Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Longing for the Temple Worship.
For the choir director; [a]on the Gittith. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
84 How lovely are Your (A)dwelling places,
O Lord of hosts!
2 My (B)soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the (C)living God.
3 The bird also has found a house,
And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young,
Even Your (D)altars, O Lord of hosts,
(E)My King and my God.
4 How (F)blessed are those who dwell in Your house!
They are (G)ever praising You. [b]Selah.
5 How blessed is the man whose (H)strength is in You,
In [c]whose heart are the (I)highways to Zion!
6 Passing through the valley of [d]Baca they make it a [e]spring;
The (J)early rain also covers it with blessings.
7 They (K)go from strength to strength,
[f]Every one of them (L)appears before God in Zion.
8 O (M)Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Give ear, O (N)God of Jacob! Selah.
9 Behold our (O)shield, O God,
And look upon the face of (P)Your anointed.
10 For (Q)a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside.
I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is (R)a sun and (S)shield;
The Lord gives grace and (T)glory;
(U)No good thing does He withhold [g]from those who walk [h]uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
How (V)blessed is the man who trusts in You!
Darius Finds Cyrus’s Decree
6 Then King Darius issued a decree, and (A)search was made in the [a]archives, where the treasures were stored in Babylon. 2 In [b]Ecbatana in the fortress, which is (B)in the province of Media, a scroll was found and there was written in it as follows: “Memorandum— 3 (C)In the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king issued a decree: ‘Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the [c]temple, the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt and let its foundations be [d]retained, its height being 60 cubits and its width 60 cubits; 4 (D)with three layers of huge stones and [e]one layer of timbers. And let the cost be paid from the [f]royal treasury. 5 Also let (E)the gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be returned and [g]brought to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall put them in the house of God.’
6 “Now therefore, (F)Tattenai, governor of the province beyond the [h]River, Shethar-bozenai and [i]your colleagues, the officials of the provinces beyond the [j]River, [k]keep away from there. 7 Leave this work on the house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. 8 Moreover, (G)I issue a decree concerning what you are to do for these elders of Judah in the rebuilding of this house of God: the full cost is to be paid to these people from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces beyond the River, and that without delay. 9 Whatever is needed, both young bulls, rams, and lambs for a burnt offering to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and anointing oil, as the priests in Jerusalem request, it is to be given to them daily without fail, 10 that they may offer [l]acceptable sacrifices to the God of heaven and (H)pray for the life of the king and his sons. 11 And I issued a decree that (I)any man who violates this edict, a timber shall be drawn from his house and he shall be impaled on it and (J)his house shall be made a refuse heap on account of this. 12 May the God who (K)has caused His name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who [m]attempts to change it, so as to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree, let it be carried out with all diligence!”
The Temple Completed and Dedicated
13 Then (L)Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues carried out the decree with all diligence, just as King Darius had sent. 14 And (M)the elders of the Jews [n]were successful in building through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And [o]they finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decree (N)of Cyrus, (O)Darius, and (P)Artaxerxes king of Persia. 15 This [p]temple was completed [q]on the third day of the (Q)month Adar; it was the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
16 And the sons of Israel, the priests, the Levites and the rest of the [r]exiles, (R)celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.
Jesus Drives Money Changers from the Temple
15 (A)Then they *came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling [a]doves; 16 and He would not permit anyone to carry [b]merchandise through the temple. 17 And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘(B)My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? (C)But you have made it a robbers’ [c]den.” 18 The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and (D)began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for (E)the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.