Solomon’s Letter to Hiram

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

³ Then Solomon sent word to King Hiram^[a](C) of Tyre:^(D)

Do for me what you did for my father David. You sent him cedars to build him a house to live in.^{(E) 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,^(F) for displaying the rows of the Bread of the Presence continuously,^(G) and for sacrificing burnt offerings for the morning and the evening,^(H) the Sabbaths^(I) 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.^{(J) 6} But who is able to build a temple for him, since even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain him?^(K) 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,^(L) appointed by my father David.^{(M) 8} Also, send me cedar, cypress, and algum^[b](N) 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^{(O) 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^[c] of wheat flour, one hundred twenty thousand bushels of barley, one hundred twenty thousand gallons^[d] of wine, and one hundred twenty thousand gallons of oil.

Hiram’s Reply

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

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

¹² Hiram also said:

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth!^(Q) He gave King David a wise son with insight and understanding,^(R) who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.^{(S) 13} I have now sent Huram-abi,^[f] a skillful man who has understanding.^{(T) 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.^{(U) 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.^(V)

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,^(W) 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.^(X)

2 My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate^(A) with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous one. ² He himself is the atoning sacrifice^[a](B) for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.^(C)

God’s Commands

³ This is how we know^(D) that we know him: if we keep his commands.^{(E) 4} The one who says, “I have come to know him,” and yet doesn’t keep his commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But whoever keeps his word,^(F) truly in him the love of God is made complete. This is how we know we are in him:^{(G) 6} The one who says he remains in him^(H) should walk just as he walked.

⁷ Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command^(I) but an old command that you have had from the beginning. The old command is the word^(J) you have heard. ⁸ Yet I am writing you a new command, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away^(K) and the true light^(L) is already shining.^{(M) 9} The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother or sister^(N) is in the darkness until now. ¹⁰ The one who loves his brother or sister^(O) remains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.^{[b] 11} But the one who hates his brother or sister^(P) is in the darkness, walks in the darkness,^(Q) and doesn’t know where he’s going,^(R) because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Reasons for Writing

A Warning about the World

¹⁵ Do not love the world^(W) or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh,^(X) the lust of the eyes,^(Y) and the pride^(Z) in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world. ¹⁷ And the world with its lust is passing away,^(AA) but the one who does the will of God^(AB) remains forever.^(AC)

The Last Hour

¹⁸ Children, it is the last hour.^(AD) And as you have heard that antichrist^(AE) is coming, even now many antichrists have come. By this we know that it is the last hour. ¹⁹ They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.

²⁰ But you have an anointing^(AF) from the Holy One,^(AG) and all of you know the truth.^{[c] 21} I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth. ²² Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?^(AH) This one is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son. ²³ No one who denies the Son has the Father;^(AI) he who confesses the Son has the Father as well.^(AJ)

Remaining with God

²⁴ What you have heard from the beginning is to remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son^(AK) and in the Father.^{(AL) 25} And this is the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life.^(AM)

²⁶ I have written these things to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. ²⁷ As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you. Instead, his anointing teaches you about all things^(AN) and is true and is not a lie; just as it has taught you,^[d] remain in him.^(AO)

God’s Children

²⁸ So now, little children, remain in him so that when he appears^(AP) we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.^{(AQ) 29} If you know that he is righteous, you know this as well: Everyone who does what is right^(AR) has been born of him.^(AS)

1 The pronouncement^(A) concerning Nineveh.^(B) The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

God’s Vengeance

Destruction of Nineveh

Promise of Judah’s Deliverance

¹² This is what the Lord says:

The Assyrian King’s Demise

¹⁴ The Lord has issued an order concerning you:

Warnings from Jesus

17 He^(A) said to his disciples, “Offenses will certainly come,^[a] but woe^(B) to the one through whom they come!^{(C) 2} It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to stumble.^{(D) 3} Be^(E) on your guard. If your brother sins,^[b] rebuke^(F) him, and if he repents, forgive^(G) him. ⁴ And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and comes back to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Faith and Duty

⁵ The^(H) apostles^(I) said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”^(J)

⁶ “If you have faith the size of^[c] a mustard seed,”^(K) the Lord said, “you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

⁷ “Which one of you having a servant tending sheep or plowing will say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? ⁸ Instead, will he not tell him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, get ready, and serve me while I eat and drink; later you can eat and drink’?^{(L) 9} Does he thank that servant because he did what was commanded?^{[d] 10} In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, ‘We are unworthy ^(M) servants; we’ve only done our duty.’”

Ten Men Healed

¹¹ While traveling to Jerusalem,^(N) he passed between^[e] Samaria and Galilee.^{(O) 12} As he entered a village, ten men with leprosy^[f](P) met him. They stood at a distance ¹³ and raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master,^(Q) have mercy on us!”

¹⁴ When he saw them, he told them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”^(R) And while they were going, they were cleansed.

¹⁵ But one of them, seeing that he was healed, returned and, with a loud voice, gave glory to God.^{(S) 16} He fell facedown^(T) at his feet, thanking him. And he was a Samaritan.^(U)

¹⁷ Then Jesus said, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? ¹⁸ Didn’t any return to give glory to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ And he told him, “Get up and go on your way. Your faith has saved you.”^[g](V)

The Coming of the Kingdom

²⁰ When he was^(W) asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come,^(X) he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with something observable; ²¹ no one will say,^[h] ‘See here!’ or ‘There!’ For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”^[i]

²² Then he told the disciples, “The days are coming^(Y) when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you won’t see it.^{(Z) 23} They will say to you,^(AA) ‘See there!’ or ‘See here!’ Don’t follow or run after them.^{(AB) 24} For as the lightning flashes from horizon to horizon and lights up the sky, so the Son of Man will be in his day.^{(AC) 25} But first it is necessary that he suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.^(AD)

²⁶ “Just as it was in the days of Noah,^(AE) so it will be in the days of the Son of Man: ²⁷ People went on eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage^(AF) until the day Noah boarded the ark,^(AG) and the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸ It will be the same as it was in the days of Lot:^(AH) People went on eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building. ²⁹ But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed^(AI) them all. ³⁰ It^(AJ) will be like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed.^{(AK) 31} On that day, a man on the housetop, whose belongings are in the house, must not come down to get them. Likewise the man who is in the field must not turn back. ³² Remember Lot’s wife!^{(AL) 33} Whoever tries to make his life secure^[j][k] will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.^{(AM) 34} I tell you, on that night^(AN) two will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. ³⁵ Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”^[l]

³⁷ “Where, Lord?” ^(AO) they asked him.

He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there also the vultures^(AP) will be gathered.”