Offerings for the Temple

¹And David the king said to all the assembly, “Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is pyoung and inexperienced, and the work is great, for qthe palace will not be for man but for the Lord God. ²So I have provided for the house of my God, so far as I was able, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, besides great quantities of ronyx and stones for setting, antimony, colored stones, all sorts of precious stones and marble. ³Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God: ⁴s3,000 talents1 of gold, of the gold of tOphir, and 7,000 talents of refined silver, for overlaying the walls of the house,2 ⁵and for all the work to be done by craftsmen, gold for the things of gold and silver for the things of silver. Who then will offer willingly, consecrating himself3 today to the Lord?”

⁶Then uthe leaders of fathers' houses made their freewill offerings, as did also the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and vthe officers over the king's work. ⁷They gave for the service of the house of God 5,000 talents and 10,000 wdarics4 of gold, 10,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of bronze and 100,000 talents of iron. ⁸And whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord, in the care of xJehiel the Gershonite. ⁹Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a ywhole heart they had offered freely to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly.

David Prays in the Assembly

¹⁰Therefore David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: z“Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. ¹¹aYours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. ¹²bBoth riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. cIn your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. ¹³And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.

¹⁴“But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. ¹⁵dFor we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are elike a shadow, and there is no abiding.5 ¹⁶O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. ¹⁷I know, my God, fthat you test the heart and ghave pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. ¹⁸O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. ¹⁹hGrant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may ibuild the palace jfor which I have made provision.”

²⁰Then David said to all the assembly, k“Bless the Lord your God.” And all the assembly blessed the Lord, the God of their fathers, land bowed their heads and paid homage to the Lord and to the king. ²¹And they offered sacrifices to the Lord, and on the next day offered burnt offerings to the Lord, 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams, and 1,000 lambs, with their mdrink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. ²²And they ate and drank before the Lord on that day with great gladness.

Solomon Anointed King

And they made Solomon the son of David king nthe second time, and they oanointed him as prince for the Lord, and pZadok as priest.

²³qThen Solomon sat on the rthrone of the Lord as king in place of David his father. And he prospered, and all Israel obeyed him. ²⁴All the leaders and the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David, pledged their allegiance to King Solomon. ²⁵And the Lord made Solomon very sgreat in the sight of all Israel and tbestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.

The Death of David

²⁶Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. ²⁷The utime that he reigned over Israel was forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. ²⁸Then he died vat a good age, wfull of days, riches, and honor. And Solomon his son reigned in his place. ²⁹Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the Chronicles xof Samuel the seer, and in the Chronicles of yNathan the prophet, and in the Chronicles of zGad the seer, ³⁰with accounts of all his rule and his might and of the circumstances athat came upon him and upon Israel and upon all the kingdoms of the countries.

The Day of the Lord Will Come

¹This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them gI am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, ²hthat you should remember the predictions of ithe holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, ³knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come jin the last days with scoffing, kfollowing their own sinful desires. ⁴lThey will say, “Where is the promise of mhis coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” ⁵For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth nwas formed out of water and through water oby the word of God, ⁶and that by means of these the world that then existed pwas deluged with water and qperished. ⁷But by the same word rthe heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and sdestruction of the ungodly.

⁸But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and ta thousand years as one day. ⁹uThe Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise vas some count slowness, but wis patient toward you,1 xnot wishing that any should perish, but ythat all should reach repentance. ¹⁰But zthe day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then athe heavens will pass away with a roar, and bthe heavenly bodies2 will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.3

¹¹Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, cwhat sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, ¹²dwaiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and ethe heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! ¹³But according to his promise we are waiting for fnew heavens and a new earth gin which righteousness dwells.

Final Words

¹⁴hTherefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him iwithout spot or jblemish, and kat peace. ¹⁵And count lthe patience of our Lord as salvation, just as mour beloved brother Paul also wrote to you naccording to the wisdom given him, ¹⁶as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. oThere are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, pas they do the other Scriptures. ¹⁷You therefore, beloved, qknowing this beforehand, rtake care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. ¹⁸But sgrow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. tTo him be the glory both now and to the day of ueternity. Amen.

The Indictment of the Lord

¹qHear what the Lord says:

Arise, plead your case before the mountains,

and let the hills hear your voice.

²rHear, you mountains, sthe indictment of the Lord,

and you enduring foundations of the earth,

for the Lord has an indictment against his people,

and he will contend with Israel.

³“O my people, twhat have I done to you?

uHow have I wearied you? Answer me!

⁴For vI brought you up from the land of Egypt

and wredeemed you from the house of slavery,

and I sent before you Moses,

Aaron, and xMiriam.

⁵O my people, remember ywhat Balak king of Moab devised,

and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,

and what happened from zShittim to Gilgal,

that you may know athe righteous acts of the Lord.”

What Does the Lord Require?

⁶b“With what shall I come before the Lord,

and bow myself before cGod on high?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

with calves a year old?

⁷dWill the Lord be pleased with1 thousands of rams,

with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

eShall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

⁸He has told you, O man, what is good;

and fwhat does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,2

and to gwalk humbly with your God?

Destruction of the Wicked

⁹The voice of the Lord cries to the city—

and it is sound wisdom to fear hyour name:

“Hear of ithe rod and of him who appointed it!3

¹⁰Can I forget any longer the treasures4 of wickedness in the house of the wicked,

and the scant measure that is accursed?

¹¹Shall I acquit the man jwith wicked scales

and with a bag of deceitful weights?

¹²Your5 rich men are kfull of violence;

your inhabitants lspeak lies,

and mtheir tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

¹³Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow,

nmaking you desolate because of your sins.

¹⁴oYou shall eat, but not be satisfied,

and there shall be hunger within you;

you shall put away, but not preserve,

and what you preserve I will give to the sword.

¹⁵pYou shall sow, but not reap;

you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;

you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.

¹⁶For you have kept the statutes of qOmri,6

and all the works of the house of rAhab;

and you have walked in their counsels,

that I may make you sa desolation, and your7 inhabitants sa hissing;

so you shall bear tthe scorn of my people.”

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

¹Now zthe tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. ²And the Pharisees and the scribes agrumbled, saying, b“This man receives sinners and ceats with them.”

³So he told them this parable: ⁴d“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, eif he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine fin the open country, and ggo after the one that is lost, until he finds it? ⁵And when he has found it, hhe lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for iI have found my sheep that was lost.’ ⁷Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who jrepents than over ninety-nine krighteous persons who need no repentance.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

⁸“Or what woman, having ten silver coins,1 if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? ⁹And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ ¹⁰Just so, I tell you, there is joy before lthe angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The Parable of the Prodigal Son

¹¹And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. ¹²And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me mthe share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided nhis property between them. ¹³Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in oreckless living. ¹⁴And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to2 one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶And he pwas longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

¹⁷“But qwhen he rcame to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! ¹⁸I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, sI have sinned against theaven and before you. ¹⁹uI am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ ²⁰And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and vran and wembraced him and xkissed him. ²¹And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. uI am no longer worthy to be called your son.’3 ²²But the father said to his servants,4 ‘Bring quickly ythe best robe, and put it on him, and put za ring on his hand, and ashoes on his feet. ²³And bring bthe fattened calf and kill it, and clet us eat and celebrate. ²⁴For this my son dwas dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

²⁵“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. ²⁷And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, ²⁹but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might ecelebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours came, fwho has devoured gyour property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ ³¹And he said to him, ‘Son, hyou are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³²It was fitting eto celebrate and be glad, for this your brother iwas dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”