The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the NIV. Switch to the NIV to read along with the audio.
12 He stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. 13 Solomon had made a bronze platform and had placed it in the middle of the enclosure. It was 7½[a] long, 7½[b] wide, and 4½ feet[c] high. He stood on it and then got down on his knees in front of the entire assembly of Israel. He spread out his hands toward the sky, 14 and prayed:[d] “O Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth! You maintain covenantal loyalty[e] to your servants who obey you with sincerity.[f] 15 You have kept your word to your servant, my father David;[g] this very day you have fulfilled what you promised.[h] 16 Now, O Lord God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, ‘You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel,[i] provided that your descendants watch their step and obey my law as you have done.’[j] 17 Now, O Lord God of Israel, may the promise you made to your servant David be realized.[k]
18 “God does not really live with humankind on the earth![l] Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built! 19 But respond favorably to[m] your servant’s prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer[n] the desperate prayer[o] your servant is presenting to you.[p] 20 Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live.[q] May you answer your servant’s prayer for this place.[r] 21 Respond to the requests of your servant and your people Israel for this place.[s] Hear from your heavenly dwelling place and respond favorably and forgive.[t]
22 “When someone is accused of sinning against his neighbor and the latter pronounces a curse on the alleged offender before your altar in this temple,[u] 23 listen from heaven and make a just decision about your servants’ claims. Condemn the guilty party, declare the other innocent, and give both of them what they deserve.[v]
24 “If your people Israel are defeated by an enemy[w] because they sinned against you, then if they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you,[x] and pray for your help[y] before you in this temple, 25 then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.[z]
26 “The time will come when[aa] the skies[ab] are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people[ac] sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you,[ad] and turn away from their sin because you punish[ae] them, 27 then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly[af] you will then teach them the right way to live[ag] and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess.[ah]
28 “The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight, and disease, or a locust[ai] invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land,[aj] or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs. 29 When all your people Israel pray and ask for help,[ak] as they acknowledge their intense pain[al] and spread out their hands toward this temple, 30 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place, forgive their sin,[am] and act favorably toward each one based on your evaluation of their motives.[an] (Indeed you are the only one who can correctly evaluate the motives of all people.)[ao] 31 Then they will honor[ap] you by obeying you[aq] throughout their lifetimes as[ar] they live on the land you gave to our ancestors.
32 “Foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will come from a distant land because of your great reputation[as] and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds;[at] they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple. 33 Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place and answer all the prayers of the foreigners.[au] Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation,[av] obey[aw] you as your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you.[ax]
34 “When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies,[ay] and they direct their prayers to you toward this chosen city and this temple I built for your honor,[az] 35 then listen from heaven to their prayers for help[ba] and vindicate them.[bb]
36 “The time will come when your people[bc] will sin against you (for there is no one who is sinless!) and you will be angry at them and deliver them over to their enemies, who will take them as prisoners to their land, whether far away or close by. 37 When your people[bd] come to their senses[be] in the land where they are held prisoner, they will repent and beg for your mercy in the land of their imprisonment, admitting, ‘We have sinned and gone astray,[bf] we have done evil!’ 38 When they return to you with all their heart and being[bg] in the land where they are held prisoner and direct their prayers toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor,[bh] 39 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help,[bi] vindicate them,[bj] and forgive your sinful people.
40 “Now, my God, may you be attentive and responsive to the prayers offered in this place.[bk] 41 Now ascend, O Lord God, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength! May your priests, O Lord God, experience your deliverance.[bl] May your loyal followers rejoice in the prosperity you give.[bm] 42 O Lord God, do not reject your chosen ones![bn] Remember the faithful promises you made to your servant David!”
Solomon Dedicates the Temple
7 When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven[bo] and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the Lord’s splendor filled the temple. 2 The priests were unable to enter the Lord’s temple because the Lord’s splendor filled the Lord’s temple. 3 When all the Israelites saw the fire come down and the Lord’s splendor over the temple, they got on their knees with their faces downward toward the pavement. They worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying,[bp] “Certainly he is good; certainly his loyal love endures!”
4 The king and all the people were presenting sacrifices to the Lord. 5 King Solomon sacrificed 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. Then the king and all the people dedicated God’s temple. 6 The priests stood in their assigned spots, along with the Levites who had the musical instruments used for praising the Lord.[bq] (These were the ones King David made for giving thanks to the Lord and which were used by David when he offered praise, saying, “Certainly his loyal love endures.”)[br] Opposite the Levites,[bs] the priests were blowing the trumpets, while all Israel stood there. 7 Solomon consecrated the middle of the courtyard that is in front of the Lord’s temple. He offered burnt sacrifices, grain offerings,[bt] and the fat from the peace offerings there, because the bronze altar that Solomon had made was too small to hold all these offerings.[bu] 8 At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival for seven days. This great assembly included people from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Stream of Egypt in the south.[bv] 9 On the eighth day they held an assembly, for they had dedicated the altar for seven days and celebrated the festival for seven more days. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon[bw] sent the people home. They left[bx] happy and contented[by] because of the good the Lord had done for David, Solomon, and his people Israel.
The Lord Gives Solomon a Promise and a Warning
11 After Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple and the royal palace and accomplished all his plans for the Lord’s temple and his royal palace,[bz] 12 the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him: “I have answered[ca] your prayer and chosen this place to be my temple where sacrifices are to be made.[cb] 13 When[cc] I close up the sky[cd] so that it doesn’t rain, or command locusts to devour the land’s vegetation,[ce] or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who belong to me,[cf] humble themselves, pray, seek to please me,[cg] and repudiate their sinful practices,[ch] then I will respond[ci] from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.[cj] 15 Now I will be attentive and responsive to the prayers offered in this place.[ck] 16 Now I have chosen and consecrated this temple by making it my permanent home;[cl] I will be constantly present there.[cm] 17 You must serve me as your father David did. Do everything I commanded and obey my rules and regulations.[cn] 18 Then I will establish your dynasty,[co] just as I promised your father David, ‘You will not fail to have a successor ruling over Israel.’[cp]
19 “But if you people[cq] ever turn away from me, fail to obey the regulations and rules I instructed you to keep,[cr] and decide to serve and worship other gods,[cs] 20 then I will remove you[ct] from my land I have given you,[cu] I will abandon this temple I have consecrated with my presence,[cv] and I will make you[cw] an object of mockery and ridicule[cx] among all the nations. 21 As for this temple, which was once majestic,[cy] everyone who passes by it will be shocked and say, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?’ 22 Others will then answer,[cz] ‘Because they abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors,[da] who led them out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served.[db] That is why he brought all this disaster down on them.’”
Building Projects and Commercial Efforts
8 After twenty years, during which Solomon built the Lord’s temple and his royal palace, 2 Solomon rebuilt the cities that Huram[dc] had given him and settled Israelites there. 3 Solomon went to Hamath Zobah and seized it. 4 He built up Tadmor in the wilderness and all the storage cities he had built in Hamath. 5 He made upper Beth Horon and lower Beth Horon fortified cities with walls and barred gates,[dd] 6 and built up Baalath, all the storage cities that belonged to him,[de] and all the cities where chariots and horses were kept.[df] He built whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and throughout his entire kingdom.[dg]
7 Now several non-Israelite peoples were left in the land after the conquest of Joshua, including the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.[dh] 8 Their descendants remained in the land (the Israelites were unable to wipe them out). Solomon conscripted them for his work crews, and they continue in that role to this very day.[di] 9 Solomon did not assign Israelites to these work crews;[dj] the Israelites served as his soldiers, officers, charioteers, and commanders of his chariot forces.[dk] 10 These men worked for King Solomon as supervisors; there were a total of 250 of them who were in charge of the people.[dl]
14 For we know that the law is spiritual—but I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin.[a] 15 For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want—instead, I do what I hate.[b] 16 But if I do what I don’t want, I agree that the law is good.[c] 17 But now it is no longer me doing it, but sin that lives in me. 18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it.[d] 19 For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want! 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.
21 So, I find the law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God in my inner being. 23 But I see a different law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be[e] to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then,[f] I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but[g] with my flesh I serve[h] the law of sin.
The Believer’s Relationship to the Holy Spirit
8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.[i] 2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit[j] in Christ Jesus has set you[k] free from the law of sin and death. 3 For God achieved what the law could not do because[l] it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by[m] the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit. 6 For the outlook[n] of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Psalm 18[a]
For the music director, by the Lord’s servant David, who sang[b] to the Lord the words of this song when[c] the Lord rescued him from the power[d] of all his enemies, including Saul.[e]
18 He said:[f]
“I love[g] you, Lord, my source of strength![h]
2 The Lord is my high ridge,[i] my stronghold,[j] my deliverer.
My God is my rocky summit where[k] I take shelter,[l]
my shield, the horn that saves me,[m] and my refuge.[n]
3 I called[o] to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,[p]
and I was delivered from my enemies.
4 The waves[q] of death engulfed me,
the currents[r] of chaos[s] overwhelmed me.[t]
5 The ropes of Sheol tightened around me,[u]
the snares of death trapped me.[v]
6 In my distress I called to the Lord;
I cried out to my God.[w]
From his heavenly temple[x] he heard my voice;
he listened to my cry for help.[y]
7 The earth heaved and shook.[z]
The roots of the mountains[aa] trembled;[ab]
they heaved because he was angry.
8 Smoke ascended from[ac] his nose;[ad]
fire devoured as it came from his mouth.[ae]
He hurled down fiery coals.[af]
9 He made the sky sink[ag] as he descended;
a thick cloud was under his feet.
10 He mounted[ah] a winged angel[ai] and flew;
he glided[aj] on the wings of the wind.[ak]
11 He shrouded himself in darkness,[al]
in thick rain clouds.[am]
12 From the brightness in front of him came
hail and fiery coals.[an]
13 The Lord thundered[ao] in[ap] the sky;
the Most High[aq] shouted.[ar]
14 He shot his[as] arrows and scattered them,[at]
many lightning bolts[au] and routed them.[av]
15 The depths[aw] of the sea[ax] were exposed;
the inner regions[ay] of the world were uncovered
by[az] your battle cry,[ba] Lord,
by the powerful breath from your nose.[bb]
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.