The Lord Appears to Solomon

9 ^(A)As soon as Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord ^(B)and the king's house and ^(C)all that Solomon desired to build, ^2 (D)the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. ³ And the Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, ^(E)by putting my name there forever. ^(F)My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. ⁴ And as for you, if you will ^(G)walk before me, ^(H)as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, ^5 (I)then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’ ^6 (J)But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, ^7 (K)then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, ^(L)and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, ^(M)and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. ⁸ And this house will become a heap of ruins.^[a] Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ^(N)‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ ⁹ Then they will say, ‘Because ^(O)they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the Lord has brought all this disaster on them.’”

The Queen of Sheba

10 ^(A)Now when ^(B)the queen of ^(C)Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came ^(D)to test him with hard questions. ² She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels ^(E)bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. ³ And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain 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 of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her.

⁶ And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, ⁷ but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard. ^8 (F)Happy are your men! Happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! ^9 (G)Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! ^(H)Because the Lord loved Israel forever, he has made you king, ^(I)that you may execute justice and righteousness.” ^10 (J)Then she gave the king 120 talents^[a] of gold, and a very great quantity of spices and precious stones. Never again came such an abundance of spices as these that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹¹ Moreover, ^(K)the fleet of Hiram, which brought ^(L)gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir a very great amount of almug wood and precious stones. ¹² And the king made of the almug wood supports for the house of the Lord and for the king's house, also lyres and harps for the singers. No such almug wood has come or been seen to this day.

¹³ And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked besides what was given her by the bounty of King Solomon. So she turned and went back to her own land with her servants.

Our Heavenly Dwelling

5 For we know that if ^(A)the tent that is ^(B)our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, ^(C)a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ² For in this tent ^(D)we groan, longing to ^(E)put on our heavenly dwelling, ³ if indeed by putting it on^[a] we may not be found naked. ⁴ For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal ^(F)may be swallowed up by life. ⁵ He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, ^(G)who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

⁶ So we are always of good courage. We know that ^(H)while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, ⁷ for ^(I)we walk by faith, not ^(J)by sight. ⁸ Yes, we are of good courage, and we ^(K)would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹ So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to ^(L)please him. ¹⁰ For ^(M)we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, ^(N)so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

The Ministry of Reconciliation

¹¹ Therefore, knowing ^(O)the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But ^(P)what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. ^12 (Q)We are not commending ourselves to you again but ^(R)giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. ¹³ For if we ^(S)are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. ¹⁴ For the love of Christ ^(T)controls us, because we have concluded this: that ^(U)one has died for all, therefore all have died; ¹⁵ and he died for all, ^(V)that those who live might no longer live for themselves but ^(W)for him who for their sake died and was raised.

¹⁶ From now on, therefore, ^(X)we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is ^(Y)in Christ, he is ^(Z)a new creation.^{[b] (AA)}The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ¹⁸ All this is from God, ^(AB)who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us ^(AC)the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ that is, in Christ God was reconciling^[c] the world to himself, ^(AD)not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us ^(AE)the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ Therefore, ^(AF)we are ambassadors for Christ, ^(AG)God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ^21 (AH)For our sake he made him to be sin ^(AI)who knew no sin, so that in him we might become ^(AJ)the righteousness of God.