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.”

Test the Spirits

1 Beloved, ^tdo not believe every spirit, but ^utest the spirits to see whether they are from God, for ^vmany ^wfalse prophets ^xhave gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: ^yevery spirit that confesses that ^zJesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit ^athat does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and ^bnow is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for ^che who is in you is greater than ^dhe who is in the world. 5 ^eThey are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and ^fthe world listens to them. 6 We are from God. ^gWhoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know ^hthe Spirit of truth and ⁱthe spirit of error.

God Is Love

7 Beloved, ^jlet us love one another, for love is from God, and ^kwhoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 ^lAnyone who does not love does not know God, because ^mGod is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that ⁿGod sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, ^onot that we have loved God ⁿbut that he loved us and sent his Son to be ^pthe propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 ^qNo one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and ^rhis love is perfected in us.

13 ^sBy this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And ^twe have seen and testify that ^uthe Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of ^vthe world. 15 ^wWhoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So ^xwe have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. ^yGod is love, and ^zwhoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this ^ais love perfected with us, so that ^bwe may have confidence for the day of judgment, because ^cas he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but ^dperfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not ^abeen perfected in love. 19 ^eWe love because he first loved us. 20 ^fIf anyone says, “I love God,” and ^ghates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot¹ love God ^hwhom he has not seen. 21 And ⁱthis commandment we have from him: ^jwhoever loves God must also love his brother.

Woe to Nineveh

Jesus and Zacchaeus

1 ^cHe entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 And ^dhe was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into ^ea sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for ^fI must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried and came down and ^greceived him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it, they all ^hgrumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods ⁱI give to the poor. And if I have ^jdefrauded anyone of anything, I restore it ^kfourfold.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since ^lhe also is a son of Abraham. 10 For ^mthe Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

The Parable of the Ten Minas

11 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because ⁿthey supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. 12 He said therefore, ^o“A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. 13 Calling ^pten of his servants,¹ he gave them ten minas,² and said to them, ‘Engage in business ^quntil I come.’ 14 But ^rhis citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ 15 When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by doing business. 16 The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’ 17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant!³ Because you have been ^sfaithful in a very little, ^tyou shall have authority over ten cities.’ 18 And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ 19 And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20 Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in ^ua handkerchief; 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are ^va severe man. You take ^wwhat you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 He said to him, ^x‘I will condemn you with your own words, ^yyou wicked servant! You knew that I was ^va severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ 24 And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ 25 And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ 26 ‘I tell you that ^zto everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 27 But ^ras for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and ^aslaughter them before me.’”

The Triumphal Entry

28 And when he had said these things, ^bhe went on ahead, ^cgoing up to Jerusalem. 29 ^dWhen he drew near to Bethphage and ^eBethany, at ^fthe mount that is called Olivet, he sent ^gtwo of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, ^hon which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” 32 So those who were sent went away and found it ⁱjust as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they ^jspread their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—^kthe whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice ^lfor all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, ^m“Blessed is ⁿthe King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and ^oglory in the highest!” 39 ^pAnd some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, ^qthe very stones would cry out.”

Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem

41 ^rAnd when he drew near and saw the city, ^she wept over it, 42 saying, ^t“Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now ^uthey are hidden from your eyes. 43 For ^vthe days will come upon you, when your enemies ^wwill set up a barricade around you and ^xsurround you and hem you in on every side 44 ^yand tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And ^zthey will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know ^athe time of your ^bvisitation.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

45 ^cAnd he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ^d‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but ^eyou have made it a den of robbers.”

47 ^fAnd he was teaching daily in the temple. ^gThe chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, 48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.