The One Year Bible for Men - Flipbook - Page 71
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been so good to David and to Solomon and to
his people Israel.
11 So Sol
omon finished the Temple of the
Lord, as well as the royal palace. He completed
everything he had planned to do in the con
struction of the Temple and the palace. 12 Then
one night the Lord appeared to Solomon and
said,
“I have heard your prayer and have chosen
this Temple as the place for making
sacrifices. 13 At times I might shut up the
heavens so that no rain falls, or command
grasshoppers to devour your crops, or
send plagues among you. 14 Then if my
people who are called by my name will
humble themselves and pray and seek
my face and turn from their wicked ways,
I will hear from heaven and will forgive
their sins and restore their land. 15 My
eyes will be open and my ears attentive
to every prayer made in this place. 16 For I
have chosen this Temple and set it apart to
be holy—a place where my name will be
honored forever. I will always watch over
it, for it is dear to my heart.
17 “As for you, if you faithfully follow
me as David your father did, obeying all
my commands, decrees, and regulations,
18 then I will establish the throne of your
dynasty. For I made this covenant with
your father, David, when I said, ‘One of
your descendants will always rule over
Israel.’
19 “But if you or your descendants
abandon me and disobey the decrees and
commands I have given you, and if you
serve and worship other gods, 20 then I
will uproot the people from this land that
I have given them. I will reject this Temple
that I have made holy to honor my name.
I will make it an object of mockery and
ridicule among the nations. 21 And though
this Temple is impressive now, all who
pass by will be appalled. They will ask,
‘Why did the Lord do such terrible things
to this land and to this Temple?’
22 “And the answer will be, ‘Because his
people abandoned the Lord, the God of
their ancestors, who brought them out
of Egypt, and they worshiped other gods
instead and bowed down to them. That is
why he has brought all these disasters on
them.’”
8:1 It took Solomon twenty years to build the
Lord’s Temple and his own royal palace.
At the end of that time, 2 Solomon turned
his attention to rebuilding the towns that
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July 22
King Hiram* had given him, and he settled
Israelites in them.
3 Solomon also fought against the town of
Hamath-zobah and conquered it. 4 He rebuilt
Tadmor in the wilderness and built towns in
the region of Hamath as supply centers. 5 He
fortified the towns of Upper B
eth-horon and
Lower Beth-horon, rebuilding their walls and
installing barred gates. 6 He also rebuilt Baal
ath and other supply centers and constructed
towns where his c hariots and horses* could
be stationed. He built everything he desired
in Jerusalem and Lebanon and throughout
his entire realm.
7 There were still some people living in the
land who were not Israelites, including the
Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and
Jebusites. 8 These were descendants of the na
tions whom the people of Israel had not de
stroyed. So Solomon conscripted them for his
labor force, and they serve as forced laborers
to this day. 9 But Solomon did not conscript any
of the I sraelites for his labor force. Instead, he
assigned them to serve as fighting men, offi
cers in his army, commanders of his chariots,
and charioteers. 10 King Solomon appointed
250 of them to supervise the people.
6:13 Hebrew 5 cubits [2.3 meters] long, 5 cubits wide, and 3 cubits
7:8 Hebrew the festival (also in 7:9); see note
[1.4 meters] high.
on 5:3. 7:10 Hebrew Then on the twenty-third day of the seventh
month. This day of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred
in October or early November. 8:2 Hebrew Huram, a variant
spelling of Hiram; also in 8:18. 8:6 Or and charioteers.
ROMANS 7:14–8:8
So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiri
tual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am
all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don’t really
understand myself, for I want to do what is
right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.
16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong,
this shows that I agree that the law is good.
17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin liv
ing in me that does it.
18 And I know that nothing good lives in
me, that is, in my sinful nature.* I want to do
what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what
is good, but I d
on’t. I don’t want to do what is
wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I
don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing
wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
21 I have discovered this principle of life—
that when I want to do what is right, I inevita
bly do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all
my heart. 23 But there is another power* within
me that is at war with my mind. This power
makes me a slave to the sin that is still within
me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who
will free me from this life that is dominated by
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