Solomon Worships at Gibeon

1 Now ^(A)Solomon the son of David established himself securely over his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him and ^(B)exalted him greatly.

² And Solomon spoke to all Israel, ^(C)to the commanders of thousands, of hundreds, and to the judges and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ households. ³ Then Solomon and all the assembly with him went to ^(D)the high place which was at Gibeon, ^(E)because God’s tent of meeting was there which Moses, the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness. ⁴ However, David had brought up ^(F)the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim ^[a]to ^(G)the place he had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. ⁵ Now ^(H)the bronze altar which Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was there before the tabernacle of the Lord, and Solomon and the assembly sought it out. ⁶ And Solomon went up there before the Lord to the bronze altar which was at the tent of meeting, and ^(I)offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.

^7 (J)In that night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask what I shall give you.”

Solomon’s Prayer for Wisdom

⁸ And Solomon said to God, “You have dealt with my father David with great faithfulness, and ^(K)have made me king in his place. ⁹ Now, Lord God, ^(L)Your ^[b]promise to my father David is fulfilled, for You have made me king over ^(M)a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. ^10 (N)Now give me wisdom and knowledge, ^(O)so that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this great people of Yours?” ^11 (P)Then God said to Solomon, “Because this was ^[c]in your heart, and you did not ask for riches, wealth, or honor, or the life of those who hate you, nor did you even ask for long life, but you asked for yourself wisdom and knowledge so that you may rule My people over whom I have made you king, ¹² wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. ^(Q)I will also give you riches, wealth, and honor, ^[d]such as none of the kings who were before you has possessed, nor will those who will ^[e]come after you.” ^13 (R)So Solomon went ^[f]from the high place which was at Gibeon, from the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem, and he reigned over Israel.

Solomon’s Wealth

^14 (S)Solomon amassed chariots and horsemen. ^(T)He had 1,400 chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, and he stationed them in ^(U)the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ^15 (V)The king made ^(W)silver and gold as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamores in the ^[g]lowland. ¹⁶ Solomon’s ^(X)horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue; the king’s traders acquired them from Kue for a price. ¹⁷ They ^[h]imported chariots from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver apiece, horses for 150 apiece, and ^[i]by the same means they ^[j]exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.

The Incarnate Word

1 What was ^(A)from the beginning, what we have ^(B)heard, what we have ^(C)seen with our eyes, what we ^(D)have looked at and ^(E)touched with our hands, concerning the ^(F)Word of Life— ² and ^(G)the life was revealed, and we have ^(H)seen and ^(I)testify and proclaim to you ^(J)the eternal life, which was ^(K)with the Father and was ^(L)revealed to us— ³ what we have ^(M)seen and ^(N)heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our ^(O)fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. ^4 (P)These things we write, so that our ^(Q)joy may be made complete.

God Is Light

^5 (R)This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that ^(S)God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. ^6 (T)If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we ^(U)lie and ^(V)do not practice the truth; ⁷ but if we ^(W)walk in the Light as ^(X)He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and ^(Y)the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. ^8 (Z)If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the ^(AA)truth is not in us. ^9 (AB)If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and ^(AC)cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ^10 (AD)If we say that we have not sinned, we ^(AE)make Him a liar and ^(AF)His word is not in us.