The Ark Brought into the Temple

1 ^yThen Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord ^zout of the city of David, which is Zion. 2 And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon at the ^afeast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. 3 And all the elders of Israel came, and ^bthe priests took up the ark. 4 And they brought up the ark of the Lord, the ^ctent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. 5 And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, ^dsacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. 6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place in the ^einner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. 7 For the cherubim ^fspread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its ^gpoles. 8 And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there ^hto this day. 9 There was nothing in the ark except the ⁱtwo tablets of stone that Moses ^jput there at Horeb, ^kwhere the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. 10 And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, ^la cloud filled the house of the Lord, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

Solomon Blesses the Lord

12 ^mThen Solomon said, “The Lord¹ has said that he would dwell in ⁿthick darkness. 13 I have indeed built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in ^oforever.” 14 Then the king turned around and ^pblessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. 15 And he said, ^q“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, 16 ^r‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I ^schose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there. But I ^tchose David to be over my people Israel.’ 17 Now it was ^uin the heart of David my father to build a house ^vfor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 18 But the Lord said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. 19 Nevertheless, ^wyou shall not build the house, but ^xyour son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ 20 Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 21 And ^ythere I have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

Help Me, O Lord My God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

Greeting

1 Paul, an ^aapostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints who are in ^bEphesus, and are ^cfaithful¹ in Christ Jesus:

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

3 ^dBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the ^eheavenly places, 4 ^feven as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be ^gholy and blameless before him. In love 5 he ^hpredestined us² for ⁱadoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the ^jpurpose of his will, 6 ^kto the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the ^lBeloved. 7 In him we have ^mredemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our ⁿtrespasses, according to the ^oriches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in ^pall wisdom and insight 9 making known³ to us the ^qmystery of his will, according to his purpose, which ^rhe set forth in Christ⁴ 10 as a plan for the ^sfullness of time, ^tto unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth in him.

11 In him we have obtained an ^uinheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you ^vheard the ^wword of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were ^xsealed with ^ythe promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the ^zguarantee⁵ of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it,⁶ to the praise of his glory.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

15 For this reason, because ^aI have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love⁷ toward all the saints, 16 ^bI do ^cnot cease to give thanks for you, ^dremembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you ^ethe Spirit of wisdom and of ^frevelation in the ^gknowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts ^henlightened, that you may know what is ⁱthe hope to which ^jhe has called you, what are the ^kriches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, ^laccording to the working of his great ^mmight 20 that he worked in Christ when ⁿhe raised him from the dead and ^oseated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 ^pfar ^qabove all rule and authority and power and dominion, and ^rabove every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he ^sput ^tall things under his feet and gave him as ^uhead over all things to the church, 23 which is his ^vbody, the ^wfullness of him who ^xfills all in all.

By Grace Through Faith

1 And you were ^ydead in the trespasses and sins 2 ^zin which ^ayou once walked, following the course⁸ of this world, following the ^bprince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the ^csons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the ^dpassions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.⁹ 4 But¹⁰ God, being rich in ^emercy, ^fbecause of the great love with which he loved us, 5 ^geven when we were dead in our trespasses, ^hmade us alive together with Christ—ⁱby grace you have been saved— 6 and ^jraised us up with him and seated us with him in the ^kheavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable ^lriches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For ^mby grace you have been saved ⁿthrough faith. And this is ^onot your own doing; it is the ^pgift of God, 9 ^qnot a result of works, ^rso that no one may ^sboast. 10 For we are his ^tworkmanship, ^ucreated in Christ Jesus for good works, ^vwhich God prepared beforehand, that we should ^wwalk in them.

One in Christ

11 Therefore remember that ^xat one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called ^ythe circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, ^zalienated from the commonwealth of Israel and ^astrangers to ^bthe covenants of ^cpromise, ^dhaving no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus ^eyou who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our ^fpeace, who has made us both ^gone and has broken down ^hin his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 ⁱby abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might ^jreconcile us both to God ^kin one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and ^lpreached ^mpeace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have ⁿaccess in ^oone Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,¹¹ but you are ^pfellow citizens with the saints and members of the ^qhousehold of God, 20 ^rbuilt on the ^sfoundation of the ^tapostles and prophets, ^uChrist Jesus himself being the ^vcornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, ^wbeing joined together, grows into a ^xholy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being ^ybuilt together into a ^zdwelling place for God by¹² the Spirit.

The Mystery of the Gospel Revealed

1 For this reason I, Paul, a ^aprisoner of Christ Jesus ^bon behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of the ^cstewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the ^dmystery was made known to me by ^erevelation, ^fas I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 ^gwhich was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy ^hapostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 ⁱThis mystery is¹³ that the Gentiles are ^jfellow heirs, ^kmembers of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

7 Of this gospel I was made a ^lminister according to the gift of ^mGod’s grace, which was given me ⁿby the working of his power. 8 To me, ^othough I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and ^pto bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery ^qhidden for ages in¹⁴ God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God ^rmight now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the ^sheavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal ^tpurpose that ^uhe has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have ^vboldness and ^waccess with ^xconfidence through our faith in him. 13 So I ask you not to ^ylose heart over what I am suffering ^zfor you, which is your glory.

Prayer for Spiritual Strength

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family¹⁵ in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the ^ariches of his glory he may grant you to be ^bstrengthened with power through his Spirit in your ^cinner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being ^drooted and ^egrounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and ^fheight and depth, 19 and to know the ^glove of Christ that ^hsurpasses knowledge, that ⁱyou may be filled with all the ^jfullness of God.

20 ^kNow to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power ^lat work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.