Solomon’s Activities and Accomplishments

8 ^(A)Now it came about at the end of the twenty years in which Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house, ² that he built the cities which Huram had given ^[a]him, and settled the sons of Israel there.

³ Then Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and captured it. ⁴ He built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the storage cities which he had built in Hamath. ⁵ He also built upper ^(B)Beth-horon and lower Beth-horon, which were ^(C)fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars; ⁶ and Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for ^[b]his chariots and cities for ^[c]his horsemen, and everything that it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and all the land ^[d]under his rule.

^7 (D)All of the people who were left of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel, ⁸ that is, from their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel had not destroyed, ^(E)Solomon raised them as forced laborers to this day. ⁹ But Solomon did not make slaves from the sons of Israel for his work; for they were men of war, his chief captains and commanders of his chariots and his horsemen. ¹⁰ These were the chief ^[e]officers of King Solomon, 250 who ruled over the people.

^11 (F)Then Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the city of David to the house which he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not live in the house of David king of Israel, because ^[f]the places where the ark of the Lord has entered are holy.”

¹² Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on ^(G)the altar of the Lord which he had built in front of the porch; ¹³ and ^(H)he did so according to the daily rule, offering them up ^(I)according to the commandment of Moses, for ^(J)the Sabbaths, ^(K)the new moons, and the ^(L)three annual feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths.

¹⁴ Now according to the ordinance of his father David, he appointed ^(M)the divisions of the priests for their service, and ^(N)the Levites for their duties of praise and ministering before the priests according to the daily rule, and ^(O)the gatekeepers by their divisions at every gate; for this is what ^(P)David, the man of God, had commanded. ¹⁵ And they did not deviate from the commandment of the king to the priests and Levites in any matter or regarding the storehouses.

¹⁶ So all the work of Solomon was carried out ^[g]from the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord, until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was completed.

¹⁷ Then Solomon went to ^(Q)Ezion-geber and to ^(R)Eloth on the seashore in the land of Edom. ¹⁸ And by his servants Huram sent him ships and servants who knew the sea; and they went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir and ^(S)took from there ^[h]450 talents of gold, and brought it to King Solomon.

A Good Report

^1 (A)The elder to the beloved ^(B)Gaius, whom I ^(C)love in truth.

² Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. ³ For I ^(D)was overjoyed when ^(E)brothers came and testified to your truth, that is, how you ^(F)are walking in truth. ⁴ I have no greater joy than ^[a]this, to hear of ^(G)my children ^(H)walking in the truth.

⁵ Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the ^(I)brothers and sisters, and ^[b]especially when they are ^(J)strangers; ⁶ and they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to ^[c](K)send them on their way in a manner ^(L)worthy of God. ⁷ For they went out for the sake of ^(M)the Name, ^(N)accepting nothing from the Gentiles. ⁸ Therefore we ought to ^[d]support such people, so that we may ^[e]prove to be fellow workers ^[f]with the truth.

⁹ I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to ^(O)be first among them, does not accept ^[g]what we say. ¹⁰ For this reason, ^(P)if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with malicious words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not ^(Q)receive the ^(R)brothers either, and he forbids those who want to do so and ^(S)puts them out of the church.

¹¹ Beloved, ^(T)do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. ^(U)The one who does what is good is of God; ^(V)the one who does what is evil has not seen God. ¹² Demetrius ^(W)has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself; and we testify too, and ^(X)you know that our testimony is true.

^13 (Y)I had many things to write to you, but I do not want to write to you with pen and ink; ¹⁴ but I hope to see you shortly, and we will speak ^[h]face to face.

^15 (Z)Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends ^(AA)by name.