1 KINGS 5:1- 6:38
ACTS 7:1- 29
PSALM 127:1- 5
PROVERBS 16:28- 30
King Hiram of Tyre had always been a loyal friend of David, so when he learned that David's son Solomon was the new king of Israel, Hiram sent ambassadors to congratulate him. 2 Then Solomon sent this message back to Hiram:3 "You know that my father, David, was not able to build a Temple to honor the name of the LORD his God because of the many wars he waged with surrounding nations. He could not build until the LORD gave him victory over all his enemies. 4 But now the LORD my God has given me peace on every side, and I have no enemies and all is well. 5 So I am planning to build a Temple to honor the name of the LORD my God, just as he instructed my father that I should do. For the LORD told him, `Your son, whom I will place on your throne, will build the Temple to honor my name. '6 Now please command that cedars from Lebanon be cut for me. Let my men work alongside yours, and I will pay your men whatever wages you ask. As you know, there is no one among us who can cut timber like you Sidonians!" 7 When Hiram received Solomon's message, he was very pleased and said, "Praise the LORD for giving David a wise son to be king of the great nation of Israel." 8 Then he sent this reply to Solomon:"I have received your message, and I will do as you have asked concerning the timber. I can supply you with both cedar and cypress. 9 My servants will bring the logs from the Lebanon mountains to the Mediterranean Sea and build them into rafts. We will float them along the coast to whatever place you choose. Then we will break the rafts apart and deliver the timber to you. You can pay me with food for my household." 10 So Hiram produced for Solomon as much cedar and cypress timber as he desired. 11 In return Solomon sent him an annual payment of 100,000 bushels of wheat for his household and 110,000 gallons of olive oil. 12 So the LORD gave great wisdom to Solomon just as he had promised. And Hiram and Solomon made a formal alliance of peace. 13 Then King Solomon enlisted 30,000 laborers from all Israel. 14 He sent them to Lebanon in shifts, 10,000 every month, so that each man would be one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of this labor force. 15 Solomon also enlisted 70,000 common laborers, 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country, 16 and 3,600 foremen to supervise the work. 17 At the king's command, the stonecutters quarried and shaped costly blocks of stone for the foundation of the Temple. 18 Men from the city of Gebal helped Solomon's and Hiram's builders prepare the timber and stone for the Temple. 6:1 IT was in midspring, during the fourth year of Solomon's reign, that he began the construction of the Temple of the LORD. This was 480 years after the people of Israel were delivered from their slavery in the land of Egypt. 2 The Temple that King Solomon built for the LORD was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 3 The foyer at the front of the Temple was 30 feet wide, running across the entire width of the Temple. It projected outward 15 feet from the front of the Temple. 4 Solomon also made narrow, recessed windows throughout the Temple. 5 A complex of rooms was built against the outer walls of the Temple, all the way around the sides and rear of the building. 6 The complex was three stories high, the bottom floor being 7 feet wide, the second floor 9 feet wide, and the top floor 10 feet wide. The rooms were connected to the walls of the Temple by beams resting on ledges built out from the wall. So the beams were not inserted into the walls themselves. 7 The stones used in the construction of the Temple were prefinished at the quarry, so the entire structure was built without the sound of hammer, ax, or any other iron tool at the building site. 8 The entrance to the bottom floor was on the south side of the Temple. There were winding stairs going up to the second floor, and another flight of stairs between the second and third floors. 9 After completing the Temple structure, Solomon put in a ceiling made of beams and planks of cedar. 10 As already stated, there was a complex of rooms on three sides of the building, attached to the Temple walls by cedar timbers. Each story of the complex was 7 feet high. 11 Then the LORD gave this message to Solomon:12 "Concerning this Temple you are building, if you keep all my laws and regulations and obey all my commands, I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father, David. 13 I will live among the people of Israel and never forsake my people." 14 So Solomon finished building the Temple. 15 The entire inside, from floor to ceiling, was paneled with wood. He paneled the walls and ceilings with cedar, and he used cypress for the floors. 16 He partitioned off an inner sanctuary-- the Most Holy Place-- at the far end of the Temple. It was 30 feet deep and was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling. 17 The main room of the Temple, outside the Most Holy Place, was 60 feet long. 18 Cedar paneling completely covered the stone walls throughout the Temple, and the paneling was decorated with carvings of gourds and open flowers. 19 Solomon prepared the inner sanctuary in the rear of the Temple, where the Ark of the LORD's covenant would be placed. 20 This inner sanctuary was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. Solomon overlaid its walls and ceiling with pure gold. He also overlaid the altar made of cedar. 21 Then he overlaid the rest of the Temple's interior with pure gold, and he made gold chains to protect the entrance to the Most Holy Place. 22 So he finished overlaying the entire Temple with gold, including the altar that belonged to the Most Holy Place. 23 Within the inner sanctuary Solomon placed two cherubim made of olive wood, each 15 feet tall. 24 The wingspan of each of the cherubim was 15 feet, each wing being 7 feet long. 25 The two cherubim were identical in shape and size; 26 each was 15 feet tall. 27 Solomon placed them side by side in the inner sanctuary of the Temple. Their outspread wings reached from wall to wall, while their inner wings touched at the center of the room. 28 He overlaid the two cherubim with gold. 29 All the walls of the inner sanctuary and the main room were decorated with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. 30 The floor in both rooms was overlaid with gold. 31 For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, Solomon made double doors of olive wood with five- sided doorposts. 32 These doors were decorated with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and the doors were overlaid with gold. 33 Then he made four- sided doorposts of olive wood for the entrance to the Temple. 34 There were two folding doors of cypress wood, and each door was hinged to fold back upon itself. 35 These doors were decorated with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and the doors were overlaid with gold. 36 The walls of the inner courtyard were built so that there was one layer of cedar beams after every three layers of hewn stone. 37 The foundation of the LORD's Temple was laid in midspring of the fourth year of Solomon's reign. 38 The entire building was completed in every detail by midautumn of the eleventh year of his reign. So it took seven years to build the Temple.
Then the high priest asked Stephen, "Are these accusations true?" 2 This was Stephen's reply:"Brothers and honorable fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he moved to Haran. 3 God told him, `Leave your native land and your relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.' 4 So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died. Then God brought him here to the land where you now live. 5 But God gave him no inheritance here, not even one square foot of land. God did promise, however, that eventually the whole country would belong to Abraham and his descendants-- though he had no children yet. 6 But God also told him that his descendants would live in a foreign country where they would be mistreated as slaves for four hundred years. 7 `But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, 'God told him, `and in the end they will come out and worship me in this place.' 8 God also gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision at that time. And so Isaac, Abraham's son, was circumcised when he was eight days old. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob was the father of the twelve patriarchs of the Jewish nation. 9" These sons of Jacob were very jealous of their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him 10 and delivered him from his anguish. And God gave him favor before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom, so that Pharaoh appointed him governor over all of Egypt and put him in charge of all the affairs of the palace. 11 "But a famine came upon Egypt and Canaan. There was great misery for our ancestors, as they ran out of food. 12 Jacob heard that there was still grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons to buy some. 13 The second time they went, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and they were introduced to Pharaoh. 14 Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and all his relatives to come to Egypt, seventy- five persons in all. 15 So Jacob went to Egypt. He died there, as did all his sons. 16 All of them were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. 17" As the time drew near when God would fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased. 18 But then a new king came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph. 19 This king plotted against our people and forced parents to abandon their newborn babies so they would die. 20 "At that time Moses was born-- a beautiful child in God's eyes. His parents cared for him at home for three months. 21 When at last they had to abandon him, Pharaoh's daughter found him and raised him as her own son. 22 Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he became mighty in both speech and action. 23" One day when he was forty years old, he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel. 24 During this visit, he saw an Egyptian mistreating a man of Israel. So Moses came to his defense and avenged him, killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses assumed his brothers would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn't. 26 "The next day he visited them again and saw two men of Israel fighting. He tried to be a peacemaker. `Men, 'he said, `you are brothers. Why are you hurting each other?' 27" But the man in the wrong pushed Moses aside and told him to mind his own business. `Who made you a ruler and judge over us? 'he asked. 28 `Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?' 29 When Moses heard that, he fled the country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian, where his two sons were born. "
A song for the ascent to Jerusalem. A psalm of Solomon.
1 Unless the LORD builds a house,
the work of the builders is useless.
Unless the LORD protects a city,
guarding it with sentries will do no good.
2 It is useless for you to work so hard
from early morning until late at night,
anxiously working for food to eat;
for God gives rest to his loved ones.
3 Children are a gift from the LORD;
they are a reward from him.
4 Children born to a young man
are like sharp arrows in a warrior's hands.
5 How happy is the man whose quiver is full of them!
He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates.
A troublemaker plants seeds of strife; gossip separates the best of friends. Violent people deceive their companions, leading them down a harmful path. With narrowed eyes, they plot evil; without a word, they plan their mischief
ACTS 7:1- 29
PSALM 127:1- 5
PROVERBS 16:28- 30
King Hiram of Tyre had always been a loyal friend of David, so when he learned that David's son Solomon was the new king of Israel, Hiram sent ambassadors to congratulate him. 2 Then Solomon sent this message back to Hiram:3 "You know that my father, David, was not able to build a Temple to honor the name of the LORD his God because of the many wars he waged with surrounding nations. He could not build until the LORD gave him victory over all his enemies. 4 But now the LORD my God has given me peace on every side, and I have no enemies and all is well. 5 So I am planning to build a Temple to honor the name of the LORD my God, just as he instructed my father that I should do. For the LORD told him, `Your son, whom I will place on your throne, will build the Temple to honor my name. '6 Now please command that cedars from Lebanon be cut for me. Let my men work alongside yours, and I will pay your men whatever wages you ask. As you know, there is no one among us who can cut timber like you Sidonians!" 7 When Hiram received Solomon's message, he was very pleased and said, "Praise the LORD for giving David a wise son to be king of the great nation of Israel." 8 Then he sent this reply to Solomon:"I have received your message, and I will do as you have asked concerning the timber. I can supply you with both cedar and cypress. 9 My servants will bring the logs from the Lebanon mountains to the Mediterranean Sea and build them into rafts. We will float them along the coast to whatever place you choose. Then we will break the rafts apart and deliver the timber to you. You can pay me with food for my household." 10 So Hiram produced for Solomon as much cedar and cypress timber as he desired. 11 In return Solomon sent him an annual payment of 100,000 bushels of wheat for his household and 110,000 gallons of olive oil. 12 So the LORD gave great wisdom to Solomon just as he had promised. And Hiram and Solomon made a formal alliance of peace. 13 Then King Solomon enlisted 30,000 laborers from all Israel. 14 He sent them to Lebanon in shifts, 10,000 every month, so that each man would be one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of this labor force. 15 Solomon also enlisted 70,000 common laborers, 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country, 16 and 3,600 foremen to supervise the work. 17 At the king's command, the stonecutters quarried and shaped costly blocks of stone for the foundation of the Temple. 18 Men from the city of Gebal helped Solomon's and Hiram's builders prepare the timber and stone for the Temple. 6:1 IT was in midspring, during the fourth year of Solomon's reign, that he began the construction of the Temple of the LORD. This was 480 years after the people of Israel were delivered from their slavery in the land of Egypt. 2 The Temple that King Solomon built for the LORD was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 3 The foyer at the front of the Temple was 30 feet wide, running across the entire width of the Temple. It projected outward 15 feet from the front of the Temple. 4 Solomon also made narrow, recessed windows throughout the Temple. 5 A complex of rooms was built against the outer walls of the Temple, all the way around the sides and rear of the building. 6 The complex was three stories high, the bottom floor being 7 feet wide, the second floor 9 feet wide, and the top floor 10 feet wide. The rooms were connected to the walls of the Temple by beams resting on ledges built out from the wall. So the beams were not inserted into the walls themselves. 7 The stones used in the construction of the Temple were prefinished at the quarry, so the entire structure was built without the sound of hammer, ax, or any other iron tool at the building site. 8 The entrance to the bottom floor was on the south side of the Temple. There were winding stairs going up to the second floor, and another flight of stairs between the second and third floors. 9 After completing the Temple structure, Solomon put in a ceiling made of beams and planks of cedar. 10 As already stated, there was a complex of rooms on three sides of the building, attached to the Temple walls by cedar timbers. Each story of the complex was 7 feet high. 11 Then the LORD gave this message to Solomon:12 "Concerning this Temple you are building, if you keep all my laws and regulations and obey all my commands, I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father, David. 13 I will live among the people of Israel and never forsake my people." 14 So Solomon finished building the Temple. 15 The entire inside, from floor to ceiling, was paneled with wood. He paneled the walls and ceilings with cedar, and he used cypress for the floors. 16 He partitioned off an inner sanctuary-- the Most Holy Place-- at the far end of the Temple. It was 30 feet deep and was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling. 17 The main room of the Temple, outside the Most Holy Place, was 60 feet long. 18 Cedar paneling completely covered the stone walls throughout the Temple, and the paneling was decorated with carvings of gourds and open flowers. 19 Solomon prepared the inner sanctuary in the rear of the Temple, where the Ark of the LORD's covenant would be placed. 20 This inner sanctuary was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. Solomon overlaid its walls and ceiling with pure gold. He also overlaid the altar made of cedar. 21 Then he overlaid the rest of the Temple's interior with pure gold, and he made gold chains to protect the entrance to the Most Holy Place. 22 So he finished overlaying the entire Temple with gold, including the altar that belonged to the Most Holy Place. 23 Within the inner sanctuary Solomon placed two cherubim made of olive wood, each 15 feet tall. 24 The wingspan of each of the cherubim was 15 feet, each wing being 7 feet long. 25 The two cherubim were identical in shape and size; 26 each was 15 feet tall. 27 Solomon placed them side by side in the inner sanctuary of the Temple. Their outspread wings reached from wall to wall, while their inner wings touched at the center of the room. 28 He overlaid the two cherubim with gold. 29 All the walls of the inner sanctuary and the main room were decorated with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. 30 The floor in both rooms was overlaid with gold. 31 For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, Solomon made double doors of olive wood with five- sided doorposts. 32 These doors were decorated with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and the doors were overlaid with gold. 33 Then he made four- sided doorposts of olive wood for the entrance to the Temple. 34 There were two folding doors of cypress wood, and each door was hinged to fold back upon itself. 35 These doors were decorated with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and the doors were overlaid with gold. 36 The walls of the inner courtyard were built so that there was one layer of cedar beams after every three layers of hewn stone. 37 The foundation of the LORD's Temple was laid in midspring of the fourth year of Solomon's reign. 38 The entire building was completed in every detail by midautumn of the eleventh year of his reign. So it took seven years to build the Temple.
Then the high priest asked Stephen, "Are these accusations true?" 2 This was Stephen's reply:"Brothers and honorable fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he moved to Haran. 3 God told him, `Leave your native land and your relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.' 4 So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died. Then God brought him here to the land where you now live. 5 But God gave him no inheritance here, not even one square foot of land. God did promise, however, that eventually the whole country would belong to Abraham and his descendants-- though he had no children yet. 6 But God also told him that his descendants would live in a foreign country where they would be mistreated as slaves for four hundred years. 7 `But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, 'God told him, `and in the end they will come out and worship me in this place.' 8 God also gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision at that time. And so Isaac, Abraham's son, was circumcised when he was eight days old. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob was the father of the twelve patriarchs of the Jewish nation. 9" These sons of Jacob were very jealous of their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him 10 and delivered him from his anguish. And God gave him favor before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom, so that Pharaoh appointed him governor over all of Egypt and put him in charge of all the affairs of the palace. 11 "But a famine came upon Egypt and Canaan. There was great misery for our ancestors, as they ran out of food. 12 Jacob heard that there was still grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons to buy some. 13 The second time they went, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and they were introduced to Pharaoh. 14 Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and all his relatives to come to Egypt, seventy- five persons in all. 15 So Jacob went to Egypt. He died there, as did all his sons. 16 All of them were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. 17" As the time drew near when God would fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased. 18 But then a new king came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph. 19 This king plotted against our people and forced parents to abandon their newborn babies so they would die. 20 "At that time Moses was born-- a beautiful child in God's eyes. His parents cared for him at home for three months. 21 When at last they had to abandon him, Pharaoh's daughter found him and raised him as her own son. 22 Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he became mighty in both speech and action. 23" One day when he was forty years old, he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel. 24 During this visit, he saw an Egyptian mistreating a man of Israel. So Moses came to his defense and avenged him, killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses assumed his brothers would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn't. 26 "The next day he visited them again and saw two men of Israel fighting. He tried to be a peacemaker. `Men, 'he said, `you are brothers. Why are you hurting each other?' 27" But the man in the wrong pushed Moses aside and told him to mind his own business. `Who made you a ruler and judge over us? 'he asked. 28 `Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?' 29 When Moses heard that, he fled the country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian, where his two sons were born. "
A song for the ascent to Jerusalem. A psalm of Solomon.
1 Unless the LORD builds a house,
the work of the builders is useless.
Unless the LORD protects a city,
guarding it with sentries will do no good.
2 It is useless for you to work so hard
from early morning until late at night,
anxiously working for food to eat;
for God gives rest to his loved ones.
3 Children are a gift from the LORD;
they are a reward from him.
4 Children born to a young man
are like sharp arrows in a warrior's hands.
5 How happy is the man whose quiver is full of them!
He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates.
A troublemaker plants seeds of strife; gossip separates the best of friends. Violent people deceive their companions, leading them down a harmful path. With narrowed eyes, they plot evil; without a word, they plan their mischief
