Jesus Is Rejected

John 10 ²²That winter, Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Temple Festival. ²³One day he was walking in that part of the temple known as Solomon's Porch, ²⁴and the people gathered all around him. They said, "How long are you going to keep us guessing? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly!"
²⁵Jesus answered:

I have told you, and you refused to believe me. The things I do by my Father's authority show who I am. ²⁶But since you are not my sheep, you don't believe me. ²⁷My sheep know my voice, and I know them. They follow me, ²⁸and I give them eternal life, so that they will never be lost. No one can snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹My Father gave them to me, and he is greater than all others. No one can snatch them from his hands, ³⁰and I am one with the Father.

³¹Once again the people picked up stones in order to kill Jesus. ³²But he said, "I have shown you many good things that my Father sent me to do. Which one are you going to stone me for?"
³³They answered, "We are not stoning you because of any good thing you did. We are stoning you because you did a terrible thing. You are just a man, and here you are claiming to be God!"
³⁴Jesus replied:

In your Scriptures doesn't God say, "You are gods"? ³⁵You can't argue with the Scriptures, and God spoke to those people and called them gods. ³⁶So why do you accuse me of a terrible sin for saying that I am the Son of God? After all, it is the Father who prepared me for this work. He is also the one who sent me into the world. ³⁷If I don't do as my Father does, you should not believe me. ³⁸But if I do what my Father does, you should believe because of that, even if you don't have faith in me. Then you will know for certain that the Father is one with me, and I am one with the Father.

³⁹Again they wanted to arrest Jesus. But he escaped ⁴⁰and crossed the Jordan to the place where John had earlier been baptizing. While Jesus was there, ⁴¹many people came to him. They were saying, "John didn't work any miracles, but everything he said about Jesus is true." ⁴²A lot of those people also put their faith in Jesus.

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon
(1 Kings 10.1-13)

2 Chronicles 9 The Queen of Sheba heard how famous Solomon was, so she went to Jerusalem to test him with difficult questions. She took along several of her officials, and she loaded her camels with gifts of spices, jewels, and gold. When she arrived, she and Solomon talked about everything she could think of. ²He answered every question, no matter how difficult it was.
^3-4The Queen was amazed at Solomon's wisdom. She was breathless when she saw his palace, the food on his table, his officials, all his servants in their uniforms, and the sacrifices he offered at the LORD's temple. ⁵She said:

Solomon, in my own country I had heard about your wisdom and all you've done. ⁶But I didn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes! And there's so much I didn't hear about. You are greater than I was told. ⁷Your people and officials are lucky to be here where they can listen to the wise things you say.

⁸I praise the LORD your God. He is pleased with you and has made you king of Israel. God loves the people of this country and will never desert them, so he has given them a king who will rule fairly and honestly.

⁹The Queen of Sheba gave Solomon almost five tons of gold, a large amount of jewels, and the best spices anyone had ever seen.
^10-12In return, Solomon gave her everything she wanted--even more than she had given him. Then she and her officials went back to their own country.

Solomon's Wealth
(1 Kings 10.14-29)

Hiram's and Solomon's sailors brought gold, juniper wood, and jewels from the country of Ophir. Solomon used the wood to make steps for the temple and palace, and harps and other stringed instruments for the musicians. Nothing like these had ever been made in Judah.
¹³Solomon received about twenty-five tons of gold each year, ¹⁴not counting what the merchants and traders brought him. The kings of Arabia and the leaders of Israel also gave him gold and silver.
¹⁵Solomon made two hundred gold shields that weighed about seven and a half pounds each. ¹⁶He also made three hundred smaller gold shields that weighed almost four pounds, and he put these shields in his palace in Forest Hall.
¹⁷His throne was made of ivory and covered with pure gold. ¹⁸It had a gold footstool attached to it and armrests on each side. There was a statue of a lion on each side of the throne, ¹⁹and there were two lion statues on each of the six steps leading up to the throne. No other throne in the world was like Solomon's.
²⁰Solomon's cups and dishes in Forest Hall were made of pure gold, because silver was almost worthless in those days.
²¹Solomon had a lot of seagoing ships. Every three years he sent them out with Hiram's ships to bring back gold, silver, and ivory, as well as monkeys and peacocks.
²²Solomon was the richest and wisest king in the world. ^23-24Year after year, other kings came to hear the wisdom God had given him. And they brought gifts of silver and gold, as well as clothes, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.
²⁵Solomon had four thousand stalls for his horses and chariots, and he owned twelve thousand horses that he kept in Jerusalem and other towns.
²⁶He ruled all the nations from the Euphrates River in the north to the land of Philistia in the south, as far as the border of Egypt.
²⁷While Solomon was king, there was silver everywhere in Jerusalem, and cedar was as common as the sycamore trees in the western foothills. ²⁸Solomon's horses were brought in from other countries, including Musri.

Solomon Dies
(1 Kings 11.41-43)

²⁹Everything else Solomon did while he was king is written in the records of Nathan the prophet, Ahijah the prophet from Shiloh, and Iddo the prophet who wrote about Jeroboam son of Nebat. ³⁰After Solomon had ruled forty years from Jerusalem, ³¹he died and was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam then became king.

Psalm 74
[A special psalm by Asaph.]
A Prayer for the Nation in Times of Trouble

¹Our God, why have you completely rejected us?
Why are you so angry with the ones you care for?
²Remember the people you rescued long ago,
the tribe you chose to be your very own.

Think of Mount Zion, your home;
³walk over to the temple left in ruins forever
by those who hate us.

⁴Your enemies roared like lions in your holy temple,
and they have placed their banners there.
⁵It looks like a forest chopped to pieces.
⁶They used axes and hatchets to smash the carvings.
⁷They burned down your temple and badly disgraced it.
⁸They said to themselves, "We'll crush them!"
Then they burned every one of your meeting places
all over the country.
⁹There are no more miracles and no more prophets.
Who knows how long it will be like this?

¹⁰Our God, how much longer will our enemies sneer?
Won't they ever stop insulting you?
¹¹Why don't you punish them? Why are you holding back?

¹²Our God and King, you have ruled since ancient times;
you have won victories everywhere on this earth.
¹³By your power you made a path through the sea,
and you smashed the heads of sea monsters.
¹⁴You crushed the heads of the monster Leviathan,
then fed him to wild creatures in the desert.
¹⁵You opened the ground for streams and springs
and dried up mighty rivers.
¹⁶You rule the day and the night,
and you put the moon and the sun in place.
¹⁷You made summer and winter
and gave them to the earth.

¹⁸Remember your enemies, LORD!
They foolishly sneer and won't respect you.
¹⁹You treat us like pet doves, but they mistreat us.
Don't keep forgetting us
and letting us be fed to those wild animals.
²⁰Remember the agreement you made with us.
Violent enemies are hiding
in every dark corner of the earth.
²¹Don't disappoint those in need
or make them turn from you,
but help the poor and homeless to shout your praises.
²²Do something, God! Defend yourself.
Remember how those fools sneer at you all day long.
²³Don't forget the loud shouts of your enemies.