Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Davidic Psalm

Remembering God’s Love

Solomon’s Palace

7 But Solomon took thirteen years to build his own palace, and finally finished it. ² He built his own palace out of timber supplied from the forest of Lebanon. It was 100 cubits^[a] long, 50 cubits^[b] wide, 20 cubits^[c] tall, and was constructed on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams interlocking the pillars. ³ There were 45 pillars paneled with cedar above the side chambers, with rows of fifteen pillars, ⁴ with three rows of framed windows facing each other in three ranks. ⁵ All the doorways and doorposts had rectangular frames, with the doorways facing each other in three tiers. ⁶ There was also a hall of pillars 50 cubits^[d] long and 30 cubits^[e] wide, and a porch in front with pillars, and a canopy in front of the pillars.^{[f] 7} He constructed the Judgment Hall for the throne room where he would be ruling, paneling it with cedar from floor to ceiling.^{[g] 8} Solomon’s^[h] personal dwelling quarters, a separate court behind the hall, was of similar workmanship. Solomon^[i] also built a house similar to this for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom Solomon had married.

⁹ All of these were made with expensive stones, pre-cut according to specifications, hand-sawed inside and out from the foundation to the coping, including from inside to the great court. ¹⁰ The foundation was made of expensive stone, including large stones ten cubits^[j] long and stones eight cubits^[k] long. ¹¹ Above these were expensive stones cut according to specifications, and cedar. ¹² So the great court was surrounded by three rows of cut stone, along with a row of cedar beams, just like the inner court of the Lord’s Temple and the porch surrounding the Temple.

⁹ “Joseph’s brothers^[a] became jealous of him and sold Joseph as a slave^[b] in Egypt. However, God was with him ¹⁰ and rescued him from all his troubles. He granted him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler of Egypt and of his whole household.

¹¹ “But a famine spread throughout Egypt and Canaan, and with it great suffering, and our ancestors couldn’t find any food. ¹² But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors on their first trip. ¹³ On their second trip, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph introduced his family^[c] to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ Then Joseph invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him in Egypt^[d]—75 persons in all. ¹⁵ So Jacob went down to Egypt. Then he and our ancestors died. ¹⁶ They were brought back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought at a high price^[e] from Hamor’s descendants in Shechem.