Mark 13:14-37; 1 Kings 7; Hosea 9:1-16

Mark 13:14-37

14 "When you see the abomination that causes desolation standing where it should not" (let the reader understand), "then those in Judea must flee to the mountains!

15 A man on the housetop must not come down or go in to get anything out of his house.

16 And a man in the field must not go back to get his clothes.

17 Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days!

18 Pray it won't happen in winter.

19 For those will be days of tribulation, the kind that hasn't been from the beginning of the world, which God created, until now and never will be again!

20 Unless the Lord limited those days, no one would survive. But He limited those days because of the elect, whom He chose.

21 "Then if anyone tells you, 'Look, here is the Messiah! Look-there!' do not believe it!

22 For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and will perform signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, the elect.

23 And you must watch! I have told you everything in advance.

24 "But in those days, after that tribulation: The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light;

25 the stars will be falling from the sky, and the celestial powers will be shaken.

26 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.

27 He will send out the angels and gather His elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.

28 "Learn this parable from the fig tree: As soon as its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near.

29 In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that He is near-at the door!

30 I assure you: This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place.

31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

32 "Now concerning that day or hour no one knows-neither the angels in heaven nor the Son-except the Father.

33 Watch! Be alert! For you don't know when the time is [coming].

34 It is like a man on a journey, who left his house, gave authority to his slaves, gave each one his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to be alert.

35 Therefore be alert, since you don't know when the master of the house is coming-whether in the evening or at midnight or at the crowing of the rooster or early in the morning.

36 Otherwise, he might come suddenly and find you sleeping.

37 And what I say to you, I say to everyone: Be alert!"

1 Kings 7

1 Solomon completed his entire palace-complex after 13 years of construction.

2 He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon. It was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on top of the pillars.

3 It was paneled above with cedar at the top of the chambers that [rested] on 45 pillars, fifteen per row.

4 There were three rows of window frames, facing each other in three tiers.

5 All the doors and doorposts had rectangular frames, the openings facing each other in three tiers.

6 He made the hall of pillars 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. A portico was in front of the pillars, and a canopy with pillars was in front of them.

7 He made the Hall of the Throne where he would judge-the Hall of Judgment. It was paneled with cedar from the floor to the rafters.

8 Solomon's own palace where he would live, in the other courtyard behind the hall, was of similar construction. And he made a house like this hall for Pharaoh's daughter, his wife.

9 All of these [buildings] were of costly stones, cut to size and sawed with saws on the inner and outer surfaces, from foundation to coping and from the outside to the great courtyard.

10 The foundation was made of large, costly stones 12 and 15 feet long.

11 Above were also costly stones, cut to size, as well as cedar wood.

12 Around the great courtyard, as well as the inner courtyard of the Lord's temple and the portico of the temple, were three rows of dressed stone and a row of trimmed cedar beams.

13 King Solomon had Hiram brought from Tyre.

14 He was a widow's son from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a bronze craftsman. Hiram had great skill, understanding, and knowledge to do every kind of bronze work. So he came to King Solomon and carried out all his work.

15 He cast two [hollow] bronze pillars: each 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference.

16 He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on top of the pillars; seven and a half feet was the height of the first capital, and seven and a half feet was also the height of the second capital.

17 The capitals on top of the pillars had gratings of latticework, wreaths made of chainwork-seven for the first capital and seven for the second.

18 He made the pillars with two encircling rows of pomegranates on the one grating to cover the capital on top; he did the same for the second capital.

19 And the capitals on top of the pillars in the portico were shaped like lilies, six feet [high].

20 The capitals on the two pillars were also immediately above the rounded surface next to the grating, and 200 pomegranates were in rows encircling each capital.

21 He set up the pillars at the portico of the sanctuary: he set up the right pillar and named it Jachin; then he set up the left pillar and named it Boaz.

22 The tops of the pillars were shaped like lilies. Then the work of the pillars was completed.

23 He made the cast [metal] reservoir, 15 feet from brim to brim, perfectly round. It was seven and a half feet high and 45 feet in circumference.

24 [Ornamental] gourds encircled it below the brim, 10 every half yard, completely encircling the reservoir. The gourds were cast in two rows when the reservoir was cast.

25 It stood on 12 oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The reservoir was on top of them and all their hindquarters were toward the center.

26 The reservoir was three inches thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup or of a lily blossom. It held 11,000 gallons.

27 Then he made 10 bronze water carts. Each water cart was six feet long, six feet wide, and four and a half feet high.

28 This was the design of the carts: They had frames; the frames were between the cross-pieces,

29 and on the frames between the cross-pieces were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the cross-pieces there was a pedestal above, and below the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work.

30 Each cart had four bronze wheels with bronze axles. Underneath the four corners of the basin were cast supports, each next to a wreath.

31 And the water cart's opening inside the crown on top was 18 inches wide. The opening was round, made as a pedestal 27 inches wide. On it were carvings, but their frames were square, not round.

32 There were four wheels under the frames, and the wheel axles were part of the water cart; each wheel was 27 inches tall.

33 The wheels' design was similar to that of chariot wheels: their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all of cast metal.

34 Four supports were at the four corners of each water cart; each support was one piece with the water cart.

35 At the top of the cart was a band nine inches high encircling it; also, at the top of the cart, its braces and its frames were one piece with it.

36 He engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees on the plates of its braces and on its frames, wherever each had space, with encircling wreaths.

37 In this way he made the 10 water carts using the same casting, dimensions, and shape for all of them.

38 Then he made 10 bronze basins-each basin holding 220 gallons and each was six feet wide-one basin for each of the 10 water carts.

39 He set five water carts on the right side of the temple and five on the left side. He put the reservoir near the right side of the temple toward the southeast.

40 Then Hiram made the basins, the shovels, and the sprinkling basins. So Hiram finished all the work that he was doing for King Solomon on the Lord's temple:

41 two pillars; bowls for the capitals that were on top of the two pillars; the two gratings for covering both bowls of the capitals that were on top of the pillars;

42 the 400 pomegranates for the two gratings (two rows of pomegranates for each grating covering both capitals' bowls on top of the pillars);

43 the 10 water carts; the 10 basins on the water carts;

44 the reservoir; the 12 oxen underneath the reservoir;

45 and the pots, shovels, and sprinkling basins. All the utensils that Hiram made for King Solomon at the Lord's temple [were made] of burnished bronze.

46 The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zarethan.

47 Solomon left all the utensils unweighed because there were so many; the weight of the bronze was not determined.

48 Solomon also made all the equipment in the Lord's temple: the gold altar; the gold table that the bread of the Presence was placed on;

49 the pure gold lampstands in front of the inner sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left; the gold flowers, lamps, and tongs;

50 the pure gold ceremonial bowls, wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, ladles, and firepans; and the gold hinges for the doors of the inner temple (that is, the most holy place) and for the doors of the temple sanctuary.

51 So all the work King Solomon did in the Lord's temple was completed. Then Solomon brought in the consecrated things of his father David-the silver, the gold, and the utensils-and put them in the treasuries of the Lord's temple.

Hosea 9:1-16

1 Israel, do not rejoice jubilantly as the nations do, for you have acted promiscuously, leaving your God. You have loved the wages of a prostitute on every grain-threshing floor.

2 Threshing floor and wine vat will not sustain them, and the new wine will fail them.

3 They will not stay in the land of the Lord. Instead, Ephraim will return to Egypt, and they will eat unclean food in Assyria.

4 They will not pour out their wine offerings to the Lord, and their sacrifices will not please Him. Their [food] will be like the bread of mourners; all who eat it become defiled. For their bread will be for their appetites [alone]; it will not enter the house of the Lord.

5 What will you do on a festival day, on the day of the Lord's feast?

6 For even if they flee from devastation, Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them. Thistles will take possession of their precious silver; thorns will invade their tents.

7 The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have come. Let Israel recognize it! The prophet is a fool, and the inspired man is insane, because of the magnitude of your guilt and hostility.

8 Ephraim's watchman is with my God. The prophet [encounters] a fowler's snare on all his ways. Hostility is in the house of his God!

9 They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their guilt; He will punish their sins.

10 I discovered Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers like the first fruit of the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal-peor, consecrated themselves to Shame, and became detestable, like the thing they loved.

11 Ephraim's glory will fly away like a bird: no birth, no gestation, no conception.

12 Even if they raise children, I will bereave them of each one. Yes, woe to them when I depart from them!

13 I have seen Ephraim like Tyre, planted in a meadow, so Ephraim will bring out his children to the executioner.

14 Give them, Lord- What should You give? Give them a womb that miscarries and breasts that are dry!

15 All their evil appears at Gilgal, for there I came to hate them. I will drive them from My house because of their evil, wicked actions. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious.

16 Ephraim is blighted; their roots are withered; they cannot bear fruit. Even if they bear children, I will kill the precious offspring of their wombs.