1 Kings 9
God’s Promise and Warning
aNow it came about when Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord, and bthe king’s house, and call that Solomon desired to do, 2 that athe Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 The Lord said to him, “aI have heard your prayer and your supplication, which you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built bby putting My name there forever, and cMy eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. 4 As for you, aif you will walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you and will keep My statutes and My ordinances, 5 then aI will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I promised to your father David, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’
6 “aBut if you or your sons indeed turn away from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 7 athen I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and bthe house which I have consecrated for My name, I will cast out of My sight. So cIsrael will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 8 And this house will become aa heap of ruins; everyone who passes by will be astonished and hiss and say, ‘bWhy has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ 9 And they will say, ‘aBecause they forsook the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them, therefore the Lord has brought all this adversity on them.’”
Cities Given to Hiram
10 aIt came about bat the end of twenty years in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king’s house 11 (Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber and gold according to all his desire), then King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. 12 So Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they did not please him. 13 He said, “What are these cities which you have given me, my brother?” So they were called the land of aCabul to this day. 14 aAnd Hiram sent to the king 120 talents of gold.
15 Now this is the account of the forced labor which King Solomon alevied to build the house of the Lord, his own house, the bMillo, the wall of Jerusalem, cHazor, dMegiddo, and eGezer. 16 For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and killed the aCanaanites who lived in the city, and had bgiven it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. 17 So Solomon rebuilt Gezer and the lower aBeth-horon 18 and aBaalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah, 19 and all the storage cities which Solomon had, even athe cities for his chariots and the cities for bhis horsemen, and call that it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land under his rule. 20 As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, who were not of the sons of Israel, 21 atheir descendants who were left after them in the land bwhom the sons of Israel were unable to destroy utterly, cfrom them Solomon levied dforced laborers, even to this day. 22 But Solomon adid not make slaves of the sons of Israel; for they were men of war, his servants, his princes, his captains, his chariot commanders, and his horsemen.
23 These were the achief officers who were over Solomon’s work, five hundred and fifty, bwho ruled over the people doing the work.
24 As soon as aPharaoh’s daughter came up from the city of David to her house which Solomon had built for her, bthen he built the Millo.
25 Now athree times in a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he built to the Lord, burning incense with them on the altar which was before the Lord. So he finished the house.
26 King Solomon also built a afleet of ships in bEzion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. 27 aAnd Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon. 28 They went to aOphir and took four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.
2 Chronicles 8
Solomon’s Activities and Accomplishments
aNow it came about at the end of the twenty years in which Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house 2 that he built the cities which Huram had given to him, and settled the sons of Israel there.
3 Then Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and captured it. 4 He built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the storage cities which he had built in Hamath. 5 He also built upper aBeth-horon and lower Beth-horon, bfortified cities with walls, gates and bars; 6 and Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for his chariots and cities for his horsemen, and all that it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land under his rule.
7 aAll of the people who were left of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel, 8 namely, from their descendants who were left after them in the land whom the sons of Israel had not destroyed, athem Solomon raised as forced laborers to this day. 9 But Solomon did not make slaves for his work from the sons of Israel; they were men of war, his chief captains and commanders of his chariots and his horsemen. 10 These were the chief officers of King Solomon, two hundred and fifty who ruled over the people.
11 aThen Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the city of David to the house which he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy where the ark of the Lord has entered.”
12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on athe altar of the Lord which he had built before the porch; 13 and adid so according to the daily rule, offering them up baccording to the commandment of Moses, for cthe sabbaths, dthe new moons and the ethree annual feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Booths.
14 Now according to the ordinance of his father David, he appointed athe divisions of the priests for their service, and bthe Levites for their duties of praise and ministering before the priests according to the daily rule, and cthe gatekeepers by their divisions at every gate; for dDavid the man of God had so commanded. 15 And they did not depart from the commandment of the king to the priests and Levites in any manner or concerning the storehouses.
16 Thus all the work of Solomon was carried out from the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord, and until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was completed.
17 Then Solomon went to aEzion-geber and to bEloth on the seashore in the land of Edom. 18 And Huram by his servants sent him ships and servants who knew the sea; and they went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir, and atook from there four hundred and fifty talents of gold and brought them to King Solomon.
1 Timothy 5
Honor Widows
aDo not sharply rebuke an bolder man, but rather appeal to him as a father, to cthe younger men as brothers, 2 the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters, in all purity.
3 Honor widows who are awidows indeed; 4 but if any widow has children or grandchildren, athey must first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family and to make some return to their parents; for this is bacceptable in the sight of God. 5 Now she who is a awidow indeed and who has been left alone, bhas fixed her hope on God and continues in centreaties and prayers night and day. 6 But she who agives herself to wanton pleasure is bdead even while she lives. 7 aPrescribe these things as well, so that they may be above reproach. 8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has adenied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
9 A widow is to be aput on the list only if she is not less than sixty years old, having been bthe wife of one man, 10 having a reputation for agood works; and if she has brought up children, if she has bshown hospitality to strangers, if she chas washed the saints’ feet, if she has dassisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work. 11 But refuse to put younger widows on the list, for when they feel asensual desires in disregard of Christ, they want to get married, 12 thus incurring condemnation, because they have set aside their previous pledge. 13 At the same time they also learn to be idle, as they go around from house to house; and not merely idle, but also agossips and bbusybodies, talking about cthings not proper to mention. 14 Therefore, I want younger widows to get amarried, bear children, bkeep house, and cgive the enemy no occasion for reproach; 15 for some ahave already turned aside to follow bSatan. 16 If any woman who is a believer ahas dependent widows, she must bassist them and the church must not be burdened, so that it may assist those who are cwidows indeed.
Concerning Elders
17 aThe elders who brule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who cwork hard at preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “aYou shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,” and “bThe laborer is worthy of his wages.” 19 Do not receive an accusation against an aelder except on the basis of btwo or three witnesses. 20 Those who continue in sin, arebuke in the presence of all, bso that the rest also will be fearful of sinning. 21 aI solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality. 22 aDo not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share bresponsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin.
23 No longer drink water exclusively, but ause a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.
24 The sins of some men are quite evident, going before them to judgment; for others, their sins afollow after. 25 Likewise also, deeds that are good are quite evident, and athose which are otherwise cannot be concealed.
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