The Lord Answers Solomon’s Prayer^(A)

9 Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and everything ⌞else⌟ he wanted to build. ² Then the Lord appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him in Gibeon. ³ The Lord said to him,

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon^(A)

10 The queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s reputation. (He owed his reputation to the name of the Lord.) So she came to test him with riddles. ² She arrived in Jerusalem with a large group of servants, with camels carrying spices, a very large quantity of gold, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she talked to him about everything she had on her mind. ³ Solomon answered all her questions. No question was too difficult for the king to answer.

⁴ When the queen of Sheba saw all of Solomon’s wisdom, the palace he built, ⁵ the food on his table, his officers’ seating arrangement, the organization of his officials and the uniforms they wore, his cupbearers,^[a] and the burnt offerings that he sacrificed at the Lord’s temple, she was breathless. ⁶ She told the king, “What I heard in my country about your words and your wisdom is true! ⁷ But I didn’t believe the reports until I came and saw it with my own eyes. I wasn’t even told half of it. Your wisdom and wealth surpass the stories I’ve heard. ⁸ How blessed your men must be! How blessed these servants of yours must be because they are always stationed in front of you, listening to your wisdom! ⁹ Thank the Lord your God, who is pleased with you. He has put you on the throne of Israel. Because of your God’s eternal love for the people of Israel, he has made you king so that you would maintain justice and righteousness.”

¹⁰ She gave the king 9,000 pounds of gold, a very large quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again was such a large quantity of spices brought ⌞into Israel⌟ as those that the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

¹¹ Hiram’s fleet that brought gold from Ophir also brought a large quantity of sandalwood and precious stones from Ophir. ¹² With the sandalwood the king made supports for the Lord’s temple and the royal palace, and lyres and harps for the singers. Never again was sandalwood like this imported ⌞into Israel⌟, nor has any been seen ⌞there⌟ to this day.

¹³ King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba anything she wanted, whatever she asked for, besides what he had given her out of his royal generosity. Then she and her servants went back to her country.

Faith Guides Our Lives

5 We know that if the life we live here on earth is ever taken down like a tent, we still have a building from God. It is an eternal house in heaven that isn’t made by human hands. ² In our present tent-like existence we sigh, since we long to put on the house we will have in heaven. ³ After we have put it on,^[a] we won’t be naked. ⁴ While we are in this tent, we sigh. We feel distressed because we don’t want to take off the tent, but we do want to put on the eternal house. Then ⌞eternal⌟ life will put an end to our mortal existence. ⁵ God has prepared us for this and has given us his Spirit to guarantee it.

⁶ So we are always confident. We know that as long as we are living in these bodies, we are living away from the Lord. ⁷ Indeed, our lives are guided by faith, not by sight. ⁸ We are confident and prefer to live away from this body and to live with the Lord. ⁹ Whether we live in the body or move out of it, our goal is to be pleasing to him. ¹⁰ All of us must appear in front of Christ’s judgment seat. Then all people will receive what they deserve for the good or evil they have done while living in their bodies.

Christ’s Love Guides Us

¹¹ As people who know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. God already knows what we are, and I hope that you also know what we are. ¹² We are not trying to show you our qualifications again, but we are giving you an opportunity to be proud of us. Then you can answer those who are proud of their appearance rather than their character. ¹³ So if we were crazy, it was for God. If we are sane, it is for you. ¹⁴ Clearly, Christ’s love guides us. We are convinced of the fact that one man has died for all people. Therefore, all people have died. ¹⁵ He died for all people so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for the man who died and was brought back to life for them.

¹⁶ So from now on we don’t think of anyone from a human point of view. If we did think of Christ from a human point of view, we don’t anymore. ¹⁷ Whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creation. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has come into existence. ¹⁸ God has done all this. He has restored our relationship with him through Christ, and has given us this ministry of restoring relationships. ¹⁹ In other words, God was using Christ to restore his relationship with humanity. He didn’t hold people’s faults against them, and he has given us this message of restored relationships to tell others. ²⁰ Therefore, we are Christ’s representatives, and through us God is calling you. We beg you on behalf of Christ to become reunited with God. ²¹ God had Christ, who was sinless, take our sin so that we might receive God’s approval through him.