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The Lord Answers Solomon’s Prayer(A)
9 Solomon finished building Yahweh’s temple, the royal palace, and everything else he wanted to build. 2 Then Yahweh appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him in Gibeon. 3 Yahweh said to him,
“I have heard your prayer for mercy that you made to me.
I have declared that this temple which you have built is holy
so that my name may be placed there forever.
My eyes and my heart will always be there.
4 “If you will be faithful to me as your father David was
(with a sincere and upright heart),
do everything I command,
and keep my laws and rules,
5 then I will establish your royal dynasty over Israel forever
as I promised your father David when I said,
‘You will never fail to have an heir on the throne of Israel.’
6 But if you and your descendants dare to turn away from me
and do not keep my commands and laws that I gave to you,
and follow and serve other gods and worship them,
7 then I will cut Israel out of the land I gave them.
I will reject this temple that I declared holy for my name.
Israel will be an example
and an object of ridicule for all the people of the world.
8 Everyone passing by this temple, as impressive as it is, will be appalled.
They will gasp and ask,
‘Why did Yahweh do these things to this land and this temple?’
9 They will answer themselves,
‘They abandoned Yahweh their Elohim,
who brought their ancestors out of Egypt.
They adopted other gods, worshiped, and served them.
That is why Yahweh brought this disaster on them.’”
Solomon Completes His Construction(B)
10 It took Solomon 20 years to build the two houses (Yahweh’s house and the royal palace). 11 When King Solomon had finished, he gave King Hiram of Tyre 20 cities in Galilee. (Hiram had supplied Solomon with as much cedar and cypress lumber and gold as he wanted.) 12 Hiram left Tyre to see the cities Solomon gave him. However, they didn’t please him. 13 “What kind of cities have you given me, brother?” he asked. So he named it the region of Cabul [Good for Nothing]. (They’re still called that today.) 14 Hiram had sent the king 9,000 pounds of gold.
15 This is the record of the forced laborers whom King Solomon drafted to build Yahweh’s house, his own house, the Millo,[a] the walls of Jerusalem, and the cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 (The king of Egypt captured Gezer, burned it down, and killed the Canaanites living there. Then he gave it to his daughter, Solomon’s wife, as a wedding present.) 17 So Solomon rebuilt Gezer, Lower Beth Horon, 18 Baalath, Tadmor in the desert (inside the country), and 19 all the storage cities that he owned. He also built cities for his chariots, cities for his war horses, and whatever else he wanted to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, or the entire territory that he governed.
20 The Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites had been left in the land because the Israelites had not been able to claim them for God by destroying them.[b] They were not Israelites, 21 but they had descendants who were still in the land. Solomon drafted them for slave labor. (They are still slaves today.) 22 But Solomon didn’t make any of the Israelites slaves. Instead, they were soldiers, officials, officers, generals, and commanders of his chariot and cavalry units.
23 These were the officers in charge of Solomon’s projects: 550 foremen for the people who did the work.
24 Pharaoh’s daughter moved from the City of David to the palace that Solomon had built for her. Then he built the Millo.
25 Three times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he built for Yahweh. He burnt them on the altar that was in Yahweh’s presence. And he finished the temple.
26 King Solomon also built a fleet near the Red Sea coast at Ezion Geber by Elath in Edom. 27 Hiram sent his own servants who were experienced seamen with the fleet. Along with Solomon’s servants 28 they went to Ophir, got 31,500 pounds of gold, and brought it to King Solomon.
The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon(C)
10 The queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s reputation. (He owed his reputation to the name of Yahweh.) So she came to test him with riddles. 2 She arrived in Jerusalem with a large group of servants, with camels carrying spices, a very large quantity of gold, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she talked to him about everything she had on her mind. 3 Solomon answered all her questions. No question was too difficult for the king to answer.
4 When the queen of Sheba saw all of Solomon’s wisdom, the palace he built, 5 the food on his table, his officers’ seating arrangement, the organization of his officials and the uniforms they wore, his cupbearers,[c] and the burnt offerings that he sacrificed at Yahweh’s temple, she was breathless. 6 She told the king, “What I heard in my country about your words and your wisdom is true! 7 But I didn’t believe the reports until I came and saw it with my own eyes. I wasn’t even told half of it. Your wisdom and wealth surpass the stories I’ve heard. 8 How blessed your men must be! How blessed these servants of yours must be because they are always stationed in front of you, listening to your wisdom! 9 Thank Yahweh your Elohim, who is pleased with you. He has put you on the throne of Israel. Because of Yahweh’s eternal love for the people of Israel, he has made you king so that you would maintain justice and righteousness.”
10 She gave the king 9,000 pounds of gold, a very large quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again was such a large quantity of spices brought into Israel as those that the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.
11 Hiram’s fleet that brought gold from Ophir also brought a large quantity of sandalwood and precious stones from Ophir. 12 With the sandalwood the king made supports for Yahweh’s temple and the royal palace, and lyres and harps for the singers. Never again was sandalwood like this imported into Israel, nor has any been seen there to this day.
13 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba anything she wanted, whatever she asked for, besides what he had given her out of his royal generosity. Then she and her servants went back to her country.
Solomon’s Wealth(D)
14 The gold that came to Solomon in one year weighed 49,950 pounds, 15 not counting the gold which came from the merchants, the traders’ profits, all the Arab kings, and the governors of the country.
16 King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold, using 15 pounds of gold on each shield. 17 He also made 300 small shields of hammered gold, using four pounds of gold on each shield. The king put them in the hall which he called the Forest of Lebanon.
18 The king also made a large ivory throne and covered it with fine gold. 19 Six steps led to the throne. Carved into the back of the throne was a calf’s head. There were armrests on both sides of the seat. Two lions stood beside the armrests. 20 Twelve lions stood on six steps, one on each side. Nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.
21 All King Solomon’s cups were gold, and all the utensils for the hall which he called the Forest of Lebanon were fine gold. (Nothing was silver, because it wasn’t considered valuable in Solomon’s time.) 22 The king had a fleet headed for Tarshish with Hiram’s fleet. Once every three years the Tarshish fleet would bring gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys.
23 In wealth and wisdom King Solomon was greater than all the other kings of the world. 24 The whole world wanted to listen to the wisdom that Elohim gave Solomon. 25 So everyone who came brought him gifts: articles of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules. This happened year after year.
26 Solomon built up his army with chariots and war horses. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 war horses. He stationed some in chariot cities and others with himself in Jerusalem. 27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as plentiful as fig trees in the foothills.
28 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and Kue. The king’s traders bought them from Kue for a fixed price. 29 Each chariot was imported from Egypt for 15 pounds of silver and each horse for 6 ounces of silver. For the same price they obtained horses to export to all the Hittite and Aramean kings.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the Samaritans had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. 15 Peter and John went to Samaria and prayed that the Samaritans would receive the Holy Spirit. 16 (Before this the Holy Spirit had not come to any of the Samaritans. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Yeshua.) 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit.
18 Simon saw that the Spirit was given to the Samaritans when the apostles placed their hands on them. So he offered Peter and John money 19 and said, “Give me this power so that anyone I place my hands on will receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 Peter told Simon, “May your money be destroyed with you because you thought you could buy God’s gift. 21 You won’t have any share in this because God can see how twisted your thinking is. 22 So change your wicked thoughts, and ask the Lord if he will forgive you for thinking like this. 23 I can see that you are bitter with jealousy and wrapped up in your evil ways.”
24 Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me that none of the things you said will happen to me.”
25 After they had boldly spoken about the message of the Lord, they spread the Good News in many Samaritan villages on their way back to Jerusalem.
Philip Tells an Ethiopian about Jesus
26 An angel from the Lord said to Philip, “Get up, and take the desert road that goes south from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So Philip went.
An Ethiopian man who had come to Jerusalem to worship was on his way home. The man was a eunuch, a high-ranking official in charge of all the treasures of Queen Candace of Ethiopia. 28 As the official rode along in his carriage, he was reading the prophet Isaiah out loud.
29 The Spirit said to Philip, “Go to that carriage, and stay close to it.”
30 Philip ran to the carriage and could hear the official reading the prophet Isaiah out loud. Philip asked him, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”
31 The official answered, “How can I understand unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to sit with him in his carriage.
32 This was the part of the Scriptures that the official was reading:
“He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
He was like a sheep that is silent
when its wool is cut off.
He didn’t open his mouth.
33 When he humbled himself,
he was not judged fairly.
Who from his generation
will talk about his life on earth being cut short?”
34 The official said to Philip, “I would like to know who the prophet is talking about. Is he talking about himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip spoke. Starting with that passage, Philip told the official the Good News about Yeshua.
36 As they were going along the road, they came to some water. The official said to Philip, “Look, there’s some water. What can keep me from being baptized?”[a] 38 The official ordered the carriage to stop. He and Philip stepped into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When they had stepped out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away. The official joyfully continued on his way and didn’t see Philip again.
40 Philip found himself in the city of Azotus. He traveled through all the cities and spread the Good News until he came to the city of Caesarea.
Psalm 130
A song for going up to worship.
1 O Yahweh, out of the depths I call to you.
2 O Adonay, hear my voice.
Let your ears be open to my pleas for mercy.
3 O Yahweh, who would be able to stand
if you kept a record of sins?
4 But with you there is forgiveness
so that you can be feared.
5 I wait for Yahweh, my soul waits,
and with hope I wait for his word.
6 My soul waits for Adonay
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.
7 O Israel, put your hope in Yahweh,
because with Yahweh there is mercy
and with him there is unlimited forgiveness.
8 He will rescue Israel from all its sins.
2 A wise slave will become master over a son who acts shamefully,
and he will share the inheritance with the brothers.
3 The crucible is for refining silver and the smelter for gold,
but the one who purifies hearts by fire is Yahweh.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.