Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two

1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two¹ others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 And he said to them, ^l“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of ^mwolves. 4 Carry ⁿno moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and ^ogreet no one on the road. 5 Whatever ^phouse you enter, first say, ^q‘Peace be to this house!’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for ^rthe laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, ^seat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ^t‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we ^uwipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be ^vmore bearable on that day for ^wSodom than for that town.

Woe to Unrepentant Cities

13 ^x“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be ^yexalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to ^zHades.

16 ^a“The one who hears you hears me, and ^bthe one who rejects you rejects me, and ^cthe one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

1 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, ⁱwe were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, 2 and ^jwe sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker¹ in the gospel of Christ, to ^kestablish and exhort you in your faith, 3 that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that ^lwe are destined for this. 4 For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, ^mjust as it has come to pass, and just as you know. 5 For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the ⁿtempter had tempted you and our labor would be ^oin vain.

Timothy’s Encouraging Report

6 But ^pnow that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and ^qlove and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you—

Give Thanks to the Lord

Of David.

Solomon Worships at Gibeon

1 ^aSolomon the son of David ^bestablished himself in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was ^cwith him and made him ^dexceedingly great.

2 Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to all the leaders in all Israel, the heads of fathers’ houses. 3 And Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at ^eGibeon, ^ffor the tent of meeting of God, ^gwhich Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness, was there. 4 (But ^hDavid had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the ⁱplace that David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.) 5 Moreover, the ^jbronze altar that ^kBezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, ^lhad made, was there before the tabernacle of the Lord. And Solomon and the assembly sought it¹ out. 6 And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the Lord, which was at the tent of meeting, and offered ^ma thousand burnt offerings on it.

Solomon Prays for Wisdom

7 ⁿIn that night ^oGod appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask what I shall give you.” 8 And Solomon said to God, “You have shown great and steadfast love to David my father, and have made me king ^pin his place. 9 O Lord God, ^qlet your word to David my father be now fulfilled, for you have made me king over a people ^ras numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 ^sGive me now wisdom and knowledge to ^tgo out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great?” 11 God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king, 12 ^uwisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, ^vsuch as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like.” 13 So Solomon came from² the high place at Gibeon, from before the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem. And he reigned over Israel.

Solomon Given Wealth

14 ^wSolomon gathered together ^xchariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 15 And the king made ^ysilver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the ^zsycamore of the Shephelah. 16 And Solomon’s import of ^ahorses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s traders would buy them from Kue for a price. 17 They imported a chariot from Egypt for 600 shekels³ of silver, and a horse for 150. Likewise through them these were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.

Preparing to Build the Temple

1 ^bNow Solomon purposed to build a temple ^cfor the name of the Lord, and a ^droyal palace for himself. ⁵ 2 And Solomon assigned 70,000 men to bear burdens and 80,000 to quarry in the hill country, and 3,600 to oversee them. 3 And Solomon sent word to Hiram the king of Tyre: “As you dealt with David my father and ^esent him cedar to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me. 4 Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the Lord my God and dedicate it to him for the burning of ^fincense of sweet spices before him, and for the regular arrangement of the ^gshowbread, and for burnt offerings ^hmorning and evening, ⁱon the Sabbaths and the ^jnew moons and the ^kappointed feasts of the Lord our God, as ordained forever for Israel. 5 ^lThe house that I am to build will be great, for our God is ^mgreater than all gods. 6 But ⁿwho is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? ^oWho am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him? 7 So now send me a man skilled to work in gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in ^ppurple, crimson, and blue fabrics, trained also in engraving, to be with the skilled workers who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, ^qwhom David my father provided. 8 Send me also cedar, cypress, and algum timber from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut timber in Lebanon. And my servants will be with your servants, 9 to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the house I am to build will be great and wonderful. 10 I will give for your servants, the woodsmen who cut timber, 20,000 cors⁶ of crushed wheat, 20,000 cors of barley, 20,000 baths⁷ of wine, and 20,000 baths of oil.”

11 Then Hiram the king of Tyre answered in a letter that he sent to Solomon, “Because the Lord ^rloves his people, he has made you king over them.” 12 Hiram also said, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who has given King David a wise son, who has discretion and understanding, who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.

13 “Now I have sent a skilled man, who has understanding, ^sHuram-abi, 14 the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre. He is trained to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and in purple, blue, and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and to do all sorts of engraving and execute any design that may be assigned him, with your craftsmen, the craftsmen of my lord, David your father. 15 Now therefore the wheat and barley, oil and wine, of which my lord has spoken, let him send to his servants. 16 And we will cut whatever timber you need from Lebanon and bring it to you in rafts by sea to Joppa, so that you may take it up to Jerusalem.”

17 ^tThen Solomon counted all the resident aliens who were in the land of Israel, after the census of them that David his father had taken, and there were found 153,600. 18 Seventy thousand of them he assigned to bear burdens, 80,000 to quarry in the hill country, and 3,600 as overseers to make the people work.