Month: July 2020

Jehoshaphat Rules in Judah

17 Then Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son, became the next king. He strengthened Judah to stand against any attack from Israel. ² He stationed troops in all the fortified towns of Judah, and he assigned additional garrisons to the land of Judah and to the towns of Ephraim that his father, Asa, had captured.

³ The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the example of his father’s early years^[a] and did not worship the images of Baal. ⁴ He sought his father’s God and obeyed his commands instead of following the evil practices of the kingdom of Israel. ⁵ So the Lord established Jehoshaphat’s control over the kingdom of Judah. All the people of Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so he became very wealthy and highly esteemed. ⁶ He was deeply committed to^[b] the ways of the Lord. He removed the pagan shrines and Asherah poles from Judah.

⁷ In the third year of his reign Jehoshaphat sent his officials to teach in all the towns of Judah. These officials included Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah. ⁸ He sent Levites along with them, including Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tob-Adonijah. He also sent out the priests Elishama and Jehoram. ⁹ They took copies of the Book of the Law of the Lord and traveled around through all the towns of Judah, teaching the people.

¹⁰ Then the fear of the Lord fell over all the surrounding kingdoms so that none of them wanted to declare war on Jehoshaphat. ¹¹ Some of the Philistines brought him gifts and silver as tribute, and the Arabs brought 7,700 rams and 7,700 male goats.

¹² So Jehoshaphat became more and more powerful and built fortresses and storage cities throughout Judah. ¹³ He stored numerous supplies in Judah’s towns and stationed an army of seasoned troops at Jerusalem. ¹⁴ His army was enrolled according to ancestral clans.

From Judah there were 300,000 troops organized in units of 1,000, under the command of Adnah. ¹⁵ Next in command was Jehohanan, who commanded 280,000 troops. ¹⁶ Next was Amasiah son of Zicri, who volunteered for the Lord’s service, with 200,000 troops under his command.

¹⁷ From Benjamin there were 200,000 troops equipped with bows and shields. They were under the command of Eliada, a veteran soldier. ¹⁸ Next in command was Jehozabad, who commanded 180,000 armed men.

¹⁹ These were the troops stationed in Jerusalem to serve the king, besides those Jehoshaphat stationed in the fortified towns throughout Judah.

Jehoshaphat and Ahab

18 Jehoshaphat enjoyed great riches and high esteem, and he made an alliance with Ahab of Israel by having his son marry Ahab’s daughter. ² A few years later he went to Samaria to visit Ahab, who prepared a great banquet for him and his officials. They butchered great numbers of sheep, goats, and cattle for the feast. Then Ahab enticed Jehoshaphat to join forces with him to recover Ramoth-gilead.

³ “Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead?” King Ahab of Israel asked King Jehoshaphat of Judah.

Jehoshaphat replied, “Why, of course! You and I are as one, and my troops are your troops. We will certainly join you in battle.” ⁴ Then Jehoshaphat added, “But first let’s find out what the Lord says.”

⁵ So the king of Israel summoned the prophets, 400 of them, and asked them, “Should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I hold back?”

They all replied, “Yes, go right ahead! God will give the king victory.”

⁶ But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not also a prophet of the Lord here? We should ask him the same question.”

⁷ The king of Israel replied to Jehoshaphat, “There is one more man who could consult the Lord for us, but I hate him. He never prophesies anything but trouble for me! His name is Micaiah son of Imlah.”

Jehoshaphat replied, “That’s not the way a king should talk! Let’s hear what he has to say.”

⁸ So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, “Quick! Bring Micaiah son of Imlah.”

Micaiah Prophesies against Ahab

⁹ King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah, dressed in their royal robes, were sitting on thrones at the threshing floor near the gate of Samaria. All of Ahab’s prophets were prophesying there in front of them. ¹⁰ One of them, Zedekiah son of Kenaanah, made some iron horns and proclaimed, “This is what the Lord says: With these horns you will gore the Arameans to death!”

¹¹ All the other prophets agreed. “Yes,” they said, “go up to Ramoth-gilead and be victorious, for the Lord will give the king victory!”

¹² Meanwhile, the messenger who went to get Micaiah said to him, “Look, all the prophets are promising victory for the king. Be sure that you agree with them and promise success.”

¹³ But Micaiah replied, “As surely as the Lord lives, I will say only what my God says.”

¹⁴ When Micaiah arrived before the king, Ahab asked him, “Micaiah, should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I hold back?”

Micaiah replied sarcastically, “Yes, go up and be victorious, for you will have victory over them!”

¹⁵ But the king replied sharply, “How many times must I demand that you speak only the truth to me when you speak for the Lord?”

¹⁶ Then Micaiah told him, “In a vision I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep without a shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘Their master has been killed.^[c] Send them home in peace.’”

¹⁷ “Didn’t I tell you?” the king of Israel exclaimed to Jehoshaphat. “He never prophesies anything but trouble for me.”

¹⁸ Then Micaiah continued, “Listen to what the Lord says! I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the armies of heaven around him, on his right and on his left. ¹⁹ And the Lord said, ‘Who can entice King Ahab of Israel to go into battle against Ramoth-gilead so he can be killed?’

“There were many suggestions, ²⁰ and finally a spirit approached the Lord and said, ‘I can do it!’

“‘How will you do this?’ the Lord asked.

²¹ “And the spirit replied, ‘I will go out and inspire all of Ahab’s prophets to speak lies.’

“‘You will succeed,’ said the Lord. ‘Go ahead and do it.’

²² “So you see, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths of your prophets. For the Lord has pronounced your doom.”

²³ Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah walked up to Micaiah and slapped him across the face. “Since when did the Spirit of the Lord leave me to speak to you?” he demanded.

²⁴ And Micaiah replied, “You will find out soon enough when you are trying to hide in some secret room!”

²⁵ “Arrest him!” the king of Israel ordered. “Take him back to Amon, the governor of the city, and to my son Joash. ²⁶ Give them this order from the king: ‘Put this man in prison, and feed him nothing but bread and water until I return safely from the battle!’”

²⁷ But Micaiah replied, “If you return safely, it will mean that the Lord has not spoken through me!” Then he added to those standing around, “Everyone mark my words!”

The Death of Ahab

²⁸ So King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah led their armies against Ramoth-gilead. ²⁹ The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “As we go into battle, I will disguise myself so no one will recognize me, but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle.

³⁰ Meanwhile, the king of Aram had issued these orders to his chariot commanders: “Attack only the king of Israel! Don’t bother with anyone else.” ³¹ So when the Aramean chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat in his royal robes, they went after him. “There is the king of Israel!” they shouted. But Jehoshaphat called out, and the Lord saved him. God helped him by turning the attackers away from him. ³² As soon as the chariot commanders realized he was not the king of Israel, they stopped chasing him.

³³ An Aramean soldier, however, randomly shot an arrow at the Israelite troops and hit the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. “Turn the horses^[d] and get me out of here!” Ahab groaned to the driver of the chariot. “I’m badly wounded!”

³⁴ The battle raged all that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans. In the evening, just as the sun was setting, he died.

²⁵ Concerning the Gentiles, God says in the prophecy of Hosea,

²⁶ And,

²⁷ And concerning Israel, Isaiah the prophet cried out,

²⁹ And Isaiah said the same thing in another place:

Israel’s Unbelief

³⁰ What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place. ³¹ But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded. ³² Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law^[e] instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path. ³³ God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said,

10 Dear brothers and sisters,^[h] the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. ² I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. ³ For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. ⁴ For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given.^[i] As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.

Salvation Is for Everyone

⁵ For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands.^{[j] 6} But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). ⁷ And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” ⁸ In fact, it says,

And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: ⁹ If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. ¹¹ As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”^{[l] 12} Jew and Gentile^[m] are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. ¹³ For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”^[n]

Psalm 20

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

14 (13:23)^[a] Abijah passed away^[b] and was buried in the City of David.^[c] His son Asa replaced him as king. During his reign^[d] the land had rest for ten years.

Asa’s Religious and Military Accomplishments

² (14:1) Asa did what the Lord his God desired and approved.^{[e] 3} He removed the pagan altars^[f] and the high places, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles.^{[g] 4} He ordered Judah to seek the Lord God of their ancestors^[h] and to observe his law and commands.^{[i] 5} He removed the high places and the incense altars from all the towns of Judah. The kingdom had rest under his rule.^[j]

⁶ He built fortified cities throughout Judah, for the land was at rest and there was no war during those years; the Lord gave him peace. ⁷ He said to the people of Judah:^[k] “Let’s build these cities and fortify them with walls, towers, and barred gates.^[l] The land remains ours because we have followed^[m] the Lord our God; we have followed him, and he has made us secure on all sides.”^[n] So they built the cities^[o] and prospered.

⁸ Asa had an army of 300,000 men from Judah, equipped with large shields and spears. He also had 280,000 men from Benjamin who carried small shields and were adept archers; they were all skilled warriors. ⁹ Zerah the Cushite marched against them with an army of 1,000,000 men^[p] and 300 chariots . He arrived at Mareshah, ¹⁰ and Asa went out to oppose him. They deployed for battle in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.

¹¹ Asa prayed^[q] to the Lord his God: “O Lord, there is no one but you who can help the weak when they are vastly outnumbered.^[r] Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you and have marched on your behalf against this huge army.^[s] O Lord, you are our God; don’t let men prevail against you!”^{[t] 12} The Lord struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled, ¹³ and Asa and his army chased them as far as Gerar. The Cushites were wiped out;^[u] they were shattered before the Lord and his army. The men of Judah^[v] carried off a huge amount of plunder. ¹⁴ They defeated all the towns surrounding Gerar, for the Lord caused them to panic.^[w] The men of Judah^[x] looted all the towns, for they contained a huge amount of goods.^{[y] 15} They also attacked the tents of the herdsmen in charge of the livestock.^[z] They carried off many sheep and camels and then returned to Jerusalem.

15 God’s Spirit came upon Azariah son of Oded. ² He met^[aa] Asa and told him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin! The Lord is with you when you are loyal to him.^[ab] If you seek him, he will respond to you,^[ac] but if you reject him, he will reject you. ³ For a long time^[ad] Israel had not sought the one true God, or a priest to instruct them, or the law. ⁴ Because of their distress, they turned back to the Lord God of Israel. They sought him and he responded to them.^{[ae] 5} In those days^[af] no one could travel safely,^[ag] for total chaos had overtaken all the people of the surrounding lands.^{[ah] 6} One nation was crushed by another, and one city by another, for God caused them to be in great turmoil.^{[ai] 7} But as for you, be strong and don’t get discouraged,^[aj] for your work will be rewarded.”^[ak]

⁸ When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he was encouraged.^[al] He removed the detestable idols from the entire land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had seized in the Ephraimite hill country. He repaired the altar of the Lord in front of the porch of the Lord’s temple.^[am]

⁹ He assembled all Judah and Benjamin, as well as the settlers^[an] from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had come to live with them. Many people from Israel had come there to live^[ao] when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. ¹⁰ They assembled in Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. ¹¹ At that time^[ap] they sacrificed to the Lord some of the plunder they had brought back, including 700 head of cattle and 7,000 sheep.^{[aq] 12} They solemnly agreed^[ar] to seek the Lord God of their ancestors^[as] with their whole heart and being. ¹³ Anyone who would not seek the Lord God of Israel would be executed, whether they were young or old,^[at] male or female. ¹⁴ They swore their allegiance to the Lord, shouting their approval loudly and sounding trumpets and horns.^{[au] 15} All Judah was happy about the oath, because they made the vow with their whole heart. They willingly sought the Lord and he responded to them.^[av] He made them secure on every side.^[aw]

¹⁶ King Asa also removed Maacah his grandmother^[ax] from her position as queen mother^[ay] because she had made a loathsome Asherah pole. Asa cut down her loathsome pole and crushed and burned it in the Kidron Valley. ¹⁷ The high places were not eliminated from Israel, yet Asa was wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord throughout his lifetime.^{[az] 18} He brought the holy items that his father and he had made into God’s temple, including the silver, gold, and other articles.^[ba]

Asa’s Failures

¹⁹ There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign. 16 ¹ In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel attacked Judah, and he established Ramah as a military outpost to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the land of King Asa of Judah.^{[bb] 2} Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace and sent it to King Ben Hadad of Syria, ruler in Damascus, along with this message: ³ “I want to make a treaty with you, like the one our fathers made.^[bc] See, I have sent you silver and gold. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he will retreat from my land.”^{[bd] 4} Ben Hadad accepted King Asa’s offer and ordered his army commanders to attack the cities of Israel.^[be] They conquered^[bf] Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim,^[bg] and all the storage cities of Naphtali. ⁵ When Baasha heard the news, he stopped fortifying^[bh] Ramah and abandoned the project.^{[bi] 6} King Asa ordered all the men of Judah to carry away the stones and wood that Baasha had used to build Ramah.^[bj] He used the materials to build up^[bk] Geba and Mizpah.

⁷ At that time Hanani the prophet^[bl] visited King Asa of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Syria and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. ⁸ Did not the Cushites and Libyans have a huge army with chariots and a very large number of horsemen? But when you relied on the Lord, he handed them over to you! ⁹ Certainly^[bm] the Lord watches the whole earth carefully^[bn] and is ready to strengthen those who are devoted to him.^[bo] You have acted foolishly in this matter; from now on you will have war.” ¹⁰ Asa was so angry at the prophet, he put him in jail.^[bp] Asa also oppressed some of the people at that time.

Asa’s Reign Ends

¹¹ The events of Asa’s reign, from start to finish, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Judah and Israel.^{[bq] 12} In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a foot disease and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease, he did not seek the Lord, but only the doctors. ¹³ Asa passed away^[br] in the forty-first year of his reign. ¹⁴ He was buried in the tomb he had carved out in the City of David.^[bs] They laid him to rest on a platform^[bt] covered with spices and assorted mixtures of ointments. They made a huge bonfire to honor him.^[bu]

Israel’s Rejection Considered

9 ^[a] I am telling the truth in Christ (I am not lying!), for my conscience assures me^[b] in the Holy Spirit— ² I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.^{[c] 3} For I could wish^[d] that I myself were accursed—cut off from Christ—for the sake of my people,^[e] my fellow countrymen,^{[f] 4} who are Israelites. To them belong^[g] the adoption as sons,^[h] the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple worship,^[i] and the promises. ⁵ To them belong the patriarchs,^[j] and from them,^[k] by human descent,^[l] came the Christ,^[m] who is God over all, blessed forever!^[n] Amen.

⁶ It is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all those who are descended from Israel are truly Israel,^{[o] 7} nor are all the children Abraham’s true descendants; rather “through Isaac will your descendants be counted.”^{[p] 8} This means^[q] it is not the children of the flesh^[r] who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants. ⁹ For this is what the promise declared:^[s] “About a year from now^[t] I will return and Sarah will have a son.”^{[u] 10} Not only that, but when Rebekah had conceived children by one man,^[v] our ancestor Isaac— ¹¹ even before they were born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose in election^[w] would stand, not by works but by^[x] his calling)^[y]— ^12 [z] it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger,”^{[aa] 13} just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”^[ab]

¹⁴ What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”^{[ac] 16} So then,^[ad] it does not depend on human desire or exertion,^[ae] but on God who shows mercy. ¹⁷ For the scripture says to Pharaoh:^[af] “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may demonstrate my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.”^{[ag] 18} So then,^[ah] God^[ai] has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden.^[aj]

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who has ever resisted his will?” ²⁰ But who indeed are you—a mere human being^[ak]—to talk back to God?^[al] Does what is molded say to the molder, “Why have you made me like this?”^{[am] 21} Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay^[an] one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use?^{[ao] 22} But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects^[ap] of wrath^[aq] prepared for destruction?^{[ar] 23} And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects^[as] of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory— ²⁴ even us, whom he has called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

Psalm 19^[a]

For the music director, a psalm of David.

11 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he summoned 180,000 skilled warriors from Judah and Benjamin^[a] to attack Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. ² But the Lord’s message came to the prophet^[b] Shemaiah, ³ “Say this to King Rehoboam son of Solomon of Judah and to all the Israelites in Judah and Benjamin, ⁴ ‘The Lord says this: “Do not attack and make war with your brothers. Each of you go home, for I have caused this to happen.”’”^[c] They obeyed the Lord and called off the attack against Jeroboam.^[d]

Rehoboam’s Reign

⁵ Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem; he built up these fortified cities throughout Judah: ⁶ Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth Zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron. These were the fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin. ¹¹ He fortified these cities and placed officers in them, as well as storehouses of food, olive oil, and wine. ¹² In each city there were shields and spears; he strongly fortified them.^[e] Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.

¹³ The priests and Levites who lived throughout Israel supported him, no matter where they resided.^{[f] 14} The Levites even left their pasturelands and their property behind and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons prohibited them from serving as the Lord’s priests. ¹⁵ Jeroboam^[g] appointed his own priests to serve at the worship centers^[h] and to lead in the worship of the goat idols and calf idols he had made.^{[i] 16} Those among all the Israelite tribes who were determined to worship the Lord God of Israel followed them to Jerusalem^[j] to sacrifice to the Lord God of their ancestors.^{[k] 17} They supported^[l] the kingdom of Judah and were loyal to^[m] Rehoboam son of Solomon for three years; they followed the edicts of^[n] David and Solomon for three years.

¹⁸ Rehoboam married^[o] Mahalath the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of^[p] Abihail, the daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab. ¹⁹ She bore him sons named Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰ He later married Maacah the daughter of Absalom. She bore to him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹ Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than his other wives and concubines.^[q] He had eighteen wives and sixty concubines; he fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

²² Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as the leader over his brothers, for he intended to name him his successor.^{[r] 23} He wisely placed some of his many sons throughout the regions of Judah and Benjamin in the various fortified cities.^[s] He supplied them with abundant provisions and acquired many wives for them.^[t]

12 After Rehoboam’s rule was established and solidified, he and all Israel rejected the law of the Lord. ² Because they were unfaithful to the Lord, in King Rehoboam’s fifth year, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. ³ He had 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen, and an innumerable number of soldiers who accompanied him from Egypt, including Libyans, Sukkites, and Cushites. ⁴ He captured the fortified cities of Judah and marched against Jerusalem.

⁵ Shemaiah the prophet visited Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who were assembled in Jerusalem because of Shishak. He said to them, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have rejected me, so I have rejected you and will hand you over to Shishak.’”^{[u] 6} The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is just.”^{[v] 7} When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the Lord’s message came to Shemaiah: “They have humbled themselves, so I will not destroy them. I will deliver them soon.^[w] My anger will not be unleashed against^[x] Jerusalem through Shishak. ⁸ Yet they will become his subjects, so they can experience how serving me differs from serving the surrounding nations.”^[y]

⁹ King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and took away the treasures of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace; he took everything, including the gold shields that Solomon had made. ¹⁰ King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned them to the officers of the royal guard^[z] who protected the entrance to the royal palace. ¹¹ Whenever the king visited the Lord’s temple, the royal guards carried them and then brought them back to the guardroom.^[aa]

¹² So when Rehoboam^[ab] humbled himself, the Lord relented from his anger and did not annihilate him;^[ac] Judah experienced some good things.^{[ad] 13} King Rehoboam solidified his rule in Jerusalem;^[ae] he^[af] was forty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord chose from all the tribes of Israel to be his home.^[ag] Rehoboam’s^[ah] mother was an Ammonite named Naamah. ¹⁴ He did evil because he was not determined to follow the Lord.^[ai]

¹⁵ The events of Rehoboam’s reign, from start to finish, are recorded^[aj] in the Annals of Shemaiah the Prophet and of Iddo the Seer that include genealogical records. There were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. ¹⁶ Then Rehoboam passed away^[ak] and was buried in the City of David.^[al] His son Abijah replaced him as king.

Abijah’s Reign

13 In the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah. ² He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. His mother^[am] was Michaiah, the daughter of Uriel from Gibeah.^[an]

There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³ Abijah launched the attack with 400,000 well-trained warriors,^[ao] while Jeroboam deployed against him 800,000 well-trained warriors.^[ap]

⁴ Abijah ascended Mount Zemaraim, in the Ephraimite hill country, and said: “Listen to me, Jeroboam and all Israel! ⁵ Don’t you realize that the Lord God of Israel has given David and his dynasty lasting dominion over Israel by a formal covenant?^{[aq] 6} Jeroboam son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon son of David, rose up and rebelled against his master. ⁷ Lawless good-for-nothing men^[ar] gathered around him and conspired^[as] against Rehoboam son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was an inexperienced young man^[at] and could not resist them. ⁸ Now you are declaring that you will resist the Lord’s rule through the Davidic dynasty.^[au] You have a huge army,^[av] and bring with you the gold calves that Jeroboam made for you as gods. ⁹ But you banished^[aw] the Lord’s priests, Aaron’s descendants, and the Levites, and appointed your own priests just as the surrounding nations do! Anyone who comes to consecrate himself with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of these fake gods!^{[ax] 10} But as for us, the Lord is our God and we have not rejected him. Aaron’s descendants serve as the Lord’s priests, and the Levites assist them with the work.^{[ay] 11} They offer burnt sacrifices to the Lord every morning and every evening, along with fragrant incense. They arrange the Bread of the Presence on a ritually clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. Certainly^[az] we are observing the Lord our God’s regulations, but you have rejected him. ¹² Now look, God is with us as our leader. His priests are ready to blow the trumpets to signal the attack against you.^[ba] You Israelites, don’t fight against the Lord God of your ancestors,^[bb] for you will not win!”

¹³ Now Jeroboam had sent some men to ambush the Judahite army from behind.^[bc] The main army was in front of the Judahite army;^[bd] the ambushers were behind it. ¹⁴ The men of Judah turned around and realized they were being attacked from the front and the rear.^[be] So they cried out to the Lord for help. The priests blew their trumpets, ¹⁵ and the men of Judah gave the battle cry. As the men of Judah gave the battle cry, God struck down Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ The Israelites fled from before the Judahite army,^[bf] and God handed them over to the men of Judah.^{[bg] 17} Abijah and his army thoroughly defeated them;^[bh] 500,000 well-trained Israelite men fell dead.^{[bi] 18} That day^[bj] the Israelites were defeated; the men of Judah prevailed because they relied on the Lord God of their ancestors.

¹⁹ Abijah chased Jeroboam; he seized from him these cities: Bethel and its surrounding towns, Jeshanah and its surrounding towns, and Ephron and its surrounding towns. ²⁰ Jeroboam did not regain power during the reign of Abijah.^[bk] The Lord struck him down and he died. ²¹ Abijah’s power grew; he had^[bl] fourteen wives and fathered twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

²² The rest of the events of Abijah’s reign, including his deeds and sayings,^[bm] are recorded in the writings of the prophet Iddo.

²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray,^[a] but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings. ²⁷ And he^[b] who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit^[c] intercedes on behalf of the saints according to God’s will. ²⁸ And we know that all things work together^[d] for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose, ²⁹ because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son^[e] would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.^{[f] 30} And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.

³¹ What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² Indeed, he who^[g] did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against God’s elect?^[h] It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is the one who will condemn? Christ^[i] is the one who died (and more than that, he was raised), who is at the right hand of God, and who also is interceding for us. ³⁵ Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?^{[j] 36} As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”^{[k] 37} No, in all these things we have complete victory^[l] through him^[m] who loved us! ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers,^[n] nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹¹ Solomon moved Pharaoh’s daughter up from the City of David^[a] to the palace he had built for her, for he said, “My wife must not live in the palace of King David of Israel, for the places where the ark of the Lord has entered are holy.”

¹² Then Solomon offered burnt sacrifices to the Lord on the altar of the Lord which he had built in front of the temple’s porch.^{[b] 13} He observed the daily requirements for sacrifices that Moses had specified for Sabbaths, new moon festivals, and the three annual celebrations—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Shelters.^{[c] 14} As his father David had decreed, Solomon^[d] appointed the divisions of the priests to do their assigned tasks, the Levitical orders to lead worship and help the priests with their daily tasks,^[e] and the divisions of the gatekeepers to serve at their assigned gates.^[f] This was what David the man of God had ordered.^{[g] 15} They did not neglect any detail of the king’s orders pertaining to the priests, Levites, and treasuries.^[h]

¹⁶ All the work ordered by Solomon was completed, from the day the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid until it was finished; the Lord’s temple was completed.

¹⁷ Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and to Elat on the coast in the land of Edom. ¹⁸ Huram sent him ships and some of his sailors, men who were well acquainted with the sea. They sailed with Solomon’s men to Ophir^[i] and took from there 450 talents^[j] of gold, which they brought back to King Solomon.

Solomon Entertains a Queen

9 When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon,^[k] she came to challenge^[l] him^[m] with difficult questions.^[n] She arrived in Jerusalem with a great display of pomp,^[o] bringing with her camels carrying spices,^[p] a very large quantity of gold, and precious gems. She visited Solomon and discussed with him everything that was on her mind. ² Solomon answered all her questions; there was no question too complex for the king.^{[q] 3} When the queen of Sheba saw for herself Solomon’s wisdom, the palace^[r] he had built, ⁴ the food in his banquet hall,^[s] his servants and attendants^[t] in their robes, his cupbearers in their robes, and his burnt sacrifices which he presented in the Lord’s temple,^[u] she was amazed.^{[v] 5} She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your wise sayings and insight^[w] was true! ⁶ I did not believe these things until I came and saw them with my own eyes. Indeed, I didn’t hear even half the story!^[x] Your wisdom surpasses what was reported to me. ⁷ Your attendants, who stand before you at all times and hear your wise sayings, are truly happy!^{[y] 8} May the Lord your God be praised because he favored^[z] you by placing you on his throne as the one ruling on his behalf.^[aa] Because of your God’s love for Israel and his lasting commitment to them,^[ab] he made you king over them so you could make just and right decisions.”^{[ac] 9} She gave the king 120 talents^[ad] of gold and a very large quantity of spices and precious gems. The quantity of spices the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon has never been matched.^{[ae] 10} (Huram’s^[af] servants, aided by Solomon’s servants, brought gold from Ophir, as well as^[ag] fine^[ah] timber and precious gems. ¹¹ With the timber the king made steps^[ai] for the Lord’s temple and royal palace as well as stringed instruments^[aj] for the musicians. No one had seen anything like them in the land of Judah before that.^[ak]) ¹² King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she requested, more than what she had brought him.^[al] Then she left and returned^[am] to her homeland with her attendants.

Solomon’s Wealth

¹³ Solomon received 666 talents^[an] of gold per year,^{[ao] 14} besides what he collected from the merchants^[ap] and traders. All the Arabian kings and the governors of the land also brought gold and silver to Solomon. ¹⁵ King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold; 600 measures^[aq] of hammered gold were used for each shield. ¹⁶ He also made 300 small shields of hammered gold; 300 measures^[ar] of gold were used for each of those shields. The king placed them in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest.^[as]

¹⁷ The king made a large throne decorated with ivory and overlaid it with pure gold. ¹⁸ There were six steps leading up to the throne, and a gold footstool was attached to the throne.^[at] The throne had two armrests with a statue of a lion standing on each side.^{[au] 19} There were twelve statues of lions on the six steps, one lion at each end of each step. There was nothing like it in any other kingdom.^[av]

²⁰ All of King Solomon’s cups were made of gold, and all the household items in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest were made of pure gold. There were no silver items, for silver was not considered very valuable in Solomon’s time.^{[aw] 21} The king had a fleet of large merchant ships^[ax] manned by Huram’s men^[ay] that sailed the sea. Once every three years the fleet^[az] came into port with cargoes of^[ba] gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.^[bb]

²² King Solomon was wealthier and wiser than any of the kings of the earth.^{[bc] 23} All the kings of the earth wanted to visit Solomon to see him display his God-given wisdom.^{[bd] 24} Year after year visitors brought their gifts, which included items of silver, items of gold, clothes, perfume, spices, horses, and mules.^[be]

²⁵ Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his chariot horses^[bf] and 12,000 horses. He kept them in assigned cities and also with him in Jerusalem.^{[bg] 26} He ruled all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River^[bh] to the land of the Philistines as far as the border of Egypt. ²⁷ The king made silver as plentiful^[bi] in Jerusalem as stones; cedar was^[bj] as plentiful as sycamore fig trees are in the foothills.^{[bk] 28} Solomon acquired horses from Egypt and from all the lands.

Solomon’s Reign Ends

²⁹ The rest of the events of Solomon’s reign, from start to finish, are recorded^[bl] in the Annals of Nathan the Prophet, the Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and the Vision of Iddo the Seer pertaining to Jeroboam son of Nebat. ³⁰ Solomon ruled over all Israel from Jerusalem for forty years. ³¹ Then Solomon passed away^[bm] and was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam replaced him as king.

The Northern Tribes Rebel

10 Rehoboam traveled to Shechem, for all Israel had gathered in^[bn] Shechem to make Rehoboam^[bo] king. ² When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard the news, he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon. Jeroboam returned from Egypt. ³ They sent for him,^[bp] and Jeroboam and all Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ “Your father made us work too hard!^[bq] Now if you lighten the demands he made and don’t make us work as hard, we will serve you.”^{[br] 5} He said to them, “Go away for three days, then return to me.” So the people went away.

⁶ King Rehoboam consulted with the older advisers who had served^[bs] his father Solomon when he had been alive. He asked them,^[bt] “How do you advise me to answer these people?” ⁷ They said to him, “If you are fair to these people, grant their request, and are cordial to them, they will be your servants from this time forward.”^{[bu] 8} But Rehoboam rejected their advice and consulted the young advisers who served him, with whom he had grown up.^{[bv] 9} He asked them, “How do you advise me to respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lessen the demands your father placed on us’?”^{[bw] 10} The young advisers with whom Rehoboam^[bx] had grown up said to him, “Say this to these people who have said to you, ‘Your father made us work hard, but now lighten our burden’^[by]—say this to them: ‘I am a lot harsher than my father!^{[bz] 11} My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier.^[ca] My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.’”^[cb]

¹² Jeroboam and all the people reported to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had ordered when he said, “Return to me on the third day.” ¹³ The king responded to the people harshly. He^[cc] rejected the advice of the older men ¹⁴ and followed the advice of the younger ones. He said, “My father imposed heavy demands on you;^[cd] I will make them even heavier.^[ce] My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.”^{[cf] 15} The king refused to listen to the people, because God was instigating this turn of events^[cg] so that he might bring to pass the prophetic announcement he had made^[ch] through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

¹⁶ When all Israel saw^[ci] that the king refused to listen to them, the people answered the king, “We have no portion in David—no share in the son of Jesse!^[cj] Return to your homes, O Israel!^[ck] Now, look after your own dynasty, O David!”^[cl] So all Israel returned to their homes.^{[cm] 17} (Rehoboam continued to rule over the Israelites who lived in the cities of Judah.) ¹⁸ King Rehoboam sent Hadoram,^[cn] the supervisor of the work crews, out after them, but the Israelites stoned him to death. King Rehoboam managed to jump into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So Israel has been in rebellion against the Davidic dynasty to this very day.

⁹ You, however, are not in^[a] the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but^[b] the Spirit is your life^[c] because of righteousness. ¹¹ Moreover if the Spirit of the one^[d] who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ^[e] from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you.^[f]

¹² So then,^[g] brothers and sisters,^[h] we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh ¹³ (for if you live according to the flesh, you will^[i] die),^[j] but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are^[k] the sons of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear,^[l] but you received the Spirit of adoption,^[m] by whom^[n] we cry, “Abba,^[o] Father.” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself bears witness to^[p] our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ)^[q]—if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.

¹⁸ For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared^[r] to the coming glory that will be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly but because of God^[s] who subjected it—in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. ²² For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now. ²³ Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,^[t] groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption,^[u] the redemption of our bodies.^{[v] 24} For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance.^[w]

¹² He stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. ¹³ Solomon had made a bronze platform and had placed it in the middle of the enclosure. It was 7½^[a] long, 7½^[b] wide, and 4½ feet^[c] high. He stood on it and then got down on his knees in front of the entire assembly of Israel. He spread out his hands toward the sky, ¹⁴ and prayed:^[d] “O Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth! You maintain covenantal loyalty^[e] to your servants who obey you with sincerity.^{[f] 15} You have kept your word to your servant, my father David;^[g] this very day you have fulfilled what you promised.^{[h] 16} Now, O Lord God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, ‘You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel,^[i] provided that your descendants watch their step and obey my law as you have done.’^{[j] 17} Now, O Lord God of Israel, may the promise you made to your servant David be realized.^[k]

¹⁸ “God does not really live with humankind on the earth!^[l] Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built! ¹⁹ But respond favorably to^[m] your servant’s prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer^[n] the desperate prayer^[o] your servant is presenting to you.^{[p] 20} Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live.^[q] May you answer your servant’s prayer for this place.^{[r] 21} Respond to the requests of your servant and your people Israel for this place.^[s] Hear from your heavenly dwelling place and respond favorably and forgive.^[t]

²² “When someone is accused of sinning against his neighbor and the latter pronounces a curse on the alleged offender before your altar in this temple,^{[u] 23} listen from heaven and make a just decision about your servants’ claims. Condemn the guilty party, declare the other innocent, and give both of them what they deserve.^[v]

²⁴ “If your people Israel are defeated by an enemy^[w] because they sinned against you, then if they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you,^[x] and pray for your help^[y] before you in this temple, ²⁵ then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.^[z]

²⁶ “The time will come when^[aa] the skies^[ab] are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people^[ac] sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you,^[ad] and turn away from their sin because you punish^[ae] them, ²⁷ then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly^[af] you will then teach them the right way to live^[ag] and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess.^[ah]

²⁸ “The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight, and disease, or a locust^[ai] invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land,^[aj] or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs. ²⁹ When all your people Israel pray and ask for help,^[ak] as they acknowledge their intense pain^[al] and spread out their hands toward this temple, ³⁰ then listen from your heavenly dwelling place, forgive their sin,^[am] and act favorably toward each one based on your evaluation of their motives.^[an] (Indeed you are the only one who can correctly evaluate the motives of all people.)^{[ao] 31} Then they will honor^[ap] you by obeying you^[aq] throughout their lifetimes as^[ar] they live on the land you gave to our ancestors.

³² “Foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will come from a distant land because of your great reputation^[as] and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds;^[at] they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple. ³³ Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place and answer all the prayers of the foreigners.^[au] Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation,^[av] obey^[aw] you as your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you.^[ax]

³⁴ “When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies,^[ay] and they direct their prayers to you toward this chosen city and this temple I built for your honor,^{[az] 35} then listen from heaven to their prayers for help^[ba] and vindicate them.^[bb]

³⁶ “The time will come when your people^[bc] will sin against you (for there is no one who is sinless!) and you will be angry at them and deliver them over to their enemies, who will take them as prisoners to their land, whether far away or close by. ³⁷ When your people^[bd] come to their senses^[be] in the land where they are held prisoner, they will repent and beg for your mercy in the land of their imprisonment, admitting, ‘We have sinned and gone astray,^[bf] we have done evil!’ ³⁸ When they return to you with all their heart and being^[bg] in the land where they are held prisoner and direct their prayers toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor,^{[bh] 39} then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help,^[bi] vindicate them,^[bj] and forgive your sinful people.

⁴⁰ “Now, my God, may you be attentive and responsive to the prayers offered in this place.^{[bk] 41} Now ascend, O Lord God, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength! May your priests, O Lord God, experience your deliverance.^[bl] May your loyal followers rejoice in the prosperity you give.^{[bm] 42} O Lord God, do not reject your chosen ones!^[bn] Remember the faithful promises you made to your servant David!”

Solomon Dedicates the Temple

7 When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven^[bo] and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the Lord’s splendor filled the temple. ² The priests were unable to enter the Lord’s temple because the Lord’s splendor filled the Lord’s temple. ³ When all the Israelites saw the fire come down and the Lord’s splendor over the temple, they got on their knees with their faces downward toward the pavement. They worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying,^[bp] “Certainly he is good; certainly his loyal love endures!”

⁴ The king and all the people were presenting sacrifices to the Lord. ⁵ King Solomon sacrificed 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. Then the king and all the people dedicated God’s temple. ⁶ The priests stood in their assigned spots, along with the Levites who had the musical instruments used for praising the Lord.^[bq] (These were the ones King David made for giving thanks to the Lord and which were used by David when he offered praise, saying, “Certainly his loyal love endures.”)^[br] Opposite the Levites,^[bs] the priests were blowing the trumpets, while all Israel stood there. ⁷ Solomon consecrated the middle of the courtyard that is in front of the Lord’s temple. He offered burnt sacrifices, grain offerings,^[bt] and the fat from the peace offerings there, because the bronze altar that Solomon had made was too small to hold all these offerings.^{[bu] 8} At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival for seven days. This great assembly included people from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Stream of Egypt in the south.^{[bv] 9} On the eighth day they held an assembly, for they had dedicated the altar for seven days and celebrated the festival for seven more days. ¹⁰ On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon^[bw] sent the people home. They left^[bx] happy and contented^[by] because of the good the Lord had done for David, Solomon, and his people Israel.

The Lord Gives Solomon a Promise and a Warning

¹¹ After Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple and the royal palace and accomplished all his plans for the Lord’s temple and his royal palace,^{[bz] 12} the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him: “I have answered^[ca] your prayer and chosen this place to be my temple where sacrifices are to be made.^{[cb] 13} When^[cc] I close up the sky^[cd] so that it doesn’t rain, or command locusts to devour the land’s vegetation,^[ce] or send a plague among my people, ¹⁴ if my people, who belong to me,^[cf] humble themselves, pray, seek to please me,^[cg] and repudiate their sinful practices,^[ch] then I will respond^[ci] from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.^{[cj] 15} Now I will be attentive and responsive to the prayers offered in this place.^{[ck] 16} Now I have chosen and consecrated this temple by making it my permanent home;^[cl] I will be constantly present there.^{[cm] 17} You must serve me as your father David did. Do everything I commanded and obey my rules and regulations.^{[cn] 18} Then I will establish your dynasty,^[co] just as I promised your father David, ‘You will not fail to have a successor ruling over Israel.’^[cp]

¹⁹ “But if you people^[cq] ever turn away from me, fail to obey the regulations and rules I instructed you to keep,^[cr] and decide to serve and worship other gods,^{[cs] 20} then I will remove you^[ct] from my land I have given you,^[cu] I will abandon this temple I have consecrated with my presence,^[cv] and I will make you^[cw] an object of mockery and ridicule^[cx] among all the nations. ²¹ As for this temple, which was once majestic,^[cy] everyone who passes by it will be shocked and say, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?’ ²² Others will then answer,^[cz] ‘Because they abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors,^[da] who led them out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served.^[db] That is why he brought all this disaster down on them.’”

Building Projects and Commercial Efforts

8 After twenty years, during which Solomon built the Lord’s temple and his royal palace, ² Solomon rebuilt the cities that Huram^[dc] had given him and settled Israelites there. ³ Solomon went to Hamath Zobah and seized it. ⁴ He built up Tadmor in the wilderness and all the storage cities he had built in Hamath. ⁵ He made upper Beth Horon and lower Beth Horon fortified cities with walls and barred gates,^{[dd] 6} and built up Baalath, all the storage cities that belonged to him,^[de] and all the cities where chariots and horses were kept.^[df] He built whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and throughout his entire kingdom.^[dg]

⁷ Now several non-Israelite peoples were left in the land after the conquest of Joshua, including the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.^{[dh] 8} Their descendants remained in the land (the Israelites were unable to wipe them out). Solomon conscripted them for his work crews, and they continue in that role to this very day.^{[di] 9} Solomon did not assign Israelites to these work crews;^[dj] the Israelites served as his soldiers, officers, charioteers, and commanders of his chariot forces.^{[dk] 10} These men worked for King Solomon as supervisors; there were a total of 250 of them who were in charge of the people.^[dl]

¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual—but I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin.^{[a] 15} For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want—instead, I do what I hate.^{[b] 16} But if I do what I don’t want, I agree that the law is good.^{[c] 17} But now it is no longer me doing it, but sin that lives in me. ¹⁸ For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it.^{[d] 19} For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want! ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.

²¹ So, I find the law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me. ²² For I delight in the law of God in my inner being. ²³ But I see a different law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ²⁵ Thanks be^[e] to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then,^[f] I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but^[g] with my flesh I serve^[h] the law of sin.

The Believer’s Relationship to the Holy Spirit

8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.^{[i] 2} For the law of the life-giving Spirit^[j] in Christ Jesus has set you^[k] free from the law of sin and death. ³ For God achieved what the law could not do because^[l] it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

⁵ For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by^[m] the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For the outlook^[n] of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace, ⁷ because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so. ⁸ Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Psalm 18^[a]

For the music director, by the Lord’s servant David, who sang^[b] to the Lord the words of this song when^[c] the Lord rescued him from the power^[d] of all his enemies, including Saul.^[e]

4 He made a bronze altar, 30 feet^[a] long, 30 feet^[b] wide, and 15 feet^[c] high. ² He also made the big bronze basin called “The Sea.”^[d] It measured 15 feet^[e] from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood 7½^[f] high. Its circumference was 45 feet.^{[g] 3} Images of bulls were under it all the way around, ten every 18 inches^[h] all the way around. The bulls were in two rows and had been cast with “The Sea.”^{[i] 4} “The Sea” stood on top of twelve bulls. Three faced northward, three westward, three southward, and three eastward. “The Sea” was placed on top of them, and they all faced outward.^{[j] 5} It was four fingers thick, and its rim was like that of a cup shaped like a lily blossom. It could hold 18,000 gallons.^{[k] 6} He made ten washing basins; he put five on the south side and five on the north side. In them they rinsed the items used for burnt sacrifices; the priests washed in “The Sea.”

⁷ He made ten gold lampstands according to specifications and put them in the temple, five on the right and five on the left. ⁸ He made ten tables and set them in the temple, five on the right and five on the left. He also made 100 gold bowls. ⁹ He made the courtyard of the priests and the large enclosure and its doors;^[l] he plated their doors with bronze. ¹⁰ He put “The Sea” on the south side, in the southeast corner.

¹¹ Huram Abi^[m] made the pots, shovels, and bowls. He finished all the work on God’s temple he had been assigned by King Solomon.^{[n] 12} He made^[o] the two pillars, the two bowl-shaped tops of the pillars, the latticework for the bowl-shaped tops of the two pillars, ¹³ the 400 pomegranate-shaped ornaments for the latticework of the two pillars (each latticework had two rows of these ornaments at the bowl-shaped top of the pillar), ¹⁴ the ten^[p] movable stands with their ten^[q] basins, ¹⁵ the big bronze basin called “The Sea” with its twelve bulls underneath, ¹⁶ and the pots, shovels, and meat forks.^[r] All the items King Solomon assigned Huram Abi to make for the Lord’s temple^[s] were made from polished bronze. ¹⁷ The king had them cast in earth foundries^[t] in the region of the Jordan between Sukkoth and Zarethan. ¹⁸ Solomon made so many of these items they did not weigh the bronze.^[u]

¹⁹ Solomon also made these items for God’s temple: the gold altar, the tables on which the Bread of the Presence^[v] was kept, ²⁰ the pure gold lampstands and their lamps which burned as specified at the entrance to the inner sanctuary, ²¹ the pure gold flower-shaped ornaments, lamps, and tongs, ²² the pure gold trimming shears, basins, pans, and censers, and the gold door sockets for the inner sanctuary (the Most Holy Place) and for the doors of the main hall of the temple. 5 ¹ When Solomon had finished constructing the Lord’s temple, he put the holy items that belonged to his father David (the silver, gold, and all the other articles) in the treasuries of God’s temple.

Solomon Moves the Ark into the Temple

² Then Solomon convened Israel’s elders—all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families—in Jerusalem, so they could witness the transferal of the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David^[w] (that is, Zion).^{[x] 3} All the men of Israel assembled before the king during the festival^[y] in the seventh month.^{[z] 4} When all Israel’s elders had arrived, the Levites lifted the ark. ⁵ The priests and Levites carried the ark, the tent where God appeared to his people,^[aa] and all the holy items in the tent.^{[ab] 6} Now King Solomon and all the Israelites who had assembled with him went on ahead of the ark and sacrificed more sheep and cattle than could be counted or numbered.^[ac]

⁷ The priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its assigned^[ad] place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, in the Most Holy Place under the wings of the cherubim. ⁸ The cherubim’s wings extended over the place where the ark sat; the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles.^{[ae] 9} The poles were so long their ends extending out from the ark were visible from in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from beyond that point.^[af] They have remained there to this very day. ¹⁰ There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb.^[ag] (It was there that^[ah] the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt.)

¹¹ The priests left the Holy Place.^[ai] All the priests who participated had consecrated themselves, no matter which division they represented.^{[aj] 12} All the Levites who were musicians, including Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and relatives, wore linen. They played cymbals and stringed instruments as they stood east of the altar. They were accompanied by 120 priests who blew trumpets. ¹³ The trumpeters and musicians played together, praising and giving thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they loudly praised the Lord, singing:^[ak] “Certainly he is good; certainly his loyal love endures!” Then a cloud filled the Lord’s temple.^{[al] 14} The priests could not carry out their duties^[am] because of the cloud; the Lord’s splendor filled God’s temple.

6 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he lives in thick darkness. ² O Lord,^[an] I have built a lofty temple for you, a place where you can live permanently.” ³ Then the king turned around^[ao] and pronounced a blessing over the whole Israelite assembly as they stood there.^{[ap] 4} He said, “The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because he has fulfilled^[aq] what he promised^[ar] my father David. ⁵ He told David,^[as] ‘Since the day I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple in which to live.^[at] Nor did I choose a man as leader of my people Israel. ⁶ But now I have chosen Jerusalem as a place to live,^[au] and I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.’ ⁷ Now my father David had a strong desire to build a temple to honor the Lord God of Israel.^{[av] 8} The Lord told my father David, ‘It is right for you to have a strong desire to build a temple to honor me.^{[aw] 9} But you will not build the temple; your very own son will build the temple for my honor.’^{[ax] 10} The Lord has kept the promise he made. I have taken my father David’s place and have occupied the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised. I have built this temple for the honor of the Lord God of Israel ¹¹ and set up in it a place for the ark containing the covenant the Lord made with the Israelites.”