Solomon Turns from the Lord

11 Now ^(A)King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, ² from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, ^(B)“You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. ³ He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. ⁴ For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and ^(C)his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, ^(D)as was the heart of David his father. ⁵ For Solomon went after ^(E)Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after ^(F)Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. ⁶ So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. ⁷ Then Solomon built a high place for ^(G)Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for ^(H)Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. ⁸ And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.

The Lord Raises Adversaries

⁹ And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because ^(I)his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(J)who had appeared to him twice ¹⁰ and ^(K)had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded. ¹¹ Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, ^(L)I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. ¹² Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ¹³ However, ^(M)I will not tear away all the kingdom, but ^(N)I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, ^(O)which I have chosen.”

¹⁴ And the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. He was of the royal house in Edom. ¹⁵ For ^(P)when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the slain, he struck down every male in Edom ¹⁶ (for Joab and all Israel remained there for six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom). ¹⁷ But Hadad fled to Egypt, together with certain Edomites of his father's servants, Hadad still being a little child. ¹⁸ They set out from Midian and came to ^(Q)Paran and took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house and assigned him an allowance of food and gave him land. ¹⁹ And Hadad found great favour in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. ²⁰ And the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house. And Genubath was in Pharaoh's house among the sons of Pharaoh. ²¹ But when Hadad heard in Egypt ^(R)that David slept with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.” ²² But Pharaoh said to him, “What have you lacked with me that you are now seeking to go to your own country?” And he said to him, “Only let me depart.”

²³ God also raised up as an adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master ^(S)Hadadezer king of Zobah. ²⁴ And he gathered men about him and became leader of a marauding band, ^(T)after the killing by David. And they went to Damascus and lived there and made him king in Damascus. ²⁵ He was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon, doing harm as Hadad did. And he loathed Israel and reigned over Syria.

^26 (U)Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(V)an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow, also ^(W)lifted up his hand against the king. ²⁷ And this was the reason why he lifted up his hand against the king. ^(X)Solomon built the Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of David his father. ²⁸ The man Jeroboam was very able, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious he gave him charge over all the forced labour of the house of Joseph. ²⁹ And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet ^(Y)Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had dressed himself in a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the open country. ³⁰ Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, ^(Z)and tore it into twelve pieces. ³¹ And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, ^(AA)I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes ³² (but ^(AB)he shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, ^(AC)the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), ³³ because they have^[a] forsaken me ^(AD)and worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and they have not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my rules, as David his father did. ³⁴ Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of David my servant whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes. ^35 (AE)But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand and will give it to you, ten tribes. ³⁶ Yet to his son ^(AF)I will give one tribe, that David my servant may always have ^(AG)a lamp before me in Jerusalem, ^(AH)the city where I have chosen to put my name. ³⁷ And I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. ³⁸ And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, ^(AI)I will be with you and ^(AJ)will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. ³⁹ And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not for ever.’” ⁴⁰ Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt, to ^(AK)Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

^41 (AL)Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? ⁴² And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. ⁴³ And Solomon ^(AM)slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And ^(AN)Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

Christ's Example of Humility

2 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from ^(A)love, any ^(B)participation in the Spirit, any ^(C)affection and sympathy, ^2 (D)complete my joy by being ^(E)of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³ Do nothing from ^(F)rivalry or ^(G)conceit, but in ^(H)humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴ Let each of you ^(I)look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ^5 (J)Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,^{[a] 6 (K)}who, though he was in ^(L)the form of God, did not count equality with God ^(M)a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but ^(N)made himself nothing, taking the form of a ^(O)servant,^{[b] (P)}being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by ^(Q)becoming obedient to the point of death, ^(R)even death on a cross. ^9 (S)Therefore ^(T)God has ^(U)highly exalted him and bestowed on him ^(V)the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus ^(W)every knee should bow, ^(X)in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and ^(Y)every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is ^(Z)Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Lights in the World

¹² Therefore, my beloved, ^(AA)as you have always ^(AB)obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for ^(AC)it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for ^(AD)his good pleasure.

¹⁴ Do all things ^(AE)without grumbling or ^(AF)questioning, ¹⁵ that you may be blameless and innocent, ^(AG)children of God ^(AH)without blemish ^(AI)in the midst of ^(AJ)a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine ^(AK)as lights in the world, ¹⁶ holding fast to ^(AL)the word of life, so that in ^(AM)the day of Christ ^(AN)I may be proud that ^(AO)I did not run in vain or labour in vain. ¹⁷ Even if I am to be ^(AP)poured out as a drink offering upon ^(AQ)the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. ¹⁸ Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

Timothy and Epaphroditus

¹⁹ I hope in the Lord Jesus ^(AR)to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. ²⁰ For I have no one ^(AS)like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. ²¹ For they all ^(AT)seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. ²² But you know Timothy's^{[c] (AU)}proven worth, how ^(AV)as a son^[d] with a father ^(AW)he has served with me in the gospel. ²³ I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, ²⁴ and ^(AX)I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.

²⁵ I have thought it necessary to send to you ^(AY)Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and ^(AZ)fellow soldier, and your messenger and ^(BA)minister to my need, ²⁶ for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. ²⁷ Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. ²⁸ I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. ²⁹ So ^(BB)receive him in the Lord with all joy, and ^(BC)honour such men, ³⁰ for he nearly died ^(BD)for the work of Christ, risking his life ^(BE)to complete what was lacking in your service to me.

The Inner Temple

41 Then he brought me to ^(A)the nave and measured the ^(B)jambs. On each side six cubits^[a] was the breadth of the jambs.^{[b] 2} And the breadth of the entrance was ten cubits, and the side walls of the entrance were five cubits on either side. And he measured the length of the nave,^{[c] (C)}forty cubits, and its breadth, ^(D)twenty cubits. ³ Then he went ^(E)into the inner room and measured the jambs of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the side walls on either side^[d] of the entrance, seven cubits. ⁴ And he measured ^(F)the length of the room, twenty cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits, across ^(G)the nave. And he said to me, “This is ^(H)the Most Holy Place.”

⁵ Then he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits thick, and the breadth of ^(I)the side chambers, four cubits, ^(J)all round the temple. ⁶ And the side chambers were in three storeys, one over another, ^(K)thirty in each storey. There were offsets^[e] all round the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side chambers, ^(L)so that they should not be supported by the wall of the temple. ⁷ And it became broader as it wound upwards to the side chambers, because the temple was enclosed upwards all round the temple. Thus the temple had a broad area upwards, and ^(M)so one went up from the lowest storey to the top storey through the middle storey. ⁸ I saw also that the temple had a raised platform all round; the foundations of the side chambers measured a full reed of ^(N)six long cubits. ⁹ The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits. ^(O)The free space between the side chambers of the temple and the ^10 (P)other chambers was a breadth of ^(Q)twenty cubits all round the temple on every side. ¹¹ And the doors of the ^(R)side chambers opened on ^(S)the free space, one door towards the north, and another door towards the south. And the breadth of the free space was five cubits all round.

¹² The building that was facing ^(T)the separate yard on the west side was seventy cubits broad, and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all round, and its length ninety cubits.

¹³ Then he measured the temple, ^(U)a hundred cubits long; and the yard and the building with its walls, a hundred cubits long; ¹⁴ also the breadth of the east front of the temple and the yard, a hundred cubits.

¹⁵ Then he measured the length of ^(V)the building facing the yard that was at the back and ^(W)its galleries^[f] on either side, a hundred cubits.

The inside of the nave and the vestibules of the court, ^16 (X)the thresholds and ^(Y)the narrow windows and the galleries all round the three of them, opposite the threshold, were panelled with wood all round, from the floor up to the windows (now the windows were covered), ¹⁷ to the space above the door, even to the inner room, and on the outside. And on all the walls all round, inside and outside, was a measured pattern.^{[g] 18} It was carved of ^(Z)cherubim and ^(AA)palm trees, a palm tree between cherub and cherub. Every cherub had two faces: ^19 (AB)a human face towards the palm tree on one side, and the face of a young lion towards the palm tree on the other side. They were carved on the whole temple all round. ²⁰ From the floor to above the door, cherubim and palm trees were carved; similarly the wall of the nave.

²¹ The doorposts of ^(AC)the nave were squared, and in front of ^(AD)the Holy Place was something resembling ^22 (AE)an altar of wood, three cubits high, two cubits long, and two cubits broad.^[h] Its corners, its base,^[i] and its walls were of wood. He said to me, “This is ^(AF)the table that is before the Lord.” ²³ The nave and the Holy Place had each ^(AG)a double door. ²⁴ The double doors had two leaves apiece, ^(AH)two swinging leaves for each door. ²⁵ And on the doors of the nave were carved cherubim and palm trees, ^(AI)such as were carved on the walls. And there was ^(AJ)a canopy^[j] of wood in front of ^(AK)the vestibule outside. ²⁶ And there were ^(AL)narrow windows and palm trees on either side, on the side walls of the vestibule, ^(AM)the side chambers of the temple, and the ^(AN)canopies.