2 Chronicles 7; 2 Chronicles 8; 2 Chronicles 9; John 11:1-29

1 When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offerings and the other sacrifices, and the LORD's glory filled the temple.

2 The priests couldn't go into the LORD's temple because the LORD's glory had filled the LORD's temple.

3 When all the Israelites saw the fire come down and the LORD's glory on the temple, they knelt down with their faces on the pavement. They worshiped and praised the LORD, [by saying,] "He is good; his mercy endures forever."

4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices to the LORD.

5 King Solomon offered 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep as sacrifices to the LORD. So the king and all the people dedicated God's temple.

6 The priests were standing at their posts. So were the Levites who had the LORD's musical instruments which King David made for praising the LORD with "his mercy endures forever" and which he used to offer praise. The priests were opposite the Levites blowing trumpets while all Israel was standing [there].

7 Solomon designated the courtyard in front of the LORD's temple as a holy place. He sacrificed the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat because the bronze altar that he had made and that was in front of the LORD was not able to hold all of them.

8 At that time Solomon and all Israel celebrated the Festival [of Booths]. A very large crowd had come from [the territory between] the border of Hamath and the River of Egypt.

9 On the eighth day there was an assembly. They had observed the dedication of the altar for seven days and celebrated the festival for [another] seven days.

10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon dismissed the people to their tents. They rejoiced with cheerful hearts for all the blessings the LORD had given David, Solomon, and his people Israel.

11 Solomon finished the LORD's temple and the royal palace and completed everything he had in mind for the LORD's temple and his own palace.

12 Then the LORD appeared to him at night. He said to Solomon, "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.

13 I may shut the sky so that there is no rain, or command grasshoppers to devour the countryside, or send an epidemic among my people.

14 However, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, pray, search for me, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear [their prayer] from heaven, forgive their sins, and heal their country.

15 My eyes will be open, and my ears will pay attention to those prayers at this place.

16 I have chosen and declared this temple holy so that my name may be placed there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

17 "If you will be faithful to me as your father David was, do everything I command, and obey my laws and rules,

18 then I will establish your royal dynasty as I said in a promise to your father David, 'You will never fail to have an heir ruling Israel.'

19 But if you and your descendants turn away from me and abandon my commands and laws that I gave you, and follow and serve other gods and worship them,

20 then I will uproot Israel from the land I gave them. I will reject this temple that I declared holy for my name. I will make it an example and an object of ridicule for all the people of the world.

21 Everyone passing by this impressive temple will be appalled. They will ask, 'Why did the LORD do these things to this land and this temple?'

22 They will answer [themselves], 'They abandoned the LORD God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt. They adopted other gods, worshiped, and served them. That is why he brought this disaster on them.'"

1 It took Solomon 20 years to build the LORD's house and his own house.

2 He rebuilt the cities Huram gave him, and he had Israelites live in them.

3 Then Solomon went to Hamath Zobah and conquered it.

4 He rebuilt Tadmor in the desert and built all the storage cities in Hamath.

5 He rebuilt Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon into cities fortified with walls, double-door gates, and bars.

6 [He also rebuilt] Baalath and all the storage cities that he owned. He built all the cities for his chariots, all the cities for his war horses, and whatever [else] he wanted to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, or the entire territory that he governed.

7 The Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites had been left [in the land] because the Israelites had not been able to destroy them. They were not Israelites,

8 but they had descendants who were still in the land. Solomon drafted them for slave labor. (They are still [slaves] today.)

9 But Solomon didn't make any of the Israelites slaves for his projects. Instead, they were the soldiers, officers, generals, and commanders of his chariot and cavalry units.

10 These were the officers in charge of King Solomon's projects: 250 foremen for the people who did the work.

11 Solomon brought Pharaoh's daughter from the City of David to a palace he had built for her. He said, "My wife will not live in the palace of King David of Israel because these places where the LORD's ark has come are holy."

12 Then Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings to the LORD on the LORD's altar that he built in front of the entrance hall.

13 He sacrificed every day, on weekly worship days, on the New Moon Festivals, and on the three annual festivals (the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Booths) as Moses had commanded.

14 As Solomon's father David had directed, he set up the divisions of priests for their service and the [divisions of] Levites for their appointed places. [The Levites] were to lead in praising [the LORD] and to serve beside the priests by doing whatever needed to be done each day. Solomon also set up divisions of doorkeepers at every gate because this is what David, the man of God, had commanded.

15 No one neglected the king's orders to the priests or the Levites in any matter, including the [temple's] finances.

16 All of Solomon's work was carried out from the day the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid until it was completed. The LORD's temple was [now] finished.

17 Then Solomon went to the coast near Ezion Geber and Elath in Edom.

18 Huram sent his own servants and his experienced sailors with ships to Solomon. They went with Solomon's servants to Ophir, got 33,750 pounds of gold, and brought it to King Solomon.

1 The queen of Sheba heard about Solomon's reputation. So she came to Jerusalem to test him with riddles. She arrived with a large group of servants, with camels carrying spices, a large quantity of gold, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she talked to him about everything she had on her mind.

2 Solomon answered all her questions. No question was too difficult for Solomon to answer.

3 When the queen of Sheba saw Solomon's wisdom, the palace he built,

4 the food on his table, his officers' seating arrangement, the organization of his officials and the uniforms they wore, his cupbearers and their uniforms, and the burnt offerings that he sacrificed at the LORD's temple, she was breathless.

5 She told the king, "What I heard in my country about your words and your wisdom is true!

6 But I didn't believe the reports until I came and saw it with my own eyes. I wasn't even told about half of the extent of your wisdom. You've surpassed the stories I've heard.

7 How blessed your men must be! How blessed these servants of yours must be because they are always stationed in front of you and listen to your wisdom!

8 Thank the LORD your God, who is pleased with you. He has put you on his throne to be king on behalf of the LORD your God. Because of your God's love for the people of Israel, he has established them permanently and made you king over them so that you would maintain justice and righteousness."

9 She gave the king 9,000 pounds of gold, a very large quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never was there such a large quantity of spices [in Israel] as those that the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

10 Huram's servants and Solomon's servants who brought gold from Ophir also brought sandalwood and precious stones.

11 With the sandalwood the king made gateways to the LORD's temple and the royal palace, and lyres and harps for the singers. No one had ever seen anything like them in Judah.

12 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba anything she wanted, whatever she asked for, more than what she had brought him. Then she and her servants went back to her country.

13 The gold that came to Solomon in one year weighed 49,950 pounds,

14 not counting [the gold] which the merchants and traders brought. All the Arab kings and governors of the land also brought gold and silver to Solomon.

15 King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold, using 15 pounds of gold on each shield.

16 He also made 300 small shields of hammered gold, using 7½ pounds of gold on each shield. The king put them in the hall [named] the Forest of Lebanon.

17 The king also made a large ivory throne and covered it with pure gold.

18 Six steps led to the throne, which had a gold footstool attached to it. There were armrests on both sides of the seat. Two lions stood beside the armrests.

19 Twelve lions stood on six steps, one on each side. Nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.

20 All King Solomon's cups were gold, and all the utensils for the hall [named] the Forest of Lebanon were fine gold. (Silver wasn't considered valuable in Solomon's time.)

21 The king had ships going to Tarshish with Huram's sailors. Once every three years the Tarshish ships would bring gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys.

22 In wealth and wisdom King Solomon was greater than all the [other] kings of the world.

23 All the kings of the world wanted to listen to the wisdom that God gave Solomon.

24 So everyone who came brought him gifts: articles of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules. This happened year after year.

25 Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 war horses. He stationed [some] in chariot cities and [others] with himself in Jerusalem.

26 He ruled all the kings from the Euphrates River to the country of the Philistines and as far as the Egyptian border.

27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as plentiful as fig trees in the foothills.

28 Horses were imported for Solomon from Egypt and from all other countries.

29 Aren't the rest of Solomon's acts from first to last written in the records of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah from Shiloh, and in Iddo the seer's visions about Jeroboam (son of Nebat)?

30 Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for 40 years.

31 Solomon lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. His son Rehoboam succeeded him as king.

1 Lazarus, who lived in Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived, was sick.

2 (Mary was the woman who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. Her brother Lazarus was the one who was sick.)

3 So the sisters sent a messenger to tell Jesus, "Lord, your close friend is sick."

4 When Jesus heard the message, he said, "His sickness won't result in death. Instead, this sickness will bring glory to God so that the Son of God will receive glory through it."

5 Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus.

6 Yet, when Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was for two more days.

7 Then, after the two days, Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go back to Judea."

8 The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, not long ago the Jews wanted to stone you to death. Do you really want to go back there?"

9 Jesus answered, "Aren't there twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day don't stumble, because they see the light of this world.

10 However, those who walk at night stumble because they have no light in themselves."

11 After Jesus said this, he told his disciples, "Our friend Lazarus is sleeping, and I'm going to Bethany to wake him."

12 His disciples said to him, "Lord, if he's sleeping, he'll get well."

13 Jesus meant that Lazarus was dead, but the disciples thought Jesus meant that Lazarus was only sleeping.

14 Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus has died,

15 but I'm glad that I wasn't there so that you can grow in faith. Let's go to Lazarus."

16 Thomas, who was called Didymus, said to the rest of the disciples, "Let's go so that we, too, can die with Jesus."

17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days.

18 (Bethany was near Jerusalem, not quite two miles away.)

19 Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother.

20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. Mary stayed at home.

21 Martha told Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask him."

23 Jesus told Martha, "Your brother will come back to life."

24 Martha answered Jesus, "I know that he'll come back to life on the last day, when everyone will come back to life."

25 Jesus said to her, "I am the one who brings people back to life, and I am life itself. Those who believe in me will live even if they die.

26 Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe that?"

27 Martha said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who was expected to come into the world."

28 After Martha had said this, she went back home and whispered to her sister Mary, "The teacher is here, and he is calling for you."

29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to Jesus.