Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Thanksgiving for God’s Goodness
A psalm. A song for the Sabbath day.
92 It is good to praise you, Lord,
to sing praises to God Most High.
2 It is good to tell of your love in the morning
and of your loyalty at night.
3 It is good to praise you with the ten-stringed lyre
and with the soft-sounding harp.
4 Lord, you have made me happy by what you have done;
I will sing for joy about what your hands have done.
12 But good people will grow like palm trees;
they will be tall like the cedars of Lebanon.
13 Like trees planted in the Temple of the Lord,
they will grow strong in the courtyards of our God.
14 When they are old, they will still produce fruit;
they will be healthy and fresh.
15 They will say that the Lord is good.
He is my Rock, and there is no wrong in him.
26 Solomon had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses. He kept 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 as the fig trees on the western hills. 28 He imported horses from Egypt and Kue. His traders bought them in Kue. 29 A chariot from Egypt cost about fifteen pounds of silver, and a horse cost nearly four pounds of silver. Solomon’s traders also sold 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. He loved the daughter of the king of Egypt, as well as women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. 2 The Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not marry people of other nations. If you do, they will cause you to follow their gods.” But Solomon fell in love with these women. 3 He had seven hundred wives who were from royal families and three hundred slave women who gave birth to his children. His wives caused him to turn away from God. 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives caused him to follow other gods. He did not follow the Lord completely as his father David had done. 5 Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the people of Sidon, and Molech, the hated god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did what the Lord said was wrong and did not follow the Lord completely as his father David had done.
7 On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built two places for worship. One was a place to worship Chemosh, the hated god of the Moabites, and the other was a place to worship Molech, the hated 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 sacrifice than Cain did. God said he was pleased with the gifts Abel offered and called Abel a good man because of his faith. Abel died, but through his faith he is still speaking.
5 It was by faith that Enoch was taken to heaven so he would not die. He could not be found, because God had taken him away. Before he was taken, the Scripture says that he was a man who truly pleased God. 6 Without faith no one can please God. Anyone who comes to God must believe that he is real and that he rewards those who truly want to find him.
7 It was by faith that Noah heard God’s warnings about things he could not yet see. He obeyed God and built a large boat to save his family. By his faith, Noah showed that the world was wrong, and he became one of those who are made right with God through faith.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.