Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Promise to Rule Well
A song of David.
101 I will sing of love and fairness.
Lord, I will sing praises to you.
2 I will be careful to live an innocent life.
When will you come to me?
I will live an innocent life in my house.
3 I will not look at anything wicked.
I hate those who turn against you.
They will not be found near me.
4 Let those who want to do wrong stay away from me.
I will have nothing to do with evil.
5 If anyone secretly says things against his neighbor,
I will stop him.
I will not allow people
to be proud and look down on others.
6 I will look for trustworthy people
so I can live with them in the land.
Only those who live innocent lives
will be my servants.
7 No one who is dishonest will live in my house.
No liars will stay around me.
8 Every morning I will destroy
the wicked in the land.
I will rid the Lord’s city
of people who do evil.
The Ark of the Covenant Is Brought into the Temple
8 Then King Solomon called for all the leaders of Israel to come to him in Jerusalem. He called for the elders, the heads of the tribes and the leaders of the families. He wanted them to bring the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord from the older part of the city. 2 So all the men of Israel came together with King Solomon. This was during a festival in the month of Ethanim. That is the seventh month.
3 All of the elders of Israel arrived. Then the priests took up the Ark of the Covenant. 4 They carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, the Meeting Tent and the holy things in it. The Levites helped the priests carry these things. 5 King Solomon and all the people of Israel gathered before the Ark of the Covenant. They sacrificed so many sheep and cattle no one could count them all. 6 Then the priests put the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord in its right place. This was inside the Most Holy Place in the Temple. The Ark of the Covenant was put under the wings of the golden creatures. 7 The wings of the creatures were spread out over the place of the Ark of the Covenant. So they covered it and its carrying poles. 8 The carrying poles were very long. Anyone standing in the Holy Place in front of the Most Holy Place could see the ends of the poles. But no one could see them from outside the Holy Place. The poles are still there today. 9 The only things inside the Ark of the Covenant were two stone tablets.[a] Moses had put them in the Ark of the Covenant at Mount Sinai. That was where the Lord made his agreement with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.
10 When the priests left the Holy Place, the cloud filled the Temple of the Lord. 11 The priests could not continue their work. This was because the Temple was filled with the glory of the Lord.
Solomon Speaks to the People
12 Then Solomon said, “The Lord said he would live in a dark cloud. 13 Lord, I have truly built a wonderful Temple for you. It is a place for you to live forever.”
14 While all the people of Israel were standing there, King Solomon turned to them and blessed them.
15 Then he prayed: “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel. He himself has done what he promised to my father David. The Lord told my father, 16 ‘I brought my people Israel out of Egypt. But I have not yet chosen a city in any tribe of Israel where a temple will be built for worshiping me. But I have chosen David to rule over my people Israel.’
17 “My father David wanted to build a temple for worshiping the Lord, the God of Israel. 18 But the Lord said to my father David, ‘I know you want to build a temple for worshiping me. And this is good. 19 But you are not the one to build the temple. It will be your son, who comes from your own body. He is the one who will build my temple.’
20 “So the Lord has kept the promise that he gave. I am the king now in place of David my father. Now I rule Israel as the Lord promised. And I have built the Temple for worshiping the Lord, the God of Israel. 21 I have made a place in the Temple for the Ark of the Covenant. Inside that Ark is the agreement the Lord made with our ancestors. He made that agreement when he brought them out of Egypt.”
Guard Against Wrong Teachings
14 The followers had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat. They had forgotten to bring more bread. 15 Jesus warned them, “Be careful! Guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”
16 Among themselves, his disciples discussed the meaning of this. They said, “He said this because we have no bread.”
17 Jesus knew what his followers were talking about. So he asked them, “Why are you talking about having no bread? You still don’t see or understand? Are your minds closed? 18 You have eyes, but you don’t really see. You have ears, but you don’t really listen. Remember what I did before, when we did not have enough bread? 19 I divided five loaves of bread for 5,000 people. Remember how many baskets you filled with pieces of food that were not eaten?”
They answered, “We filled 12 baskets.”
20 “And remember that I divided seven loaves of bread for 4,000 people. Remember how many baskets you filled with pieces of food that were not eaten?”
They answered, “We filled 7 baskets.”
21 Then Jesus said to them, “You remember these things I did, but you still don’t understand?”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.