2 Chronicles 7-9
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 7
1 (A)When Solomon had ended his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offerings and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the house. 2 But the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.(B) 3 All the Israelites looked on while the fire came down and the glory of the Lord was upon the house, and they fell down upon the pavement with their faces to the earth and worshiped, praising the Lord, “who is so good, whose love endures forever.” 4 The king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord.(C) 5 King Solomon offered as sacrifice twenty-two thousand oxen, and one hundred twenty thousand sheep.(D)
End of the Dedication. Thus the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. 6 The priests were standing at their stations, as were the Levites, with the musical instruments of the Lord which King David had made to give thanks to the Lord, “whose love endures forever,” when David offered praise through them. The priests opposite them blew the trumpets and all Israel stood.(E)
7 Then Solomon consecrated the middle of the court facing the house of the Lord; he offered there the burnt offerings and the fat of the communion offerings, since the bronze altar which Solomon had made could not hold the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat.(F)
8 On this occasion Solomon and with him all Israel, a great assembly from Lebo-hamath to the Wadi of Egypt, celebrated the festival for seven days.(G) 9 (H)On the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, for they had celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days and the feast[a] for seven days. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he dismissed the people to their tents, rejoicing and glad of heart because of all the blessings the Lord had given to David, to Solomon, and to his people Israel. 11 (I)Solomon finished building the house of the Lord, the house of the king, and everything else he wanted to do in regard to the house of the Lord and his own house.
God’s Promise to Solomon. 12 The Lord appeared to Solomon during the night and said to him: I have heard your prayer, and I have chosen this place for my house of sacrifice. 13 If I close heaven so that there is no rain, if I command the locust to devour the land, if I send pestilence among my people, 14 if then my people, upon whom my name has been pronounced, humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and turn from their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven and pardon their sins and heal their land. 15 Now, therefore, my eyes shall be open and my ears attentive to the prayer of this place; 16 now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever; my eyes and my heart shall be there always.
17 As for you, if you walk before me as David your father did, doing all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and ordinances, 18 I will establish the throne of your kingship as I covenanted with David your father when I said, There shall never be wanting someone from your line as ruler in Israel. 19 But if ever you turn away and forsake my commandments and statutes which I set before you, and proceed to serve other gods, and bow down to them, 20 I will uproot the people from the land I gave and repudiate the house I have consecrated for my name. I will make it a proverb and a byword among all nations. 21 And this house which is so exalted—every passerby shall be horrified and ask: “Why has the Lord done such things to this land and to this house?” 22 And the answer will come: “Because they abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they embraced other gods, bowing down to them and serving them. That is why he has brought upon them all this evil.”
Chapter 8
Public Works. 1 (J)After the twenty years during which Solomon built the house of the Lord and his own house, 2 he built up the cities which Huram had given him,[b] and settled Israelites there. 3 Then Solomon went to Hamath of Zoba and conquered it. 4 He built Tadmor[c] in the wilderness and all the supply cities, which he built in Hamath. 5 (K)He built Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars; 6 also Baalath, all the supply cities belonging to Solomon, and all the cities for the chariots, the cities for horses, and whatever else Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in the entire land under his dominion. 7 All the people who were left of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites who were not Israelites— 8 those of their descendants who were left in the land and whom the Israelites had not destroyed—Solomon conscripted as forced laborers, as they are to this day. 9 But Solomon made none of the Israelites forced laborers for his works, for they were his fighting force, commanders, adjutants, chariot officers, and cavalry. 10 They were also King Solomon’s two hundred and fifty overseers who directed the people.
Solomon’s Piety. 11 Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the house which he had built for her, for he said, “No wife of mine shall dwell in the house of David, king of Israel, for the places where the ark of the Lord has come are holy.”
12 In those times Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings to the Lord upon the altar of the Lord which he had built in front of the porch, 13 as was required to be done day by day according to the command of Moses, especially on the sabbaths, at the new moons, and on the fixed festivals three times a year: on the feast of the Unleavened Bread, the feast of Weeks, and the feast of Booths.(L)
14 And according to the ordinance of David his father he appointed the various divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites according to their functions of praise and attendance upon the priests, as the daily duty required. The gatekeepers by their divisions stood guard at each gate, since such was the command of David, the man of God.(M) 15 There was no deviation from the king’s command in whatever related to the priests and Levites or the treasuries. 16 All of Solomon’s work was carried out successfully from the day the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid until its completion. The house of the Lord was finished.
Glories of the Court. 17 In those times Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Elath on the seashore of the land of Edom.(N) 18 Huram had his servants send him ships and his own servants, expert seamen; they went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir, and obtained there four hundred and fifty talents of gold and brought it to King Solomon.(O)
Chapter 9
The Queen of Sheba. 1 (P)The queen of Sheba, having heard a report of Solomon’s fame, came to Jerusalem to test him with subtle questions, accompanied by a very numerous retinue and by camels bearing spices, a large amount of gold, and precious stones. She came to Solomon and spoke to him about everything that she had on her mind. 2 Solomon explained to her everything she asked about, and there was nothing so obscure that Solomon could not explain it to her.(Q)
3 (R)When the queen of Sheba witnessed Solomon’s great wisdom, the house he had built, 4 the food at his table, the seating of his ministers, the attendance and dress of his waiters, his cupbearers and their dress, and the burnt offerings he sacrificed in the house of the Lord, it took her breath away. 5 “The report I heard in my country about your deeds and your wisdom is true,” she told the king. 6 “I did not believe the report until I came and saw with my own eyes that not even the half of your great wisdom had been told me. You have surpassed the report I heard. 7 Happy your servants, happy these ministers of yours, who stand before you always and listen to your wisdom. 8 Blessed be the Lord, your God, who was pleased to set you on his throne as king for the Lord, your God. In the love your God has for Israel, to establish them forever, he has made you king over them to carry out judgment and justice.” 9 Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty gold talents, a very large quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again did anyone bring such an abundance of spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
10 The servants of Huram and of Solomon who brought gold from Ophir also brought cabinet wood and precious stones. 11 With the cabinet wood the king made stairs for the house of the Lord and the house of the king, and harps and lyres for the chanters. The like of these had not been seen before in the land of Judah.(S)
12 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she desired and asked for, more than she had brought to the king. Then she returned with her servants to her own country.(T)
13 (U)The gold that came to Solomon in one year weighed six hundred and sixty-six gold talents, 14 in addition to what came from the tolls on travelers and what the merchants brought. All the kings of Arabia also, and the governors of the country, brought gold and silver to Solomon.
15 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold (six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield) 16 and three hundred bucklers of beaten gold (three hundred shekels of gold went into each buckler); and the king put them in the house of the Forest of Lebanon.
17 The king made a large ivory throne, and overlaid it with fine gold. 18 The throne had six steps; a footstool of gold was fastened to the throne, and there was an arm on each side of the seat, with two lions standing next to the arms, 19 and twelve other lions standing there on the steps, two to a step. Nothing like this was made in any other kingdom. 20 All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all the utensils in the house of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver, for in Solomon’s time silver was reckoned as nothing. 21 For the king had ships that went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram. Once every three years the fleet of Tarshish ships would come with a cargo of gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys.
Solomon’s Renown. 22 Thus King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.
23 All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon, to hear the wisdom God had put into his heart. 24 They all brought their tribute: vessels of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses, and mules—what was due each year. 25 Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses, chariots, and twelve thousand horses; these he allocated among the chariot cities and to the king’s service in Jerusalem. 26 He was ruler over all the kings from the River to the land of the Philistines and down to the border of Egypt. 27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars as numerous as the sycamores of the Shephelah. 28 [d]Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from all the lands.
The Death of Solomon. 29 (V)The remainder of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are recorded in the acts of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam, son of Nebat. 30 Solomon was king in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. 31 Solomon rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David, his father, and Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.
Footnotes
- 7:9–10 The feast: Booths, celebrated on the fifteenth day of the seventh month and followed by a solemn octave lasting through the twenty-second day (Lv 23:33–36; Nm 29:12–35); the people are therefore sent home on the twenty-third day of the month (v. 10). The festival (v. 8) marking the dedication of the altar and of the Temple was held during the seven days prior to the feast of Booths, i.e., from the seventh to the fourteenth day of the seventh month. According to 1 Kgs 8:3, 65–66 the dedication of the Temple was celebrated concomitantly with the seven days of the feast of Booths, after which the people were dismissed on the eighth day.
- 8:2 The cities which Huram had given him: according to 1 Kgs 9:10–14, it was Solomon who ceded the cities to the king of Tyre as payment for the timber and gold received from him. Since, however, 1 Kgs 9:12 states that Hiram was not satisfied with the cities, the Chronicler may have inferred that he gave them back to Solomon.
- 8:4 Tadmor: later known as Palmyra, an important caravan city in the Syrian desert. The parallel passage in 1 Kgs 9:18 has “Tamar,” in southern Judah; cf. Ez 47:19; 48:28. But Solomon may well have fortified Tadmor against the Arameans.
- 9:28 See note on 1:16–17.
Proverbs 18:1-12
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 18
1 One who is alienated seeks a pretext,
with all persistence picks a quarrel.
2 Fools take no delight in understanding,
but only in displaying what they think.[a]
3 With wickedness comes contempt,
and with disgrace, scorn.
4 The words of one’s mouth are deep waters,
the spring of wisdom, a running brook.[b](A)
5 It is not good to favor the guilty,
nor to reject the claim of the just.(B)
6 The lips of fools walk into a fight,
and their mouths are asking for a beating.[c]
7 The mouths of fools are their ruin;
their lips are a deadly snare.(C)
8 The words of a talebearer are like dainty morsels:
they sink into one’s inmost being.(D)
9 Those slack in their work
are kin to the destroyer.
10 [d]The name of the Lord is a strong tower;
the just run to it and are safe.
11 The wealth of the rich is their strong city;(E)
they fancy it a high wall.
12 Before disaster the heart is haughty,(F)
but before honor is humility.
Footnotes
- 18:2 One grows in wisdom by listening to others, but fools take delight in expounding the contents of their minds.
- 18:4 Words express a person’s thoughts (“deep waters”), which in turn become accessible to others. Cf. 20:5a.
- 18:6 The bold personification of lips and mouth is similar to Ps 73:9, “They set their mouths against the heavens, their tongues roam the earth.” Careless words can lead one into serious trouble.
- 18:10–11 Contrast this judgment with the observation in 10:15.
Romans 7
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 7
Freedom from the Law.[a] 1 Are you unaware, brothers (for I am speaking to people who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over one as long as one lives? 2 Thus a married woman is bound by law to her living husband; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law in respect to her husband.(A) 3 Consequently, while her husband is alive she will be called an adulteress if she consorts with another man. But if her husband dies she is free from that law, and she is not an adulteress if she consorts with another man.
4 In the same way, my brothers, you also were put to death to the law through the body of Christ, so that you might belong to another, to the one who was raised from the dead in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, our sinful passions, awakened by the law, worked in our members to bear fruit for death.(B) 6 But now we are released from the law, dead to what held us captive, so that we may serve in the newness of the spirit and not under the obsolete letter.(C)
Acquaintance with Sin Through the Law. 7 [b]What then can we say? That the law is sin? Of course not![c] Yet I did not know sin except through the law, and I did not know what it is to covet except that the law said, “You shall not covet.”(D) 8 But sin, finding an opportunity in the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetousness. Apart from the law sin is dead.(E) 9 I once lived outside the law, but when the commandment came, sin became alive; 10 then I died, and the commandment that was for life turned out to be death for me.(F) 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and through it put me to death.(G) 12 So then the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.(H)
Sin and Death.[d] 13 Did the good, then, become death for me? Of course not! Sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin, worked death in me through the good, so that sin might become sinful beyond measure through the commandment.(I) 14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold into slavery to sin.(J) 15 What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I concur that the law is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not.(K) 19 For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want. 20 Now if [I] do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 21 So, then, I discover the principle that when I want to do right, evil is at hand. 22 For I take delight in the law of God, in my inner self, 23 (L)but I see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind, taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.[e] 24 Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefore, I myself, with my mind, serve the law of God but, with my flesh, the law of sin.(M)
Footnotes
- 7:1–6 Paul reflects on the fact that Christians have a different understanding of the law because of their faith in Christ. Law binds the living, not the dead, as exemplified in marriage, which binds in life but is dissolved through death. Similarly, Christians who through baptism have died with Christ to sin (cf. Rom 6:2–4) are freed from the law that occasioned transgressions, which in turn were productive of death. Now that Christians are joined to Christ, the power of Christ’s resurrection makes it possible for them to bear the fruit of newness of life for God.
- 7:7–25 In this passage Paul uses the first person singular in the style of diatribe for the sake of argument. He aims to depict the disastrous consequences when a Christian reintroduces the law as a means to attain the objective of holiness pronounced in Rom 6:22.
- 7:7–12 The apostle defends himself against the charge of identifying the law with sin. Sin does not exist in law but in human beings, whose sinful inclinations are not overcome by the proclamation of law.
- 7:13–25 Far from improving the sinner, law encourages sin to expose itself in transgressions or violations of specific commandments (see Rom 1:24; 5:20). Thus persons who do not experience the justifying grace of God, and Christians who revert to dependence on law as the criterion for their relationship with God, will recognize a rift between their reasoned desire for the goodness of the law and their actual performance that is contrary to the law. Unable to free themselves from the slavery of sin and the power of death, they can only be rescued from defeat in the conflict by the power of God’s grace working through Jesus Christ.
- 7:23 As in Rom 3:27, Paul plays on the term law, which in Greek can connote custom, system, or principle.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.