⁴⁰ since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us^(A) would they be made perfect.^(B)

⁸ On that day the Lord will shield^(A) those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest^(B) among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God,^(C) like the angel of the Lord going before^(D) them.

²⁶ The moon will shine like the sun,^(A) and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and heals^(B) the wounds he inflicted.

¹³ But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth,^(A) where righteousness dwells.

²¹ All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold.^(A) Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s days. ²² The king had a fleet of trading ships^[a](B) at sea along with the ships^(C) of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.

²³ King Solomon was greater in riches^(D) and wisdom^(E) than all the other kings of the earth. ²⁴ The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom^(F) God had put in his heart. ²⁵ Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift^(G)—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.

²⁶ Solomon accumulated chariots and horses;^(H) he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses,^[b] which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. ²⁷ The king made silver as common^(I) in Jerusalem as stones,^(J) and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig^(K) trees in the foothills.

The Kingdom of Righteousness