The Queen of Sheba’s Praise of Solomon^(A)

10 Now when the ^(B)queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came ^(C)to test him with hard questions. ² She came to Jerusalem with a very great ^[a]retinue, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. ³ So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing ^[b]so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her. ⁴ And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, ⁵ the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers, ^(D)and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. ⁶ Then she said to the king: “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. ⁷ However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. ^8 (E)Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! ^9 (F)Blessed be the Lord your God, who ^(G)delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, ^(H)to do justice and righteousness.”

¹⁰ Then she ^(I)gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great quantity, and precious stones. There never again came such abundance of spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. ^11 (J)Also, the ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought great quantities of ^[c]almug wood and precious stones from Ophir. ^12 (K)And the king made ^[d]steps of the almug wood for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, also harps and stringed instruments for singers. There never again came such ^(L)almug wood, nor has the like been seen to this day.

¹³ Now King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, besides what Solomon had given her according to the royal generosity. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

The Macedonian Call

⁶ Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of ^(A)Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in ^[a]Asia. ⁷ After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the ^[b]Spirit did not permit them. ⁸ So passing by Mysia, they ^(B)came down to Troas. ⁹ And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A ^(C)man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰ Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go ^(D)to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Lydia Baptized at Philippi

¹¹ Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day came to Neapolis, ¹² and from there to ^(E)Philippi, which is the ^[c]foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we were staying in that city for some days. ¹³ And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. ¹⁴ Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of ^(F)Thyatira, who worshiped God. ^(G)The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. ¹⁵ And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” So ^(H)she persuaded us.

Paul and Silas Imprisoned

¹⁶ Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl ^(I)possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters ^(J)much profit by fortune-telling. ¹⁷ This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” ¹⁸ And this she did for many days.

But Paul, ^(K)greatly ^[d]annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” ^(L)And he came out that very hour. ¹⁹ But ^(M)when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and ^(N)dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.

²⁰ And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, “These men, being Jews, ^(O)exceedingly trouble our city; ²¹ and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.” ²² Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes ^(P)and commanded them to be beaten with rods. ²³ And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. ²⁴ Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

The Philippian Jailer Saved

²⁵ But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. ^26 (Q)Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately ^(R)all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. ²⁷ And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. ²⁸ But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.”

²⁹ Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ And he brought them out and said, ^(S)“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹ So they said, ^(T)“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” ³² Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. ³³ And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. ³⁴ Now when he had brought them into his house, ^(U)he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.

The Way, the Truth, and the Life

14 “Let ^(A)not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. ² In My Father’s house are many ^[a]mansions; if it were not so, ^[b]I would have told you. ^(B)I go to prepare a place for you. ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, ^(C)I will come again and receive you to Myself; that ^(D)where I am, there you may be also. ⁴ And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

^5 (E)Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”

⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am ^(F)the way, ^(G)the truth, and ^(H)the life. ^(I)No one comes to the Father ^(J)except through Me.

The Father Revealed

^7 (K)“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”

⁸ Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”

⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? ^(L)He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Do you not believe that ^(M)I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you ^(N)I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. ¹¹ Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, ^(O)or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

The Answered Prayer

^12 (P)“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. ^13 (Q)And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be ^(R)glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ^[c]ask anything in My name, I will do it.