Elijah. Man of Courage, Man of Faith, Man of God.

The Gospel of Mark (Part Seven)

Fully Devoted

Solitude & Silence

Cast Your Care

Shatter the Stigma

The Benefit of Doubt: How Confronting Your Deepest Questions Can Lead to a Richer Faith

Prepare to Quit Alcohol

The Bible for Young Explorers: Exodus

Charis Bible College Fall Bible Reading Plan

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1KI">
 <div class="chapter ch6" data-usfm="1KI.6">
 <div class="label">6</div><div class="s1">Solomon Builds the Temple</div><div class="p"> 1In the four hundred and eightieth#6:1 Hebrew; Septuagint four hundred and fortieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon&#8217;s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the Lord.</div><div class="p"> 2The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high.#6:2 That is, about 90 feet long, 30 feet wide and 45 feet high or about 27 meters long, 9 meters wide and 14 meters high 3The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits,#6:3 That is, about 30 feet or about 9 meters; also in verses 16 and 20 and projected ten cubits#6:3 That is, about 15 feet or about 4.5 meters; also in verses 23-26 from the front of the temple. 4He made narrow windows high up in the temple walls. 5Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms. 6The lowest floor was five cubits#6:6 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters; also in verses 10 and 24 wide, the middle floor six cubits#6:6 That is, about 9 feet or about 2.7 meters and the third floor seven.#6:6 That is, about 11 feet or about 3.2 meters He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls.</div><div class="p"> 7In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built.</div><div class="p"> 8The entrance to the lowest#6:8 Septuagint; Hebrew middle floor was on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third. 9So he built the temple and completed it, roofing it with beams and cedar planks. 10And he built the side rooms all along the temple. The height of each was five cubits, and they were attached to the temple by beams of cedar.</div><div class="p"> 11The word of the Lord came to Solomon: 12&#8220;As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father. 13And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 14So Solomon built the temple and completed it. 15He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and covered the floor of the temple with planks of juniper. 16He partitioned off twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. 17The main hall in front of this room was forty cubits#6:17 That is, about 60 feet or about 18 meters long. 18The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen.</div><div class="p"> 19He prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the Lord there. 20The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty wide and twenty high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar. 21Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold. 22So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.</div><div class="p"> 23For the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim out of olive wood, each ten cubits high. 24One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing five cubits&#8212;ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip. 25The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in size and shape. 26The height of each cherub was ten cubits. 27He placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. 28He overlaid the cherubim with gold.</div><div class="p"> 29On the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers. 30He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold.</div><div class="p"> 31For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors out of olive wood that were one fifth of the width of the sanctuary. 32And on the two olive-wood doors he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold. 33In the same way, for the entrance to the main hall he made doorframes out of olive wood that were one fourth of the width of the hall. 34He also made two doors out of juniper wood, each having two leaves that turned in sockets. 35He carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings.</div><div class="p"> 36And he built the inner courtyard of three courses of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams.</div><div class="p"> 37The foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv. 38In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple was finished in all its details according to its specifications. He had spent seven years building it.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1KI">
 <div class="chapter ch9" data-usfm="1KI.9">
 <div class="label">9</div><div class="s1">The Lord Appears to Solomon</div><div class="p"> 1When Solomon had finished building the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do, 2the Lord appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3The Lord said to him:</div><div class="pm">&#8220;I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.</div><div class="pm"> 4&#8220;As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, 5I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, &#8216;You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.&#8217;</div><div class="pm"> 6&#8220;But if you#9:6 The Hebrew is plural. or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you#9:6 The Hebrew is plural. and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 7then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 8This temple will become a heap of rubble. All#9:8 See some Septuagint manuscripts, Old Latin, Syriac, Arabic and Targum; Hebrew And though this temple is now imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, &#8216;Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?&#8217; 9People will answer, &#8216;Because they have forsaken the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them&#8212;that is why the Lord brought all this disaster on them.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Solomon&#8217;s Other Activities</div><div class="p"> 10At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built these two buildings&#8212;the temple of the Lord and the royal palace&#8212; 11King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, because Hiram had supplied him with all the cedar and juniper and gold he wanted. 12But when Hiram went from Tyre to see the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. 13&#8220;What kind of towns are these you have given me, my brother?&#8221; he asked. And he called them the Land of Kabul,#9:13 Kabul sounds like the Hebrew for good-for-nothing. a name they have to this day. 14Now Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents#9:14 That is, about 4 1/2 tons or about 4 metric tons of gold.</div><div class="p"> 15Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscripted to build the Lord&#8217;s temple, his own palace, the terraces,#9:15 Or the Millo; also in verse 24 the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. 16(Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire. He killed its Canaanite inhabitants and then gave it as a wedding gift to his daughter, Solomon&#8217;s wife. 17And Solomon rebuilt Gezer.) He built up Lower Beth Horon, 18Baalath, and Tadmor#9:18 The Hebrew may also be read Tamar. in the desert, within his land, 19as well as all his store cities and the towns for his chariots and for his horses#9:19 Or charioteers&#8212;whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled.</div><div class="p"> 20There were still people left from the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (these peoples were not Israelites). 21Solomon conscripted the descendants of all these peoples remaining in the land&#8212;whom the Israelites could not exterminate#9:21 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.&#8212;to serve as slave labor, as it is to this day. 22But Solomon did not make slaves of any of the Israelites; they were his fighting men, his government officials, his officers, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and charioteers. 23They were also the chief officials in charge of Solomon&#8217;s projects&#8212;550 officials supervising those who did the work.</div><div class="p"> 24After Pharaoh&#8217;s daughter had come up from the City of David to the palace Solomon had built for her, he constructed the terraces.</div><div class="p"> 25Three times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord, burning incense before the Lord along with them, and so fulfilled the temple obligations.</div><div class="p"> 26King Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber, which is near Elath in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea.#9:26 Or the Sea of Reeds 27And Hiram sent his men&#8212;sailors who knew the sea&#8212;to serve in the fleet with Solomon&#8217;s men. 28They sailed to Ophir and brought back 420 talents#9:28 That is, about 16 tons or about 14 metric tons of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1KI">
 <div class="chapter ch10" data-usfm="1KI.10">
 <div class="label">10</div><div class="s1">The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon</div><div class="p"> 1When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relationship to the Lord, she came to test Solomon with hard questions. 2Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan&#8212;with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones&#8212;she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind. 3Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her. 4When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, 5the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at#10:5 Or the ascent by which he went up to the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.</div><div class="p"> 6She said to the king, &#8220;The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. 7But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard. 8How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! 9Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord&#8217;s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 10And she gave the king 120 talents#10:10 That is, about 4 1/2 tons or about 4 metric tons of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.</div><div class="p"> 11(Hiram&#8217;s ships brought gold from Ophir; and from there they brought great cargoes of almugwood#10:11 Probably a variant of algumwood; also in verse 12 and precious stones. 12The king used the almugwood to make supports#10:12 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. for the temple of the Lord and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. So much almugwood has never been imported or seen since that day.)</div><div class="p"> 13King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for, besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.</div><div class="s1">Solomon&#8217;s Splendor</div><div class="p"> 14The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,#10:14 That is, about 25 tons or about 23 metric tons 15not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the territories.</div><div class="p"> 16King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels#10:16 That is, about 15 pounds or about 6.9 kilograms; also in verse 29 of gold went into each shield. 17He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas#10:17 That is, about 3 3/4 pounds or about 1.7 kilograms; or perhaps reference is to double minas, that is, about 7 1/2 pounds or about 3.5 kilograms. of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.</div><div class="p"> 18Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. 19The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. 20Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. 21All King Solomon&#8217;s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon&#8217;s days. 22The king had a fleet of trading ships#10:22 Hebrew of ships of Tarshish at sea along with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.</div><div class="p"> 23King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. 24The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. 25Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift&#8212;articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.</div><div class="p"> 26Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses,#10:26 Or charioteers which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 27The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. 28Solomon&#8217;s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue#10:28 Probably Cilicia&#8212;the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price. 29They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty.#10:29 That is, about 3 3/4 pounds or about 1.7 kilograms They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkPRO">
 <div class="chapter ch2" data-usfm="PRO.2">
 <div class="label">2</div><div class="s1">Moral Benefits of Wisdom</div><div class="q1"> 1My son, if you accept my words</div><div class="q2">and store up my commands within you,</div><div class="q1"> 2turning your ear to wisdom</div><div class="q2">and applying your heart to understanding&#8212;</div><div class="q1"> 3indeed, if you call out for insight</div><div class="q2">and cry aloud for understanding,</div><div class="q1"> 4and if you look for it as for silver</div><div class="q2">and search for it as for hidden treasure,</div><div class="q1"> 5then you will understand the fear of the Lord</div><div class="q2">and find the knowledge of God.</div><div class="q1"> 6For the Lord gives wisdom;</div><div class="q2">from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.</div><div class="q1"> 7He holds success in store for the upright,</div><div class="q2">he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,</div><div class="q1"> 8for he guards the course of the just</div><div class="q2">and protects the way of his faithful ones.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 9Then you will understand what is right and just</div><div class="q2">and fair&#8212;every good path.</div><div class="q1"> 10For wisdom will enter your heart,</div><div class="q2">and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.</div><div class="q1"> 11Discretion will protect you,</div><div class="q2">and understanding will guard you.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 12Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,</div><div class="q2">from men whose words are perverse,</div><div class="q1"> 13who have left the straight paths</div><div class="q2">to walk in dark ways,</div><div class="q1"> 14who delight in doing wrong</div><div class="q2">and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,</div><div class="q1"> 15whose paths are crooked</div><div class="q2">and who are devious in their ways.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 16Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,</div><div class="q2">from the wayward woman with her seductive words,</div><div class="q1"> 17who has left the partner of her youth</div><div class="q2">and ignored the covenant she made before God.#2:17 Or covenant of her God</div><div class="q1"> 18Surely her house leads down to death</div><div class="q2">and her paths to the spirits of the dead.</div><div class="q1"> 19None who go to her return</div><div class="q2">or attain the paths of life.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 20Thus you will walk in the ways of the good</div><div class="q2">and keep to the paths of the righteous.</div><div class="q1"> 21For the upright will live in the land,</div><div class="q2">and the blameless will remain in it;</div><div class="q1"> 22but the wicked will be cut off from the land,</div><div class="q2">and the unfaithful will be torn from it.</div>
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