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 given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor ^[c]misfortune. ⁵ Behold, ^(F)I ^[d]intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spoke to David my father, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he will build the house for My name.’ ⁶ Now therefore, command that they cut for me ^(G)cedars from Lebanon, and my servants will be with your servants; and I will give you wages for your servants according to all that you say, for you 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 rejoiced greatly and 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 have sent me; I will do ^[e]what you desire concerning the cedar and cypress timber. ⁹ My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea; and I will make them into rafts to go by sea ^(H)to the place where you ^[f]direct me, and I will have them broken up there, and you shall carry them away. Then ^(I)you shall accomplish my desire by giving food to my household.” ¹⁰ So ^[g]Hiram ^[h]gave Solomon ^[i]as much as he desired of the cedar and cypress timber. ^11 (J)Solomon then gave Hiram 20,000 ^[j]kors of wheat as food for his household, and twenty ^[k]kors of beaten oil; thus Solomon would give Hiram year by year. ^12 (K)The Lord gave wisdom to Solomon, just as He ^[l]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 ^[m]levied forced laborers from all Israel; and the forced laborers ^[n]numbered 30,000 men. ¹⁴ He sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in relays; they were in Lebanon a month and two months at home. And ^(M)Adoniram was over the forced laborers. ¹⁵ Now ^(N)Solomon had 70,000 ^[o]transporters, and 80,000 hewers of stone in the mountains, ^16 (O)besides Solomon’s 3,300 chief deputies who were over the ^[p]project and who ruled over the people who were doing the work. ¹⁷ Then ^(P)the king commanded, and they quarried great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with cut stones. ¹⁸ So Solomon’s builders and ^[q]Hiram’s builders and ^(Q)the Gebalites ^[r]cut them, and prepared the timbers and the stones to build the house.

Thankfulness for Spiritual Attainments

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

² To the ^[c](E)saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: ^(F)Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

^3 (G)We give thanks to God, ^(H)the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, ^4 (I)since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the ^(J)love which you have ^[d]for ^(K)all the ^[e]saints; ⁵ because of the ^(L)hope ^(M)laid up for you in ^[f]heaven, of which you previously ^(N)heard in the word of truth, ^[g]the gospel ⁶ which has come to you, just as ^[h](O)in all the world also it is constantly bearing ^(P)fruit and ^[i]increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you ^(Q)heard of it and ^[j]understood the grace of God in truth; ⁷ just as you learned it from ^(R)Epaphras, our ^(S)beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, ⁸ and he also informed us of your ^(T)love in the Spirit.

⁹ For this reason also, ^(U)since the day we heard of it, ^(V)we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the ^[k](W)knowledge of His will in all spiritual ^(X)wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so that you will ^(Y)walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ^[l](Z)to please Him in all respects, ^(AA)bearing fruit in every good work and ^[m]increasing in the ^[n]knowledge of God; ^11 (AB)strengthened with all power, according to ^[o]His glorious might, ^[p]for the attaining of all steadfastness and ^[q]patience; ^(AC)joyously ¹² giving thanks to ^(AD)the Father, who has qualified us ^[r]to share in ^(AE)the inheritance of the ^[s]saints in ^(AF)Light.

The Incomparable Christ

^13 [t]For He rescued us from the ^[u](AG)domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of ^[v](AH)His beloved Son, ^14 (AI)in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

^15 [w]He is the ^(AJ)image of the ^(AK)invisible God, the ^(AL)firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For ^[x](AM)by Him all things were created, ^(AN)both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether ^(AO)thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—^(AP)all things have been created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ He ^[y](AQ)is before all things, and in Him all things ^[z]hold together. ¹⁸ He is also ^(AR)head of ^(AS)the body, the church; and He is ^(AT)the beginning, ^(AU)the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. ¹⁹ For ^[aa]it was ^(AV)the Father’s good pleasure for all ^(AW)the ^[ab]fullness to dwell in Him, ²⁰ and through Him to ^(AX)reconcile all things to Himself, having made ^(AY)peace through ^(AZ)the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, ^(BA)whether things on earth or things in ^[ac]heaven.

²¹ And although you were ^(BB)formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, ²² yet He has now ^(BC)reconciled you in His fleshly ^(BD)body through death, in order to ^(BE)present you before Him ^(BF)holy and blameless and beyond reproach— ²³ if indeed you continue in ^[ad]the faith firmly ^(BG)established and steadfast, and not moved away from the ^(BH)hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed ^(BI)in all creation under heaven, ^(BJ)and of which I, Paul, ^[ae]was made a ^[af](BK)minister.

^24 (BL)Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh ^(BM)I ^[ag]do my share on behalf of ^(BN)His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking ^[ah]in Christ’s afflictions. ^25 (BO)Of this church I ^[ai]was made a minister according to the ^(BP)stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might ^[aj]fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, ²⁶ that is, ^(BQ)the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His ^[ak]saints, ²⁷ to whom ^(BR)God willed to make known what is ^(BS)the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is ^(BT)Christ in you, the ^(BU)hope of glory. ²⁸ We proclaim Him, ^(BV)admonishing every man and teaching every man ^[al]with all ^(BW)wisdom, so that we may ^(BX)present every man ^[am](BY)complete in Christ. ²⁹ For this purpose also I ^(BZ)labor, ^(CA)striving ^(CB)according to His ^[an]power, which ^[ao]mightily works within me.

You Are Built Up in Christ

2 For I want you to know how great a ^(CC)struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at ^(CD)Laodicea, and for all those who have not ^[ap]personally seen my face, ² that their ^(CE)hearts may be encouraged, having been ^(CF)knit together in love, and attaining to all ^(CG)the wealth ^[aq]that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a ^(CH)true knowledge of ^(CI)God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, ³ in whom are hidden all ^(CJ)the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ^4 (CK)I say this so that no one will delude you with ^(CL)persuasive argument. ⁵ For even though I am ^(CM)absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing ^[ar]to see ^[as]your ^(CN)good discipline and the ^(CO)stability of your faith in Christ.

⁶ Therefore as you have received ^(CP)Christ Jesus the Lord, so ^[at](CQ)walk in Him, ⁷ having been firmly ^(CR)rooted and now being ^(CS)built up in Him and ^(CT)established ^[au]in your faith, just as you ^(CU)were instructed, and overflowing ^[av]with gratitude.

^8 (CV)See to it that no one takes you captive through ^(CW)philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the ^(CX)elementary principles of the world, ^[aw]rather than according to Christ. ⁹ For in Him all the ^(CY)fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, ¹⁰ and in Him you have been ^(CZ)made ^[ax]complete, and ^(DA)He is the head ^[ay]over all ^(DB)rule and authority; ¹¹ and in Him ^(DC)you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of ^(DD)the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; ¹² having been ^(DE)buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also ^(DF)raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who ^(DG)raised Him from the dead. ¹³ When you were ^(DH)dead ^[az]in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He ^(DI)made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, ¹⁴ having canceled out ^(DJ)the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and ^(DK)He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. ¹⁵ When He had ^[ba](DL)disarmed the ^(DM)rulers and authorities, He ^(DN)made a public display of them, having ^(DO)triumphed over them through ^[bb]Him.

¹⁶ Therefore no one is to ^[bc](DP)act as your judge in regard to ^(DQ)food or ^(DR)drink or in respect to a ^(DS)festival or a ^(DT)new moon or a ^(DU)Sabbath ^[bd]day— ¹⁷ things which are ^(DV)a mere shadow of what is to come; but the ^[be]substance ^[bf]belongs to Christ. ¹⁸ Let no one keep ^[bg](DW)defrauding you of your prize by ^(DX)delighting in ^[bh]self-abasement and the worship of the angels, ^[bi]taking his stand on visions he has seen, ^[bj](DY)inflated without cause by his ^(DZ)fleshly mind, ¹⁹ and not holding fast to ^(EA)the head, from whom ^(EB)the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ^[bk]ligaments, grows with a growth ^[bl]which is from God.

^20 (EC)If you have died with Christ ^[bm]to the ^(ED)elementary principles of the world, ^(EE)why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to ^(EF)decrees, such as, ²¹ “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” ²² (which all refer ^(EG)to things destined to perish ^[bn]with use)—in accordance with the ^(EH)commandments and teachings of men? ²³ These are matters which have, to be sure, the ^[bo]appearance of wisdom in ^[bp](EI)self-made religion and self-abasement and ^(EJ)severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against ^(EK)fleshly indulgence.