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Yahweh’s Challenge to Solomon
9 It happened that as Solomon finished the building of the house of Yahweh, the king’s house, and all the things Solomon desired to do, 2 Yahweh appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him in Gibeon. 3 Yahweh said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house which you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. 4 As for you, if you walk before me as David your father walked, with integrity of heart[a] and with uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep my ordinances and my judgments, 5 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘A man will not be cut off for you from upon the throne of Israel.’
6 “If ever you or any of your descendants[b] turn from following me and do not keep my commandments and my ordinances that I have set before you and you go and serve other gods and bow down to them, 7 then I will cut Israel off from the face of the land that I have given to them, even the house which I have consecrated for my name I will cast away from my face; and Israel shall become a proverb and an object of taunting among all the peoples. 8 This house shall become a heap of ruins; all those passing by will be appalled by it and hiss, and they will say, ‘On what account did Yahweh do this to this land and to this house?’ 9 And they will say, ‘Because they have forsaken Yahweh their God who brought their ancestors[c] out from the land of Egypt and they embraced other gods and bowed down to them and served them. Therefore, Yahweh brought on them all of this disaster.’”
Solomon and Hiram Complete Their Agreement
10 It happened at the end of twenty years in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of Yahweh and the house of the king, 11 since Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with wood of cedar and with wood of cypresses and with the gold according to all his desire, then King Solomon gave twenty cities in the land of the Galilee to Hiram. 12 So Hiram went out from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, but they were not right in his eyes. 13 So he said, “What are these cities that you have given to me, my brother?” So they are called the land of Cabul until this day.[d] 14 Then Hiram sent to the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold.
Solomon’s Accomplishments
15 This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon conscripted to build the house of Yahweh and his house, the Millo, the walls of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had gone up and captured Gezer and burnt it with fire. He had also killed the Canaanites who were living in the city and had given it as a dowry to his daughter, the wife of Solomon. 17 Solomon rebuilt Gezer and Lower Beth-Horon, 18 as well as Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness in the land; 19 and he also built all of the storage cities which were Solomon’s, the cities for the chariots, the cities for the cavalry, and all of Solomon’s desire that he wanted[e] to build in Jerusalem and in Lebanon and in all the land of his dominion.
20 All of the people who were remaining from the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites who were not of the Israelites,[f] 21 their children who remained after them in the land, whom the Israelites[g] were not able to completely destroy, Solomon conscripted them for forced labor, until this very day. 22 But from the Israelites[h] Solomon did not make a slave, but they were the men of war, his officers, his commanders, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and his cavalry. 23 These were the commanders of the overseers who were over the work for Solomon, five hundred and fifty, ruling over the people doing the work.
24 As soon as the daughter of Pharaoh went up from the city of David to her house which he[i] built for her, then he built the Millo.
25 Solomon sacrificed three times a year: burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar that he had built to Yahweh, and he offered incense with it before Yahweh; and so he completed the house.
26 King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion-Geber which is near Elath on the shore of the Red Sea[j] in the land of Edom. 27 Hiram sent his servants with the fleet of ships, sailors[k] who knew the sea, with the servants of Solomon. 28 They went to Ophir and imported from there four hundred and twenty talents of gold, and they brought it to King Solomon.
The Visit of the Queen of Sheba
10 Now the queen of Sheba had heard of the fame of Solomon regarding the name of Yahweh, and she came to test him with hard questions. 2 So she came to Jerusalem with very great wealth; with camels carrying spices, very much gold, and precious stones. She came to Solomon, and she spoke to him all that was on her heart. 3 Solomon answered all of her questions;[l] there was not a thing hidden from the king which he could not explain to her. 4 When the queen of Sheba observed all the wisdom of Solomon and the house which he had built, 5 the food of his table, the seat of his servants, the manner[m] of his servants and their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings which he offered in the house of Yahweh, she was breathless.[n] 6 Then she said to the king, “The report which I heard in my land was true concerning your accomplishments and your wisdom. 7 I had not believed the report to be true until I came and my eyes had seen, and behold! The half had not been told to me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass[o] the report that I had heard. 8 Happy are your men and happy are these your servants who stand before you continually hearing your wisdom. 9 May Yahweh your God be blessed, who has delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel, because of the love of Yahweh for Israel forever, and he has made you king to execute justice and righteousness.” 10 Then she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, abundant spices, and precious stones. Spices as these did not come again in such abundance as that which the queen of Sheba brought to King Solomon.
11 Moreover, the fleet of ships of Hiram which carried the gold from Ophir also brought from Ophir abundant amounts of almug wood and precious stones. 12 The king made a raised structure for the house of Yahweh and for the house of the king out of the almug wood, as well as lyres and harps for the singers. This much almug wood has not come nor been seen again up to this day. 13 King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all of her desire that she asked, besides that which King Solomon freely offered her.[p] Then she turned and went to her land with her servants.
14 The weight of the gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, 15 apart from that of the men of the traders and the profits of the traders, and all the kings of the Arabs and the governors of the land. 16 King Solomon made two hundred shields of hammered gold; six hundred measures of gold went up over each shield. 17 Also he made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went up over each of the small shields; and the king put them into the House of the Forest of Lebanon. 18 The king also made a large ivory throne, and he overlaid it with fine gold. 19 Six steps led up to the throne, and there was a circular top to the throne behind it, and armrests were on each side of the seat,[q] with two lions standing beside the armrests. 20 Twelve lions were standing there, six on each of the six steps on either side;[r] nothing like this was made for any of the kingdoms. 21 All of the drinking vessels of King Solomon were gold, and all the vessels for the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver; it was not considered as something valuable in the days of Solomon. 22 For the fleet of Tarshish belonged to the king and was on the sea with the fleet of Hiram; once every three years the fleet of Tarshish used to come carrying gold and silver, ivory, apes, and baboons.
23 King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth with respect to wealth and wisdom. 24 All of the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. 25 They were each bringing his gift; objects of silver and objects of gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules. This used to happen year after year.[s]
26 Solomon gathered chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses. He stationed them in the cities of the chariots and with the king in Jerusalem. 27 The king made the silver in Jerusalem as the stones, and the cedars he made as the sycamore fig trees which are in the Shephelah in abundance. 28 The import of the horses which were Solomon’s was from Egypt and from Kue; the traders of the king received horses from Kue at a price. 29 A chariot went up and went out from Egypt at six hundred silver shekels and a horse at a hundred and fifty. So it was for all the kings of the Hittites and for the kings of Aram; by their hand they were exported.
14 Now when[a] the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15 who went down and[b] prayed for them so that they would receive the Holy Spirit. 16 (For he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized[c] in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17 Then they placed their[d] hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 Now Simon, when he[e] saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, offered them money, 19 saying, “Give to me also this power, so that whomever I place my[f] hands on may receive the Holy Spirit!” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver be destroyed along with you,[g] because you thought you could acquire[h] the gift of God by means of money! 21 You have no[i] part or share in this matter, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and ask the Lord if perhaps the intent of your heart may be forgiven you!” 23 For I see you are in a state of bitter envy[j] and bound by unrighteousness.”[k] 24 But Simon answered and[l] said, “You pray to the Lord for me so that nothing of what you have said will come upon me.” 25 So when[m] they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they turned back toward Jerusalem, and were proclaiming the good news to many villages of the Samaritans.
Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Get up and go toward the south[n] on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) 27 And he got up and[o] went, and behold, there was a man, an Ethiopian eunuch (a court official of Candace,[p] queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasury) who had come to worship in Jerusalem 28 and was returning and sitting in his chariot, and reading aloud the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Approach and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran up to it[q] and[r] heard him reading aloud Isaiah the prophet and said, “So then, do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “So how could I, unless someone will guide me?” And he invited Philip to come up and[s] sit with him. 32 Now the passage of scripture that he was reading aloud was this:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his[t] humiliation justice was taken from him.
Who can describe his descendants?[u]
For his life was taken away from the earth.”[v]
34 And the eunuch answered and[w] said to Philip, “I ask you, about whom does the prophet say this—about himself or about someone else?” 35 So Philip opened his mouth and beginning from this scripture, proclaimed the good news to him about Jesus. 36 And as they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?”[x] 38 And he ordered the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water—Philip and the eunuch—and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any longer, for he went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he[y] passed through, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
Hope for the Redemption of Yahweh
A song of ascents.[a]
130 Out of the depths I call to you, O Yahweh.
2 “O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications.
3 If you, O Yah,[b] should keep track of[c] iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you is forgiveness,
so that you may be feared.”
5 I await Yahweh; my soul awaits,
and I wait[d] for his word.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning.
Yes, more than watchmen for the morning.
7 O Israel, wait[e] for Yahweh.
For with Yahweh there is loyal love,
and with him there is abundant redemption.
8 And he will redeem Israel
from all its iniquities.
2 A slave who deals wisely will rule over a child who acts shamefully,
and in the midst of brothers he will share his inheritance.
3 A crucible is for the silver, and a furnace is for the gold,
but Yahweh will test hearts.
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