Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Joy of Worship in the Temple
To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
84 How lovely is thy dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yea, faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at thy altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in thy house,
ever singing thy praise!Selah
5 Blessed are the men whose strength is in thee,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.[a]
6 As they go through the valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
the God of gods will be seen in Zion.
8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob!Selah
9 Behold our shield, O God;
look upon the face of thine anointed!
10 For a day in thy courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
he bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does the Lord withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
blessed is the man who trusts in thee!
The Decree of Dari′us
6 Then Dari′us the king made a decree, and search was made in Babylonia, in the house of the archives where the documents were stored. 2 And in Ecbat′ana, the capital which is in the province of Media, a scroll was found on which this was written: “A record. 3 In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices are offered and burnt offerings are brought; its height shall be sixty cubits and its breadth sixty cubits, 4 with three courses of great stones and one course of timber; let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. 5 And also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnez′zar took out of the temple that is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought back to the temple which is in Jerusalem, each to its place; you shall put them in the house of God.”
6 “Now therefore, Tat′tenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, She′thar-boz′enai, and your associates the governors who are in the province Beyond the River, keep away; 7 let the work on this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. 8 Moreover I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God; the cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River. 9 And whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require—let that be given to them day by day without fail, 10 that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his sons. 11 Also I make a decree that if any one alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled upon it, and his house shall be made a dunghill. 12 May the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people that shall put forth a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God which is in Jerusalem. I Dari′us make a decree; let it be done with all diligence.”
Completion and Dedication of the Temple
13 Then, according to the word sent by Dari′us the king, Tat′tenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, She′thar-boz′enai, and their associates did with all diligence what Dari′us the king had ordered. 14 And the elders of the Jews built and prospered, through the prophesying of Hag′gai the prophet and Zechari′ah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by command of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Dari′us and Ar-ta-xerx′es king of Persia; 15 and this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Dari′us the king.
16 And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons; 16 and he would not allow any one to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he taught, and said to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and sought a way to destroy him; for they feared him, because all the multitude was astonished at his teaching. 19 And when evening came they[a] went out of the city.
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.