Old/New Testament
Chapter 7
1 When Solomon had ended his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, after which the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2 The priests could not enter the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord had filled it.
3 When all the Israelites beheld the fire descending and the glory of the Lord upon the temple, they bowed down upon the pavement with their faces to the ground. Then they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying:
“For he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.”
4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. 5 King Solomon offered as a sacrifice twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. Thus the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.
The Dedication. 6 The priests stood at their appointed posts, as did the Levites, with the musical instruments for the Lord that King David had made for giving thanks to the Lord—for his love endures forever—whenever David used them to offer praise to their accompaniment. Opposite them the priests sounded their trumpets while all the Israelites stood.[a]
7 Then Solomon consecrated the middle part of the court that lay in front of the house of the Lord. There he presented the burnt offerings and the fatty portions of the shared offerings because the bronze altar which he had made could not hold the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fatty parts.
8 After that Solomon, and all Israel with him, a massive congregation, from Lebo-hamath to the Wadi of Egypt, celebrated the festival for seven days. 9 On the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, inasmuch as they had celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days.
10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon sent the people back to their homes rejoicing and happy in heart because of all the wonderful things that the Lord had granted to David, to Solomon, and to his people Israel. 11 Solomon had completed the house of the Lord and the royal palace. Everything that he had been determined to accomplish in the house of the Lord and in his own house had been successfully completed.
12 God’s Warning to Solomon. Then the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and I have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send a pestilence to overcome my people, 14 and if then my people who bear my name humble themselves and pray to me and seek my presence as they turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear them from heaven and forgive their sins and restore their land.
15 “Then my eyes will be open and my ears will be attentive to the prayers that are offered in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house so that my name may be there forever and my eyes and my heart shall constantly be there.
17 “As for you, if you on your part live in my presence as your father David lived, doing everything that I have commanded you and observing my laws and my decrees, 18 then I will establish your royal throne, as I promised by a covenant with your father David when I said: ‘You shall never lack a male successor of yours to rule over Israel.’
19 “However, if you turn away and forsake my laws and my commandments which I have laid down for you, and then proceed to serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot the people from the land which I have given them. I will cast from my sight this temple which I have consecrated for my name, cast it out of my sight, and make it a byword and an object of ridicule for all people.
21 “And in regard to this temple that was once so exalted, everyone who passes by it will be appalled at the sight and ask: ‘Why has the Lord allowed this to happen[b] to this land and to this house?’ 22 Then others will reply: ‘Because the people abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt. Instead, they adopted other gods, whom they worshiped and served. That is why the Lord has brought all these disasters upon them.’ ”
Chapter 8
Solomon’s Buildings.[c] 1 At the end of the twenty years that Solomon had taken to build the house of the Lord and his own palace, 2 he rebuilt the cities that Huram had given to him, and he settled the Israelites in them.
3 Then Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and captured it.[d] 4 After that he fortified Tadmor[e] in the wilderness and all the storage towns that he had built in Hamath. 5 He also built Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars, 6 and Baalath, all the supply cities belonging to Solomon, and all the towns for his chariots and for his cavalry and whatever else Solomon decided to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and throughout his entire dominion.
7 All the people who still remained of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites who did not belong to Israel— 8 that is, from their descendants still surviving in the land, whom the people of Israel had not destroyed—Solomon subjected to forced labor, as is still the case today.[f]
9 However, Solomon did not use the people of Israel as slaves for all the work he wanted done. Rather, they were assigned as soldiers and his officers, as well as the commanders of his soldiers and his cavalry.[g] 10 These served as King Solomon’s officials, two hundred and fifty in number, who exercised authority over the people.
11 Solomon’s Piety. Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the place that he had built for her, for he said: “No wife of mine shall live in the house of King David of Israel, for the places that the Ark of the Lord has entered are sacred.”
12 Then Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings to the Lord upon the altar of the Lord that he had built in front of the portico, 13 in accordance with what was required for each day, offerings in accordance with the law of Moses for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the annual dedicated feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths.
14 Following the ordinances of his father David, Solomon designated the various divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites for their offices of praise and ministry alongside the priests as the duty of each day required, and the gatekeepers designated for specific gates, for such was the command of David, the man of God. 15 The instructions that David had specified in regard to the priests and Levites and also concerning the treasuries were never disregarded.
16 Thus all of Solomon’s work was accomplished, from the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid until the house of the Lord was completed.
17 Solomon’s Glory. Then Solomon went to Ezion-geber and Elath on the seacoast of Edom, 18 and Huram sent ships under the command of his own officers and manned by experienced seamen familiar with the sea. They went to Ophir, together with the servants of Solomon, and brought back from there four hundred and fifty talents that they presented to King Solomon.
Chapter 9
The Queen of Sheba. 1 When the Queen of Sheba was informed about Solomon’s reputation, she came to Jerusalem to test him with difficult questions. Arriving with a very large retinue, and with camels bearing spices, an immense quantity of gold, and precious stones, she came to Solomon and discussed everything she had on her mind. 2 Solomon answered all of her questions. There was nothing she asked that he was unable to explain to her.
3 When the Queen of Sheba witnessed the wisdom of Solomon, the palace he had built, 4 the food served at his table, the seating of his ministers, the attendants and the elegance of their clothing, the cupbearers in their robes, and the burnt offerings that he presented in the house of the Lord, it literally took her breath away.
5 Then she said to the king: “The reports I heard in my own country about your accomplishments and your wisdom proved to be true. 6 However, I did not believe those reports to be accurate until I came and saw all this with my own eyes. Moreover, I have come to realize that I was not told even half of the greatness of your wisdom. You far surpass everything I had heard about you.
7 “How fortunate your people are! Happy are these servants of yours who are continually attending you and listening to your wisdom! 8 Blessed is the Lord, your God, who has taken such great delight in you and placed you on his throne as king for the Lord, your God. Because of the love of your God for Israel and his desire to have Israel endure forever, he has appointed you to be their king so that you may ensure that justice and righteousness will be maintained.”
9 Then she presented King Solomon with one hundred and twenty talents of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones. There had never been spices previously to equal those that the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
10 Besides all this, the servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon who had brought gold from Ophir also brought large amounts of algum wood and precious stones. 11 From the algum wood the king made stairs for the house of the Lord and for the king’s palace, as well as lyres and harps for the singers. Nothing to match them had ever been seen before in the land of Judah.
12 King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba everything she desired and requested, far surpassing what she had brought to the king. Then she departed with her servants and journeyed back to her own land.
13 The weight of the gold that Solomon received each year amounted to six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold 14 in addition to the tolls levied on merchants and what was collected from foreign trade. All the kings of Arabia and the governors of the provinces also brought gold and silver to Solomon.
15 Moreover, King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold, with six hundred shekels of beaten gold going into each shield, 16 and three hundred bucklers of beaten gold, with three hundred shekels of gold going into each buckler. The king stored all these in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
17 King Solomon also made a large ivory throne which he overlaid with pure gold. 18 The throne had six steps, and a footstool of gold was fastened to it. There were armrests on each side of the seat, with two lions standing beside the arms, 19 while twelve lions stood on either side of the six steps. Nothing like it had ever been made in any other kingdom.
20 Furthermore, all of Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were made of pure gold. Silver was not regarded as anything of value in the days of King Solomon. 21 The king had a fleet of ships that sailed to Tarshish with the servants of Huram. Once every three years a fleet of ships from Tarshish used to return with a cargo of gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys.
22 Thus King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom, 23 and all the kings of the earth sought to consult Solomon in order to hear from him the wisdom that God had implanted in his heart. 24 Moreover, every single one of those kings brought a gift with him: objects of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses, and mules in an annual tribute.
25 Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horses, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 26 He ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and the border of Egypt.
27 King Solomon made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and cedars as plentiful as the sycamores of the foothills. 28 Horses were imported for Solomon from Egypt and from all the other countries.
29 The Death of Solomon. The rest of the acts of Solomon’s reign, from first to last, are recorded in the history of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and, in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam, the son of Nebat.[h]
30 Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. 31 Then he rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of his father David. He was succeeded by his son Rehoboam.
I Am the Resurrection[a]
Chapter 11
Death of Lazarus.[b] 1 In Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha, a certain man named Lazarus had fallen ill. 2 This Mary was the woman who had anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was ill. 3 And so the sisters sent this message to him, “Lord, the one you love is ill.”
4 When Jesus heard this, he said,
“This illness is not to end in death.
Rather, it is for God’s glory,
so that by means of it
the Son of Man may be glorified.”
5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So after learning that Lazarus was ill, he remained for two more days in the place where he was. 7 Then he said to his disciples, “Let us return to Judea.” 8 His disciples said to him, “Rabbi, just a short time ago the Jews were trying to stone you. Why do you want to go back there?” 9 Jesus answered,
“Are there not twelve hours of daylight?
If someone walks in the daylight,
he does not stumble,
because he sees by the light of this world.
10 But if he walks at night,
he stumbles,
because he does not have the light.”
11 After saying this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” 12 The disciples responded, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Jesus, however, had been speaking about the death of Lazarus, but they thought that he was speaking of ordinary sleep.
14 Finally, Jesus told them in plain words, “Lazarus is dead. 15 I am glad for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe. Let us go to him.” 16 Then Thomas (who was called “the Twin”[c]) said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go so that we may die with him.”
17 The Kingdom and the Promise of the Resurrection.[d] When Jesus arrived, he learned that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.[e] 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles distant, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them[f] for the loss of their brother.
20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went forth to meet him, while Mary remained at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will grant you whatever you ask of him.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha replied, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus then said to her,
“I am the resurrection and the life.
Whoever believes in me,
even though he dies, will live,
26 and everyone who lives
and believes in me
will never die.
Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied. “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is to come into the world.”
28 When she had said this, she went back and took her sister Mary aside, telling her privately, “The Teacher is here and is asking for you.” 29 As soon as she heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.
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