Solomon’s Heart Turns from the Lord

11 But ^(A)King Solomon loved ^(B)many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites— ² from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, ^(C)“You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. ³ And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. ⁴ For it was so, when Solomon was old, ^(D)that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his ^(E)heart was not ^[a]loyal to the Lord his God, ^(F)as was the heart of his father David. ⁵ For Solomon went after ^(G)Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after ^(H)Milcom^[b] the abomination of the ^(I)Ammonites. ⁶ Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David. ^7 (J)Then Solomon built a ^[c]high place for ^(K)Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on ^(L)the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. ⁸ And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

⁹ So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, ^(M)who had appeared to him twice, ¹⁰ and ^(N)had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the Lord had commanded. ¹¹ Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, ^(O)I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your ^(P)servant. ¹² Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ^13 (Q)However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give ^(R)one tribe to your son ^(S)for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem ^(T)which I have chosen.”

Solomon’s Heart Turns from the Lord

11 But ^(A)King Solomon loved ^(B)many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites— ² from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, ^(C)“You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. ³ And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. ⁴ For it was so, when Solomon was old, ^(D)that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his ^(E)heart was not ^[a]loyal to the Lord his God, ^(F)as was the heart of his father David. ⁵ For Solomon went after ^(G)Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after ^(H)Milcom^[b] the abomination of the ^(I)Ammonites. ⁶ Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David. ^7 (J)Then Solomon built a ^[c]high place for ^(K)Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on ^(L)the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. ⁸ And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

⁹ So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, ^(M)who had appeared to him twice, ¹⁰ and ^(N)had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the Lord had commanded. ¹¹ Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, ^(O)I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your ^(P)servant. ¹² Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ^13 (Q)However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give ^(R)one tribe to your son ^(S)for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem ^(T)which I have chosen.”

Greeting

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

To the church of God which is at Corinth, ^(C)with all the saints who are in all Achaia:

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

Comfort in Suffering

^3 (E)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴ who ^(F)comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any ^[a]trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ⁵ For as ^(G)the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our ^[b]consolation also abounds through Christ. ⁶ Now if we are afflicted, ^(H)it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. ⁷ And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that ^(I)as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.

Delivered from Suffering

⁸ For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of ^(J)our ^[c]trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. ⁹ Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should ^(K)not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, ^10 (L)who delivered us from so great a death, and ^[d]does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, ¹¹ you also ^(M)helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on ^[e]our behalf ^(N)for the gift granted to us through many.

Paul’s Sincerity

¹² For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in ^[f]simplicity and ^(O)godly sincerity, ^(P)not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you. ¹³ For we are not writing any other things to you than what you read or understand. Now I trust you will understand, even to the end ¹⁴ (as also you have understood us in part), ^(Q)that we are your boast as ^(R)you also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Sparing the Church

¹⁵ And in this confidence ^(S)I intended to come to you before, that you might have ^(T)a second benefit— ¹⁶ to pass by way of you to Macedonia, ^(U)to come again from Macedonia to you, and be helped by you on my way to Judea. ¹⁷ Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Or the things I plan, do I plan ^(V)according to the flesh, that with me there should be Yes, Yes, and No, No? ¹⁸ But as God is ^(W)faithful, our ^[g]word to you was not Yes and No. ¹⁹ For ^(X)the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, ^(Y)Silvanus, and ^(Z)Timothy—was not Yes and No, ^(AA)but in Him was Yes. ^20 (AB)For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. ²¹ Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and ^(AC)has anointed us is God, ²² who ^(AD)also has sealed us and ^(AE)given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

The Revolt Against Rehoboam^(A)

12 And ^(B)Rehoboam went to ^(C)Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. ² So it happened, when ^(D)Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (he was still in ^(E)Egypt, for he had fled from the presence of King Solomon and had been dwelling in Egypt), ³ that they sent and called him. Then Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ “Your father made our ^(F)yoke ^[a]heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”

⁵ So he said to them, “Depart for three days, then come back to me.” And the people departed.

⁶ Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, and he said, “How do you advise me to answer these people?”

⁷ And they spoke to him, saying, ^(G)“If you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”

⁸ But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. ⁹ And he said to them, “What advice do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?”

¹⁰ Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you should speak to this people who have spoken to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us’—thus you shall say to them: ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s waist! ¹¹ And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with ^[b]scourges!’ ”

¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had directed, saying, “Come back to me the third day.” ¹³ Then the king answered the people ^[c]roughly, and rejected the advice which the elders had given him; ¹⁴ and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with ^[d]scourges!” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people; for ^(H)the turn of events was from the Lord, that He might fulfill His word, which the Lord had ^(I)spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

¹⁶ Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying:

So Israel departed to their tents. ¹⁷ But Rehoboam reigned over ^(K)the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah.

¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam ^(L)sent Adoram, who was in charge of the revenue; but all Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So ^(M)Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

²⁰ Now it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all ^(N)Israel. There was none who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah ^(O)only.

²¹ And when ^(P)Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah with the tribe of ^(Q)Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. ²² But ^(R)the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ²³ “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying, ²⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord: “You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel. Let every man return to his house, ^(S)for this thing is from Me.” ’ ” Therefore they obeyed the word of the Lord, and turned back, according to the word of the Lord.

Jesus a Third Time Predicts His Death and Resurrection^(A)

^31 (B)Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things ^(C)that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be ^[a]accomplished. ³² For ^(D)He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. ³³ They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.”

^34 (E)But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.

A Blind Man Receives His Sight^(F)

^35 (G)Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging. ³⁶ And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant. ³⁷ So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. ³⁸ And he cried out, saying, “Jesus, ^(H)Son of David, have mercy on me!”

³⁹ Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁰ So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him, ⁴¹ saying, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

He said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.”

⁴² Then Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; ^(I)your faith has made you well.” ⁴³ And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, ^(J)glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

Jesus Comes to Zacchaeus’ House

19 Then Jesus entered and passed through ^(K)Jericho. ² Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. ³ And he sought to ^(L)see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. ⁴ So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. ⁵ And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up ^[b]and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, ^[c]make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” ⁶ So he ^[d]made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. ⁷ But when they saw it, they all ^[e]complained, saying, ^(M)“He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”

⁸ Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the ^(N)poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by ^(O)false accusation, ^(P)I restore fourfold.”

⁹ And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because ^(Q)he also is ^(R)a son of Abraham; ^10 (S)for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”