Why Should I Fear in Times of Trouble?

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of ^(A)the Sons of Korah.

Fire from Heaven

7 ^(A)As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, ^(B)fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, ^(C)and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. ² And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord's house. ³ When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “For he is good, ^(D)for his steadfast love endures forever.”

The Dedication of the Temple

^4 (E)Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the Lord. ⁵ King Solomon offered as a sacrifice 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. ⁶ The priests stood at their posts; ^(F)the Levites also, with the instruments for music to the Lord that King David had made for giving thanks to the Lord—^(G)for his steadfast love endures forever—whenever David offered praises by their ministry;^{[a] (H)}opposite them the priests sounded trumpets, and all Israel stood.

^7 (I)And Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord, for there he offered the burnt offering and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar Solomon had made could not hold the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat.

⁸ At that time Solomon held the feast for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly, from ^(J)Lebo-hamath to the ^(K)Brook of Egypt. ⁹ And on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, for they had kept the dedication of the altar seven days and the feast seven days. ¹⁰ On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their homes, joyful and glad of heart for the prosperity^[b] that the Lord had granted to David and to Solomon and to Israel his people.

If My People Pray

^11 (L)Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king's house. All that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the Lord and in his own house he successfully accomplished. ¹² Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer ^(M)and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. ^13 (N)When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, ¹⁴ if my people who are called by my name ^(O)humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. ^15 (P)Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. ^16 (Q)For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. ¹⁷ And as for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my rules, ¹⁸ then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ^(R)‘You shall not lack a man to rule Israel.’

^19 (S)“But if you^[c] turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, ^20 (T)then I will pluck you^[d] up from my land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it ^(U)a proverb and a byword among all peoples. ²¹ And at this house, which was exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, ^(V)‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ ²² Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore he has brought all this disaster on them.’”

Solomon's Accomplishments

8 ^(W)At the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house, ² Solomon rebuilt the cities that Hiram had given to him, and settled the people of Israel in them.

³ And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and took it. ⁴ He built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the store cities that he built in Hamath. ⁵ He also built ^(X)Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon, ^(Y)fortified cities ^(Z)with walls, gates, and bars, ⁶ and Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had and all the cities for his chariots and the cities for his horsemen, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. ^7 (AA)All the people who were left of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel, ⁸ from their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the people of Israel had not destroyed—these Solomon drafted ^(AB)as forced labor, and so they are to this day. ⁹ But of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves for his work; they were soldiers, and his officers, the commanders of his chariots, and his horsemen. ¹⁰ And these were the chief officers of King Solomon, 250, who exercised authority over the people.

^11 (AC)Solomon brought Pharaoh's daughter up from the city of David to the house that he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not live in the house of David king of Israel, for the places to which the ark of the Lord has come are holy.”

¹² Then Solomon offered up burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord ^(AD)that he had built before the vestibule, ^13 (AE)as the duty of each day required, offering ^(AF)according to the commandment of Moses for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the ^(AG)three annual feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths. ¹⁴ According to the ruling of David his father, he appointed ^(AH)the divisions of the priests for their service, ^(AI)and the Levites for their offices of praise and ^(AJ)ministry before the priests ^(AK)as the duty of each day required, and ^(AL)the gatekeepers in their divisions at each gate, for so David ^(AM)the man of God had commanded. ¹⁵ And they did not turn aside from what the king had commanded the priests and Levites concerning any matter and concerning the treasuries.

¹⁶ Thus was accomplished all the work of Solomon from^[e] the day the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was completed.

¹⁷ Then Solomon went to ^(AN)Ezion-geber and ^(AO)Eloth on the shore of the sea, in the land of Edom. ¹⁸ And Hiram sent to him by the hand of his servants ships and servants familiar with the sea, and they went to Ophir together with the servants of Solomon and brought from there ^(AP)450 talents^[f] of gold and brought it to King Solomon.

Jesus Delivered to Pilate

27 ^(A)When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people ^(B)took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. ² And they bound him and ^(C)led him away and ^(D)delivered him over to ^(E)Pilate the governor.

Judas Hangs Himself

³ Then when ^(F)Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus^[a] was condemned, ^(G)he changed his mind and brought back ^(H)the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, ⁴ saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? ^(I)See to it yourself.” ⁵ And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, ^(J)he departed, and he went and hanged himself. ⁶ But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into ^(K)the treasury, since it is blood money.” ⁷ So they took counsel and bought with them the potter's field as a burial place for strangers. ⁸ Therefore ^(L)that field has been called the Field of Blood ^(M)to this day. ^9 (N)Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, ^(O)“And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, ¹⁰ and they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord directed me.”

Jesus Before Pilate

^11 (P)Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you ^(Q)the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, ^(R)“You have said so.” ^12 (S)But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. ¹³ Then Pilate said to him, ^(T)“Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” ¹⁴ But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

The Crowd Chooses Barabbas

^15 (U)Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. ¹⁶ And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. ¹⁷ So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or ^(V)Jesus who is called Christ?” ¹⁸ For he knew that it was out ^(W)of envy that they had delivered him up. ¹⁹ Besides, while he was sitting on ^(X)the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with ^(Y)that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today ^(Z)in a dream.” ²⁰ Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ^(AA)ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. ²¹ The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” ²² Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” ^(AB)They all said, “Let him be crucified!” ²³ And he said, “Why? ^(AC)What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

²⁴ So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that ^(AD)a riot was beginning, he took water and ^(AE)washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of ^(AF)this man's blood;^{[b] (AG)}see to it yourselves.” ²⁵ And all the people answered, ^(AH)“His blood be on us and ^(AI)on our children!” ²⁶ Then he released for them Barabbas, and having ^(AJ)scourged^[c] Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.