Book Four

From Everlasting to Everlasting

A ^(A)Prayer of Moses, the ^(B)man of God.

The Ark Brought into the Temple

8 ^(A)Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, ^(B)the leaders of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, ^(C)to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of ^(D)the city of David, which is Zion. ² And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon at ^(E)the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. ³ And all the elders of Israel came, and ^(F)the priests took up the ark. ⁴ And they brought up the ark of the Lord, ^(G)the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁵ And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, ^(H)sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. ^6 (I)Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord ^(J)to its place in ^(K)the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. ⁷ For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. ^8 (L)And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before ^(M)the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day. ⁹ There was nothing in the ark except ^(N)the two tablets of stone that Moses put there at Horeb, where ^(O)the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, ^(P)a cloud filled the house of the Lord, ¹¹ so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

Solomon Blesses the Lord

^12 (Q)Then Solomon said, “The Lord^[a] has said that he would dwell ^(R)in thick darkness. ^13 (S)I have indeed built you an exalted house, ^(T)a place for you to dwell in forever.” ¹⁴ Then the king turned around and ^(U)blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. ¹⁵ And he said, ^(V)“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled ^(W)what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, ^16 (X)‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, ^(Y)that my name might be there. ^(Z)But I chose David to be over my people Israel.’ ^17 (AA)Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁸ But the Lord said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. ^19 (AB)Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ ²⁰ Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, ^(AC)as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ²¹ And there I have provided a place for the ark, ^(AD)in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

Jesus Before Pilate

23 ^(A)Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. ² And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man ^(B)misleading our nation and ^(C)forbidding us to give tribute to ^(D)Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, ^(E)a king.” ^3 (F)And Pilate asked him, ^(G)“Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, ^(H)“You have said so.” ⁴ Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, ^(I)“I find no guilt in this man.” ⁵ But they were urgent, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, ^(J)from Galilee even to this place.”

Jesus Before Herod

⁶ When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. ⁷ And when he learned that he belonged to ^(K)Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. ⁸ When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, ^(L)for he had long desired to see him, ^(M)because he had heard about him, and he was hoping ^(N)to see some sign done by him. ⁹ So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer. ¹⁰ The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. ¹¹ And Herod with his soldiers ^(O)treated him with contempt and ^(P)mocked him. Then, ^(Q)arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. ¹² And ^(R)Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.

¹³ Pilate then called together the chief priests and ^(S)the rulers and the people, ¹⁴ and said to them, “You brought me this man ^(T)as one who was misleading the people. And ^(U)after examining him before you, behold, I ^(V)did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. ¹⁵ Neither did Herod, for ^(W)he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. ^16 (X)I will therefore punish and release him.”^[a]

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

^18 (Y)But they all cried out together, ^(Z)“Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”— ¹⁹ a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and ^(AA)for murder. ²⁰ Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, ²¹ but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” ²² A third time he said to them, “Why? ^(AB)What evil has he done? ^(AC)I have found in him no guilt deserving death. ^(AD)I will therefore punish and release him.” ²³ But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. ²⁴ So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. ²⁵ He released the man who had been thrown into prison ^(AE)for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, ^(AF)but he delivered Jesus over to their will.