Alliance with King Hiram

5 ^[a](A)Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for ^(B)Hiram had ^[b]always been a friend of David. ² Then ^(C)Solomon sent word to Hiram, saying, ³ “You know that ^(D)David my father was unable to build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the wars which surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. ⁴ But now ^(E)the Lord my God has secured me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor ^[c]misfortune. ⁵ So behold, ^(F)I ^[d]intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, just as the Lord spoke to David my father, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, he will build the house for My name.’ ⁶ Now then, issue orders that they cut ^(G)cedars from Lebanon for me, and my servants will be with your servants; and I will give you wages for your servants in accordance with all that you say, for you yourself know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”

⁷ When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he greatly rejoiced; and he said, “Blessed be the Lord today, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.” ⁸ So Hiram sent word to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message which you sent me; I will do everything you wish concerning the cedar and juniper timber. ⁹ My servants will bring the timbers down from Lebanon to the sea; and I will have them made into rafts to go by sea ^(H)to the place where you ^[e]direct me, and I will have them broken up there, and you will carry them away. Then ^(I)you shall do what I wish, by giving food to my household.” ¹⁰ So ^[f]Hiram ^[g]gave Solomon all that he wished of the cedar and juniper timber. ^11 (J)Solomon then gave ^[h]Hiram ^[i]twenty thousand kors of wheat as food for his household, and ^[j]twenty kors of pure oil; this is what Solomon would give Hiram year by year. ¹² And ^(K)the Lord gave wisdom to Solomon, just as He ^[k]promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a covenant.

Conscription of Laborers

¹³ Now ^(L)King Solomon ^[l]conscripted forced laborers from all Israel; and the forced laborers numbered thirty thousand men. ¹⁴ Then he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts; they were in Lebanon for a month, and two months at home. And ^(M)Adoniram was in charge of the forced laborers. ¹⁵ Now ^(N)Solomon had seventy thousand porters, and eighty thousand stonemasons in the mountains, ^16 (O)besides Solomon’s 3,300 chief deputies who were in charge of the ^[m]project and ruled over the people who were doing the work. ¹⁷ Then ^(P)the king issued orders, and they quarried large stones, valuable stones, to lay the foundation of the house with cut stones. ¹⁸ So Solomon’s builders and ^[n]Hiram’s builders and ^(Q)the Gebalites ^[o]cut the stones, and they prepared the timbers and the stones to build the house.

The Building of the Temple

6 ^(R)Now it came about in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, that is, the second month, that he ^[p]began to build the house of the Lord. ² And the house which King Solomon built for the Lord was ^[q]sixty cubits in its length, and twenty cubits in its width, and its height was thirty cubits. ³ The porch in front of the main room of the house was ^[r]twenty cubits in ^[s]length, ^[t]corresponding to the width of the house, and its width along the front of the house was ten cubits. ⁴ Also for the house ^(S)he made windows with artistic frames. ^5 (T)Against the wall of the house he built stories encompassing the walls of the house around both the main room and the ^[u](U)inner sanctuary; so he made ^(V)side chambers all around. ⁶ The lowest story was ^[v]five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for on the outside he ^[w]made offsets in the wall of the house all around so that the beams would not ^[x]be inserted into the walls of the house.

^7 (W)The house, while it was being built, was built of stone finished at the quarry, and neither hammer, nor axe, nor any iron tool was heard in the house while it was being built.

⁸ The doorway for the ^[y]lowest side chamber was on the right side of the house; and they would go up by a winding staircase to the middle story, and from the middle to the third. ⁹ So ^(X)he built the house and finished it; and he covered the house with beams and ^[z]planks of cedar. ¹⁰ He also built the stories against the whole house, each ^[aa]five cubits high; and they ^[ab]were attached to the house with timbers of cedar.

¹¹ Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying, ¹² “As for this house which you are building, ^(Y)if you will walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will fulfill My word with you which I spoke to David your father. ¹³ And ^(Z)I will dwell among the sons of Israel, and ^(AA)will not abandon My people Israel.”

^14 (AB)So Solomon built the house and finished it. ¹⁵ He ^(AC)built the walls of the house on the inside with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house to the ^[ac]ceiling he paneled the walls on the inside with wood, and he paneled the floor of the house with boards of juniper. ^16 (AD)He also built ^[ad]twenty cubits on the rear part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the ^[ae]ceiling; he built them for it on the inside as an inner sanctuary, as ^(AE)the Most Holy Place. ¹⁷ The house, that is, the main room in front of the inner sanctuary, was ^[af]forty cubits long. ¹⁸ There was cedar inside the house, carved in the shape of ^(AF)gourds and open flowers; everything was cedar, there was no stone visible. ¹⁹ Then he prepared an inner sanctuary inside the house in order to place there the ark of the covenant of the Lord. ^20 [ag]The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height; and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also paneled the altar with cedar. ²¹ So Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold. And he extended chains of gold across the front of the inner sanctuary, and he overlaid it with gold. ²² He overlaid the entire house with gold, until all the house was finished. Also ^(AG)the entire altar which was by the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.

^23 (AH)And in the inner sanctuary he made two ^[ah]cherubim of olive wood, each ^[ai]ten cubits high. ²⁴ The one wing of the first cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the first cherub was five cubits; from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing were ten cubits. ²⁵ The second cherub was ten cubits; both of the cherubim were of the same measurement and the same form. ²⁶ The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was that of the other cherub. ²⁷ He placed the cherubim in the midst of the inner house, and ^(AI)the wings of the cherubim spread out so that the wing of the one was touching the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub was touching the other wall. And their wings were touching ^[aj]end to ^[ak]end in the center of the house. ²⁸ He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

²⁹ Then he carved all the surrounding walls of the house with engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, for the inner and outer sanctuaries. ³⁰ And he overlaid the floor of the house with gold, for the inner and outer sanctuaries.

³¹ And for the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood, the lintel, and five-sided doorposts. ³² So he made two doors of olive wood, and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he overlaid the cherubim and the palm trees with gold.

³³ So too he made for the entrance of the main room four-sided doorposts of olive wood, ³⁴ and ^(AJ)two doors of juniper wood; the two leaves of the one door turned on pivots, and the two ^[al]leaves of the other door turned on pivots. ³⁵ He carved on it cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold plated on the carved work. ³⁶ And ^(AK)he built the inner courtyard with three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams.

^37 (AL)In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of Ziv. ³⁸ And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, that is, the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts and in accordance with all its plans. So he was seven years in building it.

Paul’s Vision

12 ^(A)Boasting is necessary, though it is not beneficial; but I will go on to visions and ^(B)revelations ^[a]of the Lord. ² I know a man ^(C)in Christ, who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, ^(D)God knows—such a man was ^(E)caught up to the ^(F)third heaven. ³ And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, ^(G)God knows— ⁴ was ^(H)caught up into ^(I)Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. ^5 (J)In behalf of such a man I will boast; but in my own behalf I will not boast, except regarding my ^(K)weaknesses. ⁶ For if I do wish to boast I will not be ^(L)foolish, ^(M)for I will be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me.

A Thorn in the Flesh

⁷ Because of the extraordinary greatness of the ^(N)revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given to me a ^(O)thorn in the flesh, a ^(P)messenger of Satan to ^[b]torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! ⁸ Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord ^(Q)three times that it might leave me. ⁹ And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for ^(R)power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather ^(S)boast ^[c]about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. ¹⁰ Therefore ^(T)I delight in weaknesses, in ^[d]insults, in ^(U)distresses, in ^(V)persecutions, in ^(W)difficulties, ^(X)in behalf of Christ; for ^(Y)when I am weak, then I am strong.

¹¹ I have become ^(Z)foolish; you yourselves compelled me. Actually I should have been commended by you, since I was ^(AA)in no respect inferior to the ^[e]most eminent apostles, even though ^(AB)I am a nobody. ¹² The ^(AC)distinguishing marks ^[f]of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by ^[g]signs, wonders, and ^[h]miracles. ¹³ For in what respect were you treated as inferior to the rest of the churches, except that ^(AD)I myself did not become a burden to you? Forgive me ^(AE)this wrong!

¹⁴ Here ^(AF)for this third time I am ready to come to you, and I ^(AG)will not be a burden to you; for I ^(AH)do not seek what is yours, but ^(AI)you; for ^(AJ)children are not responsible to save up for their parents, but ^(AK)parents for their children. ¹⁵ I will ^(AL)most gladly spend and be expended for your souls. If ^(AM)I love you more, am I to be loved less? ¹⁶ But be that as it may, I ^(AN)did not burden you myself; nevertheless, devious person that I am, I ^(AO)took you in by deceit. ^17 (AP)Certainly I have not taken advantage of you through any of those whom I have sent to you, have I? ¹⁸ I ^(AQ)urged ^(AR)Titus to go, and I sent ^(AS)the brother with him. Titus did not take any advantage of you, did he? Did we not ^[i]conduct ourselves ^[j]in the same ^(AT)spirit and walk ^(AU)in the same steps?

¹⁹ All this time ^[k]you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you. Actually, ^(AV)it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ; and ^(AW)all for building you up, ^(AX)beloved. ²⁰ For I am afraid that perhaps ^(AY)when I come I may find you to be not what I wish, and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there will be ^(AZ)strife, jealousy, ^(BA)angry tempers, ^(BB)selfishness, ^(BC)slanders, ^(BD)gossip, ^(BE)arrogance, ^(BF)disturbances; ²¹ I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have ^(BG)sinned in the past and not repented of the ^(BH)impurity, sexual immorality, and indecent behavior which they have practiced.

Examine Yourselves

13 ^(BI)This is the third time that I am coming to you. ^(BJ)On the ^[l]testimony of two or three witnesses every matter shall be confirmed. ² I have previously said when I was present the second time, and though now absent I say in advance to those who have ^(BK)sinned in the past and to all the rest as well, that ^(BL)if I come again I will not ^(BM)spare anyone, ³ since you are ^(BN)seeking proof of the ^(BO)Christ who speaks in me, who is not weak toward you, but ^(BP)mighty in you. ⁴ For indeed He was ^(BQ)crucified because of weakness, yet He lives ^(BR)because of the power of God. For we too are ^(BS)weak ^[m]in Him, yet ^(BT)we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you.

^5 (BU)Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; ^(BV)examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you ^[n](BW)fail the test? ⁶ But I expect that you will realize that we ourselves ^[o]do not fail the test. ⁷ Now we pray to God that you do nothing wrong; not so that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, though we may ^[p]appear unapproved. ⁸ For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. ⁹ For we rejoice when we ourselves are ^(BX)weak, but you are strong; this we also pray for, ^[q]that you ^(BY)become mature. ¹⁰ For this reason I am writing these things while absent, so that when present ^(BZ)I need not use ^(CA)severity, in accordance with the ^(CB)authority which the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.

^11 (CC)Finally, brothers and sisters, ^[r]rejoice, ^(CD)mend your ways, be comforted, ^(CE)be like-minded, ^(CF)live in peace; and ^(CG)the God of love and peace will be with you. ^12 (CH)Greet one another with a holy kiss. ^13 (CI)All the ^[s]saints greet you.

^14 (CJ)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the ^(CK)love of God, and the ^(CL)fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.