Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Praise for the Lord’s Goodness.

A Psalm, a Song for the Sabbath day.

^26 (A)Now Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; and he had 1,400 chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, and he ^[a]stationed them in the ^(B)chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ^27 (C)And the king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the ^[b]lowland. ^28 (D)Also Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s merchants acquired them from Kue for a price. ²⁹ A chariot ^[c]was imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for 150; and ^[d]by the same means they exported them ^(E)to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of the Arameans.

Solomon Turns from God

11 Now ^(F)King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, ² from the nations of which the Lord had said to the sons of Israel, “^(G)You shall not ^[e]associate with them, nor shall they ^[f]associate with you; they will certainly turn your heart away ^[g]to follow their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. ^3 (H)He had seven hundred wives, who were ^[h]princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned his heart away. ⁴ For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away ^[i]to follow other gods; and ^(I)his heart was not ^[j]wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of his father David had been. ⁵ For Solomon became a follower of ^(J)Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and of ^[k](K)Milcom the abhorrent idol of the Ammonites. ⁶ So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as his father David had done. ⁷ Then Solomon built a high place for ^(L)Chemosh, the abhorrent idol of Moab, on the mountain that is ^[l]east of Jerusalem, and for ^(M)Molech, the abhorrent idol of the sons of Ammon. ⁸ He also did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

⁴ By faith ^(A)Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he was ^(B)attested to be righteous, God testifying ^[a]about his ^(C)gifts, and through ^[b]faith, though ^(D)he is dead, he still speaks. ⁵ By faith ^(E)Enoch was taken up so that he would not ^(F)see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for before he was taken up, he was attested to have been pleasing to God. ⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for the one who ^(G)comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He proves to be One who rewards those who seek Him. ⁷ By faith ^(H)Noah, being ^(I)warned by God about ^(J)things not yet seen, ^[c](K)in reverence ^(L)prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of ^(M)the righteousness which is according to faith.