A Samaritan Village Rejects Jesus

51 When the days drew near for ^jhim to be taken up, ^khe set his face ^lto go to Jerusalem. 52 And ^mhe sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of ⁿthe Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 53 But ^othe people did not receive him, because ^phis face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell ^qfire to come down from heaven and consume them?”¹ 55 But he turned and rebuked them.² 56 And they went on to another village.

The Cost of Following Jesus

57 As they were going ^ralong the road, ^ssomeone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus³ said to him, “Leave ^tthe dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and ^uproclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, ^vbut let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, ^w“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

10 You are witnesses, and ^dGod also, ^ehow holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. 11 For you know how, ^flike a father with his children, 12 we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and ^gcharged ^hyou to walk in a manner worthy of God, ⁱwho calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

13 And ^jwe also thank God constantly¹ for this, that when you received ^kthe word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it ^lnot as the word of men² but as what it really is, the word of God, ^mwhich is at work in you believers. 14 For you, brothers, ⁿbecame imitators of ^othe churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For ^pyou suffered the same things from your own countrymen ^qas they did from the Jews,³ 15 ^rwho killed both the Lord Jesus and ^sthe prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and ^toppose all mankind 16 ^uby hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always ^vto fill up the measure of their sins. But ^wwrath has come upon them at last!⁴

Paul’s Longing to See Them Again

17 But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, ^xin person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire ^yto see you face to face, 18 because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan ^zhindered us. 19 For what is our hope or ^ajoy or crown of boasting ^bbefore our Lord Jesus at his ^ccoming? Is it not you? 20 For you are our glory and joy.

How Shall We Sing the Lord’s Song?

Offerings for the Temple

1 And David the king said to all the assembly, “Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is ^pyoung and inexperienced, and the work is great, for ^qthe palace will not be for man but for the Lord God. 2 So I have provided for the house of my God, so far as I was able, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, besides great quantities of ^ronyx and stones for setting, antimony, colored stones, all sorts of precious stones and marble. 3 Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God: 4 ^s3,000 talents¹ of gold, of the gold of ^tOphir, and 7,000 talents of refined silver, for overlaying the walls of the house,² 5 and for all the work to be done by craftsmen, gold for the things of gold and silver for the things of silver. Who then will offer willingly, consecrating himself³ today to the Lord?”

6 Then ^uthe leaders of fathers’ houses made their freewill offerings, as did also the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and ^vthe officers over the king’s work. 7 They gave for the service of the house of God 5,000 talents and 10,000 ^wdarics⁴ of gold, 10,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of bronze and 100,000 talents of iron. 8 And whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord, in the care of ^xJehiel the Gershonite. 9 Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a ^ywhole heart they had offered freely to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly.

David Prays in the Assembly

10 Therefore David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: ^z“Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. 11 ^aYours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. 12 ^bBoth riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. ^cIn your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. 13 And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.

14 “But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. 15 ^dFor we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are ^elike a shadow, and there is no abiding.⁵ 16 O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. 17 I know, my God, ^fthat you test the heart and ^ghave pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. 18 O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. 19 ^hGrant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may ⁱbuild the palace ^jfor which I have made provision.”

20 Then David said to all the assembly, ^k“Bless the Lord your God.” And all the assembly blessed the Lord, the God of their fathers, ^land bowed their heads and paid homage to the Lord and to the king. 21 And they offered sacrifices to the Lord, and on the next day offered burnt offerings to the Lord, 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams, and 1,000 lambs, with their ^mdrink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. 22 And they ate and drank before the Lord on that day with great gladness.

Solomon Anointed King

And they made Solomon the son of David king ⁿthe second time, and they ^oanointed him as prince for the Lord, and ^pZadok as priest.

23 ^qThen Solomon sat on the ^rthrone of the Lord as king in place of David his father. And he prospered, and all Israel obeyed him. 24 All the leaders and the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David, pledged their allegiance to King Solomon. 25 And the Lord made Solomon very ^sgreat in the sight of all Israel and ^tbestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.

The Death of David

26 Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. 27 The ^utime that he reigned over Israel was forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 28 Then he died ^vat a good age, ^wfull of days, riches, and honor. And Solomon his son reigned in his place. 29 Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the Chronicles ^xof Samuel the seer, and in the Chronicles of ^yNathan the prophet, and in the Chronicles of ^zGad the seer, 30 with accounts of all his rule and his might and of the circumstances ^athat came upon him and upon Israel and upon all the kingdoms of the countries.