1 Then Solomon, the son of David, was strengthened in his reign, and the Lord his God was with him, and he magnified him on high.
2 And Solomon instructed the whole of Israel, the tribunes, and the centurions, and the rulers, and the judges over all of Israel, and the leaders of the families.
3 And he went away with the entire multitude to the high place of Gibeon, where the tabernacle of the covenant of the Lord was, which Moses, the servant of God, made in the wilderness.
4 For David had brought the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim, to the place that he had prepared for it, and where he had pitched a tabernacle for it, that is, in Jerusalem.
5 Also, the altar of brass, which Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had constructed, was there before the tabernacle of the Lord. And so Solomon sought it, with the entire assembly.
6 And Solomon ascended to the bronze altar, before the tabernacle of the covenant of the Lord, and he offered upon it one thousand victims.
7 But behold, during that night God appeared to him, saying, “Request what you wish, so that I may give it to you.”
8 And Solomon said to God: “You have shown great mercy to my father David. And you have appointed me as king in his place.
9 Now therefore, O Lord God, let your word be fulfilled, which you promised to my father David. For you have made me king over your great people, who are as innumerable as the dust of the earth.
10 Give to me wisdom and understanding, so that I may enter and depart before your people. For who is able worthily to judge this, your people, who are so great?”
11 Then God said to Solomon: “Since this is the choice that pleased your heart, and you did not request wealth and substance and glory, nor the lives of those who hate you, nor even many days of life, since instead you requested wisdom and knowledge so that you may be able to judge my people, over whom I have appointed you as king:
12 wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. And I will give to you wealth and substance and glory, so that none of the kings either before you or after you will be similar to you.”
13 Then Solomon went from the high place of Gibeon to Jerusalem, before the tabernacle of the covenant, and he reigned over Israel.
14 And he gathered to himself chariots and horsemen. And they brought to him one thousand four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. And he caused them to be in the cities of the chariots, and with the king in Jerusalem.
15 And the king offered silver and gold in Jerusalem as if they were stones, and cedar trees as if they were sycamores, which grow in the plains in a great multitude.
16 Then horses were brought to him from Egypt and from Kue, by the negotiators of the king, who went and bought for a price:
17 a four-horse chariot for six hundred pieces of silver, and a horse for one hundred fifty. A similar offer to purchase was made known among all the kingdoms of the Hittites, and among the kings of Syria.
1 And Solomon resolved to build a house to the name of the Lord, and a palace for himself.
2 And he numbered seventy thousand men to carry upon shoulders, and eighty thousand who were hewing stones in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred as their overseers.
3 Also, he sent to Hiram, the king of Tyre, saying: “Just as you did for my father David, when you sent him cedar wood, so that he might build a house for himself, in which he then lived,
4 do so also for me, so that I may build a house to the name of the Lord my God, so that I may consecrate it for the burning of incense before him, and for the smoke of aromatics, and for the perpetual bread of the presence, and for the holocausts, in morning and in evening, as well as on the Sabbaths and new moons and solemnities of the Lord our God forever, which have been commanded to Israel.
5 For the house that I desire to build is great. For our God is great, above all gods.
6 So then, who will be able prevail, so that he may build a worthy house for him? If heaven and the heavens of heavens cannot contain him, what am I that I would be able to build a house to him? But let it be for this only, so that incense may be burned before him.
7 Therefore, send to me a learned man, who knows how to work with gold and silver, with brass and iron, with purple, scarlet, and hyacinth, and who knows how to carve engravings, along with these artisans that I have with me in Judea and Jerusalem, whom my father David has prepared.
8 Then too, send to me cedar wood, and juniper, and pine from Lebanon. For I know that your servants know how to cut timber from Lebanon, and my servants will be with your servants,
9 so that very much wood may be prepared for me. For the house that I desire to build is exceedingly great and glorious.
10 In addition, I will give to your servants, the workers who will cut down the trees, for provisions: twenty thousand cor of wheat, and the same number of cor of barley, and twenty thousand measures of wine, as well as twenty thousand good measures of oil.”
11 Then Hiram, the king of Tyre, said, by a letter that had been sent to Solomon: “Because the Lord loved his people, for this reason he appointed you to reign over them.”
12 And he added, saying: “Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who gave to king David a son who is wise, and learned, and intelligent as well as prudent, so that he may build a house to the Lord, and a palace for himself.
13 Therefore, I have sent my father Hiram to you; he is a prudent and very knowledgeable man,
14 the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan, whose father was a Tyrian, who knows how to work with gold and silver, with brass and iron, and with marble and timber, as well as with purple, and hyacinth, and fine linen, and scarlet. And he knows how to carve every kind of engraving, and how to devise prudently whatever may be necessary to the work, with your artisans and with the artisans of my lord David, your father.
15 Therefore, send the wheat and barley and oil and wine, which you, my lord, have promised, to your own servants.
16 Then we will cut down as much wood from Lebanon as you will need, and we will convey them as rafts by sea to Joppa. Then it will be for you to transfer them to Jerusalem.”
17 And so Solomon numbered all the new converts who were in the land of Israel, after the numbering that David his father had done, and they were found to be one hundred fifty thousand and three thousand six hundred.
18 And he appointed seventy thousand of them, who would carry burdens on shoulders, and eighty thousand who would hew stones in the mountains, then three thousand and six hundred as overseers of the work of the people.
1 And Solomon began to build the house of the Lord, in Jerusalem on mount Moriah, as it had been shown to David his father, at the place which David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
2 Now he began to build in the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.
3 And these are the foundations, which Solomon set forth so that he might build the house of God: the length in cubits by the first measure sixty, the width in cubits twenty.
4 Truly, at the front, the portico, which was extended in length according to the measure of the width of the house, was of twenty cubits. Then the height was of one hundred twenty cubits. And he overlaid it on the interior with the purest gold.
5 Also, he covered the greater house with wooden panels of spruce, and he affixed layers of refined gold through it all. And he engraved in them palm trees, and the likeness of little chains interlaced with one another.
6 Also, he paved the floor of the temple with the most precious marble, of great beauty.
7 Now the gold, with which he covered in layers the house and its beams and posts and walls and doors, was highly refined. And he engraved cherubim on the walls.
8 Also, he made the house of the Holy of Holies. Its length, in accord with the width of the temple, was of twenty cubits. And its width, similarly, was of twenty cubits. And he covered it with layers of gold, of about six hundred talents.
9 Then he also made nails of gold, such that each nail weighed fifty shekels. Also, he covered the upper rooms in gold.
10 Now he also made, in the house of the Holy of Holies, two cherubim as a work of statues. And he covered them with gold.
11 The wings of the cherubim extended for twenty cubits, such that one wing had five cubits and it touched the wall of the house, and the other, having five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub.
12 Similarly, the wing of the other cherub was five cubits, and it touched the wall, and his other wing of five cubits also touched the wing of the other cherub.
13 And so the wings of both cherubim were stretched out and extended for twenty cubits. Now they were standing upright on their feet, and their faces were turned toward the exterior house.
14 Also, he made a veil from hyacinth, purple, scarlet, and fine linen. And he wove within it cherubim.
15 And also, before the doors of the temple, there were two pillars, having a height of thirty-five cubits. But their heads were of five cubits.
16 Then too, there were something like little chains on the oracle, and he placed these upon the heads of the pillars. And there were one hundred pomegranates, which he placed between the little chains.
17 Also, he placed these pillars in the vestibule of the temple, one to the right, and the other to the left. The one that was on the right, he called Jachin; and the one that was on the left, Boaz.
&
1 And so, from the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood firm, so that he might be reinforced and strengthened.
2 And now I will announce to you the truth. Behold, up to a certain point, three kings will stand in Persia, and the fourth will be exceedingly enriched in power above them all. And when he has grown strong by his resources, he will stir up all against the kingdom of Greece.
3 But there will rise up a strong king, and he will rule with great power, and he will do what he pleases.
4 And when he has been firmly established, his kingdom will be shattered and will be divided towards the four winds of the heaven, but not to his posterity, nor according to his power with which he ruled. For his kingdom will be torn to pieces, even for the outsiders who have been expelled from these.
5 And the king of the South will be reinforced, yet one of his leaders will prevail over him, and he will rule with riches, for great is his domain.
6 And after the end of years, they will form a federation, and the daughter of the king of the South will come to the king of the North to make friendship, but she will not obtain the strength of arms, neither will her offspring stand firm, and she will be handed over, along with those who brought her, her young men, and those who comforted her in these times.
7 And a transplant from the germination of her roots will stand up, and he will come with an army, and will enter into the province of the king of the North, and he will abuse them, and will hold it fast.
8 And, in addition, he will carry away captive into Egypt their gods, and their graven images, and likewise their precious vessels of gold and silver. He will prevail against the king of the North.
9 And the king of the South will enter into the kingdom, and will return to his own land.
10 But his sons will be challenged, and they will assemble a multitude of very many forces. And he will arrive rushing and overflowing. And he will be turned back, and he will be enraged, and he will join the battle in his redness.
11 And the king of the South, having being challenged, will go forth and will fight against the king of the North, and he will prepare an exceedingly great multitude, and a multitude will be given into his hand.
12 And he will seize a multitude, and his heart will be exalted, and he will cast down many thousands, but he will not prevail.
13 For the king of the North will change strategy and will prepare a multitude much greater than before, and at the end of times and years, he will rush forward with a great army and exceedingly great resources.
8 Sion heard, and was glad. And the daughters of Juda rejoiced, because of thy judgments, O Lord.
9 For thou art the most high Lord over all the earth: thou art exalted exceedingly above all gods.
10 You that love the Lord, hate evil: the Lord preserveth the souls of his saints, he will deliver them out of the hand of the sinner.
11 Light is risen to the just, and joy to the right of heart.
12 Rejoice, ye just, in the Lord: and give praise to the remembrance of his holiness.
1 Brothers, certainly the will of my heart, and my prayer to God, is for them unto salvation.
2 For I offer testimony to them, that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
3 For, being ignorant of the justice of God, and seeking to establish their own justice, they have not subjected themselves to the justice of God.
4 For the end of the law, Christ, is unto justice for all who believe.
5 And Moses wrote, about the justice that is of the law, that the man who will have done justice shall live by justice.
6 But the justice that is of faith speaks in this way: Do not say in your heart: “Who shall ascend into heaven?” (that is, to bring Christ down);
7 Or who shall descend into the abyss? (that is, to call back Christ from the dead).
8 But what does Scripture say? “The word is near, in your mouth and in your heart.” This is the word of faith, which we are preaching.
9 For if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and if you believe in your heart that God has raised him up from the dead, you shall be saved.
10 For with the heart, we believe unto justice; but with the mouth, confession is unto salvation.
11 For Scripture says: “All those who believe in him shall not be confounded.”
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord is over all, richly in all who call upon him.
13 For all those who have called upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
14 Then in what way will those who have not believed in him call upon him? Or in what way will those who have not heard of him believe in him? And in what way will they hear of him without preaching?
15 And truly, in what way will they preach, unless they have been sent, just as it has been written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who evangelize peace, of those who evangelize what is good!”
16 But not all are obedient to the Gospel. For Isaiah says: “Lord, who has believed our report?”
17 Therefore, faith is from hearing, and hearing is through the Word of Christ.
18 But I say: Have they not heard? For certainly: “Their sound has gone forth throughout all the earth, and their words unto the limits of the whole world.”
19 But I say: Has Israel not known? First, Moses says: “I will lead you into a rivalry with those who are not a nation; in the midst of a foolish nation, I will send you into wrath.”
20 And Isaiah dares to say: “I was discovered by those who were not seeking me. I appeared openly to those who were not asking about me.”
21 Then to Israel he says: “All day long I have stretched out my hands to a people who do not believe and who contradict me.”
