Solomon’s Request for Wisdom

1 Solomon son of David strengthened his hold on his kingdom.^(A) The Lord his God was with him and highly exalted him.^{(B) 2} Then Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to every leader in all Israel—the family heads.^{(C) 3} Solomon and the whole assembly with him went to the high place that was in Gibeon^(D) because God’s tent of meeting, which the Lord’s servant Moses had made^(E) in the wilderness, was there. ⁴ Now David had brought the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place^[a] he had set up for it, because he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem,^{(F) 5} but he put^[b] the bronze altar, which Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, had made,^(G) in front of the Lord’s tabernacle. Solomon and the assembly inquired of him^[c] there. ⁶ Solomon offered sacrifices there in the Lord’s presence on the bronze altar at the tent of meeting; he offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.^(H)

⁷ That night^(I) God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask. What should I give you?”

⁸ And Solomon said to God, “You have shown great and faithful love to my father David, and you have made me king in his place.^{(J) 9} Lord God, let your promise to my father David now come true.^(K) For you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.^{(L) 10} Now grant me wisdom and knowledge so that I may lead these people,^(M) for who can judge this great people of yours?”

¹¹ God said to Solomon, “Since this was in your heart, and you have not requested riches, wealth, or glory, or for the life of those who hate you, and you have not even requested long life, but you have requested for yourself wisdom and knowledge that you may judge my people over whom I have made you king, ¹² wisdom and knowledge are given to you. I will also give you riches, wealth, and glory, unlike what was given to the kings who were before you, or will be given to those after you.”^{(N) 13} So Solomon went to Jerusalem from^[d] the high place that was in Gibeon in front of the tent of meeting, and he reigned over Israel.

Solomon’s Horses and Wealth

¹⁴ Solomon^(O) accumulated 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen,^(P) which he stationed in the chariot cities^(Q) and with the king in Jerusalem. ¹⁵ The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar as abundant as sycamore in the Judean foothills. ¹⁶ Solomon’s horses came from Egypt and Kue.^[e] The king’s traders would get them from Kue at the going price. ¹⁷ A chariot could be imported from Egypt for fifteen pounds^[f] of silver and a horse for nearly four pounds.^[g] In the same way, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram through their agents.

Solomon’s Letter to Hiram

2 Solomon decided to build a temple for the name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself,^{(R) 2} so he assigned 70,000 men as porters, 80,000 men as stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 as supervisors over them.^(S)

³ Then Solomon sent word to King Hiram^[h](T) of Tyre:^(U)

Do for me what you did for my father David. You sent him cedars to build him a house to live in.^{(V) 4} Now I am building a temple for the name of the Lord my God in order to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him,^(W) for displaying the rows of the Bread of the Presence continuously,^(X) and for sacrificing burnt offerings for the morning and the evening,^(Y) the Sabbaths^(Z) and the New Moons, and the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is ordained for Israel permanently. ⁵ The temple that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than any of the gods.^{(AA) 6} But who is able to build a temple for him, since even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain him?^(AB) Who am I then that I should build a temple for him except as a place to burn incense before him? ⁷ Therefore, send me an artisan who is skilled in engraving to work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and with purple, crimson, and blue yarn. He will work with the artisans who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem,^(AC) appointed by my father David.^{(AD) 8} Also, send me cedar, cypress, and algum^[i](AE) logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut the trees of Lebanon. Note that my servants will be with your servants^{(AF) 9} to prepare logs for me in abundance because the temple I am building will be great and wondrous. ¹⁰ I will give your servants, the woodcutters who cut the trees, one hundred twenty thousand bushels^[j] of wheat flour, one hundred twenty thousand bushels of barley, one hundred twenty thousand gallons^[k] of wine, and one hundred twenty thousand gallons of oil.

Hiram’s Reply

¹¹ Then King Hiram of Tyre wrote a letter^[l] and sent it to Solomon:

Because the Lord loves his people, he set you over them as king.^(AG)

¹² Hiram also said:

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth!^(AH) He gave King David a wise son with insight and understanding,^(AI) who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.^{(AJ) 13} I have now sent Huram-abi,^[m] a skillful man who has understanding.^{(AK) 14} He is the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan. His father is a man of Tyre. He knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, with purple, blue, crimson yarn, and fine linen. He knows how to do all kinds of engraving and to execute any design that may be given him. I have sent him to be with your artisans and the artisans of my lord, your father David. ¹⁵ Now, let my lord send the wheat, barley, oil, and wine to his servants as promised.^{(AL) 16} We will cut logs from Lebanon, as many as you need, and bring them to you as rafts by sea to Joppa. You can then take them up to Jerusalem.^(AM)

Solomon’s Workforce

¹⁷ Solomon took a census of all the resident alien men in the land of Israel, after the census that his father David had conducted,^(AN) and the total was 153,600. ¹⁸ Solomon made 70,000 of them porters, 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 supervisors to make the people work.^(AO)

Jesus’s Third Appearance to the Disciples

21 After this, Jesus revealed^(A) himself again to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias.^[a](B) He revealed himself in this way:

² Simon Peter,^(C) Thomas^(D) (called “Twin”^[b]), Nathanael^(E) from Cana of Galilee,^(F) Zebedee’s^(G) sons, and two others of his disciples were together.

³ “I’m going fishing,” Simon Peter said to them.

“We’re coming with you,” they told him. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.^(H)

⁴ When daybreak came, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not know it was Jesus.^{(I) 5} “Friends,”^[c] Jesus called to them, “you don’t have any fish, do you?”

“No,” they answered.

⁶ “Cast the net on the right side of the boat,” he told them, “and you’ll find some.” So they did,^[d] and they were unable to haul it in because of the large number of fish. ⁷ The disciple, the one Jesus loved, said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” ^(J)

When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tied his outer clothing around him (for he had taken it off) and plunged into the sea. ⁸ Since they were not far from land (about a hundred yards^[e](K) away), the other disciples came in the boat,^(L) dragging the net full of fish.

⁹ When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. ¹⁰ “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus told them. ¹¹ So Simon Peter climbed up and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish—153 of them. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.^(M)

¹² “Come and have breakfast,” Jesus told them. None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Jesus came, took the bread, and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish. ¹⁴ This was now the third time^(N) Jesus appeared^[f](O) to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Jesus’s Threefold Restoration of Peter

¹⁵ When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John,^[g] do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.”

“Feed my lambs,” he told him. ¹⁶ A second time he asked him, “Simon, son of John, do you love^(P) me?”^(Q)

“Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.”

“Shepherd^(R) my sheep,”^(S) he told him.

¹⁷ He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love^(T) me?”

Peter was grieved^(U) that he asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know everything;^(V) you know that I love you.”

“Feed^(W) my sheep,” Jesus said. ¹⁸ “Truly I tell you,^(X) when you were younger, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don’t want to go.” ¹⁹ He said this to indicate by what kind of death^(Y) Peter would glorify God.^(Z) After saying this, he told him, “Follow me.”^(AA)

Correcting a False Report

²⁰ So Peter turned around and saw the disciple Jesus loved^(AB) following them, the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and asked, “Lord, who is the one that’s going to betray you?” ^{(AC) 21} When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?”

²² “If I want him to remain until I come,”^(AD) Jesus answered, “what is that to you? As for you, follow me.”

²³ So this rumor^[h] spread to the brothers and sisters^(AE) that this disciple would not die.^(AF) Yet Jesus did not tell him that he would not die, but, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”

Epilogue

²⁴ This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.

²⁵ And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if every one of them were written down, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books^[i] that would be written.^(AG)

Psalm 76

God, the Powerful Judge

For the choir director: with stringed instruments. A psalm of Asaph.^(A) A song.