Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Thanksgiving for God’s Goodness
A psalm. A song for the Sabbath day [Ex. 20:8–11; Deut. 5:12–15].
92 It is good to ·praise [thank] you, Lord,
to ·sing praises to [L make a psalm to the name of] God Most High.
2 It is good to ·tell of [proclaim] your ·love [loyalty] in the morning
and of your ·loyalty [faithfulness] at night.
3 It is good to praise you with the ten-stringed lyre
and ·with the soft-sounding [melody of the] harp.
4 Lord, you have made me ·happy [rejoice] by what you have done;
I will ·sing [shout] for joy about ·what your hands have done [L the works of your hand].
12 But ·good [righteous] people will ·grow [sprout] like palm trees [1:3; 52:8];
they will ·be tall [grow great] like the cedars of Lebanon [C trees that are strong, majestic, and long-lived].
13 Like trees planted in the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord,
they will ·grow strong [sprout] in the courtyards of our God.
14 When they are old, they will still produce fruit;
they will be healthy and ·fresh [green; verdant].
15 They will ·say [proclaim] that the Lord is ·good [virtuous; full of integrity; upright].
He is my Rock [28:1; 42:9; 62:2; Deut. 32:4], and there is no wrong in him.
26 Solomon had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand ·horses [or horsemen; charioteers]. He ·kept [stationed] some in special cities for the chariots, and others he kept with him in Jerusalem. 27 In Jerusalem Solomon made silver as common as stones and cedar trees as ·common [plentiful] as the ·fig [sycamore] trees on the ·western hills [or lowlands]. 28 He imported horses from Egypt and ·Kue [Cilicia]. His traders bought them in Kue. 29 A chariot from Egypt cost ·about fifteen pounds [L six hundred shekels] of silver, and a horse cost ·nearly four pounds [L 150 pieces] of silver. Solomon’s traders also ·sold [exported] horses and chariots to all the kings of the Hittites and the Arameans.
Solomon’s Many Wives
11 King Solomon loved many ·women who were not from Israel [L foreign women]. He loved the daughter of ·the king of Egypt [L Pharaoh], as well as women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites [Prov. 5–7]. 2 The Lord had told the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel], “You must not ·marry people of other nations [or associate with them; L come into them, and they must not come into you]. If you do, they will cause you to ·follow [L turn your hearts to] their gods.” But Solomon ·fell in love with these women [L clung/held fast to them in love]. 3 He had seven hundred wives who were from royal families and three hundred ·slave women who gave birth to his children [concubines; C a secondary wife of lower status than a primary wife, but higher than a common servant]. His wives ·caused him to turn away from God [led him astray; L turned his heart away]. 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives ·caused him to follow [led him astray after; L turned his heart away after] other gods. ·He did not follow the Lord completely [L His heart was not wholly devoted/faithful to the Lord his God] as ·his father David had done [the heart of his father David had been]. 5 Solomon ·worshiped [followed; went after] Ashtoreth, the goddess of the people of Sidon, and ·Molech [L Milcom], the ·hated [detestable] god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did ·what the Lord said was wrong [L evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord] and ·did not [refused to] follow the Lord completely as his father David had done.
7 On a hill east of Jerusalem [C the Mount of Olives], Solomon built two ·places for worship [L high places; 3:2]. One was a place to worship Chemosh, the ·hated [detestable] god of the Moabites, and the other was a place to worship Molech, the ·hated [detestable] god of the Ammonites. 8 Solomon did the same thing for all his foreign wives so they could burn incense and offer sacrifices to their gods.
4 It was by faith that Abel offered God a ·better [more acceptable] sacrifice than Cain [Gen. 4:4–8]. God ·said he was pleased with [commended him for; bore testimony to] the gifts Abel offered and ·called Abel [commended him as; testified that he was] a ·good [righteous] man because of his faith. Abel died, but through his faith he is still speaking [12:24].
5 It was by faith that Enoch was taken to heaven so he would not ·die [experience/L see death]. He could not be found, because God had taken him away [Gen. 5:22–24]. Before he was taken, ·the Scripture says that he was [L he was commended as] a man who truly pleased God. 6 [L And] Without faith no one can please God. [L For; Because] Anyone who comes to God must believe that he ·is real [exists] and that he rewards those who ·truly want to find [earnestly/sincerely seek] him.
7 It was by faith that Noah heard God’s warnings about things he could not yet see [Gen. 6:13–22]. He ·obeyed God [responded with reverent fear] and built a ·large boat [T ark] to save his ·family [household]. By his faith, Noah ·showed that the world was wrong [L condemned/pronounced judgment against the world], and he became ·one of those who are made right with God [L an heir of the righteousness that comes] through faith.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.