Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A psalm of David.

Solomon Builds His Palace

7 But it took Solomon 13 years to finish constructing his palace and the other buildings related to it. ² He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. It was 150 feet long. It was 75 feet wide. And it was 45 feet high. It had four rows of cedar columns. They held up beautiful cedar beams. ³ Above the beams was a roof made out of cedar boards. It rested on the columns. There were three rows of beams with 15 in each row. The total number of beams was 45. ⁴ The windows of the palace were placed high up in the walls. They were in groups of three. And they faced each other. ⁵ All the doorways had frames shaped like rectangles. They were in front. They were in groups of three. And they faced each other.

⁶ Solomon made a covered area. It was 75 feet long. And it was 45 feet wide. Its roof was held up by columns. In front of it was a porch. In front of that were pillars and a roof that went out beyond them.

⁷ Solomon built the throne hall. It was called the Hall of Justice. That’s where he would serve as judge. He covered the hall with cedar boards from floor to ceiling. ⁸ The palace where he would live was set farther back. Its plan was something like the plan for the hall. Solomon had married Pharaoh’s daughter. He made a palace for her. It was like the hall.

⁹ All those buildings were made out of blocks of good quality stone. They were cut to the right size. They were made smooth on their back and front sides. Those stones were used for the outside of each building and for the large courtyard. They were also used from the foundations up to the roofs. ¹⁰ Large blocks of good quality stone were used for the foundations. Some were 15 feet long. Others were 12 feet long. ¹¹ The walls above them were made out of good quality stones. The stones were cut to the right size. On top of them was a layer of cedar beams. ¹² The large courtyard had a wall around it. The first three layers of the wall were made out of blocks of stone. The top layer was made out of beautiful cedar wood. The same thing was done with the inside courtyard of the Lord’s temple and its porch.

⁹ “Jacob’s sons were jealous of their brother Joseph. So they sold him as a slave. He was taken to Egypt. But God was with him. ¹⁰ He saved Joseph from all his troubles. God made Joseph wise. He helped him to become the friend of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made Joseph ruler over Egypt and his whole palace.

¹¹ “There was not enough food for all Egypt and Canaan. This brought great suffering. Jacob and his sons couldn’t find food. ¹² But Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt. So he sent his sons on their first visit. ¹³ On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was. Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. ¹⁴ After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family. The total number of people was 75. ¹⁵ Then Jacob went down to Egypt. There he and his family died. ¹⁶ Some of their bodies were brought back to Shechem. They were placed in a tomb Abraham had bought. He had purchased it from Hamor’s sons at Shechem. He had purchased it for a certain amount of money.