The Steadfast Love of the Lord
1 fShout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!
gPraise befits the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
hmake melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with iloud shouts.
4 For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
jthe earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
6 kBy the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
7 lHe gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;
mhe puts the deeps in storehouses.
8 nLet all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
10 oThe Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
phe frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.
12 qBlessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
13 The Lord looks down from heaven;
he sees all the children of man;
14 from where he sits enthroned he looks out
on all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 he who fashions the hearts of them all
and observes all their deeds.
16 The king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17 uThe war horse is a false hope for salvation,
and by its great might it cannot rescue.
18 Behold, the veye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who whope in his steadfast love,
19 that he may deliver their soul from death
and keep them alive xin famine.
20 Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and our yshield.
21 For our heart is zglad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
22 Let your asteadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.
Solomon’s Prayer for Wisdom
1 Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took cPharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building dhis own house and the ehouse of the Lord and the fwall around Jerusalem. 2 The people were sacrificing at the high places, however, because no house had yet been built gfor the name of the Lord.
3 hSolomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places. 4 And the king went to iGibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 jAt Gibeon kthe Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” 6 And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because lhe mwalked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. 7 And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although nI am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have ochosen, a great people, ptoo many to be numbered or counted for multitude. 9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”
10 It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. 11 And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, 12 behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, qI give you a wise and discerning mind, so that rnone like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. 13 I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that sno other king shall compare with you, all your days. 14 And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”
15 And Solomon tawoke, and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.
Solomon’s Wisdom
16 Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. 18 Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were alone. There was no one else with us in the house; only we two were in the house. 19 And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. 20 And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. 21 When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning, behold, he was not the child that I had borne.” 22 But the other woman said, “No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine.” Thus they spoke before the king.
23 Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead’; and the other says, ‘No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one.’” 24 And the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought before the king. 25 And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” 26 Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.” 27 Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.” 28 And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.
Warning Against Neglecting Salvation
1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since wthe message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 xhow shall we yescape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and zit was attested to us by those who heard, 4 while aGod also bore witness by bsigns and wonders and various miracles and cby gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
The Founder of Salvation
5 For it was not to angels that God subjected the world dto come, of which we are speaking. 6 It has been testified somewhere,
e“What is man, that you are mindful of him,
or the son of man, that you care for him?
7 You made him for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned him with glory and honor,1
8 putting everything in subjection under his feet.”
Now in putting feverything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. 9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with gglory and honor hbecause of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for ieveryone.
10 For it was fitting that he, jfor whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the kfounder of their salvation lperfect through suffering. 11 For he who msanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.2 That is why he is not nashamed to call them obrothers,3 12 saying,
p“I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”
13 And again,
q“I will put my trust in him.”
And again,
r“Behold, I and the children God has given me.”
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, she himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of tdeath, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made ulike his brothers vin every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful whigh priest in the service of God, to make xpropitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For ybecause he himself has suffered when ztempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
