³⁵ Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, and he shall be king in my place. For I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah.”

³⁶ Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, ^(A)“Amen! May the Lord God of my lord the king say so too. ^37 (B)As the Lord has been with my lord the king, even so may He be with Solomon, and ^(C)make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”

³⁸ So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, ^(D)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the ^(E)Cherethites, and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and took him to Gihon. ³⁹ Then Zadok the priest took a horn of ^(F)oil from the tabernacle and ^(G)anointed Solomon. And they blew the horn, ^(H)and all the people said, ^[a]“Long live King Solomon!” ⁴⁰ And all the people went up after him; and the people played the flutes and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth seemed to split with their sound.

⁴¹ Now Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the horn, he said, “Why is the city in such a noisy uproar?” ⁴² While he was still speaking, there came ^(I)Jonathan, the son of Abiathar the priest. And Adonijah said to him, “Come in, for ^(J)you are a prominent man, and bring good news.”

⁴³ Then Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, “No! Our lord King David has made Solomon king. ⁴⁴ The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites; and they have made him ride on the king’s mule. ⁴⁵ So Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon; and they have gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you have heard. ⁴⁶ Also Solomon ^(K)sits on the throne of the kingdom. ⁴⁷ And moreover the king’s servants have gone to bless our lord King David, saying, ^(L)‘May God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and may He make his throne greater than your throne.’ ^(M)Then the king bowed himself on the bed. ⁴⁸ Also the king said thus, ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has ^(N)given one to sit on my throne this day, while my eyes see ^(O)it!’ ”

⁴⁹ So all the guests who were with Adonijah were afraid, and arose, and each one went his way.

⁵⁰ Now Adonijah was afraid of Solomon; so he arose, and went and ^(P)took hold of the horns of the altar. ⁵¹ And it was told Solomon, saying, “Indeed Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon; for look, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’ ”

⁵² Then Solomon said, “If he proves himself a worthy man, ^(Q)not one hair of him shall fall to the earth; but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.” ⁵³ So King Solomon sent them to bring him down from the altar. And he came and fell down before King Solomon; and Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”

First Encounter with Pharaoh

5 Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may ^[a]hold ^(A)a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ”

² And Pharaoh said, ^(B)“Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, ^(C)nor will I let Israel go.”

³ So they said, ^(D)“The God of the Hebrews has ^(E)met with us. Please, let us go three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with ^(F)pestilence or with the sword.”

⁴ Then the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your ^(G)labor.” ⁵ And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are ^(H)many now, and you make them rest from their labor!”

⁶ So the same day Pharaoh commanded the ^(I)taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, ⁷ “You shall no longer give the people straw to make ^(J)brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸ And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words.”

¹⁰ And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh: ‘I will not give you straw. ¹¹ Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it; yet none of your work will be reduced.’ ” ¹² So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. ¹³ And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, saying, “Fulfill your work, your daily quota, as when there was straw.” ¹⁴ Also the ^(K)officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were ^(L)beaten and were asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as before?”

¹⁵ Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why are you dealing thus with your servants? ¹⁶ There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us, ‘Make brick!’ And indeed your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people.”

¹⁷ But he said, “You are idle! Idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸ Therefore go now and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks.” ¹⁹ And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble after it was said, “You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily quota.”

²⁰ Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. ^21 (M)And they said to them, “Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made ^[b]us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Israel’s Deliverance Assured^(N)

²² So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? ²³ For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.”

Vision of the Son of Man

⁹ I, John, ^[a]both your brother and ^(A)companion in the tribulation and ^(B)kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. ^10 (C)I was in the Spirit on ^(D)the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me ^(E)a loud voice, as of a trumpet, ¹¹ saying, ^[b]“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches ^[c]which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”

¹² Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned ^(F)I saw seven golden lampstands, ^13 (G)and in the midst of the seven lampstands ^(H)One like the Son of Man, ^(I)clothed with a garment down to the feet and ^(J)girded about the chest with a golden band. ¹⁴ His head and ^(K)hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and ^(L)His eyes like a flame of fire; ^15 (M)His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and ^(N)His voice as the sound of many waters; ^16 (O)He had in His right hand seven stars, ^(P)out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, ^(Q)and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. ¹⁷ And ^(R)when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But ^(S)He laid His right hand on me, saying ^[d]to me, “Do not be afraid; ^(T)I am the First and the Last. ^18 (U)I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, ^(V)I am alive forevermore. Amen. And ^(W)I have the keys of ^[e]Hades and of Death. ^19 [f]Write the things which you have ^(X)seen, ^(Y)and the things which are, ^(Z)and the things which will take place after this. ²⁰ The ^[g]mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are ^(AA)the ^[h]angels of the seven churches, and ^(AB)the seven lampstands ^[i]which you saw are the seven churches.