Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer^(A)(B)

11 One day Jesus was praying^(C) in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord,^(D) teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

² He said to them, “When you pray, say:

⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; ⁶ a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ ⁷ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity^[e] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.^(H)

⁹ “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you;^(I) seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

¹¹ “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for^[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Jesus and Beelzebul^(J)(K)

¹⁴ Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed.^{(L) 15} But some of them said, “By Beelzebul,^(M) the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.”^{(N) 16} Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.^(O)

¹⁷ Jesus knew their thoughts^(P) and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. ¹⁸ If Satan^(Q) is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebul. ¹⁹ Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. ²⁰ But if I drive out demons by the finger of God,^(R) then the kingdom of God^(S) has come upon you.

²¹ “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. ²² But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.

²³ “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.^(T)

²⁴ “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ ²⁵ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. ²⁶ Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”^(U)

²⁷ As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”^(V)

²⁸ He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God^(W) and obey it.”^(X)

The Sign of Jonah^(Y)

²⁹ As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign,^(Z) but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.^{(AA) 30} For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. ³¹ The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom;^(AB) and now something greater than Solomon is here. ³² The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah;^(AC) and now something greater than Jonah is here.

The Lamp of the Body^(AD)

³³ “No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light.^{(AE) 34} Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy,^[g] your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy,^[h] your body also is full of darkness. ³⁵ See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. ³⁶ Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.”

Woes on the Pharisees and the Experts in the Law

³⁷ When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table.^{(AF) 38} But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.^(AG)

³⁹ Then the Lord^(AH) said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.^{(AI) 40} You foolish people!^(AJ) Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? ⁴¹ But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor,^(AK) and everything will be clean for you.^(AL)

⁴² “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth^(AM) of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God.^(AN) You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.^(AO)

⁴³ “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces.^(AP)

⁴⁴ “Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves,^(AQ) which people walk over without knowing it.”

⁴⁵ One of the experts in the law^(AR) answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.”

⁴⁶ Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.^(AS)

⁴⁷ “Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them. ⁴⁸ So you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs.^{(AT) 49} Because of this, God in his wisdom^(AU) said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.’^{(AV) 50} Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, ⁵¹ from the blood of Abel^(AW) to the blood of Zechariah,^(AX) who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all.^(AY)

⁵² “Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”^(AZ)

⁵³ When Jesus went outside, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, ⁵⁴ waiting to catch him in something he might say.^(BA)

Solomon Builds the Temple^(A)

3 Then Solomon began to build^(B) the temple of the Lord^(C) in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah^[a](D) the Jebusite, the place provided by David. ² He began building on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.^(E)

³ The foundation Solomon laid for building the temple of God was sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wide^[b](F) (using the cubit of the old standard). ⁴ The portico at the front of the temple was twenty cubits^[c] long across the width of the building and twenty^[d] cubits high.

He overlaid the inside with pure gold. ⁵ He paneled the main hall with juniper and covered it with fine gold and decorated it with palm tree^(G) and chain designs. ⁶ He adorned the temple with precious stones. And the gold he used was gold of Parvaim. ⁷ He overlaid the ceiling beams, doorframes, walls and doors of the temple with gold, and he carved cherubim^(H) on the walls.

⁸ He built the Most Holy Place,^(I) its length corresponding to the width of the temple—twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. He overlaid the inside with six hundred talents^[e] of fine gold. ⁹ The gold nails^(J) weighed fifty shekels.^[f] He also overlaid the upper parts with gold.

¹⁰ For the Most Holy Place he made a pair^(K) of sculptured cherubim and overlaid them with gold. ¹¹ The total wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits^[g] long and touched the temple wall, while its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the other cherub. ¹² Similarly one wing of the second cherub was five cubits long and touched the other temple wall, and its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the first cherub. ¹³ The wings of these cherubim^(L) extended twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, facing the main hall.^[h]

¹⁴ He made the curtain^(M) of blue, purple and crimson yarn and fine linen, with cherubim^(N) worked into it.

¹⁵ For the front of the temple he made two pillars,^(O) which together were thirty-five cubits^[i] long, each with a capital^(P) five cubits high. ¹⁶ He made interwoven chains^[j](Q) and put them on top of the pillars. He also made a hundred pomegranates^(R) and attached them to the chains. ¹⁷ He erected the pillars in the front of the temple, one to the south and one to the north. The one to the south he named Jakin^[k] and the one to the north Boaz.^[l]

The Temple’s Furnishings^(S)

4 He made a bronze altar^(T) twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high.^{[m] 2} He made the Sea^(U) of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits^[n] high. It took a line of thirty cubits^[o] to measure around it. ³ Below the rim, figures of bulls encircled it—ten to a cubit.^[p] The bulls were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.

⁴ The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east.^(V) The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. ⁵ It was a handbreadth^[q] in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held three thousand baths.^[r]

⁶ He then made ten basins^(W) for washing and placed five on the south side and five on the north. In them the things to be used for the burnt offerings^(X) were rinsed, but the Sea was to be used by the priests for washing.

⁷ He made ten gold lampstands^(Y) according to the specifications^(Z) for them and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north.

⁸ He made ten tables^(AA) and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He also made a hundred gold sprinkling bowls.^(AB)

⁹ He made the courtyard^(AC) of the priests, and the large court and the doors for the court, and overlaid the doors with bronze. ¹⁰ He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner.

¹¹ And Huram also made the pots and shovels and sprinkling bowls.

So Huram finished^(AD) the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of God:

All the objects that Huram-Abi^(AF) made for King Solomon for the temple of the Lord were of polished bronze. ¹⁷ The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Sukkoth^(AG) and Zarethan.^{[s] 18} All these things that Solomon made amounted to so much that the weight of the bronze^(AH) could not be calculated.

¹⁹ Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in God’s temple:

5 When all the work Solomon had done for the temple of the Lord was finished,^(AM) he brought in the things his father David had dedicated^(AN)—the silver and gold and all the furnishings—and he placed them in the treasuries of God’s temple.

The Ark Brought to the Temple^(AO)

² Then Solomon summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark^(AP) of the Lord’s covenant from Zion, the City of David. ³ And all the Israelites^(AQ) came together to the king at the time of the festival in the seventh month.

⁴ When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the Levites took up the ark, ⁵ and they brought up the ark and the tent of meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The Levitical priests^(AR) carried them up; ⁶ and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.

⁷ The priests then brought the ark^(AS) of the Lord’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. ⁸ The cherubim^(AT) spread their wings over the place of the ark and covered the ark and its carrying poles. ⁹ These poles were so long that their ends, extending from the ark, could be seen from in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today. ¹⁰ There was nothing in the ark except^(AU) the two tablets^(AV) that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.

¹¹ The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions.^{(AW) 12} All the Levites who were musicians^(AX)—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets.^{(AY) 13} The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang:

Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud,^{(BA) 14} and the priests could not perform^(BB) their service because of the cloud,^(BC) for the glory^(BD) of the Lord filled the temple of God.