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 from¹ 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 talents² of gold and brought it to King Solomon.

Greeting

1 ^aThe elder to the beloved Gaius, ^bwhom I love in truth.

2 Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. 3 For ^cI rejoiced greatly when the brothers¹ came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that ^dmy children are walking in the truth.

Support and Opposition

5 Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for ^ethese brothers, ^fstrangers as they are, 6 who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner ^gworthy of God. 7 For they have gone out for the sake of ^hthe name, ⁱaccepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.

9 I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. 10 So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.

11 Beloved, ^jdo not imitate evil but imitate good. ^kWhoever does good is from God; ^lwhoever does evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius ^mhas received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and ⁿyou know that our testimony is true.

Final Greetings

13 ^oI had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.

15 Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, ^peach by name.

Habakkuk’s Prayer

1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth.

Habakkuk Rejoices in the Lord

The Plot to Kill Jesus

1 ^rNow the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called ^sthe Passover. 2 And the chief priests and the scribes ^twere seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people.

Judas to Betray Jesus

3 ^uThen ^vSatan entered into ^wJudas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. 4 He went away and conferred with the chief priests and ^xofficers how he might betray him to them. 5 And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. 6 So he consented and sought an opportunity to ^ybetray him to them in the absence of a crowd.

The Passover with the Disciples

7 ^zThen came ^athe day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8 So Jesus¹ sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” 9 They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” 10 He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters 11 and tell the master of the house, ^b‘The Teacher says to you, Where is ^cthe guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 12 And he will show you ^da large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” 13 And they went and found it ^ejust as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

Institution of the Lord’s Supper

14 ^fAnd when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it^{2 g}until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And he took a cup, and ^hwhen he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 18 ⁱFor I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine ^guntil the kingdom of God comes.” 19 ^jAnd he took bread, and ^hwhen he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ^k“This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ^k“This cup that is poured out for you is ^lthe new ^mcovenant in my blood.³ 21 ⁿBut behold, the hand of him who betrays me is ^owith me on the table. 22 For the Son of Man goes ^pas it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” 23 And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.

Who Is the Greatest?

24 ^qA dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 ^rAnd he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles ^sexercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26 ^tBut not so with you. Rather, let ^sthe greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. 27 For who is the greater, ^uone who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But ^vI am among you as the one who serves.

28 “You are those who have stayed with me ^win my trials, 29 and ^xI assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, 30 ^ythat you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and ^zsit on thrones judging ^athe twelve tribes of Israel.

Jesus Foretells Peter’s Denial

31 “Simon, Simon, behold, ^bSatan demanded to have you,^{4 c}that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but ^dI have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, ^estrengthen your brothers.” 33 Peter⁵ said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both ^fto prison and ^gto death.” 34 ^hJesus⁶ said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”

Scripture Must Be Fulfilled in Jesus

35 And he said to them, ⁱ“When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” 36 He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. 37 For I tell you that ^jthis Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ^k‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For ^lwhat is written about me has its fulfillment.” 38 And they said, “Look, Lord, here are two ^mswords.” And he said to them, ⁿ“It is enough.”

Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives

39 ^oAnd he came out and went, ^pas was his custom, to ^qthe Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 40 ^rAnd when he came to ^sthe place, he said to them, ^t“Pray that you may not ^uenter into temptation.” 41 And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and ^vknelt down and prayed, 42 saying, ^w“Father, if you are willing, remove ^xthis cup from me. ^yNevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” 43 And there appeared to him ^zan angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And ^wbeing in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.⁷ 45 And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, 46 and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and ^apray that you may not enter into temptation.”

Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

47 ^bWhile he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called ^cJudas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, 48 but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” 49 And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike ^dwith the sword?” 50 And one of them struck the servant⁸ of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51 But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. 52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests and ^eofficers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? 53 When ^fI was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is ^gyour hour, and ^hthe power of darkness.”

Peter Denies Jesus

54 ⁱThen they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house, ^jand Peter was following at a distance. 55 ^kAnd when they had kindled a fire in the middle of ^lthe courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. 56 Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” 57 But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” 58 And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” 59 And after an interval of about an hour still another ^minsisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 And the Lord turned and ⁿlooked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, ^o“Before the rooster crows today, you will ^pdeny me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.

Jesus Is Mocked

63 ^qNow the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him. 64 ^qThey also blindfolded him and kept asking him, ^r“Prophesy! ^rWho is it that struck you?” 65 And they said many other things against him, ^sblaspheming him.

Jesus Before the Council

66 ^tWhen day came, ^uthe assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes. And they led him away to their ^vcouncil, and they ^wsaid, 67 ^x“If you are ^ythe Christ, tell us.” But he said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe, 68 and if I ask you, you will not answer. 69 But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated ^zat the right hand of the power of God.” 70 So they all said, “Are you ^athe Son of God, then?” And he said to them, ^b“You say that I am.” 71 Then they said, “What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips.”