⁸ “So now I charge you in the sight of all Israel^(A) and of the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God: Be careful to follow all the commands^(B) of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants forever.^(C)

⁹ “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion^(D) and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart^(E) and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him,^(F) he will be found by you; but if you forsake^(G) him, he will reject^(H) you forever. ¹⁰ Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.”

¹¹ Then David gave his son Solomon the plans^(I) for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement. ¹² He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit^(J) had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the Lord and all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things.^{(K) 13} He gave him instructions for the divisions^(L) of the priests and Levites, and for all the work of serving in the temple of the Lord, as well as for all the articles to be used in its service.

⁹ “As the Father has loved me,^(A) so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands,^(B) you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.^{(C) 12} My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.^{(D) 13} Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.^{(E) 14} You are my friends^(F) if you do what I command.^{(G) 15} I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.^{(H) 16} You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you^(I) so that you might go and bear fruit^(J)—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.^{(K) 17} This is my command: Love each other.^(L)