You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11.
2 Chronicles 1-3
2 Chronicles 1
Solomon Worships at Gibeon
1 Solomon the son of David was firmly established in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.
2 Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of families. 3 So Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon, for the Lord’s Tent of Meeting was there, which the Lord’s servant Moses had made in the wilderness.
4 But David had brought the Ark of the Lord up from Kiriath Jearim to the place that David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem. 5 Moreover the bronze altar that Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was there before the Lord’s tabernacle, and Solomon and the assembly were seeking counsel there.
6 Solomon offered sacrifices there before the Lord, on the bronze altar which was at the Tent of Meeting and offered 1,000 burnt offerings on it.
Solomon Prays for Wisdom
7 That night the Lord appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for what you want me to give you.”
8 Solomon said to the Lord, “You have shown great loving kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. 9 Now, Lord God, let your promise to David my father be established, for you have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in their multitude. 10 Now grant me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who can govern this great people of yours?”
11 God said to Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for riches, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, nor yet have you asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge my people, over whom I have made you king, 12 therefore wisdom and knowledge is granted to you. I will give you riches, wealth, and honor, such as none of the kings have had who have been before you had, and none after you will have.”
13 So Solomon came from the high place that was at Gibeon from before the Tent of Meeting to Jerusalem, and he reigned over Israel.
Solomon’s Riches
14 Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen that he placed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem. 15 The king made silver and gold to be as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars to be as common as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland. 16 The horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt and from Kue. The king’s merchants purchased them from Kue.
17 They imported from Egypt a chariot for 600 pieces of silver, and a horse for 150. They also exported them to the Hittite kings and the Syrian kings.
2 Chronicles 2
Preparations for the Temple
1 Now Solomon decided to build a house for the name of the Lord and a house for his kingdom. 2 Solomon counted out 70,000 men for common labor, 80,000 men who were stone cutters in the mountains and 3,600 to oversee them.
3 Solomon sent to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, “As you dealt with David my father and sent him cedars to build him a house in which to dwell, so deal with me. 4 I am about to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to him, to burn before him incense of sweet spices for the continual show bread and for the burnt offerings morning and evening on the Sabbaths, on the new moons, and on the set feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel.
5 The house which I am building will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. 6 But who is able to build him a house, since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him? Who am I then, that I should build him a house, except just to burn incense before him?
7 Now therefore send me a man skillful to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue, and who knows how to do engravings, to be among the skillful men who are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father provided.
8 Send me also cedar trees, cypress trees, and algum trees out of Lebanon; for I know that your servants know how to cut timber in Lebanon. My servants will be with your servants, 9 to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the house which I am about to build will be great and wonderful. 10 I will give to your servants, the cutters who cut timber, 100,000 bushels of beaten wheat, 100,000 bushels of barley, 110,000 gallons of wine, and 110,000 gallons of oil.”
Huram Agrees to Assist
11 Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, “Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you king over them.”
12 Huram continued, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who has given to David the king a wise son, endowed with discretion and understanding, who would build a house for the Lord, and a house for his kingdom.
13 Now I have sent a skillful man, endowed with understanding, Huram-abi. 14 He is the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan. His father was a man of Tyre, skilled in working with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, timber, and with fine linen of purple, blue, and crimson, and also in engraving of any kind of engraving and devising any device, that there may be a place appointed to him with your skillful men and with the skillful men of my lord David your father.
15 Now therefore the wheat, the barley, the oil, and the wine, which my lord has spoken of, let him send to his servants; 16 and we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as you need. We will bring it to you in rafts by sea to Joppa. Then you shall carry it up to Jerusalem.”
17 Solomon counted all the foreigners who were in the land of Israel, after the census with which David his father had counted them, and they found 153,600. 18 He set 70,000 of them to bear burdens, 80,000 who were stone cutters in the mountains, and 3,600 overseers to assign the people their work.
2 Chronicles 3
Temple Construction Begins
1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared to David his father, which he prepared in the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2 He began to build on the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.
Dimensions and Materials
3 Now these are the foundations which Solomon laid for the building of the house of the Lord. The length was 90 feet and the width was 30 feet. 4 The porch that was in front, its length, according to the width of the house, was 30 feet, and the height 30 feet; and he overlaid it with pure gold.
5 He made the larger room with a ceiling of cypress wood which he overlaid with fine gold and ornamented it with palm trees and chains. 6 He decorated the house with precious stones for beauty. The gold was gold from Parvaim. 7 He also overlaid the house, the beams, the thresholds, its walls, and its doors with gold; and engraved cherubim on the walls.
8 He made the most holy place. Its length, according to the width of the house, was 30 feet, and its width 30 feet; and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to 24 tons. 9 The weight of each nail was 20 ounces of gold. He overlaid the upper rooms with gold.
10 In the most holy place he made two cherubim by carving, and they overlaid them with gold.
The Cherubim
11 The wings of the cherubim were 30 feet long: the wing of the one was 7½ feet long, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was also 7½ feet long, reaching to the wing of the other cherub. 12 The wing of the other cherub was 7½ feet long, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was 7½ feet long, joining to the wing of the other cherub. 13 The wingspan of these cherubim was 30 feet. They stood on their feet, and their faces were toward the house.
The Veil and Pillars
14 He made the veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and ornamented it with cherubim.
15 Also he made before the house two pillars of 27 feet in height, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was 7½ feet. 16 He made chains in the inner sanctuary and put them on the tops of the pillars, and he made 100 pomegranates and put them on the chains. 17 He set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left, and called the one on the right Jachin and the one on the left Boaz.
Romans 6
Dead to Sin, Alive to God
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any longer? 3 Or do you not know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.
8 But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him, 9 knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over him! 10 For the death that he died, he died to sin one time, but the life that he lives, he lives to God. 11 Thus consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 Also, do not present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace.
The Wages of Sin
15 What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? May it never be! 16 Do you you know that when you present yourselves as servants and obey someone, you are the servants of whomever you obey, whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that, whereas you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were delivered. 18 Being made free from sin, you became bondservants of righteousness.
19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh, for just as you presented your members as servants to uncleanness and to wickedness upon wickedness, so now present your members as servants to righteousness for sanctification.
20 For when you were servants of sin, you were free from righteousness. 21 What fruit then did you have at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now, being made free from sin and having become servants of God, you have your fruit, which leads to sanctification, and the result, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Psalm 16
Practicing the Presence of God
A Poem by David.
1 Protect me, God, for I take refuge in you.
2 I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord.
Apart from you I have no good thing.”
3 As for the saints who are on the earth,
they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.
4 Sorrows shall be multiplied for those who give gifts to another god.
Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer,
nor take their names on my lips.
5 The Lord assigned my portion and my cup.
You made my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines of lovely places have fallen to me.
Yes, I have a good inheritance.
7 I will bless the Lord, who has given me counsel.
Yes, my heart instructs me even in the seasons of night.
8 I have set the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices.
My body shall also dwell in safety.
10 For you will not leave my soul in the grave,
nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption.
11 You will show me the path of life.
In your presence is fullness of joy.
In your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.
Proverbs 19:20-21
20 Listen to counsel and receive instruction,
that you may be wise in your latter end.
21 There are many plans in a man’s heart,
but the counsel of the Lord will prevail.