Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Statement About Trust in God
For the director of music. Of David.
11 I trust in the Lord for protection.
So why do you say to me,
“Fly like a bird to your mountain.
2 Like hunters, the wicked string their bows.
They set their arrows on the bowstrings.
They shoot from dark places
at those who are honest.
3 When all that is good falls apart,
what can good people do?”
4 The Lord is in his holy temple.
The Lord sits on his throne in heaven.
And he sees what people do.
He keeps his eye on them.
5 The Lord tests those who do right.
But he hates the wicked and those who love to hurt others.
6 He will send hot coals on the wicked.
Burning sulfur and a whirlwind is what they will get.
7 The Lord does what is right, and he loves justice.
So honest people will see his face.
15 The inside walls were covered from floor to ceiling with cedar boards. The floor was made from pine boards. 16 A room 30 feet long was built in the back part of the Temple. It was divided from the rest of the Temple by cedar boards reaching from floor to ceiling. It was called the Most Holy Place. 17 The main room, the room in front of the Most Holy Place, was 60 feet long. 18 Inside the Temple was cedar. It was carved with pictures of flowers and plants. Everything inside was covered with cedar. So a person could not see the stones of the wall.
19 He prepared the inner room at the back of the Temple to keep the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord. 20 This inner room was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide and 30 feet high. Solomon covered this room with pure gold. He built an altar of cedar and covered it also. 21 He covered the inside of the Temple with pure gold. And he placed gold chains across the front of the inner room. It was covered with gold. 22 So all the inside of the Temple was covered with gold. Also the altar in the Most Holy Place was covered with gold.
23 Solomon made two creatures with wings from olive wood. Each creature was 15 feet tall. They were put in the Most Holy Place. 24 Each creature had two wings. Each wing was 7½ feet long. So it was 15 feet from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing. 25 The creatures were the same size and shape. 26 And each was 15 feet tall. 27 These creatures were put beside each other in the Most Holy Place. Their wings were spread out. So one creature’s wing touched one wall. The other creature’s wing touched the other wall. And their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. 28 The two creatures were covered with gold.
29 All the walls around the Temple were carved. They were carved with pictures of creatures with wings, palm trees and flowers. This was true for both the main room and the inner room. 30 The floors of both rooms were covered with gold.
31 Doors made from olive wood were put at the entrance to the Most Holy Place. The doors were made to fit into an area with five sides. 32 Creatures with wings, palm trees and flowers were carved on the two olive wood doors. Then the doors were covered with gold. And the creatures and the palm trees were covered with gold. 33 At the entrance to the main room there was a door frame. It was square and was made of olive wood. 34 Two doors were made from pine. Each door had two parts so that the doors folded. 35 The doors were covered with pictures of creatures with wings, palm trees and flowers. And all of the carvings were covered with gold. The gold was smoothed over the carvings.
36 The inner courtyard was built and enclosed with walls. The walls were made of three rows of cut stones and one row of cedar boards.
37 Work began on the Temple in Ziv, the second month. This was during the fourth year Solomon ruled over Israel. 38 The Temple was finished during the eleventh year Solomon ruled. It was finished in the eighth month, the month of Bul. It was finished exactly as it was planned. Solomon had worked seven years to build the Temple.
16 You did not choose me; I chose you. And I gave you this work, to go and produce fruit. I want you to produce fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you anything you ask for in my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
Jesus Warns His Followers
18 “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, then it would love you as it loves its own. But I have chosen you out of the world. So you don’t belong to it. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: A servant is not greater than his master. If people did wrong to me, they will do wrong to you, too. And if they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours, too. 21 They will do all this to you because of me. They don’t know the One who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He who hates me also hates my Father. 24 I did works among them that no one else has ever done. If I had not done those works, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen what I did, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this happened so that what is written in their law would be true: ‘They hated me for no reason.’[a]
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.