Luke 1:26-38
[26]
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of
Galilee named Nazareth, [27] to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name
was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. [28]
And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with
you!” [29] But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to
discern what sort of greeting this might be. [30] And the angel said to
her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. [31]
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall
call his name Jesus. [32] He will be great and will be called the Son
of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his
father David, [33] and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
[34] And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
[35]
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and
the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to
be born will be called holy—the Son of God. [36] And behold, your
relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is
the sixth month with her who was called barren. [37] For nothing will be
impossible with God.” [38] And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of
the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel
departed from her.
Ephesians 1:15-23
[15]
For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus
and your love toward all the saints, [16] I do not cease to give thanks
for you, remembering you in my prayers, [17] that the God of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and
of revelation in the knowledge of him, [18] having the eyes of your
hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has
called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the
saints, [19] and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward
us who believe, according to the working of his great might [20] that he
worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his
right hand in the heavenly places, [21] far above all rule and
authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named,
not only in this age but also in the one to come. [22] And he put all
things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the
church, [23] which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in
all.
Psalm 119:9-16
[9] How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
[10] With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
[11] I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
[12] Blessed are you, O LORD;
teach me your statutes!
[13] With my lips I declare
all the rules of your mouth.
[14] In the way of your testimonies I delight
as much as in all riches.
[15] I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
[16] I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.
1 Kings 2
[1]
When David’s time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son,
saying, [2] “I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and
show yourself a man, [3] and keep the charge of the LORD your God,
walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his
rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that
you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, [4] that the
LORD may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If
your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in
faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not
lack a man on the throne of Israel.’
[5]
“Moreover, you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, how he
dealt with the two commanders of the armies of Israel, Abner the son of
Ner, and Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, avenging in time of
peace for blood that had been shed in war, and putting the blood of war
on the belt around his waist and on the sandals on his feet. [6] Act
therefore according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down
to Sheol in peace. [7] But deal loyally with the sons of Barzillai the
Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, for with
such loyalty they met me when I fled from Absalom your brother. [8] And
there is also with you Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite from
Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse on the day when I went to
Mahanaim. But when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him
by the LORD, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ [9]
Now therefore do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man. You
will know what you ought to do to him, and you shall bring his gray head
down with blood to Sheol.”
[10]
Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David.
[11] And the time that David reigned over Israel was forty years. He
reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. [12]
So Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was
firmly established.
[13]
Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of
Solomon. And she said, “Do you come peacefully?” He said, “Peacefully.”
[14] Then he said, “I have something to say to you.” She said, “Speak.”
[15] He said, “You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel
fully expected me to reign. However, the kingdom has turned about and
become my brother’s, for it was his from the LORD. [16] And now I have
one request to make of you; do not refuse me.” She said to him, “Speak.”
[17] And he said, “Please ask King Solomon—he will not refuse you—to
give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.” [18] Bathsheba said, “Very
well; I will speak for you to the king.”
[19]
So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him on behalf of
Adonijah. And the king rose to meet her and bowed down to her. Then he
sat on his throne and had a seat brought for the king’s mother, and she
sat on his right. [20] Then she said, “I have one small request to make
of you; do not refuse me.” And the king said to her, “Make your request,
my mother, for I will not refuse you.” [21] She said, “Let Abishag the
Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as his wife.” [22] King
Solomon answered his mother, “And why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite
for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, for he is my older brother,
and on his side are Abiathar the priest and Joab the son of Zeruiah.”
[23] Then King Solomon swore by the LORD, saying, “God do so to me and
more also if this word does not cost Adonijah his life! [24] Now
therefore as the LORD lives, who has established me and placed me on the
throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised,
Adonijah shall be put to death today.” [25] So King Solomon sent
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he struck him down, and he died.
[26]
And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to Anathoth, to your
estate, for you deserve death. But I will not at this time put you to
death, because you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before David my
father, and because you shared in all my father’s affliction.” [27] So
Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to the LORD, thus fulfilling
the word of the LORD that he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in
Shiloh.
[28]
When the news came to Joab—for Joab had supported Adonijah although he
had not supported Absalom—Joab fled to the tent of the LORD and caught
hold of the horns of the altar. [29] And when it was told King Solomon,
“Joab has fled to the tent of the LORD, and behold, he is beside the
altar,” Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, strike
him down.” [30] So Benaiah came to the tent of the LORD and said to him,
“The king commands, ‘Come out.’” But he said, “No, I will die here.”
Then Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, “Thus said Joab, and
thus he answered me.” [31] The king replied to him, “Do as he has said,
strike him down and bury him, and thus take away from me and from my
father’s house the guilt for the blood that Joab shed without cause.
[32] The LORD will bring back his bloody deeds on his own head, because,
without the knowledge of my father David, he attacked and killed with
the sword two men more righteous and better than himself, Abner the son
of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether,
commander of the army of Judah. [33] So shall their blood come back on
the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever. But for
David and for his descendants and for his house and for his throne there
shall be peace from the LORD forevermore.” [34] Then Benaiah the son of
Jehoiada went up and struck him down and put him to death. And he was
buried in his own house in the wilderness. [35] The king put Benaiah the
son of Jehoiada over the army in place of Joab, and the king put Zadok
the priest in the place of Abiathar.
[36]
Then the king sent and summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build yourself
a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there to
any place whatever. [37] For on the day you go out and cross the brook
Kidron, know for certain that you shall die. Your blood shall be on your
own head.” [38] And Shimei said to the king, “What you say is good; as
my lord the king has said, so will your servant do.” So Shimei lived in
Jerusalem many days.
[39]
But it happened at the end of three years that two of Shimei’s servants
ran away to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. And when it was told
Shimei, “Behold, your servants are in Gath,” [40] Shimei arose and
saddled a donkey and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants. Shimei
went and brought his servants from Gath. [41] And when Solomon was told
that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and returned, [42] the king
sent and summoned Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by
the LORD and solemnly warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the
day you go out and go to any place whatever, you shall die’? And you
said to me, ‘What you say is good; I will obey.’ [43] Why then have you
not kept your oath to the LORD and the commandment with which I
commanded you?” [44] The king also said to Shimei, “You know in your own
heart all the harm that you did to David my father. So the LORD will
bring back your harm on your own head. [45] But King Solomon shall be
blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD
forever.” [46] Then the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and
he went out and struck him down, and he died.
So the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.
1 Kings 3
[1]
Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took
Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had
finished building his own house and the house of the LORD and the wall
around Jerusalem. [2] The people were sacrificing at the high places,
however, because no house had yet been built for the name of the LORD.
[3]
Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father,
only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places. [4] And the
king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high
place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.
[5] At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God
said, “Ask what I shall give you.” [6] And Solomon said, “You have shown
great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he
walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness
of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast
love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. [7] And
now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my
father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out
or come in. [8] And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you
have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for
multitude. [9] Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to
govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is
able to govern this your great people?”
[10]
It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. [11] And God said to
him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long
life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself
understanding to discern what is right, [12] behold, I now do according
to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that
none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after
you. [13] I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and
honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. [14]
And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my
commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your
days.”
[15]
And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to
Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and
offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all
his servants.
[16]
Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. [17] The
one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house,
and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. [18] Then on the
third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were
alone. There was no one else with us in the house; only we two were in
the house. [19] And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay
on him. [20] And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me,
while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead
son at my breast. [21] When I rose in the morning to nurse my child,
behold, he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning,
behold, he was not the child that I had borne.” [22] But the other woman
said, “No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours.” The
first said, “No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine.”
Thus they spoke before the king.
[23]
Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and
your son is dead’; and the other says, ‘No; but your son is dead, and my
son is the living one.’” [24] And the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So
a sword was brought before the king. [25] And the king said, “Divide
the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the
other.” [26] Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king,
because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living
child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall
be neither mine nor yours; divide him.” [27] Then the king answered and
said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put
him to death; she is his mother.” [28] And all Israel heard of the
judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king,
because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.
