Circumcision of Jesus

^21 (A)And when eight days were completed ^[a]for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called ^(B)Jesus, the name given by the angel ^(C)before He was conceived in the womb.

Jesus Presented in the Temple

²² Now when ^(D)the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord ^23 (E)(as it is written in the law of the Lord, ^(F)“Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, ^(G)“A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

Simeon Sees God’s Salvation

²⁵ And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, ^(H)waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not ^(I)see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷ So he came ^(J)by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, ²⁸ he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:

^33 [b]And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. ³⁴ Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the ^(N)fall and rising of many in Israel, and for ^(O)a sign which will be spoken against ³⁵ (yes, ^(P)a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Anna Bears Witness to the Redeemer

³⁶ Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of ^(Q)Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; ³⁷ and this woman was a widow ^[c]of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers ^(R)night and day. ³⁸ And coming in that instant she gave thanks to ^[d]the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who ^(S)looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

The Family Returns to Nazareth

³⁹ So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. ^40 (T)And the Child grew and became strong ^[e]in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

Walk in Unity

4 I, therefore, the prisoner ^[a]of the Lord, ^[b]beseech you to ^(A)walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, ² with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, ³ endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit ^(B)in the bond of peace. ^4 (C)There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; ^5 (D)one Lord, ^(E)one faith, ^(F)one baptism; ^6 (G)one God and Father of all, who is above all, and ^(H)through all, and in ^[c]you all.

Spiritual Gifts

⁷ But ^(I)to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸ Therefore He says:

^9 (K)(Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also ^[d]first descended into the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is also the One ^(L)who ascended far above all the heavens, ^(M)that He might fill all things.)

¹¹ And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, ^(N)for the ^[e]edifying of ^(O)the body of Christ, ¹³ till we all come to the unity of the faith ^(P)and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to ^(Q)a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; ¹⁴ that we should no longer be ^(R)children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of ^(S)deceitful plotting, ¹⁵ but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the ^(T)head—Christ— ^16 (U)from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

ז ZAYIN

Solomon’s Heart Turns from the Lord

11 But ^(A)King Solomon loved ^(B)many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites— ² from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, ^(C)“You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. ³ And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. ⁴ For it was so, when Solomon was old, ^(D)that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his ^(E)heart was not ^[a]loyal to the Lord his God, ^(F)as was the heart of his father David. ⁵ For Solomon went after ^(G)Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after ^(H)Milcom^[b] the abomination of the ^(I)Ammonites. ⁶ Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David. ^7 (J)Then Solomon built a ^[c]high place for ^(K)Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on ^(L)the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. ⁸ And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

⁹ So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, ^(M)who had appeared to him twice, ¹⁰ and ^(N)had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the Lord had commanded. ¹¹ Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, ^(O)I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your ^(P)servant. ¹² Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ^13 (Q)However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give ^(R)one tribe to your son ^(S)for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem ^(T)which I have chosen.”

Adversaries of Solomon

¹⁴ Now the Lord ^(U)raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was a descendant of the king in Edom. ^15 (V)For it happened, when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the slain, ^(W)after he had killed every male in Edom ¹⁶ (because for six months Joab remained there with all Israel, until he had cut down every male in Edom), ¹⁷ that Hadad fled to go to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him. Hadad was still a little child. ¹⁸ Then they arose from Midian and came to Paran; and they took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house, apportioned food for him, and gave him land. ¹⁹ And Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him as wife the sister of his own wife, that is, the sister of Queen Tahpenes. ²⁰ Then the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house. And Genubath was in Pharaoh’s household among the sons of Pharaoh.

^21 (X)So when Hadad heard in Egypt that David ^[d]rested with his fathers, and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, ^[e]“Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.”

²² Then Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me, that suddenly you seek to go to your own country?”

So he answered, “Nothing, but do let me go anyway.”

²³ And God raised up another adversary against him, Rezon the son of Eliadah, who had fled from his lord, ^(Y)Hadadezer king of Zobah. ²⁴ So he gathered men to him and became captain over a band of raiders, ^(Z)when David killed those of Zobah. And they went to Damascus and dwelt there, and reigned in Damascus. ²⁵ He was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon (besides the trouble that Hadad caused); and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria.

Jeroboam’s Rebellion

²⁶ Then Solomon’s servant, ^(AA)Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zereda, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, ^(AB)also ^(AC)rebelled against the king.

²⁷ And this is what caused him to rebel against the king: ^(AD)Solomon had built the Millo and ^[f]repaired the damages to the City of David his father. ²⁸ The man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon, seeing that the young man was ^(AE)industrious, made him the officer over all the labor force of the house of Joseph.

²⁹ Now it happened at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet ^(AF)Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the way; and he had clothed himself with a new garment, and the two were alone in the field. ³⁰ Then Ahijah took hold of the new garment that was on him, and ^(AG)tore it into twelve pieces. ³¹ And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for ^(AH)thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you ³² (but he shall have one tribe for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), ^33 (AI)because ^[g]they have forsaken Me, and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the people of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways to do what is right in My eyes and keep My statutes and My judgments, as did his father David. ³⁴ However I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, because I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of My servant David, whom I chose because he kept My commandments and My statutes. ³⁵ But ^(AJ)I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and give it to you—ten tribes. ³⁶ And to his son I will give one tribe, that ^(AK)My servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for Myself, to put My name there. ³⁷ So I will take you, and you shall reign over all your heart desires, and you shall be king over Israel. ³⁸ Then it shall be, if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then ^(AL)I will be with you and ^(AM)build for you an enduring house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you. ³⁹ And I will afflict the descendants of David because of this, but not forever.’ ”

⁴⁰ Solomon therefore sought to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt, to ^(AN)Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

Death of Solomon^(AO)

⁴¹ Now ^(AP)the rest of the acts of Solomon, all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon? ^42 (AQ)And the period that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. ^43 (AR)Then Solomon ^[h]rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his ^(AS)place.