Solomon Requests Wisdom^(A)

1 Now ^(B)Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and ^(C)the Lord his God was with him and ^(D)exalted him exceedingly.

² And Solomon spoke to all Israel, to ^(E)the captains of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ houses. ³ Then Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to ^[a]the high place that was at ^(F)Gibeon; for the tabernacle of meeting with God was there, which Moses the servant of the Lord had ^(G)made in the wilderness. ^4 (H)But David had brought up the ark of God from Kirjath Jearim to the place David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem. ⁵ Now ^(I)the bronze altar that ^(J)Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, ^[b]he put before the tabernacle of the Lord; Solomon and the assembly sought Him there. ⁶ And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the Lord, which was at the tabernacle of meeting, and ^(K)offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.

^7 (L)On that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask! What shall I give you?”

⁸ And Solomon said to God: “You have shown great ^(M)mercy to David my father, and have made me ^(N)king in his place. ⁹ Now, O Lord God, let Your promise to David my father be established, ^(O)for You have made me king over a people like the ^(P)dust of the earth in multitude. ^10 (Q)Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may ^(R)go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?”

^11 (S)Then God said to Solomon: “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life—but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king— ¹² wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as ^(T)none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like.”

Solomon’s Military and Economic Power^(U)

¹³ So Solomon came to Jerusalem from ^[c]the high place that was at Gibeon, from before the tabernacle of meeting, and reigned over Israel. ^14 (V)And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ^15 (W)Also the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland. ^16 (X)And Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Keveh; the king’s merchants bought them in Keveh at the current price. ¹⁷ They also acquired and imported from Egypt a chariot for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred and fifty; thus, ^[d]through their agents, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple^(A)

2 Then Solomon ^(B)determined to build a temple for the name of the Lord, and a royal house for himself. ^2 (C)Solomon selected seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand to quarry stone in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them.

³ Then Solomon sent to ^[a]Hiram king of Tyre, saying:

¹¹ Then Hiram king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon:

^12 [e]Hiram also said:

^17 (U)Then Solomon numbered all the aliens who were in the land of Israel, after the census in which ^(V)David his father had numbered them; and there were found to be one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred. ¹⁸ And he made ^(W)seventy thousand of them bearers of burdens, eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountain, and three thousand six hundred overseers to make the people work.

Solomon Builds the Temple^(A)

3 Now ^(B)Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at ^(C)Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where ^[a]the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of ^(D)Ornan^[b] the Jebusite. ² And he began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.

³ This is the foundation ^(E)which Solomon laid for building the house of God: The length was sixty cubits (by cubits according to the former measure) and the width twenty cubits. ⁴ And the ^(F)vestibule that was in front of ^[c]the sanctuary was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the height was ^[d]one hundred and twenty. He overlaid the inside with pure gold. ^5 (G)The larger ^[e]room he ^(H)paneled with cypress which he overlaid with fine gold, and he carved palm trees and chainwork on it. ⁶ And he decorated the house with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was gold from Parvaim. ⁷ He also overlaid the house—the beams and doorposts, its walls and doors—with gold; and he carved cherubim on the walls.

⁸ And he made the ^(I)Most Holy Place. Its length was according to the width of the house, twenty cubits, and its width twenty cubits. He overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold. ⁹ The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold; and he overlaid the upper ^(J)area with gold. ^10 (K)In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim, fashioned by carving, and overlaid them with gold. ¹¹ The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits in overall length: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub; ¹² one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing also was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub. ¹³ The wings of these cherubim spanned twenty cubits overall. They stood on their feet, and they faced inward. ¹⁴ And he made the ^(L)veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and wove cherubim into it.

¹⁵ Also he made in front of the ^[f]temple ^(M)two pillars ^[g]thirty-five cubits ^[h]high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. ¹⁶ He made wreaths of chainwork, as in the inner sanctuary, and put them on top of the pillars; and he made ^(N)one hundred pomegranates, and put them on the wreaths of chainwork. ¹⁷ Then he ^(O)set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left; he called the name of the one on the right hand ^[i]Jachin, and the name of the one on the left ^[j]Boaz.

The Anointing at Bethany^(A)

12 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, ^(B)where Lazarus was ^[a]who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. ^2 (C)There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. ³ Then ^(D)Mary took a pound of very costly oil of ^(E)spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.

⁴ But one of His disciples, ^(F)Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, ⁵ “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for ^[b]three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” ⁶ This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and ^(G)had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.

⁷ But Jesus said, “Let her alone; ^[c]she has kept this for the day of My burial. ⁸ For ^(H)the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”

The Plot to Kill Lazarus

⁹ Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, ^(I)whom He had raised from the dead. ^10 (J)But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, ^11 (K)because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.

The Triumphal Entry^(L)

^12 (M)The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, ¹³ took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:

^14 (O)Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:

^16 (Q)His disciples did not understand these things at first; ^(R)but when Jesus was glorified, ^(S)then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.

¹⁷ Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. ^18 (T)For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign. ¹⁹ The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, ^(U)“You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”

The Fruitful Grain of Wheat

²⁰ Now there ^(V)were certain Greeks among those ^(W)who came up to worship at the feast. ²¹ Then they came to Philip, ^(X)who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

²² Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

²³ But Jesus answered them, saying, ^(Y)“The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. ²⁴ Most assuredly, I say to you, ^(Z)unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much ^[d]grain. ^25 (AA)He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ If anyone serves Me, let him ^(AB)follow Me; and ^(AC)where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

Jesus Predicts His Death on the Cross

^27 (AD)“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? ^(AE)But for this purpose I came to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify Your name.”

^(AF)Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”

²⁹ Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.”

³⁰ Jesus answered and said, ^(AG)“This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. ³¹ Now is the judgment of this world; now ^(AH)the ruler of this world will be cast out. ³² And I, ^(AI)if I am ^[e]lifted up from the earth, will draw ^(AJ)all peoples to Myself.” ^33 (AK)This He said, signifying by what death He would die.

³⁴ The people answered Him, ^(AL)“We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

³⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer ^(AM)the light is with you. ^(AN)Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; ^(AO)he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. ³⁶ While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become ^(AP)sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and ^(AQ)was hidden from them.

Who Has Believed Our Report?

³⁷ But although He had done so many ^(AR)signs before them, they did not believe in Him, ³⁸ that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke:

³⁹ Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:

^41 (AV)These things Isaiah said ^[f]when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.

Walk in the Light

⁴² Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but ^(AW)because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; ^43 (AX)for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

⁴⁴ Then Jesus cried out and said, ^(AY)“He who believes in Me, ^(AZ)believes not in Me ^(BA)but in Him who sent Me. ⁴⁵ And ^(BB)he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. ^46 (BC)I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. ⁴⁷ And if anyone hears My words and does not ^[g]believe, ^(BD)I do not judge him; for ^(BE)I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. ^48 (BF)He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—^(BG)the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. ⁴⁹ For ^(BH)I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, ^(BI)what I should say and what I should speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I ^(BJ)speak.”