The Lord Appears to Solomon

1 ^tAs soon as Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord and the king’s house and all that Solomon desired to build, 2 the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, ^uas he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 And the Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by ^vputting my name there forever. My ^weyes and my heart will be there for all time. 4 And as for you, ^xif you will walk before me, ^yas David your father walked, ^zwith integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, 5 then I will ^aestablish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ^b‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’ 6 But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, 7 then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and ^cthe house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a ^dproverb and a byword among all peoples. 8 And this house will become a heap of ruins.¹ Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will ^ehiss, and they will say, ^f‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ 9 Then they will say, ‘Because they ^gabandoned the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the Lord has ^hbrought all this disaster on them.’”

Solomon’s Other Acts

10 ⁱAt the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the ^jhouse of the Lord and the ^kking’s house, 11 and Hiram king of Tyre had ^lsupplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber and gold, as much as he desired, King Solomon gave to Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. 12 But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, they did not please him. 13 Therefore he said, “What kind of cities are these that you have given me, my brother?” So they are called the land of ^mCabul ⁿto this day. 14 Hiram had sent to the king ^o120 talents² of gold.

15 And this is the account of the ^pforced labor that King Solomon drafted to build the house of the Lord and his own house and the ^qMillo and the ^rwall of Jerusalem and Hazor and Megiddo and Gezer 16 (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and had killed the ^sCanaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as dowry to ^this daughter, Solomon’s wife; 17 so Solomon rebuilt Gezer) and Lower Beth-horon 18 and Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah,³ 19 and all the store cities that Solomon had, and the cities for his ^uchariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. 20 All the people who were left of ^vthe Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the people of Israel— 21 their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the people of Israel were unable to devote to destruction⁴—^wthese Solomon drafted to be slaves, and so they are to this day. 22 But ^xof the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves. They were the soldiers, they were his officials, his commanders, his captains, his chariot commanders and his horsemen.

23 These were the ^ychief officers who were over Solomon’s work: 550 who had charge of the people who carried on the work.

24 But Pharaoh’s daughter went up ^zfrom the city of David to ^aher own house that Solomon had built for her. Then he built the Millo.

25 ^bThree times a year Solomon used to offer up burnt offerings and peace offerings on the ^caltar that he built to the Lord, making offerings with it⁵ before the Lord. So he finished the house.

26 King Solomon built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. 27 And Hiram sent with the ^dfleet his servants, seamen who were familiar with the sea, together with the servants of Solomon. 28 And they went to ^eOphir and brought from there gold, 420 talents, and they brought it to King Solomon.

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.