Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A song of David.

Solomon’s Palace

7 King Solomon also built a palace for himself. It took 13 years to build Solomon’s palace. ² He also built the building called the “Forest of Lebanon.” It was 100 cubits^[a] long, 50 cubits^[b] wide, and 30 cubits^[c] high. It had four rows of cedar columns. On top of each column was a cedar capital. ³ There were cedar beams going across the rows of columns. There were 15 beams for each section of columns, making a total of 45 beams. On top of these beams there were cedar boards for the ceiling. ⁴ There were three rows of windows across from each other on the side walls. ⁵ There were three doors at each end. All the door openings and frames were square.

⁶ Solomon also built the Porch of Columns. It was 50 cubits long and 30 cubits wide. Along the front of the porch, there was a covering supported by columns.

⁷ He also built a throne room where he judged people. He called this the Judgment Hall. The room was covered with cedar from floor to ceiling.

⁸ Behind the Judgment Hall was a courtyard. The palace where Solomon lived was built around that courtyard and looked like the Judgment Hall. He also built the same kind of palace for his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt.

⁹ All these buildings were made with expensive blocks of stone. The stones were cut to the right size with a saw and then smoothed on front and back. These expensive stones went from the foundation all the way up to the top layer of the wall. Even the wall around the yard was made with expensive blocks of stone. ¹⁰ The foundations were made with large, expensive stones. Some of the stones were 10 cubits^[d] long and the others were 8 cubits^[e] long. ¹¹ On top of these stones there were other expensive stones and cedar beams. ¹² There were walls around the palace yard and around the yard and porch of the Lord’s Temple. The walls were built with three rows of stone and one row of cedar timbers.

⁹ “These ancestors of ours became jealous of their brother Joseph and sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him ¹⁰ and saved him from all his troubles. Pharaoh was the king of Egypt then. He liked Joseph and respected him because of the wisdom God gave him. Pharaoh gave Joseph the job of being a governor of Egypt. He even let him rule over all the people in Pharaoh’s house. ¹¹ But all the land of Egypt and of Canaan became dry. It became so dry that food could not grow, and the people suffered very much. Our people could not find anything to eat.

¹² “But Jacob heard that there was food in Egypt. So he sent our people there. This was their first trip to Egypt. ¹³ Then they went there a second time. This time Joseph told his brothers who he was. And Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. ¹⁴ Then Joseph sent some men to tell Jacob, his father, to come to Egypt. He also invited all his relatives, a total of 75 people. ¹⁵ So Jacob went down to Egypt. He and our other ancestors lived there until they died. ¹⁶ Later, their bodies were moved to Shechem, where they were put in a tomb. It was the same tomb that Abraham had bought in Shechem from the sons of Hamor. He paid them with silver.