Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
10 Then David died. They buried him in the City of David. 11 David had ruled Israel as king for 40 years. He ruled for seven years in Hebron. Then he ruled for 33 years in Jerusalem.
Solomon makes his kingdom strong
12 So Solomon ruled as king on the throne of his father David. His kingdom became strong.
3 Solomon loved the Lord and he obeyed the rules of his father David. But he offered sacrifices and he burned incense at altars in country places.[a] 4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices there.[b] That was the place where the most important altar was. Solomon offered burnt offerings a thousand times on the altar there. 5 One night in Gibeon, the Lord showed himself to Solomon in a dream. God said, ‘Ask me to give you whatever you want.’
6 Solomon answered, ‘You always showed your faithful love to your servant, my father David. He served you faithfully as a good, honest man. You have continued to show your faithful love to him even now. You have given him a son to rule as king on his throne. 7 Lord my God, I am only a young man. I have not learned how to rule well. But you have now made me become king, as my father David was king.[c] 8 I am here as your servant to lead the people that you have chosen for yourself. It is a great nation and it has too many people to count. 9 So please give me a wise mind that understands things well. Then I will be able to rule your people properly. I will know the difference between right things and wrong things. I will only be able to rule this great nation of your people if you do that for me.’
10 The Lord God was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11-12 So God said to him, ‘You have not asked me to give you a long life, or to make you very rich. You have not asked me to punish your enemies with death. Instead you have asked for a wise mind so that you can rule well. Because of that, I will give you what you have asked for. Yes, I now give to you a wise mind that understands things well. You will be wiser than anyone who has already lived and wiser than anyone who will live after you.
13 I will give you even more than this. I will make you rich and famous, even though you did not ask for that. As long as you live, there will be no other king who is greater than you. 14 And if you serve me faithfully, I will also give you a long life. But you must obey my rules and my commands, as your father David did.’
The Lord does great things[a]
111 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
I will thank the Lord with all that I am,
when we, his people, meet together.
2 The Lord does great things!
People who enjoy them,
think carefully about them.
3 Everything that he does
shows that he is a very great king!
He will always do what is completely right.
4 The Lord causes us to remember his miracles.
He is kind and he forgives people.
5 He gives food to the people who serve him.
He always remembers the covenant
that he made with his people.
6 He said that he would use his great power
to help his people.
He has given to them
the lands where other nations lived.
7 He is always honest and fair
in the things that he does.
His rules help people to live well.
8 They will continue to be right for all time.
People should trust those rules and obey them.
9 He rescued his people
so that they became free.
He made his covenant with them
so that it would continue for ever.
His name is holy,
and people should respect him with fear.
10 If you want to live in a wise way,
respect and obey the Lord.[b]
Everyone who lives in the way that he teaches
will understand what is right.
People should praise the Lord for ever!
15 So you must be very careful how you live. Live like people who are wise. Do not live like fools. 16 Many bad things are happening in these days. So, whenever you have a chance to do something good, do as much as you can. 17 Do not live like fools. But instead, understand what the Lord wants you to do. 18 Do not drink too much wine so that you become drunk. That will destroy your life. Instead, let God's Spirit fill you. 19 He will help you to speak to each other with all kinds of spiritual songs. Sing psalms from the Bible, and Christian songs. Praise the Lord with songs from inside yourselves. 20 And always thank God, the Father, for everything, by our Lord Jesus Christ's name.
51 I am the bread that gives life to people. This bread came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live for ever. The bread that I will give is my own body. I will give it so that all people in the world may have life with God.’
52 Then the Jewish leaders became angry and they argued with each other even more. They said, ‘This man cannot give his body to us so that we can eat it!’ 53 Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you this: You must eat the body of the Son of Man and you must drink his blood. Unless you do those things, you do not have true life. 54 Every person needs to eat my body and they need to drink my blood. If they do those things, they have life for ever with God. I will raise them up on the last day. 55 My body is the true food and my blood is the true drink. 56 Anyone who eats my body and drinks my blood lives in me. And I live in them. 57 The Father, who has life, sent me. I live because of him. In the same way, anyone who takes me as their food will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. It is not like the manna that your ancestors ate. They ate it but they died. But the person who eats this bread will live for ever.’
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