1 ^cThus all the work that Solomon did for the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, and stored the silver, the gold, and all the vessels in the treasuries of the house of God.

The Ark Brought to the Temple

2 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of ^dthe city of David, which is Zion. 3 And all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the feast that is in the seventh month. 4 And all the elders of Israel came, ^eand the Levites took up the ark. 5 And they brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; ^fthe Levitical priests brought them up. 6 And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. 7 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. 8 The cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering above the ark and its poles. 9 And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen ^gfrom the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside. And they are¹ there to this day. 10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets ^hthat Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of Egypt. 11 And when the priests came out of the Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves, without regard to ⁱtheir divisions, 12 and all the Levitical ^jsingers, ^kAsaph, ^lHeman, and Jeduthun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with ^mcymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with 120 ⁿpriests who were trumpeters; 13 and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord), and when the song was raised, ^owith trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord,

the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, ^qfor the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.

Solomon Blesses the People

1 ^rThen Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. 2 But I have built you ^san exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.” 3 Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. 4 And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, 5 ‘Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there, and I chose no man as prince over my people Israel; 6 ^tbut I have chosen Jerusalem that my name may be there, ^uand I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’ 7 ^vNow it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 8 But the Lord said to David my father, ‘Whereas ^vit was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. 9 Nevertheless, it is not you who shall build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ 10 Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 11 And there I have set the ark, ^win which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with the people of Israel.”

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

12 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. 13 ^xSolomon had made a bronze platform five cubits² long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the court, and he stood on it. ^yThen he knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven, 14 and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, ^zthere is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, ^akeeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart, 15 ^bwho have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. 16 Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ^c‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, ^dif only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’ 17 Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David.

18 “But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, ^eheaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built! 19 Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you, 20 ^fthat your eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place where you have promised to set your name, that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. 21 And listen to the pleas of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen from heaven your dwelling place, ^gand when you hear, forgive.

22 “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, 23 then hear from heaven and act and judge your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

24 “If your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and they turn again and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, 25 ^gthen hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to them and to their fathers.

26 ^h“When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict³ them, 27 ^gthen hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way⁴ in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.

28 ⁱ“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemies besiege them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, 29 whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own sorrow and stretching out his hands toward this house, 30 ^gthen hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways, ^jfor you, you only, know the hearts of the children of mankind, 31 that they may fear you and walk in your ways all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.

32 “Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for the sake of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this house, 33 hear from heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house ^kthat I have built is called by your name.

34 “If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, 35 then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.

36 “If they sin against you—^lfor there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near, 37 yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ 38 if they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity to which they were carried captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, 39 then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their pleas, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you. 40 Now, O my God, ^mlet your eyes be open ⁿand your ears attentive to the prayer of this place.

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

1 And again Jesus ^ospoke to them in parables, saying, 2 ^p“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave ^qa wedding feast for his son, 3 and ^rsent his servants¹ to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 ^sAgain he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my ^tdinner, ^umy oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ 5 But ^vthey paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, ^wtreated them shamefully, and ^xkilled them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and ^ydestroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not ^zworthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10 And those servants went out into the roads and ^bgathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there ^ca man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, ^d‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and ^ecast him into the outer darkness. In that place ^ethere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are ^fcalled, but few are ^fchosen.”

Paying Taxes to Caesar

15 ^gThen the Pharisees went and plotted how ^hto entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent ⁱtheir disciples to him, along with ^jthe Herodians, saying, “Teacher, ^kwe know that you are true and teach ^lthe way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for ^myou are not swayed by appearances.² 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay ⁿtaxes to ^oCaesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why ^pput me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.³ 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, ^q“Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they ^rleft him and went away.

Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

23 The same day ^sSadducees came to him, ^twho say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, 24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ^u‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. 26 So too the second and third, down to the seventh. 27 After them all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”

29 But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, ^vbecause you know neither the Scriptures nor ^wthe power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither ^xmarry nor ^xare given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, ^yhave you not read what was said to you by God: 32 ^z‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” 33 And when the crowd heard it, ^athey were astonished at his teaching.

The Great Commandment

34 ^bBut when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced ^cthe Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 ^dAnd one of them, ^ea lawyer, asked him a question ^fto test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, ^g“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And ^ha second is like it: ⁱYou shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 ^jOn these two commandments depend ^kall the Law and the Prophets.”

Whose Son Is the Christ?

41 ^lNow while the Pharisees ^mwere gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42 saying, “What do you think about ⁿthe Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, ⁿ“The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, ^oin the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,

45 If then David calls him Lord, ^qhow is he his son?” 46 ^rAnd no one was able to answer him a word, ^snor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.