Psalm 77^[a]

For the director of music. For Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A psalm.

The Council at Jerusalem

15 Certain people^(A) came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers:^(B) “Unless you are circumcised,^(C) according to the custom taught by Moses,^(D) you cannot be saved.” ² This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem^(E) to see the apostles and elders^(F) about this question. ³ The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia^(G) and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted.^(H) This news made all the believers very glad. ⁴ When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.^(I)

⁵ Then some of the believers who belonged to the party^(J) of the Pharisees^(K) stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”^(L)

⁶ The apostles and elders met to consider this question. ⁷ After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe.^{(M) 8} God, who knows the heart,^(N) showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them,^(O) just as he did to us. ⁹ He did not discriminate between us and them,^(P) for he purified their hearts by faith.^{(Q) 10} Now then, why do you try to test God^(R) by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke^(S) that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? ¹¹ No! We believe it is through the grace^(T) of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

¹² The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders^(U) God had done among the Gentiles through them.^{(V) 13} When they finished, James^(W) spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. ¹⁴ Simon^[a] has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles.^{(X) 15} The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:

¹⁹ “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. ²⁰ Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols,^(AA) from sexual immorality,^(AB) from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.^{(AC) 21} For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”^(AD)

Solomon’s Other Activities^(A)

¹⁰ At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built these two buildings—the temple of the Lord and the royal palace— ¹¹ King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, because Hiram had supplied him with all the cedar and juniper and gold^(B) he wanted. ¹² But when Hiram went from Tyre to see the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. ¹³ “What kind of towns are these you have given me, my brother?” he asked. And he called them the Land of Kabul,^[a](C) a name they have to this day. ¹⁴ Now Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents^[b] of gold.^(D)

¹⁵ Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscripted^(E) to build the Lord’s temple, his own palace, the terraces,^[c](F) the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor,^(G) Megiddo and Gezer.^{(H) 16} (Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire. He killed its Canaanite inhabitants and then gave it as a wedding gift to his daughter,^(I) Solomon’s wife. ¹⁷ And Solomon rebuilt Gezer.) He built up Lower Beth Horon,^{(J) 18} Baalath,^(K) and Tadmor^[d] in the desert, within his land, ¹⁹ as well as all his store cities^(L) and the towns for his chariots^(M) and for his horses^[e]—whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled.

²⁰ There were still people left from the Amorites, Hittites,^(N) Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites^(O) (these peoples were not Israelites). ²¹ Solomon conscripted the descendants^(P) of all these peoples remaining in the land—whom the Israelites could not exterminate^[f](Q)—to serve as slave labor,^(R) as it is to this day. ²² But Solomon did not make slaves^(S) of any of the Israelites; they were his fighting men, his government officials, his officers, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and charioteers. ²³ They were also the chief officials^(T) in charge of Solomon’s projects—550 officials supervising those who did the work.

²⁴ After Pharaoh’s daughter^(U) had come up from the City of David to the palace Solomon had built for her, he constructed the terraces.^(V)

²⁵ Three^(W) times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord, burning incense before the Lord along with them, and so fulfilled the temple obligations.

²⁶ King Solomon also built ships^(X) at Ezion Geber,^(Y) which is near Elath^(Z) in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea.^{[g] 27} And Hiram sent his men—sailors^(AA) who knew the sea—to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s men. ²⁸ They sailed to Ophir^(AB) and brought back 420 talents^[h] of gold,^(AC) which they delivered to King Solomon.

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon^(AD)

10 When the queen of Sheba^(AE) heard about the fame^(AF) of Solomon and his relationship to the Lord, she came to test Solomon with hard questions.^{(AG) 2} Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan^(AH)—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind. ³ Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her. ⁴ When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, ⁵ the food on his table,^(AI) the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at^[i] the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.

⁶ She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. ⁷ But I did not believe^(AJ) these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth^(AK) you have far exceeded the report I heard. ⁸ How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear^(AL) your wisdom! ⁹ Praise^(AM) be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love^(AN) for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice^(AO) and righteousness.”

¹⁰ And she gave the king 120 talents^[j] of gold,^(AP) large quantities of spices, and precious stones. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹¹ (Hiram’s ships brought gold from Ophir;^(AQ) and from there they brought great cargoes of almugwood^[k] and precious stones. ¹² The king used the almugwood to make supports^[l] for the temple of the Lord and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. So much almugwood has never been imported or seen since that day.)

¹³ King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for, besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.

Solomon’s Splendor^(AR)

¹⁴ The weight of the gold^(AS) that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,^{[m] 15} not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the territories.

¹⁶ King Solomon made two hundred large shields^(AT) of hammered gold; six hundred shekels^[n] of gold went into each shield. ¹⁷ He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas^[o] of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.^(AU)

¹⁸ Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. ¹⁹ The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. ²⁰ Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. ²¹ All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold.^(AV) Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s days. ²² The king had a fleet of trading ships^[p](AW) at sea along with the ships^(AX) of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.

²³ King Solomon was greater in riches^(AY) and wisdom^(AZ) than all the other kings of the earth. ²⁴ The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom^(BA) God had put in his heart. ²⁵ Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift^(BB)—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.

²⁶ Solomon accumulated chariots and horses;^(BC) he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses,^[q] which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. ²⁷ The king made silver as common^(BD) in Jerusalem as stones,^(BE) and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig^(BF) trees in the foothills. ²⁸ Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue^[r]—the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price. ²⁹ They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty.^[s] They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites^(BG) and of the Arameans.

Solomon’s Wives

11 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women^(BH) besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites,^(BI) Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. ² They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry^(BJ) with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. ³ He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines,^(BK) and his wives led him astray.^{(BL) 4} As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods,^(BM) and his heart was not fully devoted^(BN) to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. ⁵ He followed Ashtoreth^(BO) the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek^(BP) the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁶ So Solomon did evil^(BQ) in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.

⁷ On a hill east^(BR) of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh^(BS) the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek^(BT) the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁸ He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.

⁹ The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared^(BU) to him twice. ¹⁰ Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods,^(BV) Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command.^{(BW) 11} So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees,^(BX) which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear^(BY) the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. ¹² Nevertheless, for the sake of David^(BZ) your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ¹³ Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe^(CA) for the sake^(CB) of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”^(CC)