Preparing to Build the Temple

1 ^xNow Solomon purposed to build a temple for the name of the Lord, and a royal palace for himself. ¹ 2 ^yAnd Solomon assigned 70,000 men to bear burdens and 80,000 to quarry in the hill country, and ^z3,600 to oversee them. 3 ^aAnd Solomon sent word to Hiram the king of Tyre: ^b“As you dealt with David my father and sent him cedar to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me. 4 Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the Lord my God and dedicate it to him for the burning of ^cincense of sweet spices before him, and for ^dthe regular arrangement of the showbread, and for ^eburnt offerings morning and evening, ^fon the Sabbaths and the new moons and the appointed feasts of the Lord our God, as ordained forever for Israel. 5 The house that I am to build will be great, ^gfor our God is greater than all gods. 6 ^hBut who is able to build him a house, since ^hheaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him? 7 So now ⁱsend me a man skilled to work in gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue fabrics, trained also in engraving, to be with the skilled workers who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, ^jwhom David my father provided. 8 Send me also cedar, cypress, and algum timber from Lebanon, for I know that ^kyour servants know how to cut timber in Lebanon. And my servants will be with your servants, 9 to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the house I am to build will be great and wonderful. 10 ^lI will give for your servants, the woodsmen who cut timber, 20,000 cors² of crushed wheat, 20,000 cors of barley, 20,000 baths³ of wine, and 20,000 baths of oil.”

11 Then Hiram the king of Tyre answered in a letter that he sent to Solomon, ^m“Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you king over them.” 12 Hiram also said, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, ⁿwho made heaven and earth, who has given King David a wise son, who has discretion and understanding, ^owho will build a temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.

13 “Now I have sent a skilled man, who has understanding, Huram-abi, 14 ^pthe son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre. He is ^qtrained to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and in purple, blue, and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and to do all sorts of engraving and execute any design that may be assigned him, with your craftsmen, the craftsmen of my lord, David your father. 15 Now therefore the wheat and barley, oil and wine, ^rof which my lord has spoken, let him send to his servants. 16 ^sAnd we will cut whatever timber you need from Lebanon and bring it to you in rafts by sea to ^tJoppa, so that you may take it up to Jerusalem.”

17 Then Solomon counted all the resident aliens who were in the land of Israel, ^uafter the census of them that David his father had taken, and there were found 153,600. 18 ^vSeventy thousand of them he assigned to bear burdens, 80,000 to quarry in the hill country, and 3,600 as overseers to make the people work.

Christ Our Advocate

1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, ^ywe have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 ^zHe is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but ^aalso for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we ^bkeep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments ^cis a liar, and ^cthe truth is not in him, 5 but whoever ^dkeeps his word, in him truly ^ethe love of God is perfected. ^fBy this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he ^gabides in him ^hought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

The New Commandment

7 Beloved, I am writing you ⁱno new commandment, but ^jan old commandment ^kthat you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8 At the same time, it is ^la new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because^{1 m}the darkness is passing away and ⁿthe true light is already shining. 9 Whoever says he is in the light and ^ohates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him² there is no ^pcause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and ^qwalks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Do Not Love the World

15 ^vDo not love the world or the things in the world. ^wIf anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—^xthe desires of the flesh and ^ythe desires of the eyes and pride of life³—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And ^zthe world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Warning Concerning Antichrists

18 Children, ^ait is the last hour, and as you have heard that ^bantichrist is coming, so now ^cmany antichrists have come. ^dTherefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 ^eThey went out from us, but they were not of us; for ^fif they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, ^gthat it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20 But you have been ^hanointed by ⁱthe Holy One, and ^jyou all have knowledge.⁴ 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but ^khe who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is ^bthe antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 ^lNo one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 Let ^mwhat you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then ⁿyou too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to us⁵—^oeternal life.

26 I write these things to you about ^pthose who are trying to deceive you. 27 But ^qthe anointing that you received from him abides in you, and ^ryou have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and ^sis true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

Children of God

28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that ^twhen he appears ^uwe may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his ^vcoming. 29 If you know that ^whe is righteous, you may be sure that ^xeveryone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

1 ^aAn oracle concerning ^bNineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.

God’s Wrath Against Nineveh

Temptations to Sin

1 And he said to his disciples, ^u“Temptations to sin¹ are ^vsure to come, but ^wwoe to the one through whom they come! 2 ^xIt would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.² 3 Pay attention to yourselves! ^yIf your brother sins, ^zrebuke him, and if he repents, ^aforgive him, 4 and if he sins against you ^bseven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Increase Our Faith

5 ^cThe apostles said to the Lord, ^d“Increase our faith!” 6 And the Lord said, ^e“If you had faith like ^fa grain of mustard seed, you could say to this ^gmulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

Unworthy Servants

7 “Will any one of you who has a servant³ plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? 8 Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and ^hdress properly,⁴ and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are ⁱunworthy servants;⁵ we have only done what was our duty.’”

Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers

11 ^jOn the way to Jerusalem ^khe was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers,^{6 l}who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and ^mshow yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, ⁿpraising God with a loud voice; 16 and ^ohe fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was ^pa Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ^qten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and ^rgive praise to God except this ^sforeigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; ^tyour faith has ^tmade you well.”⁷

The Coming of the Kingdom

20 Being asked by the Pharisees ^uwhen the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God ^vis not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor ^wwill they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”⁸

22 And he said to the disciples, ^x“The days are coming when you will desire ^yto see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 ^zAnd they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 ^aFor as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be ^bin his day.⁹ 25 But first ^che must suffer many things and ^cbe rejected by this generation. 26 ^dJust as it was in the days of ^eNoah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 ^fThey were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of ^gLot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 ^hbut on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be ⁱon the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, ^jlet the one who is on ^kthe housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. 32 ^lRemember Lot’s wife. 33 ^mWhoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will ⁿkeep it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 ^oThere will be two women ^pgrinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”¹⁰ 37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, ^q“Where the corpse¹¹ is, there the vultures¹² will gather.”