Fire from Heaven
1 tAs soon as Solomon finished his prayer, ufire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, vand the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2 And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. 3 When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “For he is good, wfor his steadfast love endures forever.”
The Dedication of the Temple
4 xThen the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the Lord. 5 King Solomon offered as a sacrifice 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. 6 The priests stood at their posts; ythe Levites also, with the instruments for music to the Lord that King David had made for giving thanks to the Lord—wfor his steadfast love endures forever—whenever David offered praises by their ministry;1 zopposite them the priests sounded trumpets, and all Israel stood.
7 aAnd Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord, for there he offered the burnt offering and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar Solomon had made could not hold the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat.
8 At that time Solomon held the feast for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly, from bLebo-hamath to the cBrook of Egypt. 9 And on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, for they had kept the dedication of the altar seven days and the feast seven days. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their homes, joyful and glad of heart for the prosperity2 that the Lord had granted to David and to Solomon and to Israel his people.
If My People Pray
11 dThus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s house. All that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the Lord and in his own house he successfully accomplished. 12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer eand have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 fWhen I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name ghumble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 hNow my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. 16 eFor now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. 17 And as for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my rules, 18 then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, i‘You shall not lack a man to rule Israel.’
19 j“But if you3 turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 20 kthen I will pluck you4 up from my land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it la proverb and a byword among all peoples. 21 And at this house, which was exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, m‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ 22 Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore he has brought all this disaster on them.’”
Solomon’s Accomplishments
1 nAt the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house, 2 Solomon rebuilt the cities that Hiram had given to him, and settled the people of Israel in them.
3 And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and took it. 4 He built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the store cities that he built in Hamath. 5 He also built oUpper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon, pfortified cities pwith walls, gates, and bars, 6 and Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had and all the cities for his chariots and the cities for his horsemen, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. 7 qAll the people who were left of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel, 8 from their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the people of Israel had not destroyed—these Solomon drafted ras forced labor, and so they are to this day. 9 But of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves for his work; they were soldiers, and his officers, the commanders of his chariots, and his horsemen. 10 And these were the chief officers of King Solomon, 250, who exercised authority over the people.
11 sSolomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the city of David to the house that he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not live in the house of David king of Israel, for the places to which the ark of the Lord has come are holy.”
12 Then Solomon offered up burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord tthat he had built before the vestibule, 13 uas the duty of each day required, offering vaccording to the commandment of Moses for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the wthree annual feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths. 14 According to the ruling of David his father, he appointed xthe divisions of the priests for their service, yand the Levites for their offices of praise and zministry before the priests uas the duty of each day required, and athe gatekeepers in their divisions at each gate, for so David bthe man of God had commanded. 15 And they did not turn aside from what the king had commanded the priests and Levites concerning any matter and concerning the treasuries.
16 Thus was accomplished all the work of Solomon from5 the day the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was completed.
17 Then Solomon went to cEzion-geber and dEloth on the shore of the sea, in the land of Edom. 18 And Hiram sent to him by the hand of his servants ships and servants familiar with the sea, and they went to Ophir together with the servants of Solomon and brought from there e450 talents6 of gold and brought it to King Solomon.
The Queen of Sheba
1 fNow when gthe queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions, having a very great retinue and camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. 2 And Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing hidden from Solomon that he could not explain to her. 3 And when gthe queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 4 the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, and their clothing, his cupbearers, and their clothing, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her.
5 And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, 6 but I did not believe the7 reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, half the greatness of your wisdom was not told me; you surpass the report that I heard. 7 Happy are your wives!8 Happy are these your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! 8 Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you hand set you on his throne as king for the Lord your God! iBecause your God loved Israel and would establish them forever, he has made you king over them, that you may execute justice and righteousness.” 9 Then she gave the king 120 talents9 of gold, and a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones. There were no spices such as those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
10 Moreover, the servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon, jwho brought gold from Ophir, brought algum wood and precious stones. 11 And the king made from the algum wood ksupports for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, lyres also and harps for the singers. There never was seen the like of them before in the land of Judah.
12 And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked lbesides what she had brought to the king. So she turned and went back to her own land with her servants.
Solomon’s Wealth
13 mNow the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, 14 besides that which the explorers and merchants brought. nAnd all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land brought gold and silver to Solomon. 15 King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold; 600 shekels10 of beaten gold went into each shield. 16 And he made 300 shields of beaten gold; o300 shekels of gold went into each shield; and the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. 17 The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold. 18 The throne had six steps and a footstool of gold, which were attached to the throne, and on each side of the seat were armrests and two lions standing beside the armrests, 19 while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. Nothing like it was ever made for any kingdom. 20 All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. Silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. 21 For the king’s ships went to pTarshish with the servants of Hiram. Once every three years the ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.11
22 Thus King Solomon qexcelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. 23 And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind. 24 Every one of them brought his present, articles of silver and of gold, garments, myrrh,12 spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year. 25 And Solomon had r4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 26 sAnd he ruled over all the kings tfrom the Euphrates13 to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. 27 uAnd the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah. 28 vAnd horses were imported for Solomon from Egypt and from all lands.
Solomon’s Death
29 wNow the rest of the acts of Solomon, from xfirst to last, are they not written in the history of yNathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of zAhijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of aIddo bthe seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? 30 Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31 And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in cthe city of David his father, and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.
1 For I made up my mind unot to make another painful visit to you. 2 For vif I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? 3 And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, wfor I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. 4 For xI wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.
Forgive the Sinner
5 Now yif anyone has caused pain, zhe has caused it not to me, but ain some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. 6 For such a one, bthis punishment by the majority is enough, 7 so cyou should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For this is why I wrote, that I might dtest you and know ewhether you are obedient in everything. 10 Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for fwe are not ignorant of his designs.
Triumph in Christ
12 When gI came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though ha door was opened for me in the Lord, 13 my spirit iwas not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.
14 But jthanks be to God, who in Christ always kleads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads lthe fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among mthose who are being saved and among nthose who are perishing, 16 oto one a fragrance from death to death, oto the other a fragrance from life to life. pWho is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.
