Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 101^[a]

Norm of Life for a Good Ruler

¹ A psalm of David.

Chapter 7

Solomon’s Palace.^{[a] 1} Now Solomon took thirteen years to completely finish building his own palace. ² He built the palace out of Lebanon wood. It was one hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. It was built upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams stretching out upon the pillars. ³ It was roofed with cedar that lay over the beams that rested on the pillars. There were forty-five beams, fifteen in a row. ⁴ Its windows were set high in the wall in sets of three, each set facing the other. ⁵ All of the doorways and windows had rectangular frames, with the windows facing each other in sets of three.

⁶ He made a hall of pillars. It was fifty cubits long and thirty cubits wide. There was a porch in front of it with other pillars and covered over by a canopy.

⁷ There was a throne room, the hall of justice, where he would sit in judgment. He covered it with cedar from floor to ceiling. ⁸ The palace in which he lived had another court inside the hall which had the same design. Solomon also built another palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter whom he wed.

⁹ All of these, from the outside to the great courtyard, and from the foundations to the eaves, were built with costly stone that had been trimmed with saws on the inside and outside edges. ¹⁰ The foundations were laid with costly stones that were quite large, some being ten cubits and some eight cubits. ¹¹ Above these were costly stone, cut to measure, and cedar beams.

¹² The great courtyard was surrounded by three layers of cut stone and one layer of cedar beams, as was the inner courtyard of the temple of the Lord and its porch.

⁹ “The patriarchs were jealous of Joseph and they sold him into Egypt, but God was with him ¹⁰ and rescued him from all his afflictions. He gave Joseph wisdom and the favor of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, who appointed him governor of Egypt and his entire household.

¹¹ “Then a severe famine struck all of Egypt and Canaan, causing severe affliction, and our ancestors could find no food. ¹² However, when Jacob learned that there was grain available in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there on their first visit. ¹³ During their second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and his ancestry became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his entire family, seventy-five people in all.

¹⁵ “Jacob migrated to Egypt, and after he and our ancestors had died there, ¹⁶ they were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had purchased from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a sum of money.