Alliance with King Hiram

5 ^[a](A)Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for ^(B)Hiram had ^[b]always been a friend of David. ² Then ^(C)Solomon sent word to Hiram, saying, ³ “You know that ^(D)David my father was unable to build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the wars which surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. ⁴ But now ^(E)the Lord my God has secured me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor ^[c]misfortune. ⁵ So behold, ^(F)I ^[d]intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, just as the Lord spoke to David my father, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, he will build the house for My name.’ ⁶ Now then, issue orders that they cut ^(G)cedars from Lebanon for me, and my servants will be with your servants; and I will give you wages for your servants in accordance with all that you say, for you yourself know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”

⁷ When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he greatly rejoiced; and he said, “Blessed be the Lord today, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.” ⁸ So Hiram sent word to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message which you sent me; I will do everything you wish concerning the cedar and juniper timber. ⁹ My servants will bring the timbers down from Lebanon to the sea; and I will have them made into rafts to go by sea ^(H)to the place where you ^[e]direct me, and I will have them broken up there, and you will carry them away. Then ^(I)you shall do what I wish, by giving food to my household.” ¹⁰ So ^[f]Hiram ^[g]gave Solomon all that he wished of the cedar and juniper timber. ^11 (J)Solomon then gave ^[h]Hiram ^[i]twenty thousand kors of wheat as food for his household, and ^[j]twenty kors of pure oil; this is what Solomon would give Hiram year by year. ¹² And ^(K)the Lord gave wisdom to Solomon, just as He ^[k]promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a covenant.

Conscription of Laborers

¹³ Now ^(L)King Solomon ^[l]conscripted forced laborers from all Israel; and the forced laborers numbered thirty thousand men. ¹⁴ Then he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts; they were in Lebanon for a month, and two months at home. And ^(M)Adoniram was in charge of the forced laborers. ¹⁵ Now ^(N)Solomon had seventy thousand porters, and eighty thousand stonemasons in the mountains, ^16 (O)besides Solomon’s 3,300 chief deputies who were in charge of the ^[m]project and ruled over the people who were doing the work. ¹⁷ Then ^(P)the king issued orders, and they quarried large stones, valuable stones, to lay the foundation of the house with cut stones. ¹⁸ So Solomon’s builders and ^[n]Hiram’s builders and ^(Q)the Gebalites ^[o]cut the stones, and they prepared the timbers and the stones to build the house.

The Fact of Christ’s Resurrection

15 Now ^(A)I make known to you, brothers and sisters, the ^(B)gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, ^(C)in which you also stand, ² by which you also are saved, ^(D)if you hold firmly to ^[a]the word which I preached to you, ^(E)unless you believed in vain.

³ For ^(F)I handed down to you ^[b]as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died ^(G)for our sins ^(H)according to the Scriptures, ⁴ and that He was buried, and that He was ^(I)raised on the third day ^(J)according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that ^(K)He appeared to ^[c](L)Cephas, then ^(M)to the twelve. ⁶ After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some ^(N)have fallen asleep; ⁷ then He appeared to ^[d](O)James, then to ^(P)all the apostles; ⁸ and last of all, as ^[e]to one untimely born, ^(Q)He appeared to me also. ⁹ For I am ^(R)the least of the apostles, ^[f]and not fit to be called an apostle, because I ^(S)persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by ^(T)the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I ^(U)labored even more than all of them, yet ^(V)not I, but the grace of God with me. ¹¹ Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

¹² Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there ^(W)is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; ¹⁴ and ^(X)if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, your faith also is in vain. ¹⁵ Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified ^[g]against God that He ^(Y)raised ^[h]Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised; ¹⁷ and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; ^(Z)you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then also those who ^(AA)have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If we have hoped in Christ only in this life, we are ^(AB)of all people most to be pitied.

The Order of Resurrection

²⁰ But the fact is, Christ ^(AC)has been raised from the dead, the ^(AD)first fruits of those who ^(AE)are asleep. ²¹ For since ^(AF)by a man death came, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. ²² For ^(AG)as in Adam all die, so also in ^[i]Christ all will be made alive. ²³ But each in his own order: Christ ^(AH)the first fruits, after that ^(AI)those who are Christ’s at ^(AJ)His coming, ²⁴ then comes the end, when He hands over ^(AK)the kingdom to our ^(AL)God and Father, when He has abolished ^(AM)all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵ For He must reign ^(AN)until He has put all His enemies under His feet. ²⁶ The last enemy that will be ^(AO)abolished is death. ²⁷ For ^(AP)He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, “^(AQ)All things are put in subjection,” it is clear that ^[j]this excludes the Father who put all things in subjection to Him. ²⁸ When ^(AR)all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that ^(AS)God may be all in all.

²⁹ For otherwise, what will those do who are baptized ^[k]for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized ^[l]for them? ³⁰ Why are we also ^(AT)in danger every hour? ³¹ I affirm, brothers and sisters, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, that ^(AU)I die daily. ³² If ^[m]from human motives I ^(AV)fought with wild beasts at ^(AW)Ephesus, what good is it to me? If the dead are not raised, ^(AX)let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. ^33 (AY)Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” ^34 (AZ)Sober up ^[n]morally and stop sinning, for some have ^(BA)no knowledge of God. ^(BB)I say this to your shame.

The Building of the Temple

6 ^(A)Now it came about in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, that is, the second month, that he ^[a]began to build the house of the Lord. ² And the house which King Solomon built for the Lord was ^[b]sixty cubits in its length, and twenty cubits in its width, and its height was thirty cubits. ³ The porch in front of the main room of the house was ^[c]twenty cubits in ^[d]length, ^[e]corresponding to the width of the house, and its width along the front of the house was ten cubits. ⁴ Also for the house ^(B)he made windows with artistic frames. ^5 (C)Against the wall of the house he built stories encompassing the walls of the house around both the main room and the ^[f](D)inner sanctuary; so he made ^(E)side chambers all around. ⁶ The lowest story was ^[g]five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for on the outside he ^[h]made offsets in the wall of the house all around so that the beams would not ^[i]be inserted into the walls of the house.

^7 (F)The house, while it was being built, was built of stone finished at the quarry, and neither hammer, nor axe, nor any iron tool was heard in the house while it was being built.

⁸ The doorway for the ^[j]lowest side chamber was on the right side of the house; and they would go up by a winding staircase to the middle story, and from the middle to the third. ⁹ So ^(G)he built the house and finished it; and he covered the house with beams and ^[k]planks of cedar. ¹⁰ He also built the stories against the whole house, each ^[l]five cubits high; and they ^[m]were attached to the house with timbers of cedar.

¹¹ Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying, ¹² “As for this house which you are building, ^(H)if you will walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will fulfill My word with you which I spoke to David your father. ¹³ And ^(I)I will dwell among the sons of Israel, and ^(J)will not abandon My people Israel.”

^14 (K)So Solomon built the house and finished it.

Instructions

17 Now He said to His disciples, “^(A)It is inevitable that ^[a]stumbling blocks come, but woe to one through whom they come! ^2 (B)It is better for him if a millstone is hung around his neck and he ^[b]is thrown into the sea, than that he may cause one of these little ones to ^[c]sin. ^3 [d]Be on your guard! ^(C)If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. ⁴ And if he sins against you ^(D)seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”

^5 (E)The apostles said to ^(F)the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶ But ^(G)the Lord said, “If you ^[e]had faith ^[f]the size of ^(H)a mustard seed, you could say to this ^(I)mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would ^[g]obey you.

⁷ “Now which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him after he comes in from the field, ‘Come immediately and recline at the table to eat’? ⁸ On the contrary, will he not say to him, ‘^(J)Prepare something for me to eat, and properly ^[h]clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and ^[i]afterward you ^[j]may eat and drink’? ⁹ He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? ¹⁰ So you too, when you do all the things which were commanded you, say, ‘We are ^[k]unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’”

Ten Men with Leprosy Healed

¹¹ While He was ^(K)on the way to Jerusalem, ^(L)He was passing ^[l]between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² And as He entered a village, ten men with leprosy who ^(M)stood at a distance met Him; ¹³ and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, ^(N)Master, have mercy on us!” ¹⁴ When He saw them, He said to them, “^(O)Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed. ¹⁵ Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, ^(P)glorifying God with a loud voice, ¹⁶ and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a ^(Q)Samaritan. ¹⁷ But Jesus responded and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? ^18 [m]Was no one found who returned to ^(R)give glory to God, except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ And He said to him, “Stand up and go; ^(S)your faith has ^[n]made you well.”