¹Then David said, “This is the house of the Lᴏʀᴅ God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.” ²So David commanded to gather the aliens who were in the land of Israel; and he appointed masons to cut hewn stones to build the house of God. ³And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails of the doors of the gates and for the joints, and bronze in abundance beyond measure, ⁴and cedar trees in abundance; for the Sidonians and those from Tyre brought much cedar wood to David. ⁵Now David said, “Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the Lᴏʀᴅ must be exceedingly magnificent, famous and glorious throughout all countries. I will now make preparation for it.” So David made abundant preparations before his death. ⁶Then he called for his son Solomon, and charged him to build a house for the Lᴏʀᴅ God of Israel. ⁷And David said to Solomon: “My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build a house to the name of the Lᴏʀᴅ my God; ⁸but the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have made great wars; you shall not build a house for My name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight. ⁹Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies all around. His name shall be Solomon, for I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days. ¹⁰He shall build a house for My name, and he shall be My son, and I will be his Father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’ ¹¹Now, my son, may the Lᴏʀᴅ be with you; and may you prosper, and build the house of the Lᴏʀᴅ your God, as He has said to you. ¹²Only may the Lᴏʀᴅ give you wisdom and understanding, and give you charge concerning Israel, that you may keep the law of the Lᴏʀᴅ your God. ¹³Then you will prosper, if you take care to fulfill the statutes and judgments with which the Lᴏʀᴅ charged Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and of good courage; do not fear nor be dismayed. ¹⁴Indeed I have taken much trouble to prepare for the house of the Lᴏʀᴅ one hundred thousand talents of gold and one million talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond measure, for it is so abundant. I have prepared timber and stone also, and you may add to them. ¹⁵Moreover there are workmen with you in abundance: woodsmen and stonecutters, and all types of skillful men for every kind of work. ¹⁶Of gold and silver and bronze and iron there is no limit. Arise and begin working, and the Lᴏʀᴅ be with you.” ¹⁷David also commanded all the leaders of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, ¹⁸“Is not the Lᴏʀᴅ your God with you? And has He not given you rest on every side? For He has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the Lᴏʀᴅ and before His people. ¹⁹Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lᴏʀᴅ your God. Therefore arise and build the sanctuary of the Lᴏʀᴅ God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lᴏʀᴅ and the holy articles of God into the house that is to be built for the name of the Lᴏʀᴅ.”

¹Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, ²when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. ³Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— ⁴rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. ⁵For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, ⁶as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror. ⁷Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. ⁸Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; ⁹not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. ¹⁰For “He who would love life And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking deceit. ¹¹Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it. ¹²For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” ¹³And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? ¹⁴But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” ¹⁵But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; ¹⁶having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. ¹⁷For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. ¹⁸For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, ¹⁹by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, ²⁰who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. ²¹There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²²who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.

¹The word of the Lᴏʀᴅ that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. ²Hear, all you peoples! Listen, O earth, and all that is in it! Let the Lᴏʀᴅ God be a witness against you, The Lᴏʀᴅ from His holy temple. ³For behold, the Lᴏʀᴅ is coming out of His place; He will come down And tread on the high places of the earth. ⁴The mountains will melt under Him, And the valleys will split Like wax before the fire, Like waters poured down a steep place. ⁵All this is for the transgression of Jacob And for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what are the high places of Judah? Are they not Jerusalem? ⁶“Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the field, Places for planting a vineyard; I will pour down her stones into the valley, And I will uncover her foundations. ⁷All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, And all her pay as a harlot shall be burned with the fire; All her idols I will lay desolate, For she gathered it from the pay of a harlot, And they shall return to the pay of a harlot.” ⁸Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked; I will make a wailing like the jackals And a mourning like the ostriches, ⁹For her wounds are incurable. For it has come to Judah; It has come to the gate of My people— To Jerusalem. ¹⁰Tell it not in Gath, Weep not at all; In Beth Aphrah Roll yourself in the dust. ¹¹Pass by in naked shame, you inhabitant of Shaphir; The inhabitant of Zaanan does not go out. Beth Ezel mourns; Its place to stand is taken away from you. ¹²For the inhabitant of Maroth pined for good, But disaster came down from the Lᴏʀᴅ To the gate of Jerusalem. ¹³O inhabitant of Lachish, Harness the chariot to the swift steeds (She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion), For the transgressions of Israel were found in you. ¹⁴Therefore you shall give presents to Moresheth Gath; The houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel. ¹⁵I will yet bring an heir to you, O inhabitant of Mareshah; The glory of Israel shall come to Adullam. ¹⁶Make yourself bald and cut off your hair, Because of your precious children; Enlarge your baldness like an eagle, For they shall go from you into captivity.

¹After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. ²Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. ³Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. ⁴Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. ⁵But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ ⁶And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. ⁷And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. ⁸Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. ⁹And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ ¹⁰But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ ¹²But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city. ¹³“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ¹⁴But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. ¹⁵And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades. ¹⁶He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.” ¹⁷Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” ¹⁸And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. ²⁰Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” ²¹In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. ²²All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” ²³Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; ²⁴for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.” ²⁵And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?” ²⁷So he answered and said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ” ²⁸And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.” ²⁹But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ³⁰Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. ³¹Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. ³²Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. ³³But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. ³⁴So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ ³⁶So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” ³⁷And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” ³⁸Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. ³⁹And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” ⁴¹And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. ⁴²But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”