71 And when Solomon had ended praying, the fire came down from the heavens and consumed the burnt-offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of Jehovah filled the house. 2 And the priests could not enter into the house of Jehovah, because the glory of Jehovah filled Jehovah's house. 3 And all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of Jehovah upon the house, and bowed themselves with their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshipped and thanked Jehovah: For he is good, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever. 4 And the king and all the people offered sacrifices before Jehovah. 5 And king Solomon sacrificed a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. 6 And the priests stood in their charges, and the Levites with Jehovah's instruments of music, which David the king had made to praise Jehovah, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever, when David praised by their means; and the priests sounded the trumpets opposite to them, and all Israel stood. 7 And Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of Jehovah; for there he offered the burnt-offerings, and the fat of the peace-offerings, because the brazen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt-offerings and the oblations and the fat. 8 And at that time Solomon held the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entrance of Hamath unto the torrent of Egypt. 9 And on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly; for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days. 10 And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for the goodness that Jehovah had done to David and to Solomon, and to Israel his people.
11 And Solomon completed the house of Jehovah, and the king's house; and all that came into Solomon's heart to make in the house of Jehovah, and in his own house, he did prosperously.
12 Then Jehovah appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: I have heard thy prayer, and I have chosen for myself this place for a house of sacrifice. 13 If I shut up the heavens that there be no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; 14 and my people, who are called by my name, humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from the heavens, and forgive their sin, and heal their land. 15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attentive to the prayer [made] in this place; 16 for I have now chosen and hallowed this house, that my name may be there for ever; and mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually. 17 And [as for] thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and mine ordinances; 18 then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to rule over Israel. 19 But if ye turn away and forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them; 20 then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed to my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 21 And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passes by it; so that he shall say, Why has Jehovah done thus to this land and to this house? 22 And they shall say, Because they forsook Jehovah the God of their fathers, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and have attached themselves to other gods, and have worshipped them and served them; therefore he has brought upon them all this evil.
81 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the house of Jehovah and his own house, 2 that the cities which Huram had given to Solomon, Solomon built them and caused the children of Israel to dwell there. 3 And Solomon went to Hamath-Zobah, and overcame it. 4 And he built Tadmor, in the wilderness, and all the store-cities, which he built in Hamath. 5 And he built upper Beth-Horon and lower Beth-Horon, fortified cities, with walls, gates, and bars; 6 and Baalath, and all the store-cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for chariots, and the cities for the horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and on Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. 7 All the people that were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel, 8 their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel had not destroyed, upon them did Solomon impose tribute-service until this day. 9 But of the children of Israel, of them did Solomon make no bondmen for his work; but they were men of war, and chief of his captains, and captains of his chariots and his horsemen. 10 And these were the chief of king Solomon's superintendents, two hundred and fifty, that ruled over the people. 11 And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David to the house which he had built for her; for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the [places] are holy to which the ark of Jehovah has come.
12 Then Solomon offered up burnt-offerings to Jehovah on the altar of Jehovah, which he had built before the porch; 13 even as the duty of every day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and at the set feasts, three times in the year,—at the feast of unleavened bread, and at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of tabernacles. 14 And he appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites for their charges, to praise and serve before the priests, as the duty of every day required; and the doorkeepers by their divisions at every gate: for such was the commandment of David the man of God; 15 and they did not depart from the commandment of the king to the priests and the Levites concerning any matter, nor concerning the treasures. 16 And all the work of Solomon was prepared, to the day of the foundation of the house of Jehovah and to its completion. [So] the house of Jehovah was finished. 17 Then went Solomon to Ezion-geber, and to Eloth, on the seashore in the land of Edom. 18 And Huram sent him by his servants ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and fetched thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.
91 And the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, and came to Jerusalem to prove Solomon with enigmas; with a very great train, and camels that bore spices and gold in great abundance, and precious stones; and she came to Solomon, and spoke with him of all that was in her heart. 2 And Solomon explained to her all she spoke of, and there was not a thing hidden from Solomon that he did not explain to her. 3 And when the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, 4 and the food of his table, and the deportment of his servants, and the order of service of his attendants and their apparel, and his cupbearers and their apparel, and his ascent by which he went up to the house of Jehovah, there was no more spirit in her. 5 And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thine affairs and of thy wisdom; 6 but I gave no credit to their words, until I came and mine eyes had seen; and behold, the half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: thou exceedest the report that I heard. 7 Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, who stand continually before thee and hear thy wisdom! 8 Blessed be Jehovah thy God, who delighted in thee, to set thee on his throne, to be king to Jehovah thy God! Because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore did he make thee king over them, to do judgment and justice. 9 And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in very great abundance, and precious stones; neither was there any such spice as that which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. 10 (And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought sandal-wood and precious stones. 11 And the king made of the sandal-wood stairs for the house of Jehovah, and for the king's house, and harps and lutes for the singers. And there were none such seen before in the land of Judah.) 12 And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides what she had brought to the king. And she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants.
13 And the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, 14 besides [what] dealers and merchants brought, and [what] all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought of gold and silver to Solomon. 15 And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold,—he applied six hundred [shekels] of beaten gold to one target; 16 and three hundred shields of beaten gold,—he applied three hundred [shekels] of gold to one shield; and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. 17 And the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold; 18 and the throne had six steps, with a footstool of gold fastened to the throne; and there were arms on each side at the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the arms; 19 and twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not the like made in any kingdom. 20 And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of precious gold: silver was not of the least account in the days of Solomon. 21 For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: once in three years came the ships of Tarshish, bringing gold and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. 22 And king Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. 23 And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 24 And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and clothing, armour, and spices, horses and mules, a rate year by year. 25 And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; and he placed them in the chariot-cities, and with the king at Jerusalem. 26 And he ruled over all the kings from the river as far as the land of the Philistines, and up to the border of Egypt. 27 And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he as the sycamores that are in the lowland for abundance. 28 And they brought to Solomon horses out of Egypt, and out of all lands.
29 And the rest of the acts of Solomon first and last, are they not written in the words 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? 30 And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David his father; and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.
111 Now there was a certain [man] sick, Lazarus of Bethany, of the village of Mary and Martha her sister. 2 It was [the] Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 The sisters therefore sent to him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. 4 But when Jesus heard [it], he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it. 5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. 6 When therefore he heard, He is sick, he remained two days then in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he says to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again. 8 The disciples say to him, Rabbi, [even but] now the Jews sought to stone thee, and goest thou thither again? 9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any one walk in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world; 10 but if any one walk in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him. 11 These things said he; and after this he says to them, Lazarus, our friend, is fallen asleep, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep. 12 The disciples therefore said to him, Lord, if he be fallen asleep, he will get well. 13 But Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that he spoke of the rest of sleep. 14 Jesus therefore then said to them plainly, Lazarus has died. 15 And I rejoice on your account that I was not there, in order that ye may believe. But let us go to him. 16 Thomas therefore, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.
17 Jesus therefore [on] arriving found him to have been four days already in the tomb. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia off, 19 and many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, that they might console them concerning their brother. 20 Martha then, when she heard Jesus is coming, went to meet him; but Mary sat in the house. 21 Martha therefore said to Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died; 22 but even now I know, that whatsoever thou shalt ask of God, God will give thee. 23 Jesus says to her, Thy brother shall rise again. 24 Martha says to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection in the last day. 25 Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life: he that believes on me, though he have died, shall live; 26 and every one who lives and believes on me shall never die. Believest thou this? 27 She says to him, Yea, Lord; I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, who should come into the world.
28 And having said this, she went away and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, The teacher is come and calls thee. 29 She, when she heard [that], rises up quickly and comes to him.
(Read John 11:1-6)
It is no new thing for those whom Christ loves, to be sick; bodily distempers correct the corruption, and try the graces of God's people. He came not to preserve his people from these afflictions, but to save them from their sins, and from the wrath to come; however, it behoves us to apply to Him in behalf of our friends and relatives when sick and afflicted. Let this reconcile us to the darkest dealings of Providence, that they are all for the glory of God: sickness, loss, disappointment, are so; and if God be glorified, we ought to be satisfied. Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. The families are greatly favoured in which love and peace abound; but those are most happy whom Jesus loves, and by whom he is beloved. Alas, that this should seldom be the case with every person, even in small families. God has gracious intentions, even when he seems to delay. When the work of deliverance, temporal or spiritual, public or personal, is delayed, it does but stay for the right time.
(Read John 11:7-10)
Christ never brings his people into any danger but he goes with them in it. We are apt to think ourselves zealous for the Lord, when really we are only zealous for our wealth, credit, ease, and safety; we have therefore need to try our principles. But our day shall be lengthened out, till our work is done, and our testimony finished. A man has comfort and satisfaction while in the way of his duty, as set forth by the word of God, and determined by the providence of God. Christ, wherever he went, walked in the day; and so shall we, if we follow his steps. If a man walks in the way of his heart, and according to the course of this world, if he consults his own carnal reasonings more than the will and glory of God, he falls into temptations and snares. He stumbles, because there is no light in him; for light in us is to our moral actions, that which light about us to our natural actions.
(Read John 11:11-16)
Since we are sure to rise again at the last, why should not the believing hope of that resurrection to eternal life, make it as easy for us to put off the body and die, as it is to put off our clothes and go to sleep? A true Christian, when he dies, does but sleep; he rests from the labours of the past day. Nay, herein death is better than sleep, that sleep is only a short rest, but death is the end of earthly cares and toils. The disciples thought that it was now needless for Christ to go to Lazarus, and expose himself and them. Thus we often hope that the good work we are called to do, will be done by some other hand, if there be peril in the doing of it. But when Christ raised Lazarus from the dead, many were brought to believe on him; and there was much done to make perfect the faith of those that believed. Let us go to him; death cannot separate from the love of Christ, nor put us out of the reach of his call. Like Thomas, in difficult times Christians should encourage one another. The dying of the Lord Jesus should make us willing to die whenever God calls us.
(Read John 11:17-32)
Here was a house where the fear of God was, and on which his blessing rested; yet it was made a house of mourning. Grace will keep sorrow from the heart, but not from the house. When God, by his grace and providence, is coming towards us in ways of mercy and comfort, we should, like Martha, go forth by faith, hope, and prayer, to meet him. When Martha went to meet Jesus, Mary sat still in the house; this temper formerly had been an advantage to her, when it put her at Christ's feet to hear his word; but in the day of affliction, the same temper disposed her to melancholy. It is our wisdom to watch against the temptations, and to make use of the advantages of our natural tempers. When we know not what in particular to ask or expect, let us refer ourselves to God; let him do as seemeth him good. To enlarge Martha's expectations, our Lord declared himself to be the Resurrection and the Life. In every sense he is the Resurrection; the source, the substance, the first-fruits, the cause of it. The redeemed soul lives after death in happiness; and after the resurrection, both body and soul are kept from all evil for ever. When we have read or heard the word of Christ, about the great things of the other world, we should put it to ourselves, Do we believe this truth? The crosses and comforts of this present time would not make such a deep impression upon us as they do, if we believed the things of eternity as we ought. When Christ our Master comes, he calls for us. He comes in his word and ordinances, and calls us to them, calls us by them, calls us to himself. Those who, in a day of peace, set themselves at Christ's feet to be taught by him, may with comfort, in a day of trouble, cast themselves at his feet, to find favour with him.
