2 Chronicles 2

New International Version

Preparations for Building the Temple^(A)

2 ^[a]Solomon gave orders to build a temple^(B) for the Name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself.^(C) ²He conscripted 70,000 men as carriers and 80,000 as stonecutters in the hills and 3,600 as foremen over them.^(D)

³Solomon sent this message to Hiram^[b]^(E) king of Tyre:

“Send me cedar logs^(F) as you did for my father David when you sent him cedar to build a palace to live in. ⁴Now I am about to build a temple^(G) for the Name of the Lord my God and to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense^(H) before him, for setting out the consecrated bread^(I) regularly, and for making burnt offerings^(J) every morning and evening and on the Sabbaths,^(K) at the New Moons^(L) and at the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is a lasting ordinance for Israel.

⁵“The temple I am going to build will be great,^(M) because our God is greater than all other gods.^(N) ⁶But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him?^(O) Who then am I^(P) to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him?

⁷“Send me, therefore, a man skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, and in purple, crimson and blue yarn, and experienced in the art of engraving, to work in Judah and Jerusalem with my skilled workers,^(Q) whom my father David provided.

⁸“Send me also cedar, juniper and algum^[c] logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants are skilled in cutting timber there. My servants will work with yours ⁹to provide me with plenty of lumber, because the temple I build must be large and magnificent. ¹⁰I will give your servants, the woodsmen who cut the timber, twenty thousand cors^[d] of ground wheat, twenty thousand cors^[e] of barley, twenty thousand baths^[f] of wine and twenty thousand baths of olive oil.^(R)”

¹¹Hiram king of Tyre replied by letter to Solomon:

“Because the Lord loves^(S) his people, he has made you their king.”

¹²And Hiram added:

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth!^(T) He has given King David a wise son, endowed with intelligence and discernment, who will build a temple for the Lord and a palace for himself.

¹³“I am sending you Huram-Abi,^(U) a man of great skill, ¹⁴whose mother was from Dan^(V) and whose father was from Tyre. He is trained^(W) to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, and with purple and blue^(X) and crimson yarn and fine linen. He is experienced in all kinds of engraving and can execute any design given to him. He will work with your skilled workers and with those of my lord, David your father.

¹⁵“Now let my lord send his servants the wheat and barley and the olive oil^(Y) and wine he promised, ¹⁶and we will cut all the logs from Lebanon that you need and will float them as rafts by sea down to Joppa.^(Z) You can then take them up to Jerusalem.”

¹⁷Solomon took a census of all the foreigners^(AA) residing in Israel, after the census^(AB) his father David had taken; and they were found to be 153,600. ¹⁸He assigned^(AC) 70,000 of them to be carriers and 80,000 to be stonecutters in the hills, with 3,600 foremen over them to keep the people working.

Footnotes

2 Chronicles 2:1 In Hebrew texts 2:1 is numbered 1:18, and 2:2-18 is numbered 2:1-17.
2 Chronicles 2:3 Hebrew Huram, a variant of Hiram; also in verses 11 and 12
2 Chronicles 2:8 Probably a variant of almug
2 Chronicles 2:10 That is, probably about 3,600 tons or about 3,200 metric tons of wheat
2 Chronicles 2:10 That is, probably about 3,000 tons or about 2,700 metric tons of barley
2 Chronicles 2:10 That is, about 120,000 gallons or about 440,000 liters

1 John 3

New International Version

3 See what great love^(A) the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!^(B) And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.^(C) ²Dear friends,^(D) now we are children of God,^(E) and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,^[a]^(F) we shall be like him,^(G) for we shall see him as he is.^(H) ³All who have this hope in him purify themselves,^(I) just as he is pure.^(J)

⁴Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.^(K) ⁵But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins.^(L) And in him is no sin.^(M) ⁶No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.^(N) No one who continues to sin has either seen him^(O) or known him.^(P)

⁷Dear children,^(Q) do not let anyone lead you astray.^(R) The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.^(S) ⁸The one who does what is sinful is of the devil,^(T) because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God^(U) appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.^(V) ⁹No one who is born of God^(W) will continue to sin,^(X) because God’s seed^(Y) remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. ¹⁰This is how we know who the children of God^(Z) are and who the children of the devil^(AA) are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love^(AB) their brother and sister.^(AC)

More on Love and Hatred

¹¹For this is the message you heard^(AD) from the beginning:^(AE) We should love one another.^(AF) ¹²Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one^(AG) and murdered his brother.^(AH) And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.^(AI) ¹³Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters,^[b] if the world hates you.^(AJ) ¹⁴We know that we have passed from death to life,^(AK) because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.^(AL) ¹⁵Anyone who hates a brother or sister^(AM) is a murderer,^(AN) and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.^(AO)

¹⁶This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.^(AP) And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.^(AQ) ¹⁷If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them,^(AR) how can the love of God be in that person?^(AS) ¹⁸Dear children,^(AT) let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.^(AU)

¹⁹This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: ²⁰If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹Dear friends,^(AV) if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God^(AW) ²²and receive from him anything we ask,^(AX) because we keep his commands^(AY) and do what pleases him.^(AZ) ²³And this is his command: to believe^(BA) in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,^(BB) and to love one another as he commanded us.^(BC) ²⁴The one who keeps God’s commands^(BD) lives in him,^(BE) and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.^(BF)

Footnotes

1 John 3:2 Or when it is made known
1 John 3:13 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verse 16.

Psalm 131

New International Version

Psalm 131

A song of ascents. Of David.

¹My heart is not proud,^(A) Lord,
    my eyes are not haughty;^(B)
I do not concern myself with great matters^(C)
    or things too wonderful for me.^(D)
²But I have calmed and quieted myself,^(E)
    I am like a weaned child with its mother;
    like a weaned child I am content.^(F)