The Lord’s Response

9 When Solomon finished building the temple of the Lord,^(A) the royal palace, and all that Solomon desired to do,^{(B) 2} the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time just as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.^{(C) 3} The Lord said to him:

I have heard your prayer and petition you have made before me. I have consecrated this temple you have built, to put^[a] my name there forever;^(D) my eyes and my heart will be there at all times.^(E)

⁴ As for you, if you walk before me as your father David walked, with a heart of integrity and in what is right, doing everything I have commanded you, and if you keep my statutes and ordinances,^{(F) 5} I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised your father David: You will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.^(G)

⁶ If you or your sons turn away from following me and do not keep my commands—my statutes that I have set before you—and if you go and serve other gods and bow in worship to them,^{(H) 7} I will cut off Israel from the land I gave them,^(I) and I will reject^[b] the temple I have sanctified for my name.^(J) Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples.^{(K) 8} Though this temple is now exalted,^[c] everyone who passes by will be appalled and will scoff.^[d] They will say, “Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?”^{(L) 9} Then they will say, “Because they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their ancestors out of the land of Egypt. They held on to other gods and bowed in worship to them and served them. Because of this, the Lord brought all this ruin on them.”^(M)

King Hiram’s Twenty Towns

¹⁰ At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon had built the two houses, the Lord’s temple and the royal palace^(N)— ¹¹ King Hiram of Tyre^(O) having supplied him with cedar and cypress logs and gold^(P) for his every wish^(Q)—King Solomon gave Hiram twenty towns in the land of Galilee. ¹² So Hiram went out from Tyre to look over the towns that Solomon had given him, but he was not pleased with them. ¹³ So he said, “What are these towns you’ve given me, my brother?” So he called them the Land of Cabul,^[e] as they are still called today.^{(R) 14} Now Hiram had sent the king nine thousand pounds^[f] of gold.^(S)

Solomon’s Forced Labor

¹⁵ This is the account of the forced labor^(T) that King Solomon had imposed to build the Lord’s temple, his own palace, the supporting terraces,^(U) the wall of Jerusalem,^(V) and Hazor,^(W) Megiddo,^(X) and Gezer.^{(Y) 16} Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He then burned it, killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and gave it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.^{(Z) 17} Then Solomon rebuilt Gezer, Lower Beth-horon,^{(AA) 18} Baalath,^(AB) Tamar^[g][h] in the Wilderness of Judah, ¹⁹ all the storage cities that belonged to Solomon, the chariot cities,^(AC) the cavalry cities,^(AD) and whatever Solomon desired to build^(AE) in Jerusalem, Lebanon, or anywhere else in the land of his dominion.

²⁰ As for all the peoples who remained of the Amorites, Hethites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not Israelites— ²¹ their descendants who remained in the land after them, those whom the Israelites were unable to destroy completely^(AF)—Solomon imposed forced labor on them; it is still this way today.^{(AG) 22} But Solomon did not consign the Israelites to slavery;^(AH) they were soldiers, his servants, his commanders, his captains, and commanders of his chariots and his cavalry. ²³ These were the deputies^(AI) who were over Solomon’s work: 550 who supervised the people doing the work.^(AJ)

Solomon’s Other Activities

²⁴ Pharaoh’s daughter moved from the city of David^(AK) to the house that Solomon had built for her;^(AL) he then built the terraces.^(AM)

²⁵ Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord, and he burned incense with them in the Lord’s presence.^(AN) So he completed the temple.^(AO)

²⁶ King Solomon put together a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber,^(AP) which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea in the land of Edom. ²⁷ With the fleet, Hiram sent his servants, experienced seamen, along with Solomon’s servants. ²⁸ They went to Ophir^(AQ) and acquired gold there—sixteen tons^[i]—and delivered it to Solomon.^(AR)

The Queen of Sheba

10 The queen of Sheba^(AS) heard about Solomon’s fame^(AT) connected with the name of the Lord and came to test him with difficult questions.^{(AU) 2} She came to Jerusalem with a very large entourage, with camels bearing^(AV) spices, gold in great abundance, and precious stones.^(AW) She came to Solomon and spoke to him about everything that was on her mind. ³ So Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too difficult for the king to explain to her. ⁴ When the queen of Sheba observed all of Solomon’s wisdom, the palace he had built,^{(AX) 5} the food at his table,^(AY) his servants’ residence, his attendants’ service and their attire, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he offered at the Lord’s temple, it took her breath away.

⁶ She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your words and about your wisdom is true. ⁷ But I didn’t believe the reports until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, I was not even told half. Your wisdom and prosperity far exceed the report I heard.^{(AZ) 8} How happy are your men.^[j] How happy are these servants of yours, who always stand in your presence hearing your wisdom.^{(BA) 9} Blessed be the Lord your God! He delighted in you and put you on the throne of Israel,^(BB) because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel.^(BC) He has made you king to carry out justice and righteousness.”^(BD)

¹⁰ Then she gave the king four and a half tons^[k] of gold,^(BE) a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again did such a quantity of spices arrive as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹¹ In addition, Hiram’s fleet that carried gold from Ophir brought from Ophir a large quantity of almug^[l] wood and precious stones.^{(BF) 12} The king made the almug wood into steps for the Lord’s temple and the king’s palace and into lyres and harps for the singers. Never before did such almug wood arrive, and the like has not been seen again.

¹³ King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba her every desire—whatever she asked—besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty. Then she, along with her servants, returned to her own country.^(BG)

Solomon’s Wealth

¹⁴ The weight^(BH) of gold that came to Solomon annually was twenty-five tons,^{[m] 15} besides what came from merchants,^(BI) traders’ merchandise, and all the Arabian kings and governors of the land.^(BJ)

¹⁶ King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; fifteen pounds^[n] of gold went into each shield. ¹⁷ He made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; nearly four pounds^[o] of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.^(BK)

¹⁸ The king also made a large ivory throne and overlaid it with fine gold. ¹⁹ The throne had six steps; there was a rounded top at the back of the throne, armrests on either side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests. ²⁰ Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps, one at each end. Nothing like it had ever been made in any other kingdom.

²¹ All of King Solomon’s drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon^(BL) were pure gold.^(BM) There was no silver, since it was considered as nothing in Solomon’s time, ²² for the king had ships of Tarshish^(BN) at sea with Hiram’s fleet, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive bearing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.^[p](BO)

²³ King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the world in riches and in wisdom.^{(BP) 24} The whole world wanted an audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom that God had put in his heart.^{(BQ) 25} Every man would bring his annual tribute: items^[q] of silver and gold, clothing, weapons,^[r] spices, and horses and mules.^(BR)

²⁶ Solomon accumulated 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen^(BS) and stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.^{(BT) 27} The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones,^(BU) and he made cedar^(BV) as abundant as sycamore in the Judean foothills. ²⁸ Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and Kue.^[s] The king’s traders bought them from Kue at the going price.^{(BW) 29} A chariot was imported from Egypt for fifteen pounds^[t] of silver, and a horse for four pounds.^[u] In the same way, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram through their agents.^(BX)

The Third Sign: Healing the Sick

5 After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.^{(A) 2} By the Sheep Gate^(B) in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda^[a] in Aramaic, which has five colonnades. ³ Within these lay a large number of the disabled—blind, lame, and paralyzed.^[b]

⁵ One man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and realized he had already been there a long time,^(C) he said to him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷ “Sir,”^(D) the disabled man answered, “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.”

⁸ “Get up,” Jesus told him, “pick up your mat and walk.” ⁹ Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.

Now that day was the Sabbath,^{(E) 10} and so the Jews^(F) said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath.^(G) The law prohibits you from picking up your mat.”

¹¹ He replied, “The man who made me well^(H) told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

¹² “Who is this man who told you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?” they asked. ¹³ But the man who was healed did not know who it was,^(I) because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.^[c]

¹⁴ After this, Jesus found him in the temple^(J) and said to him, “See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.” ¹⁵ The man went and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.^{(K) 16} Therefore, the Jews began persecuting^(L) Jesus^[d] because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.^(M)

Honoring the Father and the Son

¹⁷ Jesus responded to them, “My Father^(N) is still working, and I am working also.” ¹⁸ This is why the Jews began trying all the more to kill him:^(O) Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.

¹⁹ Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, the Son is not able to do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father^[e] does, the Son likewise does these things.^{(P) 20} For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing, and he will show him greater works^(Q) than these so that you will be amazed. ²¹ And just as the Father raises^(R) the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom he wants.^{(S) 22} The Father,^(T) in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, ²³ so that all people may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.^(U) Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.^(V)

Life and Judgment

²⁴ “Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life^(W) and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.

²⁵ “Truly I tell you, an hour is coming, and is now here,^(X) when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.^{(Y) 26} For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted to the Son^(Z) to have life in himself. ²⁷ And he has granted him the right to pass judgment,^(AA) because he is the Son of Man.^{(AB) 28} Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice ²⁹ and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation.

Psalm 66

Praise for God’s Mighty Acts

For the choir director. A song. A psalm.