Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A Song of Praise

92 It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and sing praises to Your name, O Most High. ² It is good to tell of Your loving-kindness in the morning, and of how faithful You are at night, ³ with harps, and with music of praise. ⁴ For You have made me glad by what You have done, O Lord. I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.

¹² The man who is right and good will grow like the palm tree. He will grow like a tall tree in Lebanon. ¹³ Planted in the house of the Lord, they will grow well in the home of our God. ¹⁴ They will still give fruit when they are old. They will be full of life and strength. ¹⁵ And they will show that the Lord is faithful. He is my rock. There is nothing in Him that is not right and good.

²⁶ Solomon gathered war-wagons and horsemen. He had 1,400 war-wagons and 12,000 horsemen. He kept them in the war-wagon cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ²⁷ The king made silver as easy to find as stones in Jerusalem. He made cedar trees as easy to find as the sycamore trees of the valley. ²⁸ Solomon had horses brought from Egypt and Kue. The king’s traders bought them from Kue, each for a price. ²⁹ A war-wagon could be brought from Egypt for 600 pieces of silver, and a horse for 150 pieces of silver. They got them in the same way for all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.

Solomon Turns Away from the Lord

11 Now King Solomon loved many women from other nations. He loved the daughter of Pharaoh, and Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian and Hittite women. ² They were from the nations about which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “Do not take wives from them. And do not have them take wives from you. For they will be sure to turn your heart away to follow their gods.” But Solomon held on to these women in love. ³ He had 700 wives, kings’ daughters, and 300 women who acted as his wives. And his wives turned his heart away. ⁴ When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods. His whole heart was not faithful to the Lord his God, as the heart of his father David had been. ⁵ For Solomon followed Ashtoreth the false goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom the hated god of the Ammonites. ⁶ Solomon did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord. He did not follow the Lord with all his heart, as his father David had done. ⁷ Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the hated god of Moab, and for Molech the hated god of the sons of Ammon, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. ⁸ He did the same for all his wives from other nations, who burned special perfume and gave gifts to their gods.

⁴ Because Abel had faith, he gave a better gift in worship to God than Cain. His gift pleased God. Abel was right with God. Abel died, but by faith he is still speaking to us.

⁵ Because Enoch had faith, he was taken up from the earth without dying. He could not be found because God had taken him. The Holy Writings tell how he pleased God before he was taken up. ⁶ A man cannot please God unless he has faith. Anyone who comes to God must believe that He is. That one must also know that God gives what is promised to the one who keeps on looking for Him.

⁷ Because Noah had faith, he built a large boat for his family. God told him what was going to happen. His faith made him hear God speak and he obeyed. His family was saved from death because he built the boat. In this way, Noah showed the world how sinful it was. Noah became right with God because of his faith in God.