A Walk Through The Word

Alliance with King Hiram

5 Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram had always been a friend of David. ² Then Solomon sent word to Hiram, saying, ³ “You know that David my father could not build a house (temple) for the Name (Presence) of the Lord his God because of the wars which surrounded him, until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.^{(A) 4} But now that the Lord my God has given me rest [from war] on every side, there is neither adversary nor misfortune [confronting me]. ⁵ Behold, I intend to build a house (temple) to the Name of the Lord my God, just as the Lord said to my father David: ‘Your son whom I will put on your throne in your place shall build the house for My Name and Presence.’ ⁶ So now, command that they cut cedar trees from Lebanon for me, and my servants will join your servants, and I will give you whatever wages you set for your servants. For you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the men of Sidon.”

⁷ When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the Lord this day, who has given David a wise son [to be king] over this great people.” ⁸ So Hiram sent word to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message which you sent to me; I will do everything you wish concerning the cedar and cypress timber. ⁹ My servants will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the [Mediterranean] sea, and I will have them made into rafts to go by sea to the place (port) that you direct me; then I will have them broken up there, and you shall carry them away. Then you shall ^[a]return the favor by providing food for my household.” ¹⁰ So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and cypress timber he desired, ¹¹ and Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 ^[b]kors of wheat as food for his household, and 20 kors of pure [olive] oil. Solomon gave all these to Hiram each year. ¹² The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, just as He promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.

Conscription of Laborers

¹³ King Solomon levied forced laborers from all Israel; and the forced laborers numbered 30,000 men. ¹⁴ He sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in shifts; one month they were in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced laborers. ¹⁵ Solomon had 70,000 burden bearers (transporters) and 80,000 stonemasons in the hill country [of Judah], ¹⁶ besides Solomon’s 3,300 chief deputies who were in charge of the project and who were in charge of the people doing the work. ¹⁷ The king gave orders, and they quarried great ^[c]stones, valuable stones, to lay the foundation of the house (temple) with cut stones. ¹⁸ So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the men of ^[d]Gebal cut and chiseled the stones, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house (temple).

The Building of the Temple

6 ^[e]Now it came about in the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv (April-May) which is the second month, that he began to build the Lord’s house (temple). ² The length of the house which King Solomon built for the Lord was ^[f]sixty cubits (90 ft.), its width twenty (30 ft.), and its height thirty cubits (45 ft.). ³ The porch in front of the main room of the house (temple) was twenty cubits long, corresponding to the width of the house, and its depth in front of the house was ten cubits. ⁴ He also made framed (artistic) window openings for the house. ⁵ Against the wall of the house he built ^[g]extensions around the walls of the house, around both the main room (Holy Place) and the ^[h]Holy of Holies; and he made side chambers all around. ⁶ The lowest story was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for he made offsets (niches) in the walls all around on the outside of the house so that the supporting beams would not be inserted into the walls of the house.

⁷ While it was being built, the house was built of stone prepared and finished (precut) at the quarry, and no hammer, axe, or iron tool of any kind was heard in the house while it was under construction.

⁸ The entrance to the lowest side chamber was on the right [or south] side of the house; and they would go up winding stairs to the middle [level], and from the middle to the third. ⁹ So Solomon built the house (temple) and finished it, and roofed the house with beams and boards of cedar. ¹⁰ Then he built the extensions [of rooms] against the entire house, each [story] five cubits high; and they were attached to the house with timbers of cedar.

¹¹ Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying, ¹² “Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes and execute My precepts and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will carry out My word (promises) with you which I made to David your father. ¹³ I will dwell among the sons (descendants) of Israel, and will not abandon My people Israel.”

¹⁴ So Solomon built the house (temple) and finished it. ¹⁵ He built the walls of the interior of the house [that is, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies] with boards of cedar, from the floor of the house to the rafters of the ceiling. He overlaid the interior with wood, and he overlaid the floor of the house with boards of cypress. ¹⁶ He built twenty cubits on the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the ceiling; he built its interior as the [inner] sanctuary, the Holy of Holies. ¹⁷ The [rest of the] house, that is, the temple in front of the Holy of Holies, was forty cubits long. ¹⁸ The cedar on the house within had wood carvings in the shape of gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was visible. ¹⁹ Then he prepared the Holy of Holies within the house in order to put the ark of the covenant of the Lord there. ²⁰ The Holy of Holies was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height (a cube), and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid the cedar altar [with gold]. ²¹ Solomon overlaid the interior of the house with pure gold, and he drew ^[i]chains of gold across the front of the Holy of Holies (inner sanctuary), and he overlaid it with gold. ²² Then he overlaid the entire house with gold, until the whole house was finished. He also overlaid the entire [incense] altar which was by the Holy of Holies with gold.

²³ Within the Holy of Holies he made two ^[j]cherubim (sculptured figures) of olive wood, each ten cubits high. ^24 [k]One wing of the cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing was also five cubits long; it was ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. ²⁵ The [wingspan of the] other cherub was also ten cubits. The measurements and cut (shape) of the two cherubim were the same; ²⁶ the height of the one cherub was ten cubits, as was the other. ²⁷ He put the cherubim [above the ark] inside the innermost room of the house, and their wings were spread out so that the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub was touching the other wall; and their inner wings were touching ^[l]each other in the middle of the house. ²⁸ Solomon also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

²⁹ He carved all the walls of the house all around with carved engravings of cherubim, palm-shaped decorations, and open flowers, [both] the inner and the outer sanctuaries. ³⁰ He overlaid the floor of the house with gold, [both] the inner and outer sanctuaries.

³¹ For the entrance of the Holy of Holies he made two [folding] doors of olive wood, the lintel (header above the door) and five-sided doorposts (frames). ³² So he made two doors of olive wood, and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm-shaped decorations, and open flowers; and overlaid them with gold; and he hammered out overlays of gold on the cherubim and palm decorations.

³³ Also he made for the entrance of the [outer] sanctuary (the Holy Place) four-sided doorposts (frames) of olive wood ³⁴ and two doors of cypress wood; the two leaves of the one door turned on pivots and were folding, and the two leaves of the other door also turned on pivots. ³⁵ He carved cherubim, palm-shaped decorations, and open flowers on the doors, and overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the carved work. ³⁶ He built the inner courtyard with three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams.

³⁷ In the fourth year [of King Solomon’s reign] the foundation of the Lord’s house was laid, in the [second] month, Ziv (April-May). ³⁸ In the eleventh year [of King Solomon’s reign] in the month of Bul (October-November), that is, the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts and in accordance with all its specifications. So he built it in seven years.

Stephen’s Defense

7 Now the ^[a]high priest asked [Stephen], “Are these charges true?”

² And he answered, “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory [the Shekinah, the radiance of God] appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,^{(A) 3} and He said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.’^{(B) 4} Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, God sent him to this country in which you now live.^{(C) 5} But He did not give him inheritable property, not even enough ground to take a step on, yet He promised that He would give it to Him as a possession, and to his descendants after him.^{(D) 6} And this is, in effect, what God spoke [to him]: That his descendants would be aliens (strangers) in a foreign land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. ⁷ ‘And I will judge any nation to whom they will be in bondage,’ said God, ‘and after that they will come out and serve Me [in worship] in this place.’^{(E) 8} And God gave Abraham a covenant [a formal agreement to be strictly observed] of [which] circumcision [was the sign]; and so [under these circumstances] Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac [became the father] of ^[b]Jacob, and Jacob [became the father] of the ^[c]twelve patriarchs.^(F)

⁹ “The [ten elder] patriarchs, overwhelmed with jealousy, sold [their younger brother] Joseph into [slavery in] Egypt; but God was with him,^{(G) 10} and He rescued him from all his suffering, and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made Joseph governor over Egypt and over his entire household.^(H)

¹¹ “Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great distress and our fathers could not find food [for their households and livestock].^{(I) 12} But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time.^{(J) 13} And on the second visit Joseph identified himself to his brothers, and Joseph’s family and background were revealed to Pharaoh.^{(K) 14} Then Joseph sent and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five persons in all.^{(L) 15} And Jacob (Israel) went down into Egypt, and ^[d]there he died, as did our fathers;^{(M) 16} and [from Egypt] ^[e]their bodies were taken back to Shechem and placed in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.^(N)

¹⁷ “But as the time [for the fulfillment] of the promise which God had made to Abraham was approaching, the [Hebrew] people increased and multiplied in Egypt,^{(O) 18} until [the time when] there arose another king over egypt who did not know joseph [nor his history and the merit of his service to Egypt].^{(P) 19} He shrewdly exploited our race and mistreated our fathers, forcing them to expose their [male] babies so that they would die.^{(Q) 20} It was at this [critical] time that Moses was born; and he was lovely in the sight of God, and for three months he was nourished in his father’s house.^{(R) 21} Then when he was set outside [to die], Pharaoh’s daughter rescued him and claimed him for herself, and cared for him as her own son.^{(S) 22} So Moses was educated in all the wisdom and culture of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds. ²³ But when he reached the age of forty, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. ²⁴ And when he saw one [of them] being treated unfairly, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking and killing the Egyptian. ²⁵ He expected his countrymen to understand that God was granting them freedom through him [assuming that they would accept him], but they did not understand. ²⁶ Then on the next day he suddenly appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and he tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you wrong one another?’ ²⁷ But the man who was injuring his neighbor pushed Moses away, saying, ‘Who appointed you ruler and judge over us? ²⁸ Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹ At this remark Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he fathered two sons.^(T)

Prosperity Comes from the Lord.

A Song of ^[a]Ascents. Of Solomon.

³ Now Solomon loved the Lord, walking [at first] in the statutes of David his father, except [for the fact that] he sacrificed and burned incense in the high places [ignoring the law that required all sacrifices to be offered at the tabernacle].^{(A) 4} The king went to Gibeon [near Jerusalem, where the tabernacle and the bronze altar stood] to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. ⁵ In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, “Ask [Me] what I shall give you.”

Solomon’s Prayer

⁶ Then Solomon said, “You have shown Your servant David my father great lovingkindness, because he walked before You in faithfulness and righteousness and with uprightness of heart toward You; and You have kept for him this great lovingkindness, in that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today. ⁷ So now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of David my father; and as for me, I am but a little boy [^[a]in wisdom and experience]; I do not know how to go out or come in [that is, how to conduct business as a king]. ⁸ Your servant is among Your people whom You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted. ⁹ So give Your servant an understanding mind and a hearing heart [with which] to judge Your people, so that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge and rule this great people of Yours?”^(B)

God’s Answer

¹⁰ Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. ¹¹ God said to him, “Because you have asked this and have not asked for yourself a long life nor for wealth, nor for the lives of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to recognize justice, ¹² behold, I have done as you asked. I have given you a wise and discerning heart (mind), so that no one before you was your equal, nor shall anyone equal to you arise after you. ¹³ I have also given you what you have not asked, both wealth and honor, so that there will not be anyone equal to you among the kings, for all your days. ¹⁴ If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and My commandments, as your father David ^[b]did, then I will lengthen your days.”

¹⁵ Then Solomon awoke, and he realized that it was a dream. He came [back] to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; he offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and he prepared a feast for all his servants.^(C)

Solomon Wisely Judges

¹⁶ Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. ¹⁷ And the one woman said, “O my lord, this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. ¹⁸ And on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were [alone] together; no one else was with us in the house, just we two. ¹⁹ Now this woman’s son died during the night, because she lay on him [and smothered him]. ²⁰ So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from [his place] beside me while your maidservant was asleep, and laid him on her bosom, and laid her dead son on my bosom. ²¹ When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead. But when I examined him carefully in the morning, behold, it was not my son, the one whom I had borne.” ²² Then the other woman said, “No! For my son is the one who is living, and your son is the dead one.” But the first woman said, “No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.” [This is how] they were speaking before the king.

²³ Then the king said, “This woman says, ‘This is my son, the one who is alive, and your son is the dead one’; and the other woman says, ‘No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the one who is alive.’” ²⁴ Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. ²⁵ Then the king said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to the one [woman] and half to the other.” ²⁶ Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply moved over her son, “O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; cut him!” ²⁷ Then the king said, “Give the first woman [who is pleading for his life] the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother.” ²⁸ When all [the people of] Israel heard about the judgment which the king had made, they [were in awe and reverently] feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was within him to administer justice.

Solomon’s Officials

4 King Solomon was king over all [the people of] Israel. ² These were his [chief] officials: Azariah the ^[c]son of Zadok was the high priest; ³ Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha, were scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder [of important events]; ⁴ Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; ⁵ Azariah the son of Nathan was in charge of the deputies; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and was the king’s friend [and trusted advisor]; ⁶ Ahishar was in charge of the household (palace); and Adoniram the son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor.

⁷ Solomon had twelve deputies over all Israel, who ^[d]secured provisions for the king and his household; each man had to provide for a month in the year. ⁸ These were their names: Ben-hur, in the hill country of [the tribe of] Ephraim; ⁹ Ben-deker in Makaz and Shaalbim and Beth-shemesh and Elon-beth-hanan; ¹⁰ Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh and all the land of Hepher); ¹¹ Ben-abinadab, in all the hills of Dor (Taphath, Solomon’s daughter, was his wife); ¹² Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth-shean which is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah as far as beyond Jokmeam; ¹³ Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (the villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead belonged to him, also the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars); ¹⁴ Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; ¹⁵ Ahimaaz, in [the tribe of] Naphtali (he also married Basemath, Solomon’s daughter); ¹⁶ Baana the son of Hushai, in [the tribe of] Asher and Bealoth; ¹⁷ Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in [the tribe of] Issachar; ¹⁸ Shimei the son of Ela, in [the tribe of] Benjamin; ¹⁹ Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer who was in the land.

Solomon’s Power, Wealth and Wisdom

²⁰ [The people of] Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is in abundance by the sea; they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.

^21 [e]Now Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms from the [Euphrates] River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt; they brought tribute (money) and served Solomon all the days of his life.

²² Solomon’s food [for the royal household] for one day was thirty ^[f]kors of finely milled flour, sixty kors of wheat flour, ²³ ten fat oxen, twenty pasture-fed oxen, a hundred sheep not counting fallow deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. ²⁴ For he was ruling over everything west of the [Euphrates] River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings west of the [Euphrates] River; and he had peace on all sides around him. ²⁵ Judah and Israel lived in security, every man under his vine and fig tree [in peace and prosperity], from Dan [in the north] to Beersheba [in the south], during all the days of Solomon.^{(D) 26} Solomon also had ^[g]40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. ²⁷ Those deputies provided food for King Solomon and for all [the staff] who came to King Solomon’s table, each in his month; they let nothing be lacking. ²⁸ They also brought the barley and straw for the horses and swift steeds (warhorses, chargers) to the place where it was needed, each man according to his assignment.

²⁹ Now God gave Solomon [exceptional] wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand of the seashore. ³⁰ Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹ For he was wiser ^[h]than all [other] men, [wiser] than ^[i]Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. His fame was known in all the surrounding nations. ³² He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. ³³ He spoke of trees, from the cedar which is in Lebanon to the hyssop [vine] that grows on the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and fish. ³⁴ People came from all the peoples (nations) to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

Choosing of the Seven

6 Now about this time, when the number of disciples was increasing, a complaint was made by the ^[a]Hellenists (Greek-speaking Jews) against the [^[b]native] Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food. ² So the ^[c]Twelve called the disciples together and said, “It is not appropriate for us to neglect [teaching] the word of God in order to serve tables and manage the distribution of food. ³ Therefore, brothers, choose from among you seven men with good reputations [men of godly character and moral integrity], full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. ⁴ But we will [continue to] devote ourselves [steadfastly] to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” ⁵ The suggestion pleased the whole congregation; and they selected ^[d]Stephen, a man full of faith [in Christ Jesus], and [filled with and led by] the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas (Nikolaos), a proselyte (Gentile convert) from Antioch. ⁶ They brought these men before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them [to dedicate and commission them for this service].

⁷ And the message of God kept on growing and spreading, and the number of disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem; and a large number of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith [accepting Jesus as Messiah and acknowledging Him as the Source of eternal salvation].

⁸ Now Stephen, full of grace (divine blessing, favor) and power, was doing great wonders and signs (attesting miracles) among the people. ⁹ However, some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (freed Jewish slaves), both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and [the province of] Asia, rose up and questioned and argued with Stephen. ¹⁰ But they were not able to successfully withstand and cope with the wisdom and the intelligence [and the power and inspiration] of the Spirit by whom he was speaking. ¹¹ Then [to attack him another way] they secretly instructed men to say, “We have heard this man [Stephen] speak blasphemous (slanderous, sacrilegious, abusive) words against Moses and against God.” ¹² And they provoked and incited the people, as well as the elders and the scribes, and they came up to Stephen and seized him and brought him before the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court). ¹³ They presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and the Law [of Moses]; ¹⁴ for we have heard him say that this Jesus the Nazarene will tear down this place and will change the traditions and customs which Moses handed down to us.” ¹⁵ Then all those who were sitting in the Council, stared [intently] at him, and they saw that Stephen’s face was like the face of an angel.

Thanksgiving for Return from Captivity.

A Song of ^[a]Ascents.

David’s Charge to Solomon

2 When David’s time to die approached, he gave instructions to Solomon his son, saying, ² “I am going the way of all the earth [as dust to dust]. Be strong and prove yourself a man. ³ Keep the charge of the Lord your God, [that is, fulfill your obligation to] walk in His ways, keep His statutes, His commandments, His precepts, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, so that you may succeed in everything that you do and wherever you turn, ⁴ so that the Lord may fulfill His ^[a]promise concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons are careful regarding their way [of life], to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and mind and with all their soul, you shall not fail to have a man (descendant) on the throne of Israel.’

⁵ Now you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah [my sister] did to me, and what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner and to Amasa the son of Jether, [both of] whom he murdered; ^[b]avenging the blood of war in [a time of] peace. And he put the [innocent] blood of war [of Abner and Amasa] on his ^[c]belt that was around his ^[d]waist, and on his sandals on his feet. ⁶ So act in accordance with your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to Sheol (the place of the dead) in peace. ⁷ But be gracious and kind to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who [have the honor to] eat at your table; for they met me [with kindness] when I fled from your brother Absalom.^{(A) 8} And look, you have with you Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite of Bahurim; he is the one who cursed me with a sinister curse the day I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at the Jordan [on my return], and I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ ⁹ But now do not let him go unpunished, for you are a wise man; and you will know what to do to him, and you will bring his gray head down to Sheol [covered] with blood.”

Death of David

¹⁰ So David lay down with his fathers [in death] and was buried in the ^[e]City of David. ¹¹ The time that David reigned over Israel was forty years: he reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. ¹² Then Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.

¹³ Now Adonijah the son of [David and] Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. She said, “Do you come in peace?” And he said, “In peace.” ¹⁴ Then he said, “I have something to say to you.” And she said, “Speak.” ¹⁵ So he said, “You know that the kingdom belonged to me [as the eldest living son] and all Israel ^[f]looked to me and expected me to be king. However, the kingdom has passed [from me] and became my brother’s, for it was his from the Lord. ¹⁶ So now I am making one request of you; do not ^[g]refuse me.” And she said to him, “Speak.” ¹⁷ He said, “Please speak to King Solomon, for he will not refuse you; ask that he may give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife.”^{(B) 18} Bathsheba replied, “Very well; I will speak to the king for you.”

Adonijah Executed

¹⁹ So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose to meet her, bowed before her, and sat down on his throne; then he had a throne set for her, the king’s mother, and she sat on his right. ²⁰ Then she said, “I am making one small request of you; do not refuse me.” And the king said to her, “Ask, my mother, for I will not refuse you.” ²¹ So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to your brother Adonijah as a wife.” ²² King Solomon answered and said to his mother, “And why are you asking for ^[h]Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask the kingdom for him also—since he is my older brother—[ask it] for him and for Abiathar the priest and Joab the son of Zeruiah [his supporters]!” ²³ Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, “May God do the same to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not requested this [deplorable] thing against his own ^[i]life. ²⁴ So now, as the Lord lives, who has established me and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house as He promised, Adonijah shall indeed be put to death today.” ²⁵ So King Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he ^[j]struck Adonijah and he died.

²⁶ Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go to Anathoth to your own fields, for you ^[k]certainly deserve to die; but I will not put you to death this day, because you carried the ark of the Lord God before my father David, and you suffered everything that my father endured.” ²⁷ So Solomon dismissed Abiathar [a descendant of Eli] from being priest to the Lord, fulfilling the word of the Lord, which He had spoken concerning the house (descendants) of Eli in Shiloh.^(C)

Joab Executed

²⁸ Now the news reached Joab, for Joab had supported and followed Adonijah, although he had not followed Absalom. So Joab fled to the [sacred] tent of the Lord and took hold of the horns of the altar [to seek asylum]. ²⁹ King Solomon was told that Joab had fled to the tent of the Lord and was at that moment beside the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, ^[l]strike him down.” ³⁰ So Benaiah came to the tent of the Lord and told Joab, “This is what the king commands, ‘Come out of there.’” But Joab said, “No, for I will die here.” Then Benaiah brought word to the king again, saying, “This is what Joab said, and this is how he answered me.” ³¹ The king said to him, “Do as he has said. ^[m]Strike him down and bury him, so that you may remove from me and from my father’s house the innocent blood which Joab shed. ³² The Lord will return his bloody deeds upon his own head, because he struck down two men more righteous and honorable than he and killed them with the sword, without my father David knowing: Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. ³³ So shall their blood return on the head of Joab and the heads of his descendants forever. But for David, his descendants, his house, and his throne, may there be peace from the Lord forever.” ³⁴ So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up [to the tabernacle] and struck and killed Joab, and he was buried at his own house in the wilderness [of Judah]. ³⁵ The king appointed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in Joab’s place, and appointed Zadok the priest in place of Abiathar.

Shimei Executed

³⁶ Now the king sent word and called for Shimei and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there. Do not go from there to ^[n]any other place. ³⁷ For on the day you leave and cross over the ^[o]Brook Kidron, know for certain that you shall surely die; your blood shall be on your own head.” ³⁸ Shimei said to the king, “The word (ruling) is good. As my lord the king has said, so will your servant do.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for many days.

³⁹ But it happened after three years, that two of Shimei’s servants ran away to Achish the son of Maacah, the king of ^[p]Gath. And Shimei was told, “Behold, your [runaway] servants are in Gath.” ⁴⁰ So Shimei arose, saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to [King] Achish to look for his servants. And Shimei went and brought them back from Gath. ⁴¹ Now Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned. ⁴² So the king sent word and called for Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord and solemnly warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you leave [Jerusalem] and go anywhere, you shall surely die’? And you said to me, ‘The word (ruling) I have heard is good.’ ⁴³ Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord, and the command which I gave you?” ⁴⁴ The king also said to Shimei, “You are aware in your own heart of all the evil you did to my father David; so the Lord shall return your evil on your own head. ⁴⁵ But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.” ⁴⁶ So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck down Shimei, and he died.

So the kingdom was established in the hands of Solomon.

Solomon’s Rule Consolidated

3 Now Solomon became a son-in-law to Pharaoh king of Egypt [and formed an alliance] by ^[q]taking Pharaoh’s daughter [in marriage]. He brought her to the ^[r]City of David [where she remained temporarily] until he had finished building his own house (palace) and the house of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem. ² But [in the meantime] the people were still sacrificing [to God] on the high places (hilltops) [as the pagans did to their idols], for there was no [permanent] house yet built for the ^[s]Name of the Lord.

Fate of Ananias and Sapphira

5 Now a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, ² and with his wife’s full knowledge [and complicity] he kept back some of the proceeds, bringing only a ^[a]portion of it, and set it at the apostles’ feet. ³ But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and [secretly] keep back for yourself some of the proceeds [from the sale] of the land? ⁴ As long as it remained [unsold], did it not remain your own [to do with as you pleased]? And after it was sold, was the money not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this act [of hypocrisy and deceit] in your heart? You have not [simply] lied to people, but to God.” ⁵ And hearing these words, Ananias fell down suddenly and died; and great fear and awe gripped those who heard of it. ⁶ And the young men [in the congregation] got up and wrapped up the body, and carried it out and buried it.

⁷ Now after an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ Peter asked her, “Tell me whether you sold your land for so much?” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” ⁹ Then Peter said to her, “How could you two have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Look! The feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” ¹⁰ And at once she fell down at his feet and died; and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ And great fear and awe gripped the whole church, and all who heard about these things.

¹² At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders (attesting miracles) were continually taking place among the people. And by common consent they all met together [at the temple] in [the covered porch called] Solomon’s portico. ¹³ But none of the rest [of the people, the non-believers] dared to associate with them; however, the people were holding them in high esteem and were speaking highly of them. ¹⁴ More and more believers in the Lord, crowds of men and women, were constantly being added to their number, ¹⁵ to such an extent that they even carried their sick out into the streets and put them on cots and sleeping pads, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on one of them [with healing power]. ¹⁶ And the people from the towns in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing the sick and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.

Imprisonment and Release

¹⁷ But the ^[b]high priest stood up, along with all his associates (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy and resentment. ¹⁸ They arrested the apostles and put them in a public jail. ¹⁹ But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, and leading them out, he said, ²⁰ “Go, stand and continue to tell the people in the temple [courtyards] the whole message of this Life [the eternal life revealed by Christ and found through faith in Him].” ²¹ When they heard this, they went into the temple [courtyards] about daybreak and began teaching.

Now when the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), even all the council of elders of the sons of Israel, and sent word to the prison for the apostles to be brought [before them]. ²² But when the officers arrived, they did not find them in the prison; and they came back and reported, ²³ “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened [the doors], we found no one inside.” ²⁴ Now when the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard these things, they were greatly perplexed, wondering what would come of this. ²⁵ But someone came and told them, “The men whom you put in prison are standing [right here] in the temple [area], teaching the people!” ²⁶ Then the captain went with the officers and brought them back, without hurting them (because they were afraid of the people, worried that they might be stoned).

²⁷ So they brought them and presented them before the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court). The high priest questioned them, ²⁸ saying, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to bring this ^[c]Man’s blood on us [by accusing us as His murderers].” ²⁹ Then Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men [we have no other choice]. ³⁰ The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a ^[d]cross [and you are responsible].^{(A) 31} God exalted Him to His right hand as Prince and Savior and Deliverer, in order to grant repentance to Israel, and [to grant] forgiveness of sins. ³² And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has bestowed on those who obey Him.”

Gamaliel’s Counsel

³³ Now when they heard this, they were infuriated and they intended to kill the apostles. ³⁴ But a Pharisee named ^[e]Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law [of Moses], highly esteemed by all the people, stood up in the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) and ordered that the men be taken outside for a little while. ³⁵ Then he said to the Council, “Men of Israel, be careful in regard to what you propose to do to these men. ³⁶ For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody [of importance], and a group of about four hundred men allied themselves with him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were scattered and came to nothing. ³⁷ After this man, Judas the Galilean rose up, [and led an uprising] during the time of the census, and drew people after him; he was also killed, and all his followers were scattered. ³⁸ So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men [merely human in origin], it will fail and be destroyed; ³⁹ but if it is of God [and it appears that it is], you will not be able to stop them; or else you may even be found fighting against God!”

⁴⁰ The Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) took his advice; and after summoning the apostles, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and released them. ⁴¹ So they left the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy [dignified by indignity] to suffer shame for [the sake of] His name. ⁴² And every single day, in the temple [area] and in homes, they did not stop teaching and telling the good news of Jesus as the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).

The Lord Surrounds His People.

A Song of ^[a]Ascents.

David in Old Age

1 Now King David was ^[a]old, advanced in years; they covered him with clothes, but he could not get warm. ² So his servants said to him, “Let a young virgin be found for my lord the king and let her attend him and become his nurse; let her lie against your chest, so that my lord the king may feel warm.” ³ So they searched for a beautiful girl throughout the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the ^[b]Shunammite, and brought her to the king. ⁴ The girl was very beautiful; and she became the king’s nurse and served him, but the king ^[c]was not intimate with her.

⁵ Then Adonijah the son of [David’s wife] Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I [the eldest living son] will be king.” So [following Absalom’s example] he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.^{(A) 6} His father [David] had ^[d]never rebuked him at any time by asking, “Why have you done this?” Adonijah was also a very handsome man, and he was born after Absalom. ⁷ He had conferred with ^[e]Joab the son of Zeruiah [David’s half sister] and with Abiathar the priest; and they followed Adonijah and helped him. ⁸ But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David’s ^[f]most formidable warriors did not side with Adonijah [in his desire to become king].

⁹ Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fattened steers by the Stone of Zoheleth, which is beside [the well] En-rogel; and he invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants [to this feast].^{(B) 10} But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the most formidable warriors, or his brother Solomon.

Nathan and Bathsheba

¹¹ Then Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and David our lord does not know about it? ¹² Come now, please let me advise you and save your life and the life of your son Solomon.^{(C) 13} Go at once to King David and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord, O king, swear to your maidservant, saying, “Solomon your son shall certainly be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’ ¹⁴ Behold, while you are still there speaking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words.”

¹⁵ So Bathsheba went to the king in his bedroom. Now the king was very old and weak, and Abishag the Shunammite was attending the king. ¹⁶ So Bathsheba bowed down and paid respect to the king. And the king said, “^[g]What do you wish?” ¹⁷ She said to him, “My lord, you swore by the Lord your God to your maidservant, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall certainly be king after me and he shall sit on my throne.’ ¹⁸ But now, behold, Adonijah is [acting as] king; and now [as things stand], my lord the king, you do not know it. ¹⁹ He has sacrificed oxen and fattened steers and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons and Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army [to a feast], but he did not invite your servant Solomon. ²⁰ Now as for you, my lord the king, the eyes of all ^[h]Israel are on you [waiting for you] to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. ²¹ Otherwise it will come about when my lord the king lies down [in death] with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be considered ^[i]political enemies.”

²² While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in. ²³ The king was told, “Here is Nathan the prophet.” And when he came before the king, he bowed before the king with his face to the ground. ²⁴ Then Nathan said, “My lord the king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne’? ²⁵ Because he has gone down today [to En-Rogel] and has sacrificed oxen and fattened steers and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons, the commanders of the army and Abiathar the priest [to this feast]; and [right now] they are eating and drinking in his presence; and they say, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ ²⁶ But he has not invited me, your servant, nor Zadok the priest, nor Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, nor your servant Solomon. ²⁷ If this thing has been done by my lord the king, why have you not shown your servants who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”

²⁸ King David answered, “Call Bathsheba to me.” And she came into the king’s presence and stood before him. ²⁹ Then the king swore an oath and said, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my soul from all distress, ³⁰ even as I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall certainly be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place’; I will indeed do so this very day.” ³¹ Bathsheba bowed down with her face to the ground, and laid herself face down before the king and said, “May my lord King David live forever!”

³² Then King David said, “Call Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada to me.” And they came before the king. ³³ The king told them, “Take the ^[j]servants of your lord with you and have Solomon my son ^[k]ride on my own mule, and bring him down to [the spring at] ^[l]Gihon [in the Kidron Valley]. ³⁴ Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there as king over Israel. Then blow the trumpet and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ ³⁵ Then you shall come up [to Jerusalem] after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne and he shall reign as king in my place; for I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah.” ³⁶ Benaiah [the overseer of the king’s bodyguards], the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, “Amen! (So be it!) May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, say so too. ^37 [m]Just as the Lord has been with my lord the king, so may He be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David!”

Solomon Anointed King

³⁸ So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites [the king’s bodyguards] went down [from Jerusalem] and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and brought him to [the spring at] Gihon. ³⁹ Zadok the priest took a horn of [olive] oil from the [sacred] tent and anointed Solomon. They blew the trumpet, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!” ⁴⁰ All the people went up after him, and they were playing on flutes and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth shook and seemed to burst open with their [joyful] sound.

⁴¹ Now Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished eating. When Joab heard the trumpet sound, he said, “^[n]Why is the city in such an uproar?” ⁴² While he was still speaking, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest arrived. And Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are a valiant and trustworthy man and you bring good news.”^{(D) 43} But Jonathan replied to Adonijah, “No, on the contrary, our lord King David has made Solomon king! ⁴⁴ The king has sent him with Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites; and they have had him ride on the king’s [own royal] mule. ⁴⁵ Also, Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon, and they have come up from there celebrating, so the city is in an uproar. This is the noise which you have heard. ⁴⁶ Besides, Solomon has taken his seat on the throne of the kingdom. ⁴⁷ Moreover, the king’s servants came to bless (congratulate) our lord King David, saying, ‘May ^[o]your God make the name of Solomon better (more famous) than your name and make his throne greater than your throne.’ And the king bowed himself [before God] upon the bed. ⁴⁸ The king has also said this: ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has granted one [of my descendants] to sit on my throne today and allowed my eyes to see it.’”

⁴⁹ Then all Adonijah’s guests were terrified [of being branded as traitors] and stood up and left the feast, and each one went on his way. ⁵⁰ And Adonijah feared Solomon, and he got up and went [to the tabernacle on Mt. Zion] and took hold of the horns of the altar [seeking asylum]. ⁵¹ Now Solomon was told, “Behold, Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon, and behold, he has grasped the horns of the altar [seeking God’s protection], saying, ‘King Solomon must swear to me today that he will not kill his servant with the sword.’” ⁵² Solomon said, “If he [proves he] is a worthy man, not even one of his hairs shall fall to the ground; but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.” ⁵³ So King Solomon sent [soldiers], and they brought Adonijah down from the altar [that was in front of the tabernacle]. And he came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”

Peter and John Arrested

4 And while Peter and John were talking to the people, the priests and the captain [who was in charge of the temple area and] of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, ² being extremely disturbed and thoroughly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in [the case of] Jesus the resurrection of the dead. ³ So they arrested them and put them in jail until the next day, because it was evening. ⁴ But many of those who heard the message [of salvation] believed [in Jesus and accepted Him as the Christ]. And the number of the men came to be about 5,000.

⁵ On the next day, their magistrates and elders and scribes (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) were gathered together in Jerusalem; ⁶ and ^[a]Annas the high priest was there, and ^[b]Caiaphas and ^[c]John and Alexander, and all others who were of high-priestly descent. ⁷ When they had put the men in ^[d]front of them, they repeatedly asked, “By what sort of power, or in what name [that is, by what kind of authority], did you do this [healing]?” ⁸ Then Peter, filled with [the power of] the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people [members of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Court], ⁹ if we are being put on trial today [to interrogate us] for a good deed done to [benefit] a disabled man, as to how this man has been restored to health, ¹⁰ let it be known and clearly understood by all of you, and by all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you [demanded be] crucified [by the Romans and], whom God raised from the dead—in this name [that is, by the authority and power of Jesus] this man stands here before you in good health. ¹¹ This Jesus is the stone which was despised and rejected by you, the builders, but which became the ^[e]chief Cornerstone.^{(A) 12} And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among people by which we must be saved [for God has provided the world no alternative for salvation].”

Threat and Release

¹³ Now when the men of the Sanhedrin (Jewish High Court) saw the confidence and boldness of Peter and John, and grasped the fact that they were ^[f]uneducated and untrained [ordinary] men, they were astounded, and began to recognize that they had been with Jesus. ¹⁴ And seeing the man who had been healed standing there with them, they had nothing to say in reply. ¹⁵ But after ordering them to step out of the Council [chamber], they began to confer among themselves, ¹⁶ saying, “What are we to do with these men? For the fact that an extraordinary miracle has taken place through them is public knowledge and clearly evident to all the residents of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. ¹⁷ But to keep it from spreading further among the people and the nation, let us [sternly] warn them not to speak again to anyone in this name.” ¹⁸ So they sent for them, and commanded them not to speak [as His representatives] or teach at all in the name of Jesus [using Him as their authority]. ¹⁹ But Peter and John replied to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you and obey you rather than God, you must judge [for yourselves]; ²⁰ for we, on our part, cannot stop telling [people] about what we have seen and heard.” ²¹ When the rulers and Council members had threatened them further, they let them go, finding no way to punish them because [of their fear] of the people, for they were all praising and glorifying and honoring God for what had happened; ²² for the man to whom this sign (attesting miracle) of healing had happened was more than forty years old.

²³ After Peter and John were released, they returned to their own [people] and reported everything that the chief priests and elders had said to them. ²⁴ And when they heard it, they raised their voices together to God and said, “O Sovereign Lord [having complete power and authority], it is You who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything that is in them,^{(B) 25} who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David, Your servant, said,

²⁷ For in this city there were gathered together against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, ²⁸ to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined [before the creation of the world] to occur [and so without knowing it, they served Your own purpose]. ²⁹ And now, Lord, observe their threats [take them into account] and grant that Your bond-servants may declare Your message [of salvation] with great confidence, ³⁰ while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders (attesting miracles) take place through the name [and the authority and power] of Your holy Servant and Son Jesus.” ³¹ And when they had prayed, the place where they were meeting together was shaken [a sign of God’s presence]; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness and courage.

Sharing among Believers

³² Now the company of believers was of one heart and soul, and not one [of them] claimed that anything belonging to him was [exclusively] his own, but everything was common property and for the use of all. ³³ And with great ability and power the apostles were continuously testifying to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace [God’s remarkable lovingkindness and favor and goodwill] rested richly upon them all. ³⁴ There was not a needy person among them, because those who were owners of land or houses were selling them, and bringing the proceeds of the sales ³⁵ and placing the money down at the apostles’ feet. Then it was distributed to each as anyone had need.

³⁶ Now Joseph, a Levite and native of Cyprus, who was surnamed ^[g]Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement), ³⁷ sold a field belonging to him and brought the money and set it at the apostles’ feet.

Praise for Rescue from Enemies.

A Song of ^[a]Ascents. Of David.

²⁴ Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; then Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, ²⁵ Shammah of Harod, Elika of Harod, ²⁶ Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh of Tekoa, ²⁷ Abiezer of Anathoth, Mebunnai the Hushathite, ²⁸ Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai of Netophah, ²⁹ Heleb the son of Baanah of Netophah, Ittai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the Benjamites, ³⁰ Benaiah of Pirathon, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash, ³¹ Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite, ³² Eliahba of Shaalbon, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, ³³ Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Ararite, ³⁴ Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai the son of Maacah, Eliam the son of Ahithophel of Giloh, ³⁵ Hezro (Hezrai) of Carmel, Paarai the Arbite, ³⁶ Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, ³⁷ Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai of Beeroth, armor bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah, ³⁸ Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ³⁹ Uriah the Hittite—thirty-seven in all.

The Census Taken

24 Now again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and ^[a]He incited David against them to say, “Go, ^[b]count [the people of] Israel and Judah.” ² So the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, “Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan [in the north] to Beersheba [in the south], and conduct a census of the people, so that I may know the number of the people.” ³ But Joab said to the king, “May the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as there are, and let the eyes of my lord the king see it; but why does my lord the king ^[c]want to do this thing?” ⁴ Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So they went from the king’s presence to take a census of the people of Israel. ⁵ They crossed over the Jordan and camped in Aroer, on the south side of the city which is in the middle of the river valley [of the Arnon] toward Gad, and on toward Jazer. ⁶ Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi, and they came to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon, ⁷ and they came to the stronghold of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites, and they went out to the south of Judah, to Beersheba. ⁸ So when they had gone about through all the land [taking the census], they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. ⁹ And Joab gave the sum of the census of the people to the king. In Israel there were 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000.

¹⁰ But David’s heart (conscience) troubled him after he had counted the people. David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the sin of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” ¹¹ When David got up in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, ¹² “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, “I am giving you three choices; select one of them for yourself, and I will do it to you.”’” ¹³ So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your enemies as they pursue you? Or shall there be three days of pestilence (plague) in your land? Now consider this and decide what answer I shall return to Him who sent me.” ¹⁴ Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hands of man.”

Pestilence Sent

¹⁵ So the Lord sent a pestilence (plague) [lasting three days] upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand men of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. ¹⁶ When the [avenging] angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the disaster and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “It is enough! Now relax your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. ¹⁷ When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he spoke to the Lord and said, “Behold, I [alone] am the one who has sinned and done wrong; but these sheep (people of Israel), what have they done [to deserve this]? Please let Your hand be [only] against me and my father’s house (family).”

David Builds an Altar

¹⁸ Then Gad [the prophet] came to David that day and said to him, “Go up, set up an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite [where you saw the angel].” ¹⁹ So David went up according to Gad’s word, as the Lord commanded. ²⁰ Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants crossing over toward him; and he went out and bowed before the king with his face toward the ground. ²¹ Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the Lord, so that the plague may be held back from the people.” ²² Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. Look, here are oxen for the burnt offering, and threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. ²³ All of this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God be favorable to you.” ²⁴ But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will certainly buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing.” So David purchased the ^[d]threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. ²⁵ David built an altar to the Lord there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was moved [to compassion] by [David’s] prayer for the land, and the plague was held back from Israel.

Healing the Lame Beggar

3 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.), ² and a man who had been unable to walk from birth was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at that gate of the temple which is called ^[a]Beautiful, so that he could beg alms from those entering the temple. ³ So when he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking [them] for coins. ⁴ But Peter, along with John, stared at him intently and said, “Look at us!” ⁵ And the man began to pay attention to them, eagerly expecting to receive something from them. ⁶ But Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have; but what I do have I give to you: In the name (authority, power) of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—[begin now to] walk and go on walking!” ⁷ Then he seized the man’s right hand with a firm grip and raised him up. And at once his feet and ankles became strong and steady, ⁸ and with a leap he stood up and began to walk; and he went into the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. ⁹ All the people saw him walking and praising God; ¹⁰ and they recognized him as the very man who usually sat begging for coins at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement and were mystified at what had happened to him.

Peter’s Second Sermon

¹¹ Now while he was still holding on to Peter and John, all the people, utterly amazed, ran together and crowded around them at the covered porch called Solomon’s portico. ¹² And Peter, seeing this, said to the people, “You men of Israel, why are you amazed at this? Why are you staring at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? ¹³ The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Servant and Son Jesus [doing Him this honor], the One whom you handed over and disowned and rejected before Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.^{(A) 14} But you disowned and denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for [the pardon of] a murderer to be granted to you. ¹⁵ But you killed the Prince (Author, Originator, Source) of life, whom God raised [bodily] from the dead. To this [fact] we are witnesses [for we have seen the risen Christ]. ¹⁶ And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health and complete wholeness in your presence.

¹⁷ “Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance [not fully aware of what you were doing], just as your rulers did also. ¹⁸ And so God has fulfilled what He foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ (Messiah, Anointed) would suffer. ¹⁹ So repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret past sins] and return [to God—seek His purpose for your life], so that your sins may be wiped away [blotted out, completely erased], so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord [restoring you like a cool wind on a hot day]; ²⁰ and that He may send [to you] Jesus, the Christ, who has been appointed for you, ²¹ whom heaven must keep until the time for the [complete] restoration of all things about which God promised through the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. ²² Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a Prophet ^[b]like me from your countrymen; you shall listen to Him and obey everything He tells you. ²³ And it will be that every person that does not listen to and heed that Prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.’^{(B) 24} Indeed, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also announced these days. ²⁵ You are the sons (descendants) of the prophets and [heirs] of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed (descendant) all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’^{(C) 26} It was for you first of all that God raised up His Servant and Son [Jesus], and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”^(D)

Prayer for the Lord’s Help.

A Song of ^[a]Ascents.