Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 96[a]
God, Sovereign and Judge of the Universe
1 Sing to the Lord a new song;[b]
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord and bless his name;
proclaim his salvation[c] day after day.
3 Declare his glory[d] among the nations,
his wondrous deeds to every people.
4 For great is the Lord and worthy of all praise;
he is more to be feared[e] than all other gods.
5 The gods of the nations are merely idols,
but it was the Lord who made the heavens.[f]
6 Majesty and splendor surround him;
power and beauty[g] are in his sanctuary.
7 Render to the Lord, you families of nations,
render to the Lord glory and power.[h]
8 Render to the Lord the glory due to his name;
bring an offering and enter his courts.[i]
9 Worship[j] the Lord in the splendor of his holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth.
23 He made two cherubim for the inner sanctuary out of olive wood, each ten cubits high. 24 The first wing of the cherub was five cubits and the other wing was also five cubits, making ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. 25 The other cherub was also ten cubits, for the two cherubim were the same size and shape. 26 Each of the cherubim was ten cubits high. 27 He set the cherubim in the innermost room of the temple. The wings of the cherubim were spread out, so that the wing of one touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched one another in the middle of the room. 28 He covered the cherubim with gold.
29 He carved images of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on all of the walls around the temple, both in the inner and the outer rooms. 30 The floor of the temple was covered with gold, both in the inner and outer rooms.
31 He made doors of olive wood for the entrance to the sanctuary. It had a five-sided frame. 32 There were two olive wood doors, and upon them he carved images of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. He covered the cherubim and the palm trees with beaten gold.
33 In the same way he made four-sided frames out of olive wood for the entrance to the temple itself. 34 He also made two doors out of fir wood. Each of the doors had two folding panels. 35 He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers upon them, and he carefully covered the carvings upon them with gold. 36 He built the inner court with three rows of hewn stone and then a row of cedar beams.
37 In the fourth year, the month of Ziv, the foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid. 38 In the eleventh year, the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the temple was completely finished according to its plans. He needed seven years to build it.
11 Well Known to God. And so, with this fear of the Lord always foremost in our thoughts, we try to persuade others. We ourselves are well known to God, and I hope we are also well known to your consciences. 12 We are not once again commending ourselves to you, but we are rather affording you an opportunity to boast about us. Then you will have an answer to those who boast of external appearances and not the heart. 13 If, indeed, we are out of our minds, it is for God; if we are rational, it is for your sake.
14 The Ministry of Reconciliation. For the love of Christ urges us forward, once we conclude that one has died for all, and therefore all have died. 15 And he died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who for their sakes died and was raised to life.
16 Therefore, from now on we will not regard anyone according to human standards. Even though we once judged Christ from a human point of view,[a] we no longer do so. 17 Consequently, anyone united to Christ is a new creation. The old order has passed away. Behold, all has become new.
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