Balaam's Second Oracle

¹³ And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.” ¹⁴ And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, ^(A)and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. ¹⁵ Balaam said to Balak, ^(B)“Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord over there.” ¹⁶ And the Lord met Balaam and ^(C)put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.” ¹⁷ And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?” ¹⁸ And Balaam took up his discourse and said,

²⁵ And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.” ²⁶ But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ^(N)‘All that the Lord says, that I must do’?” ²⁷ And Balak said to Balaam, ^(O)“Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.” ²⁸ So Balak took Balaam to the top of ^(P)Peor, which overlooks ^(Q)the desert.^{[a] 29} And Balaam said to Balak, ^(R)“Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” ^30 (S)And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

David's Charge to Israel

28 ^(A)David assembled at Jerusalem all the officials of Israel, the ^(B)officials of the tribes, the officers of the divisions that served the king, the ^(C)commanders of thousands, the commanders of hundreds, the ^(D)stewards of all the property and livestock of the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the ^(E)mighty men and all the seasoned warriors. ² Then King David rose to his feet and said: “Hear me, my brothers and my people. ^(F)I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the ^(G)footstool of our God, and I made preparations for building. ³ But God said to me, ^(H)‘You may not build a house for my name, for you are a man of war and have shed blood.’ ⁴ Yet the Lord God of Israel ^(I)chose me from all my father's house to be king over Israel ^(J)forever. ^(K)For he chose Judah as leader, and in the house of Judah my father's ^(L)house, and among my father's sons he took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel. ⁵ And of ^(M)all my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons) he ^(N)has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. ⁶ He said to me, ‘It is ^(O)Solomon your son who shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. ⁷ I will establish his kingdom ^(P)forever ^(Q)if he continues strong in keeping my commandments and my rules, as he is today.’ ⁸ Now therefore in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek out all the commandments of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you forever.

David's Charge to Solomon

⁹ “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a ^(R)whole heart and with a willing mind, ^(S)for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. ^(T)If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. ¹⁰ Be careful now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; ^(U)be strong and do it.”

¹¹ Then David gave Solomon his son the ^(V)plan of the ^(W)vestibule of the temple,^[a] and of its houses, its treasuries, its upper rooms, and its inner chambers, and of the room for the ^(X)mercy seat; ¹² and the plan of all that he had in mind for the courts of the house of the Lord, all the surrounding chambers, ^(Y)the treasuries of the house of God, and the treasuries for dedicated gifts; ¹³ for the ^(Z)divisions of the priests and of the ^(AA)Levites, and all the work of the service in the house of the Lord; for all the vessels for the service in the house of the Lord, ¹⁴ the weight of gold for all golden vessels for each service, the weight of silver vessels for each service, ¹⁵ the weight of the golden ^(AB)lampstands and their lamps, the weight of gold for each lampstand and its lamps, the weight of silver for a lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand in the service, ¹⁶ the weight of gold for each table for the showbread, the silver for the silver tables, ¹⁷ and pure gold for the forks, the basins and the cups; for the golden bowls and the weight of each; for the silver bowls and the weight of each; ¹⁸ for the ^(AC)altar of incense made of refined gold, and its weight; also his plan for the golden chariot of the ^(AD)cherubim that spread their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord. ¹⁹ “All this he made clear to me in writing from the hand of the Lord, ^(AE)all the work to be done according to the plan.”

²⁰ Then David said to Solomon his son, ^(AF)“Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished. ²¹ And behold the ^(AG)divisions of the priests and the Levites for all the service of the house of God; and with you in all the work will be ^(AH)every willing man who has skill for any kind of service; also the officers and all the people will be wholly at your command.”

Daniel Is Promoted

⁴⁶ Then King Nebuchadnezzar ^(A)fell upon his face and ^(B)paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that ^(C)an offering and ^(D)incense be offered up to him. ⁴⁷ The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your ^(E)God is God of gods and ^(F)Lord of kings, and ^(G)a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” ⁴⁸ Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great ^(H)gifts, and made him ruler over the whole ^(I)province of Babylon and ^(J)chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. ⁴⁹ Daniel made a request of the king, and he ^(K)appointed ^(L)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of ^(M)the province of Babylon. But Daniel ^(N)remained at the king's court.

Nebuchadnezzar's Golden Image

3 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits^[a] and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on ^(O)the plain of Dura, in ^(P)the province of Babylon. ² Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather ^(Q)the satraps, the prefects, and ^(R)the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. ³ Then ^(S)the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. ⁴ And the herald ^(T)proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O ^(U)peoples, nations, and languages, ⁵ that when you hear the ^(V)sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you ^(W)are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. ⁶ And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately ^(X)be cast into a burning fiery furnace.” ⁷ Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all ^(Y)the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

The Fiery Furnace

⁸ Therefore at that time certain ^(Z)Chaldeans ^(AA)came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. ⁹ They declared^[b] to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! ¹⁰ You, O king, ^(AB)have made a decree, that every man who ^(AC)hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, ^(AD)shall fall down and worship the golden image. ¹¹ And whoever does not fall down and worship ^(AE)shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. ¹² There are certain Jews whom you have ^(AF)appointed over the affairs of ^(AG)the province of Babylon: ^(AH)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, ^(AI)pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

¹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar ^(AJ)in furious rage commanded that ^(AK)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. ¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? ¹⁵ Now if you are ready when ^(AL)you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good.^[c] But if you do not worship, ^(AM)you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And ^(AN)who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

^16 (AO)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷ If this be so, ^(AP)our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.^{[d] 18} But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Blessed Is the One Who Finds Wisdom