Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Powerful King for the Poor
Psalm 72
1 Of Solomon.
Give the king Your judgments, O God,
and Your righteousness to the king’s son.
2 May he judge Your people with righteousness,
and Your poor ones with justice.
3 Let the mountains bring shalom to the people,
and the hills righteousness.
4 May he vindicate the poor of the people,
save the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor.
5 Let them fear You while the sun endures,
and while the moon lasts, throughout all generations.
6 May he be like rain falling on a mown field,
like showers watering the ground.
7 Let the righteous flourish in his days.
Let shalom abound till the moon is no more.
8 May he have dominion from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
9 Let desert dwellers bow before him,
and his enemies lick the dust.
10 May kings of Tarshish and the islands bring tribute,
kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
11 So let all kings bow down before him,
and all nations serve him.
12 For he rescues the needy crying for help,
also the poor and the one with no helper.
13 He will take pity on the poor and needy,
and the souls of the needy he will save.
14 From oppression and violence he redeems their soul,
for precious is their blood in his sight.
15 Long may he live!
May gold from Sheba be given to him.
May he pray for him continually,
and bless him all day.
16 Let there be abundance of grain in the land.
Let it sway on the top of the hills,
let its fruit be like Lebanon,
and let people of the city flourish like grass of the field.
17 May his name endure forever.
May his name increase before the sun,
and may all nations be blessed by him
and call him blessed.
18 Blessed be Adonai Elohim, God of Israel,
who alone does wonders.
19 Blessed be His glorious Name forever.
May all the earth be filled with His glory!
Amen and Amen!
20 The prayers of David son of Jesse are complete.
Solomon’s Splendor
14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, 15 besides what was from the merchants from the traffic of the traders, and from all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the region. 16 King Solomon made 200 full body shields of beaten gold—600 shekels[a] of gold on each shield— 17 and 300 small shields of beaten gold—three minas[b] of gold on each shield. The king put them in the Forest House of Lebanon. 18 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with refined gold. 19 There were six steps to the throne, and the throne had a back with a rounded top, and there were armrests on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the arms. 20 Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps—six on each side—nothing like it had ever been made in any other kingdom.
21 All of King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the Forest House of Lebanon were of pure gold. (None was of silver—that did not count for anything in the days of Solomon.) 22 For the king had a Tarshish fleet at sea with Hiram’s fleet; once every three years the Tarshish fleet came, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks.[c]
23 So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in wealth as well as in wisdom. 24 All the earth sought an audience with Solomon, to listen to his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 25 They brought, each man his gift—vessels of silver and gold, robes, weapons, spices, horses and mules—so much year by year.
7 But to each one of us grace was given in keeping with the measure of Messiah’s gift.
11 He Himself gave some to be emissaries, some as prophets, some as proclaimers of the Good News, and some as shepherds and teachers— 12 to equip the kedoshim for the work of service, for building up the body of Messiah. 13 This will continue until we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of Ben-Elohim—to mature adulthood, to the measure of the stature of Messiah’s fullness. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be like children, tossed around by the waves and blown all over by every wind of teaching, by the trickery of men with cunning in deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all ways into Messiah, who is the Head. 16 From Him the whole body is fitted and held together by every supporting ligament. The proper working of each individual part produces the body’s growth, for building itself up in love.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.