The Most Important Commandment
(Matthew 22.34-40; Luke 10.25-28)

Mark 12²⁸One of the teachers of the Law of Moses came up while Jesus and the Sadducees were arguing. When he heard Jesus give a good answer, he asked him, "What is the most important commandment?"
²⁹Jesus answered, "The most important one says: 'People of Israel, you have only one Lord and God. ³⁰You must love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.' ³¹The second most important commandment says: 'Love others as much as you love yourself.' No other commandment is more important than these."
³²The man replied, "Teacher, you are certainly right to say there is only one God. ³³It is also true that we must love God with all our heart, mind, and strength, and that we must love others as much as we love ourselves. These commandments are more important than all the sacrifices and offerings that we could possibly make."
³⁴When Jesus saw that the man had given a sensible answer, he told him, "You are not far from God's kingdom." After this, no one dared ask Jesus any more questions.

About David's Son
(Matthew 22.41-46; Luke 20.41-44)

³⁵As Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, "How can the teachers of the Law of Moses say that the Messiah will come from the family of King David? ³⁶The Holy Spirit had David say,
'The Lord said to my Lord:
Sit at my right side
until I make your enemies into a footstool for you.'
³⁷If David called the Messiah his Lord, how can the Messiah be his son?"
The large crowd enjoyed listening to Jesus teach.

Jesus Condemns the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law of Moses
(Matthew 23.1-36; Luke 20.45-47)

³⁸As Jesus was teaching, he said:

Guard against the teachers of the Law of Moses! They love to walk around in long robes and be greeted in the market. ³⁹They like the front seats in the meeting places and the best seats at banquets. ⁴⁰But they cheat widows out of their homes and pray long prayers just to show off. They will be punished most of all.

A Widow's Offering
(Luke 21.1-4)

⁴¹Jesus was sitting in the temple near the offering box and watching people put in their gifts. He noticed that many rich people were giving a lot of money. ⁴²Finally, a poor widow came up and put in two coins that were worth only a few pennies. ⁴³Jesus told his disciples to gather around him. Then he said:

I tell you that this poor widow has put in more than all the others. ⁴⁴Everyone else gave what they didn't need. But she is very poor and gave everything she had. Now she doesn't have a cent to live on.

Solomon's Officials

1 Kings 4^1-6Here is a list of Solomon's highest officials while he was king of Israel:
Azariah son of Zadok was the priest;
Elihoreph and Ahijah sons of Shisha were the secretaries;
Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud kept the government records;
Benaiah son of Jehoiada was the army commander;
Zadok and Abiathar were priests;
Azariah son of Nathan was in charge of the regional officers;
Zabud son of Nathan was a priest and the king's advisor;
Ahishar was the prime minister;
Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor.
⁷Solomon chose twelve regional officers, who took turns bringing food for him and his household. Each officer provided food from his region for one month of the year. ⁸These were the twelve officers:
The son of Hur was in charge of the hill country of Ephraim.
⁹The son of Deker was in charge of the towns of Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-Shemesh, and Elon-Beth-Hanan.
¹⁰The son of Hesed was in charge of the towns of Arubboth and Socoh, and the region of Hepher.
¹¹The son of Abinadab was in charge of Naphath-Dor and was married to Solomon's daughter Taphath.
¹²Baana son of Ahilud was in charge of the towns of Taanach and Megiddo. He was also in charge of the whole region of Beth-Shan near the town of Zarethan, south of Jezreel from Beth-Shan to Abel-Meholah to the other side of Jokmeam.
¹³The son of Geber was in charge of the town of Ramoth in Gilead and the villages in Gilead belonging to the family of Jair, a descendant of Manasseh. He was also in charge of the region of Argob in Bashan, which had sixty walled towns with bronze bars on their gates.
¹⁴Ahinadab son of Iddo was in charge of the territory of Mahanaim.
¹⁵Ahimaaz was in charge of the territory of Naphtali and was married to Solomon's daughter Basemath.
¹⁶Baana son of Hushai was in charge of the territory of Asher and the town of Bealoth.
¹⁷Jehoshaphat son of Paruah was in charge of the territory of Issachar.
¹⁸Shimei son of Ela was in charge of the territory of Benjamin.
¹⁹Geber son of Uri was in charge of Gilead, where King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan had lived.
And one officer was in charge of the territory of Judah.

The Size of Solomon's Kingdom

²⁰There were so many people living in Judah and Israel while Solomon was king that they seemed like grains of sand on a beach. Everyone had enough to eat and drink, and they were happy.
²¹Solomon ruled every kingdom between the Euphrates River and the land of the Philistines down to Egypt. These kingdoms paid him taxes as long as he lived.
²²Every day, Solomon needed one hundred fifty bushels of fine flour, three hundred bushels of coarsely-ground flour, ²³ten grain-fed cattle, twenty pasture-fed cattle, one hundred sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, and geese.
²⁴Solomon ruled the whole region west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, and he was at peace with all of the countries around him. ²⁵Everyone living in Israel, from the town of Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, was safe as long as Solomon lived. Each family sat undisturbed beneath its own grape vines and fig trees.
²⁶Solomon had forty thousand stalls of chariot horses and twelve thousand chariot soldiers.
²⁷Each of the twelve regional officers brought food to Solomon and his household for one month of the year. They provided everything he needed, ²⁸as well as barley and straw for the horses.

Solomon's Wisdom

²⁹Solomon was brilliant. God had blessed him with insight and understanding. ^30-31He was wiser than anyone else in the world, including the wisest people of the east and of Egypt. He was even wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Mahol's three sons, Heman, Calcol, and Darda. Solomon became famous in every country around Judah and Israel. ³²Solomon wrote three thousand wise sayings and composed more than one thousand songs. ³³He could talk about all kinds of plants, from large trees to small bushes, and he taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. ³⁴Kings all over the world heard about Solomon's wisdom and sent people to listen to him teach.

Solomon Asks Hiram To Help Build the Temple
(2 Chronicles 2.1-16)

1 Kings 5King Hiram of Tyre had always been friends with Solomon's father David. When Hiram learned that Solomon was king, he sent some of his officials to meet with Solomon.
²Solomon sent a message back to Hiram:

³Remember how my father David wanted to build a temple where the LORD his God could be worshiped? But enemies kept attacking my father's kingdom, and he never had the chance. ⁴Now, thanks to the LORD God, there is peace in my kingdom and no trouble or threat of war anywhere.

⁵The LORD God promised my father that when his son became king, he would build a temple for worshiping the LORD. So I've decided to do that.

⁶I'd like you to have your workers cut down cedar trees in Lebanon for me. I will pay them whatever you say and will even have my workers help them. We both know that your workers are more experienced than anyone else at cutting lumber.

⁷Hiram was so happy when he heard Solomon's request that he said, "I am grateful that the LORD gave David such a wise son to be king of that great nation!" ⁸Then he sent back his answer:

I received your message and will give you all the cedar and pine logs you need. ⁹My workers will carry them down from Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea. They will tie the logs together and float them along the coast to wherever you want them. Then they will untie the logs, and your workers can take them from there.

To pay for the logs, you can provide the grain I need for my household.

¹⁰Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and pine logs he needed. ¹¹In return, Solomon gave Hiram about one hundred twenty-five thousand bushels of wheat and about one thousand one hundred gallons of pure olive oil each year.
¹²The LORD kept his promise and made Solomon wise. Hiram and Solomon signed a treaty and never went to war against each other.

Solomon's Workers

¹³Solomon ordered thirty thousand people from all over Israel to cut logs for the temple, ¹⁴and he put Adoniram in charge of these workers. Solomon divided them into three groups of ten thousand. Each group worked one month in Lebanon and had two months off at home.
¹⁵He also had eighty thousand workers to cut stone in the hill country of Israel, seventy thousand workers to carry the stones, ¹⁶and over three thousand assistants to keep track of the work and to supervise the workers. ¹⁷He ordered the workers to cut and shape large blocks of good stone for the foundation of the temple.
¹⁸Solomon's and Hiram's men worked with men from the city of Gebal, and together they got the stones and logs ready for the temple.

Hosea 7³The king and his officials take great pleasure
in their sin and deceit.
⁴Everyone burns with desire--
they are like coals in an oven, ready to burst into flames.
⁵On the day their king was crowned,
his officials got him drunk,
and he joined in their foolishness.

⁶Their anger is a fire that smolders all night,
then flares up at dawn.
⁷They are flames destroying their leaders.
And their kings are powerless;
none of them trust me.

⁸The people of Israel have mixed with foreigners;
they are a thin piece of bread scorched on one side.
⁹They don't seem to realize how weak and feeble they are;
their hair has turned gray, while foreigners rule.
¹⁰I am the LORD, their God, but in all of their troubles
their pride keeps them from returning to me.

No Help from Foreign Nations

The LORD said:
¹¹Israel is a senseless bird, fluttering back and forth
between Egypt and Assyria.
¹²But I will catch them in a net as hunters trap birds;
I threatened to punish them, and indeed I will.
¹³Trouble and destruction will be their reward
for rejecting me.
I would have rescued them, but they told me lies.

¹⁴They don't really pray to me; they just howl in their beds.
They have rejected me for Baal and slashed themselves,
in the hope that Baal will bless their crops.
¹⁵I taught them what they know, and I made them strong.
Now they plot against me ¹⁶and refuse to obey.
They are more useless than a crooked arrow.
Their leaders will die in war for saying foolish things.
Egyptians will laugh at them.