Preparing to Build the Temple

2 ^{[a] (A)}Now Solomon purposed to build a temple for the name of the Lord, and a royal palace for himself. ^{2 [b] (B)}And Solomon assigned 70,000 men to bear burdens and 80,000 to quarry in the hill country, and ^(C)3,600 to oversee them. ^3 (D)And Solomon sent word to Hiram the king of Tyre: ^(E)“As you dealt with David my father and sent him cedar to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me. ⁴ Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the Lord my God and dedicate it to him for the burning of ^(F)incense of sweet spices before him, and for ^(G)the regular arrangement of the showbread, and for ^(H)burnt offerings morning and evening, ^(I)on the Sabbaths and the new moons and the appointed feasts of the Lord our God, as ordained for ever for Israel. ⁵ The house that I am to build will be great, ^(J)for our God is greater than all gods. ^6 (K)But who is able to build him a house, since ^(L)heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him? ⁷ So now ^(M)send me a man skilled to work in gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue fabrics, trained also in engraving, to be with the skilled workers who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, ^(N)whom David my father provided. ⁸ Send me also cedar, cypress, and algum timber from Lebanon, for I know that ^(O)your servants know how to cut timber in Lebanon. And my servants will be with your servants, ⁹ to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the house I am to build will be great and wonderful. ^10 (P)I will give for your servants, the woodsmen who cut timber, 20,000 cors^[c] of crushed wheat, 20,000 cors of barley, 20,000 baths^[d] of wine, and 20,000 baths of oil.”

¹¹ Then Hiram the king of Tyre answered in a letter that he sent to Solomon, ^(Q)“Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you king over them.” ¹² Hiram also said, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, ^(R)who made heaven and earth, who has given King David a wise son, who has discretion and understanding, ^(S)who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.

¹³ “Now I have sent a skilled man, who has understanding, Huram-abi, ^14 (T)the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre. He is ^(U)trained to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and in purple, blue, and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and to do all sorts of engraving and execute any design that may be assigned him, with your craftsmen, the craftsmen of my lord, David your father. ¹⁵ Now therefore the wheat and barley, oil and wine, ^(V)of which my lord has spoken, let him send to his servants. ^16 (W)And we will cut whatever timber you need from Lebanon and bring it to you in rafts by sea to ^(X)Joppa, so that you may take it up to Jerusalem.”

¹⁷ Then Solomon counted all the resident aliens who were in the land of Israel, ^(Y)after the census of them that David his father had taken, and there were found to be 153,600. ^18 (Z)Seventy thousand of them he assigned to bear burdens, 80,000 to quarry in the hill country, and 3,600 as overseers to make the people work.

Christ Our Advocate

2 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, ^(A)we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. ^2 (B)He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but ^(C)also for the sins of the whole world. ³ And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we ^(D)keep his commandments. ⁴ Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments ^(E)is a liar, and ^(F)the truth is not in him, ⁵ but whoever ^(G)keeps his word, in him truly ^(H)the love of God is perfected. ^(I)By this we may know that we are in him: ⁶ whoever says he ^(J)abides in him ^(K)ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

The New Commandment

⁷ Beloved, I am writing you ^(L)no new commandment, but ^(M)an old commandment ^(N)that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. ⁸ At the same time, it is ^(O)a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because^{[a] (P)}the darkness is passing away and ^(Q)the true light is already shining. ⁹ Whoever says he is in the light and ^(R)hates his brother is still in darkness. ¹⁰ Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him^[b] there is no ^(S)cause for stumbling. ¹¹ But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and ^(T)walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Do Not Love the World

^15 (AA)Do not love the world or the things in the world. ^(AB)If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—^(AC)the desires of the flesh and ^(AD)the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. ¹⁷ And ^(AE)the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides for ever.

Warning Concerning Antichrists

¹⁸ Children, ^(AF)it is the last hour, and as you have heard that ^(AG)antichrist is coming, so now ^(AH)many antichrists have come. ^(AI)Therefore we know that it is the last hour. ^19 (AJ)They went out from us, but they were not of us; for ^(AK)if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, ^(AL)that it might become plain that they all are not of us. ²⁰ But you have been ^(AM)anointed by ^(AN)the Holy One, and ^(AO)you all have knowledge.^{[c] 21} I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. ²² Who is the liar but ^(AP)he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is ^(AQ)the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. ^23 (AR)No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. ²⁴ Let ^(AS)what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then ^(AT)you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵ And this is the promise that he made to us^[d]—^(AU)eternal life.

²⁶ I write these things to you about ^(AV)those who are trying to deceive you. ²⁷ But ^(AW)the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and ^(AX)you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and ^(AY)is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

Children of God

²⁸ And now, little children, abide in him, so that ^(AZ)when he appears ^(BA)we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his ^(BB)coming. ²⁹ If you know that ^(BC)he is righteous, you may be sure that ^(BD)everyone who practises righteousness has been born of him.

1 ^(A)An oracle concerning ^(B)Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.

God's Wrath Against Nineveh