1 Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that he had been anointed king in his father’s place, for Hiram had always been friends with David.
2 Solomon sent this message to Hiram:
3 “You know my father David was not able to build a temple for the name of Yahweh his God. This was because of the warfare all around him until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.
4 The Lord my God has now given me rest all around; there is no enemy or crisis.
5 So I plan to build a temple for the name of Yahweh my God, according to what the Lord promised my father David: ‘I will put your son on your throne in your place, and he will build the temple for My name.’
6 “Therefore, command that cedars from Lebanon be cut down for me. My servants will be with your servants, and I will pay your servants’ wages according to whatever you say, for you know that not a man among us knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”
7 When Hiram heard Solomon’s words, he greatly rejoiced and said, “May the Lord be praised today! He has given David a wise son to be over this great people!”
8 Then Hiram sent a reply to Solomon, saying, “I have heard your message; I will do everything you want regarding the cedar and cypress timber.
9 My servants will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will make them into rafts to go by sea to the place you indicate. I will break them apart there, and you can take them away. You then can meet my needs by providing my household with food.”
10 So Hiram provided Solomon with all the cedar and cypress timber he wanted,
11 and Solomon provided Hiram with 100,000 bushels of wheat as food for his household and 110,000 gallons of oil from crushed olives. Solomon did this for Hiram year after year.
12 The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as He had promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.
1 Kings 5:1-12
38 In his eleventh year in the eighth month, in the month of Bul, the temple was completed in every detail and according to every specification. So he built it in seven years.
1 Kings 6:38 (HCSB)
6 Isn’t your piety your confidence, and the integrity of your life your hope?
Job 4:6
1 A good name is to be chosen over great wealth; favor is better than silver and gold.
2 The rich and the poor have this in common: the Lord made them both.
3 A sensible person sees danger and takes cover, but the inexperienced keep going and are punished.
4 The result of humility is fear of the Lord, along with wealth, honor, and life.
5 There are thorns and snares on the path of the crooked; the one who guards himself stays far from them.
6 Teach a youth about the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
7 The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a slave to the lender.
8 The one who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.
9 A generous person will be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.
10 Drive out a mocker, and conflict goes too; then quarreling and dishonor will cease.
11 The one who loves a pure heart and gracious lips — the king is his friend.
12 The Lord’s eyes keep watch over knowledge, but He overthrows the words of the treacherous.
13 The slacker says, “There’s a lion outside! I’ll be killed in the public square!”
14 The mouth of the forbidden woman is a deep pit; a man cursed by the Lord will fall into it.
15 Foolishness is tangled up in the heart of a youth; the rod of discipline will drive it away from him.
16 Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself, and giving to the rich — both lead only to poverty.
17 Listen closely, pay attention to the words of the wise, and apply your mind to my knowledge.
18 For it is pleasing if you keep them within you and if they are constantly on your lips.
19 I have instructed you today — even you — so that your confidence may be in the Lord.
20 Haven’t I written for you thirty sayings about counsel and knowledge,
21 in order to teach you true and reliable words, so that you may give a dependable report to those who sent you?
22 Don’t rob a poor man because he is poor, and don’t crush the oppressed at the gate,
23 for the Lord will take up their case and will plunder those who plunder them.
24 Don’t make friends with an angry man, and don’t be a companion of a hot-tempered man,
25 or you will learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.
26 Don’t be one of those who enter agreements, who put up security for loans.
27 If you have no money to pay, even your bed will be taken from under you.
28 Don’t move an ancient boundary marker, that your fathers set up.
29 Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand in the presence of kings. He will not stand in the presence of unknown men.
Proverbs 22:1-29
49 My eyes overflow unceasingly, without end,
50 until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees.
51 My eyes bring me grief because of the fate of all the women in my city.
52 For no apparent reason, my enemies hunted me like a bird.
53 They dropped me alive into a pit and threw stones at me.
54 Water flooded over my head, and I thought: I’m going to die!
55 I called on Your name, Yahweh, from the depths of the Pit.
56 You hear my plea: Do not ignore my cry for relief.
57 You come near when I call on You; You say: “Do not be afraid.”
58 You defend my cause, Lord; You redeem my life.
59 Lord, You see the wrong done to me; judge my case.
60 You see all their malice, all their plots against me.
61 Lord, You hear their insults, all their plots against me.
62 The slander and murmuring of my opponents attack me all day long.
63 When they sit and when they rise, look, I am mocked by their songs.
64 You will pay them back what they deserve, Lord, according to the work of their hands.
65 You will give them a heart filled with anguish. May Your curse be on them!
66 You will pursue them in anger and destroy them under Your heavens.
Lamentations 3:49-66
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.
Romans 12:15
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:7-8
16 And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.
1 John 4:16