Today's Reading

¹When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great train, and camels that bore spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she had come to Solomon, she talked with him of all that was in her heart.

²Solomon told her all her questions; and there was not anything hidden from Solomon which he did not tell her.

³When the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,

⁴and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their clothing, his cup bearers also, and their clothing, and his ascent by which he went up to the house of the Lord; there was no more spirit in her.

⁵She said to the king, "It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts, and of your wisdom.

⁶However I did not believe their words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it; and behold, the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me: you exceed the fame that I heard.

⁷Happy are your men, and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you, and hear your wisdom.

⁸Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, to set you on his throne, to be king for the Lord your God: because your God loved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore made he you king over them, to do justice and righteousness."

⁹She gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.

¹⁰The servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones.

¹¹The king made of the algum trees terraces for the house of the Lord, and for the king's house, and harps and stringed instruments for the singers: and there were none like these seen before in the land of Judah.

¹²King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides that which she had brought to the king. So she turned, and went to her own land, she and her servants.

¹³Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,

¹⁴besides that which the traders and merchants brought: and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.

¹⁵King Solomon made two hundred bucklers of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of beaten gold went to one buckler.

¹⁶He made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

¹⁷Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.

¹⁸And there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and stays on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the stays.

¹⁹Twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other on the six steps: there was nothing like it made in any kingdom.

²⁰All king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: silver was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.

²¹For the king had ships that went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years came the ships of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

²²So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.

²³All the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

²⁴They brought every man his tribute, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and clothing, armor, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.

²⁵Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, that he stationed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.

²⁶He ruled over all the kings from the River even to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.

²⁷The king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars to be as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland, for abundance.

²⁸They brought horses for Solomon out of Egypt, and out of all lands.

²⁹Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, aren't they written in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat?

³⁰Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.

³¹Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

¹Rehoboam went to Shechem; for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.

²It happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it, (for he was in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of king Solomon), that Jeroboam returned out of Egypt.

³They sent and called him; and Jeroboam and all Israel came, and they spoke to Rehoboam, saying,

⁴"Your father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make you the grievous service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, lighter, and we will serve you."

⁵He said to them, "Come again to me after three days." The people departed.

⁶King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, "What counsel do you give me to return answer to this people?"

⁷They spoke to him, saying, "If you are kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever."

⁸But he forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him.

⁹He said to them, "What counsel do you give, that we may return answer to this people, who have spoken to me, saying, 'Make the yoke that your father put on us lighter?'"

¹⁰The young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, "Thus you shall tell the people who spoke to you, saying, 'Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter on us;' thus you shall say to them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist.

¹¹Now whereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.'"

¹²So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king asked, saying, "Come to me again the third day."

¹³The king answered them roughly; and king Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the old men,

¹⁴and spoke to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions."

¹⁵So the king did not listen to the people; for it was brought about of God, that the Lord might establish his word, which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

¹⁶When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, "What portion have we in David? Neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse! Every man to your tents, Israel! Now see to your own house, David." So all Israel departed to their tents.

¹⁷But as for the children of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

¹⁸Then king Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was over the men subject to forced labor; and the children of Israel stoned him to death with stones. King Rehoboam made speed to get himself up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.

¹⁹So Israel rebelled against the house of David to this day.

¹When Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, one hundred eighty thousand chosen men, who were warriors, to fight against Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam.

²But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

³"Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,

⁴'Thus says the Lord, "You shall not go up, nor fight against your brothers! Return every man to his house; for this thing is of me."'" So they listened to the words of the Lord, and returned from going against Jeroboam.

⁵Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and built cities for defense in Judah.

⁶He built Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,

⁷Beth Zur, and Soco, and Adullam,

⁸and Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph,

⁹and Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah,

¹⁰and Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin, fortified cities.

¹¹He fortified the strongholds, and put captains in them, and stores of food, and oil and wine.

¹²He put shields and spears in every city, and made them exceeding strong. Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.

¹³The priests and the Levites who were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their border.

¹⁴For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, that they should not execute the priest's office to the Lord;

¹⁵and he appointed him priests for the high places, and for the male goats, and for the calves which he had made.

¹⁶After them, out of all the tribes of Israel, such as set their hearts to seek the Lord, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their fathers.

¹⁷So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years; for they walked three years in the way of David and Solomon.

¹⁸Rehoboam took him a wife, Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse;

¹⁹and she bore him sons: Jeush, and Shemariah, and Zaham.

²⁰After her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom; and she bore him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.

²¹Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and sixty concubines, and became the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.)

²²Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah to be chief, the prince among his brothers; for he intended to make him king.

²³He dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his sons throughout all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, to every fortified city: and he gave them food in abundance. He sought for them many wives.

¹I tell the truth in Christ. I am not lying, my conscience testifying with me in the Holy Spirit,

²that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart.

³For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brothers' sake, my relatives according to the flesh,

⁴who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service, and the promises;

⁵of whom are the fathers, and from whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God, blessed forever. Amen.

⁶But it is not as though the word of God has come to nothing. For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel.

⁷Neither, because they are Abraham's seed, are they all children. But, "In Isaac will your seed be called."

⁸That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as a seed.

⁹For this is a word of promise, "At the appointed time I will come, and Sarah will have a son."

¹⁰Not only so, but Rebekah also conceived by one, by our father Isaac.

¹¹For being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him who calls,

¹²it was said to her, "The elder will serve the younger."

¹³Even as it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

¹⁴What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? May it never be!

¹⁵For he said to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."

¹⁶So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy.

¹⁷For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I caused you to be raised up, that I might show in you my power, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."

¹⁸So then, he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires.

¹⁹You will say then to me, "Why does he still find fault? For who withstands his will?"

²⁰But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed ask him who formed it, "Why did you make me like this?"

²¹Or hasn't the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel for honor, and another for dishonor?

²²What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath made for destruction,

²³and that he might make known the riches of his glory on vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory,

²⁴us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles?

²⁵As he says also in Hosea, "I will call them 'my people,' which were not my people; and her 'beloved,' who was not beloved."

²⁶"It will be that in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' There they will be called 'children of the living God.'"

²⁷Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, "If the number of the sons of Israel are as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant who will be saved;

²⁸for the Lord will fulfill his word completely and without delay upon the earth."

²⁹As Isaiah has said before, "Unless the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and would have been made like Gomorrah."

³⁰What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who did not follow after righteousness, attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith;

³¹but Israel, following after a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law.

³²Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone;

³³even as it is written, "Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock that will make them fall; and no one who believes in him will be put to shame."

¹ When the Lord brought back those who returned to Zion, we were like those who dream.

²Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them."

³The Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad.

⁴Restore our fortunes again, Lord, like the streams in the Negev.

⁵Those who sow in tears will reap in joy.

⁶He who goes out weeping, carrying seed for sowing, will certainly come again with joy, carrying his sheaves.

¹My son, if you will receive my words, and store up my commandments within you;

²So as to turn your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding;

³Yes, if you call out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding;

⁴If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures:

⁵then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

⁶For the Lord gives wisdom. Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

⁷He lays up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity;

⁸that he may guard the paths of justice, and preserve the way of his holy ones.

⁹Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path.

¹⁰For wisdom will enter into your heart. Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

¹¹Discretion will watch over you. Understanding will keep you,

¹²to deliver you from the way of evil, from the men who speak perverse things;

¹³who forsake the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;

¹⁴who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the perverseness of evil;

¹⁵who are crooked in their ways, and wayward in their paths:

¹⁶To deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words;

¹⁷who forsakes the friend of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God:

¹⁸for her house leads down to death, her paths to the dead.

¹⁹None who go to her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life:

²⁰that you may walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.

²¹For the upright will dwell in the land. The perfect will remain in it.

²²But the wicked will be cut off from the land. The treacherous will be rooted out of it.