one reed. ⁸Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, on the inside, one reed. ⁹Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits; oand its jambs, two cubits; and the vestibule of the gate was at the inner end. ¹⁰And there were three side rooms on either side of the east gate. pThe three were of the same size, and the jambs on either side were of the same size. ¹¹Then he measured the width of the opening of the gateway, ten cubits; and the length of the gateway, thirteen cubits. ¹²There was a barrier before the side rooms, one cubit on either side. And the side rooms were six cubits on either side. ¹³Then he measured the gate from the ceiling of the one side room to the ceiling of the other, a breadth of twenty-five cubits; the openings faced each other. ¹⁴He measured also qthe vestibule, sixty cubits. And around the vestibule of the gateway was the court.4 ¹⁵From the front of the gate at the entrance to the front of the inner vestibule of the gate was fifty cubits. ¹⁶And the gateway had rwindows all around, narrowing inwards toward the side rooms and toward their sjambs, and likewise the vestibule had windows all around inside, and on the jambs were tpalm trees.

The Outer Court

¹⁷Then he brought me into uthe outer court. And behold, there were vchambers and a wpavement, all around the court. xThirty chambers faced the pavement. ¹⁸And the pavement ran along the side of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates. This was the lower pavement. ¹⁹Then he measured the distance from the inner front of the lower gate to the outer front of the inner court,5 a hundred cubits on the east side and on the north side.6

The North Gate

²⁰As for ythe gate that faced toward the north, belonging to uthe outer court, he measured its length and its breadth. ²¹Its nside rooms, three on either side, and its jambs and its vestibule were of the same size as those of zthe first gate. Its length was afifty cubits, and its breadth btwenty-five cubits. ²²And cits windows, its vestibule, and cits palm trees were of the same size as those of the gate that faced toward the east. And by seven steps dpeople would go up to it, and find its vestibule before them. ²³And opposite the gate on the north, as on the east, was a gate to ethe inner court. And fhe measured from gate to gate, a hundred cubits.

The South Gate

²⁴And he led me toward the south, and behold, there was a gate on the south. And ghe measured its jambs and its vestibule; they had the same size as the others. ²⁵Both it and its vestibule hhad windows all around, like the windows of the others. Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits. ²⁶And there were seven steps leading up to it, and its vestibule was before them, and it had ipalm trees on its jambs, one on either side. ²⁷And there was a gate on the south of jthe inner court. And he measured from gate to gate toward the south, a hundred cubits.

The Inner Court

²⁸Then he brought me to jthe inner court through the south gate, and khe measured the south gate. It was of the same size as the others. ²⁹Its lside rooms, its jambs, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others, and both it and its vestibule mhad windows all around. mIts length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits. ³⁰And there were vestibules all around, twenty-five cubits long and five cubits broad. ³¹Its vestibule faced the outer court, and ipalm trees were on its jambs, and nits stairway had eight steps.

³²Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side, and ohe measured the gate. It was of the same size as the others. ³³Its side rooms, its jambs, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others, and both it and its vestibule had windows all around. Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits. ³⁴pIts vestibule faced the outer court, and it had palm trees on its jambs, on either side, and its stairway had eight steps.

³⁵Then he brought me to qthe north gate, and rhe measured it. It had the same size as the others. ³⁶Its side rooms, its jambs, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others,7 and it had windows all around. Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits. ³⁷Its vestibule8 faced the outer court, and it had palm trees on its jambs, on either side, and its stairway had eight steps.

³⁸There was sa chamber with its door in the vestibule of the gate,9 twhere the burnt offering was to be washed. ³⁹And in the vestibule of the gate were two utables on either side, on which the vburnt offering and the wsin offering and the xguilt offering were to be slaughtered. ⁴⁰And off to the side, on the outside as one goes up to the entrance of the north gate, were two tables; and off to the other side of the vestibule of the gate were two tables. ⁴¹yFour tables were on either side of the gate, eight tables, zon which to slaughter. ⁴²And there were four tables aof hewn stone for the burnt offering, a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high, on which the instruments were to be laid with which the vburnt offerings and the sacrifices were slaughtered. ⁴³And hooks,10 a handbreadth long, were fastened all around within. And on the tables the flesh of the offering was to be laid.

Chambers for the Priests

⁴⁴On the outside of the inner gateway there were two bchambers11 in the cinner court, one12 at the side of the north gate facing south, the other at the side of the south13 gate facing north. ⁴⁵And he said to me, “This chamber that faces south is for the priests dwho have charge of the temple, ⁴⁶and the chamber that faces north is for the priests ewho have charge of the altar. These are fthe sons of Zadok, who alone14 among the sons of Levi may come gnear to the Lord to minister to him.” ⁴⁷And he measured the court, ha hundred cubits long and ha hundred cubits broad, a square. And ithe altar was in front of the temple.

The Vestibule of the Temple

⁴⁸Then he brought me to jthe vestibule of the temple and measured the kjambs of the vestibule, five cubits on either side. And the breadth of the gate was fourteen cubits, and the sidewalls of the gate15 were three cubits on either side. ⁴⁹lThe length of the vestibule was twenty cubits, and the breadth twelve16 cubits, and people would go up to it by ten steps.17 And there were pillars beside the jambs, one on either side.

My Refuge and My Fortress

¹He who dwells in athe shelter of the Most High

will abide in bthe shadow of the Almighty.

²I will say1 to the Lord, “My crefuge and my dfortress,

my God, in whom I etrust.”

³For he will deliver you from fthe snare of the fowler

and from the deadly pestilence.

⁴He will gcover you with his pinions,

and under his hwings you will ifind refuge;

his jfaithfulness is ka shield and buckler.

⁵lYou will not fear mthe terror of the night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

⁶nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,

nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

⁷A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.

⁸You will only look with your eyes

and nsee the recompense of the wicked.

⁹Because you have made the Lord your odwelling place—

the Most High, who is my crefuge2—

¹⁰pno evil shall be allowed to befall you,

qno plague come near your tent.

¹¹rFor he will command his sangels concerning you

to tguard you in all your ways.

¹²On their hands they will bear you up,

lest you ustrike your foot against a stone.

¹³You will tread on vthe lion and the wadder;

the young lion and xthe serpent you will ytrample underfoot.

¹⁴“Because he zholds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;

I will protect him, because he aknows my name.

¹⁵When he bcalls to me, I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will rescue him and chonor him.

¹⁶With dlong life I will satisfy him

and eshow him my salvation.”