⁵ “for he loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us.”

¹¹ King Hiram sent this letter of reply to Solomon:

Faith in the Son of God

5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ^[a] has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. ² We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. ³ Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.

¹⁸ Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. ¹⁹ Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God.

¹⁴ If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers,^[a] it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead.

⁶ For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.

Ezra Praises the Lord

²⁷ Praise the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who made the king want to beautify the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem! ²⁸ And praise him for demonstrating such unfailing love to me by honoring me before the king, his council, and all his mighty nobles! I felt encouraged because the gracious hand of the Lord my God was on me. And I gathered some of the leaders of Israel to return with me to Jerusalem.

³ “And now, because of my devotion to the Temple of my God, I am giving all of my own private treasures of gold and silver to help in the construction. This is in addition to the building materials I have already collected for his holy Temple. ⁴ I am donating more than 112 tons of gold^[a] from Ophir and 262 tons of refined silver^[b] to be used for overlaying the walls of the buildings ⁵ and for the other gold and silver work to be done by the craftsmen. Now then, who will follow my example and give offerings to the Lord today?”

⁶ Then the family leaders, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, the generals and captains of the army,^[c] and the king’s administrative officers all gave willingly. ⁷ For the construction of the Temple of God, they gave about 188 tons of gold,^[d] 10,000 gold coins,^[e] 375 tons of silver,^[f] 675 tons of bronze,^[g] and 3,750 tons of iron.^{[h] 8} They also contributed numerous precious stones, which were deposited in the treasury of the house of the Lord under the care of Jehiel, a descendant of Gershon. ⁹ The people rejoiced over the offerings, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord, and King David was filled with joy.

Preparations for Building the Temple

5 ^[a]King Hiram of Tyre had always been a loyal friend of David. When Hiram learned that David’s son Solomon was the new king of Israel, he sent ambassadors to congratulate him.