Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from 2 Chronicles
chapters 5 through 9. Chapter 5 So all the work
that Solomon had done for the house of the Lord
was finished, and Solomon brought in the things
which his father David had dedicated, the silver
and the gold and all the furnishings, and he
put them in the treasuries of the house of God.
Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and
all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers
of the children of Israel in Jerusalem, that
they might bring the ark of the covenant of the
Lord up from the city of David, which is Zion.
Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with
the king at the feast, which was in the seventh
month. So all the elders of Israel came, and
the Levites took up the ark. Then they brought
up the ark, the tabernacle of meeting, and all
the holy furnishings that were in the tabernacle.
The priests and the Levites brought them up.
Also King Solomon and all the congregation of
Israel, who were assembled with him before the
ark, were sacrificing sheep and oxen that could
not be counted or numbered for multitude. Then
the priests brought in the ark of the covenant
of the Lord to its place into the inner sanctuary
of the temple to the most holy place under the
wings of the cherubim. For the cherubim spread
their wings over the place of the ark and the
cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles.
The poles extended so that the ends of the poles
of the ark could be seen from the holy place
in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could
not be seen from outside. And they are there
to this day. Nothing was in the ark except the
two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, when
the Lord made a covenant with the children of
Israel when they had come out of Egypt. And it
came to pass when the priests came out of the
most holy place, for all the priests who were
present had sanctified themselves. without keeping
to their divisions. And the Levites, who were
the singers, all those of Asaph and Haman and
Jedusun, with their sons and their brethren,
stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in
white linen, having cymbals, stringed instruments,
and harps, and with them one hundred and twenty
priests, sounding with trumpets. Indeed it came
to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were
as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising
and thanking the Lord. And when they lifted up
their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and
instruments of music and praised the Lord, saying,
For he is good, for his mercy endures forever,
that the house, the house of the Lord, was filled
with a cloud, so that the priests could not continue
ministering because of the cloud. For the glory
of the Lord filled the house of God. Chapter
6 Then Solomon spoke. The Lord said, He would
dwell in a dark cloud. I have surely built you
an exalted house and a place for you to dwell
in forever. Then the king turned around and blessed
the whole assembly of Israel, while all the assembly
of Israel was standing. And he said, Blessed
be the Lord God of Israel. who has fulfilled
with his hands what he spoke with his mouth to
my father David, saying, Since the day that I
brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I
have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel
in which to build a house, that my name might
be there. Nor did I choose any man to be a ruler
over my people Israel. Yet I have chosen Jerusalem,
that my name may be there. And I have chosen
David to be over my people Israel. Now it was
in the heart of my father David to build the
temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
But the Lord said to my father David, Whereas
it was in your heart to build a temple for my
name, you did well in that it was in your heart.
Nevertheless, you shall not build the temple,
but your son who will come from your body, he
shall build the temple for my name. So the Lord
has fulfilled his word which he spoke, and I
have filled the position of my father David,
and sit on the throne of Israel as the Lord promised.
And I have built the temple for the name of the
Lord God of Israel, and there I have put the
ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord which
he made with the children of Israel. Then Solomon
stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence
of all the assembly of Israel, spread out his
hands, for Solomon had made a bronze platform
five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three
cubits high. and had set it in the midst of the
court. And he stood on it, knelt down on his
knees before all the assembly of Israel, and
spread out his hands toward heaven. And he said,
Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven
or on earth like you, who keep your covenant
and mercy with your servants who walk before
you with all their hearts. You have kept what
you promised your servant David my father. You
have both spoken with your mouth and fulfilled
it with your hand, as it is this day. Therefore,
Lord God of Israel, now keep what you promised
your servant David my father, saying, You shall
not fail to have a man sit before me on the throne
of Israel. only if your sons take heed to their
way, that they walk in my law as you have walked
before me. And now, O Lord God of Israel, let
your word come true, which you have spoken to
your servant David. But will God indeed dwell
with men on earth? Behold heaven, and the heaven
of heavens cannot contain you, how much less
this temple which I have built. Yet regard the
prayer of your servant and his supplication,
O Lord my God, and listen to the cry and the
prayer which your servant is praying before you,
that your eyes may be opened toward this temple
day and night. toward the place where you said
you would put your name, that you may hear the
prayer which your servant makes toward this place,
and may hear the supplications of your servant
and of your people Israel. When they pray toward
this place, hear from heaven your dwelling place,
and when you hear, forgive. If anyone sins against
his neighbor and is forced to take an oath, and
comes and takes an oath before your altar in
this temple, Then hear from heaven, and act and
judge your servants, bringing retribution on
the wicked by bringing his way on his own head,
and justifying the righteous by giving him according
to his righteousness. Or if your people Israel
are defeated before an enemy, because they have
sinned against you, and return and confess your
name, and pray and make supplication before you
in this temple, then hear from heaven, and forgive
the sin of your people Israel, and bring them
back to the land which you gave to them and their
fathers. When the heavens are shut up and there
is no rain, because they have sinned against
you, when they pray toward this place and confess
your name and turn from their sin because you
afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive
the sin of your servants, your people Israel,
that you may teach them the good way in which
they should walk, and send rain on your land
which you have given to your people as an inheritance.
when there is a famine in the land pestilence
or blight or mildew locusts or grasshoppers when
their enemies besiege them in the land of their
cities whatever plague or whatever sickness there
is whatever prayer whatever supplication is made
by anyone or by all your people israel when each
one knows his own burden and his own grief, and
spreads out his hands to this temple, then hear
from heaven your dwelling place, and forgive
and give to everyone according to all his ways,
whose heart you know, for you alone know the
hearts of the sons of men, that they may fear
you, to walk in your ways as long as they live
in the land which you gave to our fathers. Moreover,
concerning a foreigner who is not of your people
Israel, but has come from a far country for the
sake of your great name and your mighty hand
and your outstretched arm, when they come and
pray in this temple, then hear from heaven your
dwelling place, and do according to all for which
the foreigner calls to you, that all peoples
of the earth may know your name and fear you,
as do your people Israel, and that they may know
that this temple which I have built is called
by your name. When your people go out to battle
against their enemies, wherever you send them,
And when they pray to you toward this city which
you have chosen and the temple which I have built
for your name, then hear from heaven their prayer
and their supplication and maintain their cause.
When they sin against you, for there is no one
who does not sin, and you become angry with them
and deliver them to the enemy. And they take
them captive to a land far or near. Yet when
they come to themselves in the land where they
were carried captive, and repent and make supplication
to you in the land of their captivity, saying,
We have sinned, we have done wrong, and have
committed wickedness. And when they return to
you with all their heart and with all their soul
in the land of their captivity, where they have
been carried captive, and pray toward their land
which you gave to their fathers, the city which
you have chosen, and toward the temple which
I have built for your name, then hear from heaven
your dwelling place their prayer. and their supplications,
and maintain their cause. And forgive your people
who have sinned against you. Now, my God, I pray,
let your eyes be open, and let your ears be attentive
to the prayer made in this place. Now, therefore,
arise, O Lord God, to your resting place, you
and the ark of your strength. Let your priest,
O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let
your saints rejoice in goodness. O Lord God,
do not turn away the face of your anointed. Remember
the mercies of your servant, David. Chapter 7
When Solomon had finished praying, fire came
down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering
and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord
filled the temple. And the priests could not
enter the house of the Lord, because the glory
of the Lord had filled the Lord's house. When
all the children of Israel saw how the fire came
down and the glory of the Lord on the temple,
they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement
and worshipped and praised the Lord, saying,
For He is good, for His mercy endures forever.
Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices
before the Lord. King Solomon offered the sacrifice
of 22 ,000 bulls and 120 ,000 sheep. So the king
and all the people dedicated the house of God.
And the priests attended to their services. The
Levites also with instruments of the music of
the Lord, which King David had made to praise
the Lord, saying, For his mercy endures forever.
Whenever David offered praise by their ministry,
the priests sounded trumpets opposite them while
all Israel stood. Furthermore, Solomon consecrated
the middle of the court that was in front of
the house of the Lord, for there he offered burnt
offerings and the fat of the peace offerings,
because the bronze altar which Solomon had made
was not able to receive the burnt offerings,
the grain offerings, and the fat. At that time
Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel
with him, a very great assembly, from the entrance
of Hamad to the brook of Egypt. And on the eighth
day they held a sacred assembly, for they observed
the dedication of the altar seven days, and the
feast seven days. On the twenty -third day of
the seventh month, he sent the people away to
their tents, joyful and glad of heart, for the
good that the Lord had done for David, for Solomon,
and for his people Israel. Thus Solomon finished
the house of the Lord and the king's house, and
Solomon successfully accomplished all that came
into his heart to make in the house of the Lord
and in his own house. Then the Lord appeared
to Solomon by night and said to him, I have heard
your prayer and have chosen this place for myself
as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up heaven
and there is no rain or command the locusts to
devour the land or send pestilence among my people,
if my people who are called by my name will humble
themselves and pray and seek my face and turn
from their wicked ways, then I will hear from
heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their
land. now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive
to prayer made in this place for now i have chosen
and sanctified this house that my name may be
there forever and my eyes and my heart will be
there perpetually as for you if you walk before
me as your father david walked and do according
to all that i have commanded you and if you keep
my statutes and my judgments then i will establish
the throne of your kingdom As I covenanted with
David your father, saying, You shall not fail
to have a man as ruler in Israel. But if you
turn away and forsake my statutes and my commandments,
which I have said before you, and go and serve
other gods and worship them, then I will uproot
them from my land which I have given them, and
this house which I have sanctified for my name
I will cast out of my sight, and will make it
a proverb and a byword among all peoples. Chapter
8 It came to pass at the end of 20 years, when
Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his
own house, that the cities which Hiram had given
to Solomon, Solomon built them, and he settled
the children of Israel there. And Solomon went
to Hamad Zobah and seized it. He also built Tadmor
in the wilderness and all the storage cities
which he built in Hamad. He built upper Beit
Horon and lower Beit Horon, fortified cities
with walls, gates, and bars. Also Balat, and
all the storage cities that Solomon had, and
all the chariot cities, and the cities of the
cavalry, and all that Solomon desired to build
in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land
of his dominion. All the people who were left
of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites,
and Jebusites, who were not of Israel, that is,
their descendants, who were left in the land
after them, whom the children of Israel did not
destroy. From these Solomon raised forced labor,
as it is to this day. But Solomon did not make
the children of Israel servants for his work.
Some were men of war, captains of his officers,
captains of his chariots, and his cavalry. And
others were chiefs of the officials of King Solomon,
250, who ruled over the people. Now Solomon brought
the daughter of Pharaoh up from the city of David
to the house he had built for her. For he said,
My wife shall not dwell in the house of David,
king of Israel, because the places to which the
ark of the Lord has come are holy. Then Solomon
offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar
of the Lord, which he had built before the vestibule,
according to the daily rate, offering according
to the commandment of Moses, for the Sabbath,
the new moon, and the three appointed yearly
feasts, the feast of unleavened bread, the feast
of weeks, and the feast of tabernacles. And according
to the order of David his father, he appointed
the divisions of the priests for their service,
the Levites for their duties, to praise and serve
before the priests, as the duty of each day required.
and the gatekeepers by their divisions at each
gate, for so David the man of God had commanded.
They did not depart from the command of the king
to the priests and Levites concerning any matter
or concerning the treasuries. Now all the work
of Solomon was well ordered, from the day of
the foundation of the house of the Lord until
it was finished. So the house of the Lord was
completed. Then Solomon went to Ezion -Geber,
and elad on the sea coast in the land of edom
and hiram sent him ships by the hand of his servants
and servants who knew the sea they went with
the servants of solomon to ophir and acquired
four hundred and fifty talents of gold from there
and brought it to king solomon chapter nine now
when the queen of sheba heard of the fame of
solomon she came to jerusalem to test solomon
with hard questions having a very great retinue
camels that bore spices golden abundance and
precious stones and when she came to solomon
she spoke with him about all that was in her
heart so solomon answered all her questions there
was nothing so difficult for solomon that he
could not explain it to her And when the queen
of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the
house that he had built, the food on his table,
the seating of his servants, the service of his
waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers and
their apparel, and his entryway by which he went
up to the house of the Lord, there was no more
spirit in her. Then she said to the king, It
was a true report which I heard in my own land
about your words and your wisdom. However, I
did not believe their words until I came and
saw with my own eyes, and indeed the half of
the greatness of your wisdom was not told me.
You exceed the fame of which I heard. Happy are
your men, and happy are these your servants,
who stand continually before you and hear your
wisdom. Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted
in you, setting you on his throne to be king
for the Lord your God. Because your God has loved
Israel to establish them forever, therefore he
made you king over them to do justice and righteousness.
And she gave the king 120 talents of gold, spices
in great abundance, and precious stones. There
never were any spices such as those the queen
of Sheba gave to king Solomon. Also the servants
of Hiram and the servants of Solomon, who brought
gold from Ophir, brought algum wood and precious
stones. And the king made walkways of the algum
wood. for the house of the lord and for the king's
house also harps and stringed instruments for
singers and there were none such as these seen
before in the land of judah now king solomon
gave to the queen of sheba all she desired whatever
she asked much more than she had brought to the
king So she turned and went to her own country,
she and her servants. The weight of gold that
came to Solomon yearly was 666 talents of gold,
besides what the traveling merchants and traders
brought. And all the kings of Arabia and governors
of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.
And King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered
gold, 600 shekels of hammered gold went into
each shield. He also made 300 shields of hammered
gold, 300 shekels of gold went into each shield.
The king put them in the house of the forest
of Lebanon. Moreover, the king made a great throne
of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold. The
throne had six steps with a footstool of gold
which were fastened to the throne. There were
armrests on either side of the place of the seat,
and two lions stood beside the armrests. Twelve
lions stood there, one on each side of the six
steps. Nothing like this had been made for any
other kingdom. All King Solomon's drinking vessels
were gold, and all the vessels of the house of
the forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one
was silver, for this was accounted as nothing
in the days of Solomon. For the king's ships
went to Tarshish with the servants of Hiram.
Once every three years the merchant ships came
bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys.
So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the
earth in riches and wisdom, and all the kings
of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to
hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
Each man brought his present, articles of silver
and gold, garments, armor, spices, horses, and
mules, at a set rate year by year. Solomon had
four thousand stalls for horses and chariots,
and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed
in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem.
So he reigned over all the kings from the river
to the land of the Philistines, as far as the
border of Egypt. The king made silver as common
in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees
as abundant as the sycamores which are in the
lowland. And they brought horses to Solomon from
Egypt and from all lands. Now the rest of the
acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not
written in the book of Nathan the prophet, in
the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in
the visions of Edo the seer, concerning Jeroboam
the son of Nebat? Solomon reigned in Jerusalem
over all Israel forty years. Then Solomon rested
with his fathers, and was buried in the city
of David his father, and Rehoboam his son reigned
in his place. I hope you enjoyed today's reading
as much as I did and I look forward to seeing
you again tomorrow to continue on our journey.
God bless you and have a great day.