Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A Desire for God’s House

84 How beautiful are the places where You live, O Lord of all! ² My soul wants and even becomes weak from wanting to be in the house of the Lord. My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. ³ Even the bird has found a home. The swallow has found a nest for herself where she may lay her young at Your altars, O Lord of all, my King and my God. ⁴ How happy are those who live in Your house! They are always giving thanks to You.

⁵ How happy is the man whose strength is in You and in whose heart are the roads to Zion! ⁶ As they pass through the dry valley of Baca, they make it a place of good water. The early rain fills the pools with good also. ⁷ They go from strength to strength. Every one of them stands before God in Zion.

⁸ O Lord God of all, hear my prayer. Listen, O God of Jacob. ⁹ Look upon our safe-covering, O God. And look upon the face of Your chosen one. ¹⁰ For a day in Your house is better than a thousand outside. I would rather be the one who opens the door of the house of my God, than to live in the tents of the sinful. ¹¹ For the Lord God is a sun and a safe-covering. The Lord gives favor and honor. He holds back nothing good from those who walk in the way that is right. ¹² O Lord of all, how happy is the man who trusts in You!

Cyrus’ Book Found

6 Then King Darius had men look through the books which were kept in Babylon. ² And in Ecbatana, the most important city in the land of Media, a book was found in which was written: ³ “In the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king said that this was to be done about the house of God at Jerusalem: ‘Let the house of God, the place where burnt gifts are given in worship, be built again with a good base. It should be sixteen times taller than a man, and as wide as thirty long steps. ⁴ There should be three very large stones laid on the top of each other, and then one large piece of wood laid. Let it be paid for from the king’s money. ⁵ Let the gold and silver objects which Nebuchadnezzar took from the house of God in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon be returned to their places in the house of God in Jerusalem. You must put them in the house of God.’

⁶ “So now, Tattenai, leader over the land on the other side of the River, Shethar-bozenai, and your friends who are leaders in the lands on the other side of the River, stay away from there. ⁷ Leave this work on the house of God alone. Let the leaders of the Jews build this house of God again where it stood before. ⁸ Also, I am making it known what you are to do for these leaders of Judah for the building of this house of God. All of it is to be paid for from the king’s money out of the taxes from the lands on the other side of the River. And waste no time to get it to them. ⁹ Be sure to give them each day whatever is needed, young bulls, rams and lambs for a burnt gift to the God of heaven, and grain, salt, wine, and oil for pouring. ¹⁰ This is so they may give pleasing gifts in worship to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons. ¹¹ I here make it known that if anyone does not do what I say, a piece of wood will be taken from his house and he will be nailed on it. And his house will become a place to gather waste. ¹² May the God Who has caused His name to be there take away the power of any king or people who will try to change what I have said, so as to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have told this to you. Let it be done with much care.”

The House of God Is Set Apart for Use

¹³ Then Tattenai, the leader over the land on the other side of the River, and Shethar-bozenai and their friends obeyed the words of the king with much care, just as King Darius had told them. ¹⁴ The leaders of the Jews did well in building, through the words spoken by Haggai the man who spoke for God and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished building as they had been told to do by the God of Israel, and by Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. ¹⁵ The house of God was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the rule of King Darius.

¹⁶ The people of Israel, the religious leaders, the Levites, and the rest of the people who returned from Babylon, set apart this house of God with joy.

Jesus Stops the Buying and the Selling in the House of God ^(A)

¹⁵ Then they came to Jerusalem. Jesus went into the house of God. He began to make the people leave who were selling and buying in the house of God. He turned over the tables of the men who changed money. He turned over the seats of those who sold doves. ¹⁶ He would not allow anyone to carry a pot or pan through the house of God. ¹⁷ He taught them saying, “Is it not written, ‘My house is to be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? You have made it a place of robbers.”

¹⁸ The teachers of the Law and the religious leaders of the Jews heard it. They tried to find some way to put Jesus to death. But they were afraid of Him because all the people were surprised and wondered about His teaching. ¹⁹ When evening came, Jesus and His followers went out of the city.