Solomon’s Wives

11 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women^(A) besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites,^(B) Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. ² They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry^(C) with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. ³ He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines,^(D) and his wives led him astray.^{(E) 4} As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods,^(F) and his heart was not fully devoted^(G) to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. ⁵ He followed Ashtoreth^(H) the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek^(I) the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁶ So Solomon did evil^(J) in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.

⁷ On a hill east^(K) of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh^(L) the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek^(M) the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁸ He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.

⁹ The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared^(N) to him twice. ¹⁰ Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods,^(O) Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command.^{(P) 11} So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees,^(Q) which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear^(R) the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. ¹² Nevertheless, for the sake of David^(S) your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ¹³ Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe^(T) for the sake^(U) of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”^(V)

Solomon’s Wives

11 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women^(A) besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites,^(B) Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. ² They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry^(C) with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. ³ He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines,^(D) and his wives led him astray.^{(E) 4} As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods,^(F) and his heart was not fully devoted^(G) to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. ⁵ He followed Ashtoreth^(H) the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek^(I) the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁶ So Solomon did evil^(J) in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.

⁷ On a hill east^(K) of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh^(L) the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek^(M) the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁸ He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.

⁹ The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared^(N) to him twice. ¹⁰ Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods,^(O) Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command.^{(P) 11} So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees,^(Q) which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear^(R) the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. ¹² Nevertheless, for the sake of David^(S) your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ¹³ Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe^(T) for the sake^(U) of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”^(V)

1 Paul, an apostle^(A) of Christ Jesus by the will of God,^(B) and Timothy^(C) our brother,

To the church of God^(D) in Corinth,^(E) together with all his holy people throughout Achaia:^(F)

² Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.^(G)

Praise to the God of All Comfort

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,^(H) the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us^(I) in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. ⁵ For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ,^(J) so also our comfort abounds through Christ. ⁶ If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation;^(K) if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. ⁷ And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings,^(L) so also you share in our comfort.

⁸ We do not want you to be uninformed,^(M) brothers and sisters,^[a] about the troubles we experienced^(N) in the province of Asia.^(O) We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. ⁹ Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God,^(P) who raises the dead.^{(Q) 10} He has delivered us from such a deadly peril,^(R) and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope^(S) that he will continue to deliver us, ¹¹ as you help us by your prayers.^(T) Then many will give thanks^(U) on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

Paul’s Change of Plans

¹² Now this is our boast: Our conscience^(V) testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity^[b](W) and godly sincerity.^(X) We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom^(Y) but on God’s grace. ¹³ For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, ¹⁴ as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.^(Z)

¹⁵ Because I was confident of this, I wanted to visit you^(AA) first so that you might benefit twice.^{(AB) 16} I wanted to visit you on my way^(AC) to Macedonia^(AD) and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send me on my way^(AE) to Judea.^{(AF) 17} Was I fickle when I intended to do this? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner^(AG) so that in the same breath I say both “Yes, yes” and “No, no”?

¹⁸ But as surely as God is faithful,^(AH) our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” ¹⁹ For the Son of God,^(AI) Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas^[c](AJ) and Timothy^(AK)—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always^(AL) been “Yes.” ²⁰ For no matter how many promises^(AM) God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen”^(AN) is spoken by us to the glory of God.^{(AO) 21} Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm^(AP) in Christ. He anointed^(AQ) us, ²² set his seal^(AR) of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.^(AS)

Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam^(A)

12 Rehoboam went to Shechem,^(B) for all Israel had gone there to make him king. ² When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled^(C) from King Solomon), he returned from^[a] Egypt. ³ So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: ⁴ “Your father put a heavy yoke^(D) on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

⁵ Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then come back to me.” So the people went away.

⁶ Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders^(E) who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked.

⁷ They replied, “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer,^(F) they will always be your servants.”

⁸ But Rehoboam rejected^(G) the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. ⁹ He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”

¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him replied, “These people have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.’ Now tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. ¹¹ My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’”

¹² Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.” ¹³ The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, ¹⁴ he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged^(H) you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord,^(I) to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah^(J) the Shilonite.

¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king:

So the Israelites went home.^{(M) 17} But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah,^(N) Rehoboam still ruled over them.

¹⁸ King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram,^[b](O) who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death.^(P) King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David^(Q) to this day.

²⁰ When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David.^(R)

²¹ When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered all Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—a hundred and eighty thousand able young men—to go to war^(S) against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon.

²² But this word of God came to Shemaiah^(T) the man of God:^{(U) 23} “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to all Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, ²⁴ ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.’” So they obeyed the word of the Lord and went home again, as the Lord had ordered.

Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time^(A)

³¹ Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem,^(B) and everything that is written by the prophets^(C) about the Son of Man^(D) will be fulfilled. ³² He will be delivered over to the Gentiles.^(E) They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; ³³ they will flog him^(F) and kill him.^(G) On the third day^(H) he will rise again.”^(I)

³⁴ The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.^(J)

A Blind Beggar Receives His Sight^(K)

³⁵ As Jesus approached Jericho,^(L) a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. ³⁶ When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. ³⁷ They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”^(M)

³⁸ He called out, “Jesus, Son of David,^(N) have mercy^(O) on me!”

³⁹ Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”^(P)

⁴⁰ Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, ⁴¹ “What do you want me to do for you?”

“Lord, I want to see,” he replied.

⁴² Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.”^{(Q) 43} Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.^(R)

Zacchaeus the Tax Collector

19 Jesus entered Jericho^(S) and was passing through. ² A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. ³ He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. ⁴ So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig^(T) tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.^(U)

⁵ When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” ⁶ So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

⁷ All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”^(V)

⁸ But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord,^(W) “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything,^(X) I will pay back four times the amount.”^(Y)

⁹ Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.^{(Z) 10} For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”^(AA)