Preparations for Building the Temple

5 ^[a] Now ^(A)Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, ^(B)for Hiram always loved David. ² And Solomon sent word to Hiram, ^3 (C)“You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God ^(D)because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. ^4 (E)But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune. ⁵ And so I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, ^(F)as the Lord said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’ ⁶ Now therefore command that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. And my servants will join your servants, and I will pay you for your servants such wages as you set, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”

⁷ As soon as Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the Lord this day, who has given to David a wise son to be over this great people.” ⁸ And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message that you have sent to me. I am ready to do all you desire in the matter of cedar and cypress timber. ⁹ My servants shall bring it down to the sea from Lebanon, and I will make it into rafts to go by sea to the place you direct. And I will have them broken up there, and you shall receive it. And you shall meet my wishes ^(G)by providing food for my household.” ¹⁰ So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the timber of cedar and cypress that he desired, ¹¹ while Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 cors^[b] of wheat as food for his household, and 20,000^[c] cors of beaten oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year. ¹² And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, ^(H)as he promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.

¹³ King Solomon drafted ^(I)forced labor out of all Israel, and the draft numbered 30,000 men. ¹⁴ And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in shifts. They would be a month in Lebanon and two months at home. ^(J)Adoniram was in charge of the draft. ¹⁵ Solomon also ^(K)had 70,000 burden-bearers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country, ¹⁶ besides Solomon's 3,300 ^(L)chief officers who were over the work, ^(M)who had charge of the people who carried on the work. ¹⁷ At the king's command ^(N)they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones. ¹⁸ So Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and ^(O)the men of Gebal did the cutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.

²³ But ^(A)I call God to witness against me—it was ^(B)to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. ²⁴ Not that we ^(C)lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm ^(D)in your faith.

2 For I made up my mind ^(E)not to make another painful visit to you. ² For ^(F)if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? ³ And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, ^(G)for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. ⁴ For ^(H)I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

Forgive the Sinner

⁵ Now ^(I)if anyone has caused pain, ^(J)he has caused it not to me, but ^(K)in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. ⁶ For such a one, ^(L)this punishment by the majority is enough, ⁷ so ^(M)you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. ⁸ So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. ⁹ For this is why I wrote, that I might ^(N)test you and know ^(O)whether you are obedient in everything. ¹⁰ Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, ¹¹ so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for ^(P)we are not ignorant of his designs.

Triumph in Christ

¹² When ^(Q)I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though ^(R)a door was opened for me in the Lord, ¹³ my spirit ^(S)was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.

¹⁴ But ^(T)thanks be to God, who in Christ always ^(U)leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads ^(V)the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. ¹⁵ For we are the aroma of Christ to God among ^(W)those who are being saved and among ^(X)those who are perishing, ^16 (Y)to one a fragrance from death to death, ^(Z)to the other a fragrance from life to life. ^(AA)Who is sufficient for these things? ¹⁷ For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.