Solomon’s Activities and Accomplishments

8 ^(A)Now it came about at the end of the twenty years in which Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house ² that he built the cities which Huram had given to ^[a]him, and settled the sons of Israel there.

³ Then Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and captured it. ⁴ He built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the storage cities which he had built in Hamath. ⁵ He also built upper ^(B)Beth-horon and lower Beth-horon, ^(C)fortified cities with walls, gates and bars; ⁶ and Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for ^[b]his chariots and cities for ^[c]his horsemen, and all that it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land ^[d]under his rule.

^7 (D)All of the people who were left of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel, ⁸ namely, from their descendants who were left after them in the land whom the sons of Israel had not destroyed, ^(E)them Solomon raised as forced laborers to this day. ⁹ But Solomon did not make slaves for his work from the sons of Israel; they were men of war, his chief captains and commanders of his chariots and his horsemen. ¹⁰ These were the chief ^[e]officers of King Solomon, two hundred and fifty who ruled over the people.

^11 (F)Then Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the city of David to the house which he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because ^[f]the places are holy where the ark of the Lord has entered.”

¹² Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on ^(G)the altar of the Lord which he had built before the porch; ¹³ and ^(H)did so according to the daily rule, offering them up ^(I)according to the commandment of Moses, for ^(J)the sabbaths, ^(K)the new moons and the ^(L)three annual feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Booths.

¹⁴ Now according to the ordinance of his father David, he appointed ^(M)the divisions of the priests for their service, and ^(N)the Levites for their duties of praise and ministering before the priests according to the daily rule, and ^(O)the gatekeepers by their divisions at every gate; for ^(P)David the man of God had so commanded. ¹⁵ And they did not depart from the commandment of the king to the priests and Levites in any manner or concerning the storehouses.

¹⁶ Thus all the work of Solomon was carried out ^[g]from the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord, and until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was completed.

¹⁷ Then Solomon went to ^(Q)Ezion-geber and to ^(R)Eloth on the seashore in the land of Edom. ¹⁸ And Huram by his servants sent him ships and servants who knew the sea; and they went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir, and ^(S)took from there four hundred and fifty talents of gold and brought them to King Solomon.

Prayer for Mercy in Time of Trouble.

For the choir director; with stringed instruments, ^[a]upon an eight-string lyre. A Psalm of David.

Jesus’ Birth in Bethlehem

2 Now in those days a decree went out from ^(A)Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of ^(B)all ^[a]the inhabited earth. ^2 [b]This was the first census taken while ^[c]Quirinius was governor of ^(C)Syria. ³ And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. ⁴ Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because ^(D)he was of the house and family of David, ⁵ in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. ⁶ While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. ⁷ And she ^(E)gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a ^[d]manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

⁸ In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And ^(F)an angel of the Lord suddenly ^(G)stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “^(H)Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; ¹¹ for today in the city of David there has been born for you a ^(I)Savior, who is ^[e](J)Christ ^(K)the Lord. ^12 (L)This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a ^[f]manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

¹⁵ When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the ^[h]manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. ¹⁸ And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. ¹⁹ But Mary ^(O)treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds went back, ^(P)glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.