The Queen of Sheba

1 ^fNow when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. 2 She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. 3 And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her. 4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the ^gwisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 5 the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her.

6 And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, 7 but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard. 8 Happy are your men! Happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! 9 ^hBlessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord loved Israel forever, he has made you king, that you may execute justice and righteousness.” 10 Then she gave the king ⁱ120 talents¹ of gold, and a very great quantity of spices and precious stones. Never again came such an abundance of spices as these that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

11 Moreover, the ^jfleet of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir a very great amount of almug wood and precious stones. 12 And the king made of the almug wood supports for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, also lyres and harps for the singers. No such almug wood has come or been seen ^kto this day.

13 And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked besides what was given her by the bounty of King Solomon. So she turned and went back to her own land with her servants.

Solomon’s Great Wealth

14 ^lNow the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, 15 besides that which came from the explorers and from the business of the merchants, and from all the kings of the west and from the governors of the land. 16 King Solomon made 200 large ^mshields of beaten gold; 600 shekels² of gold went into each shield. 17 And he made 300 shields of beaten gold; three minas³ of gold went into each shield. And the king put them in the ⁿHouse of the Forest of Lebanon. 18 The king also made a great ^oivory throne and overlaid it with the finest gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and the throne had a round top,⁴ and on each side of the seat were armrests and two lions standing beside the armrests, 20 while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. The like of it was never made in any kingdom. 21 All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. 22 For the king had a fleet of ^pships of Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the fleet of ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.⁵

23 Thus King Solomon ^qexcelled all the kings of the earth in riches and ^rin wisdom. 24 And the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind. 25 Every one of them brought his present, articles of silver and gold, garments, myrrh,⁶ spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year.

26 ^sAnd Solomon gathered together ^tchariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 27 And the king made ^usilver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the ^vsycamore of the Shephelah. 28 And Solomon’s import of ^whorses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s traders received them from Kue at a price. 29 A chariot could be imported from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver and a horse for 150, and so through the king’s traders they were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.

Solomon Turns from the Lord

1 Now King Solomon loved ^xmany foreign women, along with the ^ydaughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, ^z“You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. 4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not ^awholly true to the Lord his God, ^bas was the heart of David his father. 5 For Solomon went after ^cAshtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon ^ddid what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not ^ewholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for ^fChemosh the abomination of Moab, and for ^gMolech the abomination of the Ammonites, on ^hthe mountain east of Jerusalem. 8 And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.

Sit at My Right Hand

A Psalm of David.

Unity in the Body of Christ

1 ^mI therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to ⁿwalk ^oin a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with ^ppatience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the ^qbond of peace. 4 There is ^rone body and ^sone Spirit—just as you were called to ^tthe one hope that belongs to your call— 5 ^uone Lord, ^vone faith, ^wone baptism, 6 ^xone God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But grace was given to ^yeach one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says,

9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?² 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended ^afar above all the heavens, that he might ^bfill all things.) 11 And he gave ^cthe apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds³ and teachers,⁴ 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the ^dbody of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to ^emature manhood,⁵ to the measure of the stature of the ^ffullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be ^gchildren, ^htossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, ⁱby human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the ^jhead, into Christ, 16 ^kfrom whom the whole body, ^ljoined and ^mheld together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

The New Life

17 Now this I say and ⁿtestify in the Lord, that you must ^ono longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the ^pfutility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, ^qalienated from the life of God because of the ^rignorance that is in them, due to their ^shardness of heart. 19 They have become ^tcallous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is ^unot the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were ^vtaught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to ^wput off your ^xold self,⁶ which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be ^yrenewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the ^znew self, ^acreated after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

25 Therefore, having put away ^bfalsehood, let each one of you ^cspeak the truth with his neighbor, for ^dwe are members one of another. 26 ^eBe angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and ^fgive no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest ^gwork with his own hands, ^hso that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 ⁱLet no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for ^jbuilding up, as fits the occasion, ^kthat it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And ^ldo not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were ^msealed for the ⁿday of redemption. 31 ^oLet all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be ^pkind to one another, tenderhearted, ^qforgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Walk in Love

1 Therefore ^rbe imitators ^sof God, as beloved children. 2 And ^twalk ^uin love, as Christ loved us ^vand ^wgave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

3 But ^xsexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 ^yLet there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 ^zFor you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous ^a(that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you ^bwith empty words, for ^cbecause of these things the wrath of God comes upon the ^dsons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for ^eat one time you were ^fdarkness, but now you are light in the Lord. ^gWalk as ^hchildren of light 9 (for the ⁱfruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to ^jdiscern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 ^kTake no part in the unfruitful ^lworks of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But ^mwhen anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

15 Look carefully then ^phow you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the ^qdays are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but ^runderstand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get ^sdrunk with wine, for that is debauchery, ^tbut be filled with the Spirit, 19 ^uaddressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the ^vname of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 ^wsubmitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives and Husbands

22 ^xWives, ^ysubmit to your own husbands, ^zas to the Lord. 23 For ^athe husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the ^bhead of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

25 ^cHusbands, love your wives, as Christ ^dloved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might ^esanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 ^fso that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be ^gholy and without blemish.⁷ 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as ^htheir own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because ⁱwe are ^jmembers of his body. 31 ^k“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and ^lthe two shall become one flesh.” 32 This ^mmystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Children and Parents

1 ⁿChildren, ^oobey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 ^p“Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 ^qFathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but ^rbring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Bondservants and Masters

5 ^sBondservants,^{8 t}obey your earthly masters⁹ with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, ^uas you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this ^vhe will receive back from the Lord, ^wwhether he is a bondservant or is free. 9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is ^xboth their Master¹⁰ and yours is in heaven, and that there is ^yno partiality with him.

The Whole Armor of God

10 Finally, ^zbe strong in the Lord and in the ^astrength of his might. 11 ^bPut on the ^cwhole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the ^drulers, against the authorities, against the ^ecosmic powers over this present ^fdarkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the ^gheavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the ^hevil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the ⁱbelt of truth, and having put on the ^jbreastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as ^kshoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the ^lshield of faith, with which you can ^mextinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the ⁿhelmet of salvation, and the ^osword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 ^ppraying ^qat all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, ^rkeep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and ^salso for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth ^tboldly to proclaim the ^umystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ^vambassador ^win chains, that I may declare it boldly, ^xas I ought to speak.

Final Greetings

21 ^ySo that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, ^zTychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything. 22 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may ^aencourage your hearts.

23 Peace be to the brothers,¹¹ and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.