Old/New Testament
1 After David had unified the tribes of Israel into one nation, subdued his neighboring enemies, and joined his ancestors in death, David’s son Solomon demonstrated his authority as king over Israel. The Eternal God was with Solomon and made him great.
As the new king, Solomon continues building God’s temple, utilizing David’s preparations, building the structure, and establishing the religion of the Lord.
2 As their new king, Solomon spoke to all Israel (commanders of thousands and hundreds, the judges, and every tribal leader). 3 Then he took the group up to the high place at Gibeon, a place in the mountains known for its connection to the Divine, where God’s meeting tent stood. (Moses, the servant of the Eternal, had made this tent and the covenant chest in the wilderness where it traveled with the people, 4 but David prepared a permanent home for the covenant chest of God in Jerusalem where it stayed after he took it from Kiriath-jearim.) At this high place, 5-6 Solomon and the group looked for the bronze altar, which Bezalel (son of Uri, son of Hur) had placed before the Eternal’s congregation tent. Solomon offered 1,000 burnt offerings there in the presence of the Eternal.
7 That night, the True God appeared to Solomon.
God (following the offerings of Solomon): Ask what you want from Me, and I shall give it to you.
Solomon: 8-9 The loyal love You showed my father, David, was immeasurable, and You, O Eternal God, have fulfilled Your promise to my father and made me the king of innumerable people in his place. 10 Now that I am their ruler, give me wisdom and knowledge to lead this great people. Without such wisdom, who can govern such a great people?
God: 11 You did not ask for selfish personal gain: riches, wealth, honor, the deaths of your enemies, or a long life. Instead, you asked for godly wisdom and knowledge to rule My people, over whom I have made you king. 12 Because you thought of the welfare of My people, I have granted you this exceptional wisdom and knowledge. In addition, I will give you riches and wealth and honor greater than any king ever has possessed or ever will possess.
These gifts are signs that God loves Solomon, and Solomon could use them for his own selfish reasons. But Solomon demonstrates wisdom by using these exceptional gifts to honor God in the construction of His temple.
13 Having sacrificed to God at the meeting tent on the high place of Gibeon and received His gifts, Solomon returned to Jerusalem to govern Israel.
14 There Solomon gathered his wealth. He collected 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen; and then he stationed them in the fortified cities, as well as in Jerusalem, where he remained. 15 He distributed silver and gold until they saturated Jerusalem. He imported cedar trees until they rivaled in number the sycamores of the foothills. 16 He imported horses from Egypt and from Kue, a nation north of Israel—the king’s merchants bought the horses from Kue, 17 and they acquired chariots from Egypt for about 15 pounds of silver each and horses for about 4 pounds of silver each. Solomon then traded them to all the Hittite and Aramean kings.
2 Having amassed his wealth, Solomon fulfilled God’s prediction that David’s son would build His house. Solomon decided to build a house honoring the reputation of the Eternal, a temple, and a house for himself, a palace. 2 First Solomon procured the stone: 80,000 men would quarry it in the mountains, 70,000 men would carry it, and 3,600 men would supervise them. 3 Then Solomon wrote to Huram, king of Tyre, asking for cedar.
Solomon: I come to ask for your fine cedarwood, just as my father David did so he could build his royal palace. Please do the same for me.
4 I am preparing to build a temple honoring the reputation of the Eternal One my God. It will be dedicated to Him and will be the site of our religious practices. There we will perform all the duties He perpetually requires of Israel: burning fragrant incense before Him, preparing the unleavened bread continually, and giving burnt offerings each morning and evening, on Sabbaths, new moons, and appointed feasts of the Eternal One our God. 5 This temple must be great because our True God is more powerful than all the other gods. 6 Though no one can build a house for Him because He inhabits the heavens and beyond, I am humbly building a place where we can encounter Him and burn incense before Him.
This temple on the elevated area overlooking the city of Jerusalem is truly remarkable. Moving from the outer court area, one observes a massive 15 by 30 foot altar to ritually sacrifice clean land animals and a huge “sea” or wash container 7½ by 15 feet to ceremonially wash the priests before they enter the next two areas: the holy place and the most holy place.
Moving into the actual temple structure is similar to being transported into the heavens. One passes between two larger-than-life tree-like columns and then into a brilliant golden room decorated with trees, pomegranates, winged creatures, and jewels. Upon entering the holy place during the eastern sunrise, one would be blinded as though looking into the sun. Then as the worshiper ascends the stairs, the most holy place has two enormous winged creatures flanking the Eternal’s temple footstool, the covenant chest. This room images the very heavenly throne room. To visualize and enter Solomon’s temple is to visualize and enter the heavens.
7 To this end, send me a man who can work gold, silver, brass, and iron; sew with purple, crimson, and violet fabrics; and engrave. Your servant will aid the skilled men whom David, my father, provided for me in Judah and Jerusalem. 8 Send me cedar, cypress, and algum timber from Lebanon, for I know your servants can skillfully cut timber from Lebanon; My servants will work with your servants 9 to prepare an abundance of timber for me to use in the temple, which will be great and wonderful. 10 I will pay your servants, the carpenters, 125,000 bushels of crushed wheat, 125,000 bushels of barley, 116,000 gallons of wine, and 116,000 gallons of oil.
Huram (in a letter answering Solomon): 11 Because the Eternal loves His people, He has made you their king. 12 The Eternal One, the God of Israel, creator of heaven and earth, is to be praised for giving King David such a wise son, endowed with discretion and understanding, who will build houses for both the Eternal and for himself.
13-14 I am sending Huram-abi, a discerning man skilled in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood; in purple, violet, and crimson linen and other fabrics; in engravings; and in executing any design. He is the son of an Israelite woman (from the tribe of Dan) and a Tyrian father, so he will work well with your skilled men and with those of my lord David, your father. 15-16 In addition to sending workers, we will cut the timber you need from Lebanon and float it down the coast to Joppa, so that you then may transport it up to Jerusalem. When the men and supplies arrive at Joppa, please send your servants, my countrymen, the wheat, barley, oil, and wine you have promised them.
17 In preparation for the building projects, Solomon ordered a census to count only the foreigners residing in Israel. This census differed from his father’s census, which counted everyone in the nation. There were 153,600 foreigners living in Israel: 18 80,000 men would quarry stone in the mountains, 70,000 men would carry it, and 3,600[a] men would supervise their work.
These foreigners are not paid day laborers; they are slaves forced to build a temple they may never enter. This scenario is similar to the Hebrews’ forced labor in Egypt and to the Israelites’ eventual forced labor in Babylonia. But one thing makes Solomon’s rule over them different: he presumably follows the laws of God regarding slaves (Leviticus 25:39–55). These laws specify that slaves may come from surrounding nations, must be treated fairly, and must be released in the jubilee year (a prescribed time every 50 years when debts are forgiven, seized land returns to its original owners, and slaves are freed).
3 1-2 Having assembled the materials and workers for the temple, Solomon began to build the Eternal’s temple on the second day in the second month of the fourth year of his reign. He built it in Jerusalem on Ornan the Jebusite’s threshing floor (which David had purchased and consecrated) on Mount Moriah (where Abraham had been willing to sacrifice Isaac to God generations before).
3 When Solomon prepared the plans of the True God’s temple, he modeled the design after temples in Syria and Canaan. The length was 90 feet and the width was 30 feet. 4 The length of the front porch was as wide as the temple (30 feet), and it was 30 feet[b] high. The rooms of the temple were highly ornamented. The porch was gilded inside. 5 The main room was paneled with gilded cypress wood and engraved with palm trees and ornamental chains. 6 The entire temple was decorated with precious stones and gilded with gold from Parvaim. 7-9 Even the supports and fasteners were gilded—the beams, the thresholds, the walls, the doors, and the nails (which weighed 20 ounces each). The walls were engraved with winged guardians, and the upper rooms were gilded.
The most holy place, which was located at the rear of the temple, was a 30-foot square room gilded with 23 tons of gold—the same amount that David paid for the temple site. 10 Inside the most holy place were two gilded, sculpted winged creatures, 11-12 each with a wingspan of 15 feet.
These fantastic creatures with bird wings, human faces, and animals’ body parts protect the covenant chest, and together they act as God’s footstool in the temple.
Each cherub touched one wing to the wall of the room and the other wing to the other cherub. 13 Together, their wings spanned across the room guarding the most holy place facing the main room and standing upright on their feet. 14 A veil of violet, purple, and crimson fabrics and fine linen, embroidered with winged creatures, covered the entrance to the most holy place.
15-17 Before the porch stood two columns, 52 feet high, crowned with 90-inch-high capitals. Solomon made decorative chains in the most holy place, adorned them with 100 pomegranates, and draped them on the tops of the columns. The column on the right was named Jachin, meaning “He establishes,” and the column on the left was named Boaz, meaning “He strengthens.”
The Pharisees are frequently around to challenge whatever Jesus says and does, but He always gets the better of them. Once again, Jesus turns what the Pharisees say inside out. They think blindness is a curse that evidences sin, and they think vision ensures knowledge and understanding—even concerning spiritual matters. Instead, the Pharisees’ confidence in their vision and discernment make them unable to see the truth about Jesus. Ironically, they have blind trust in their sighted leaders. By refusing to believe in Him, they are the sinners—not the blind man.
10 Jesus: I tell you the truth: the man who crawls through the fence of the sheep pen, rather than walking through the gate, is a thief or a vandal. 2 The shepherd walks openly through the entrance. 3 The guard who is posted to protect the sheep opens the gate for the shepherd, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When all the sheep have been gathered, he walks on ahead of them; and they follow him because they know his voice. 5 The sheep would not be willing to follow a stranger; they run because they do not know the voice of a stranger.
6 Jesus explained a profound truth through this metaphor, but they did not understand His teaching. 7 So He explained further.
Jesus: I tell you the truth: I am the gate of the sheep. 8 All who approached the sheep before Me came as thieves and robbers, and the sheep did not listen to their voices. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through Me will be liberated, will go in and go out, and will find pastures. 10 The thief approaches with malicious intent, looking to steal, slaughter, and destroy; I came to give life with joy and abundance.
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep in His care. 12 The hired hand is not like the shepherd caring for His own sheep. When a wolf attacks, snatching and scattering the sheep, he runs for his life, leaving them defenseless. 13 The hired hand runs because he works only for wages and does not care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; I know My sheep, and My sheep know Me. 15 As the Father knows Me, I know the Father; I will give My life for the sheep. 16 There are many more sheep than you can see here, and I will bring them as well. They will hear My voice, and the flock will be united. One flock. One shepherd. 17 The Father loves Me because I am willing to lay down My life—but I will take it up again. 18 My life cannot be taken away by anybody else; I am giving it of My own free will. My authority allows Me to give My life and to take it again. All this has been commanded by My Father.
Jesus loves to explain truth through everyday things like vines, fruit, fishing, building, and shepherding, as He does here. He is a master communicator. In this metaphor, Jesus is the shepherd. Eventually He becomes the sheep as well. On the cross, He is destined to become the innocent sacrifice that makes all future sin sacrifices and burnt offerings unnecessary.
19 When He spoke these words, some of the Jews began to argue.
Many Jews: 20 He has a demon and is a raving maniac. Why are you people listening to Him?
Other Jews: 21 No demon-possessed man ever spoke like this. Do demons give sight to the blind?
22-23 It was winter and time for the Festival of Dedication.[a] While in Jerusalem, Jesus was walking through the temple in an area known as Solomon’s porch,
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.