Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Promise to Rule Well

A psalm of David.

Solomon’s Palace

7 King Solomon also built a ·palace [^Lhouse] for himself; it took him thirteen years to finish it. ² ·Built of cedars from [He built the House/Palace of] the Forest of Lebanon, it was ·one hundred fifty feet [^Lone hundred cubits] long, ·seventy-five feet [^Lfifty cubits] wide, and ·forty-five feet [^Lthirty cubits] high. It had four rows of cedar columns which supported the cedar beams. ³ There were forty-five beams on the roof, with fifteen beams in each row, and the ceiling was ·covered [paneled] with cedar above the beams. ⁴ Windows were placed in three rows facing each other. ⁵ All the doors ·were square [had rectangular frames], and the three ·doors [or windows] at each end faced each other.

⁶ Solomon also built the ·porch that had pillars [Hall of Pillars; Colonnade]. This porch was ·seventy-five feet [^Lfifty cubits] long and ·forty-five feet [^Lthirty cubits] wide. Along the front of the porch was a ·roof [cornice; canopy] supported by pillars.

⁷ Solomon also built a throne room where he ·judged people [dispensed justice/judgment; decided legal matters], called the Hall of ·Justice [or Judgment]. This room was ·covered [paneled] with cedar from floor to ·ceiling [beams; rafters; or floor]. ⁸ The ·palace [^Lhouse] where Solomon lived was built like the Hall of Justice, and it was behind this hall. Solomon also built the same kind of ·palace [^Lhouse] for his wife, who was the daughter of ·the king of Egypt [^LPharaoh].

⁹ All these buildings were made with blocks of ·fine [costly, high-grade] stone. First they were ·carefully cut [cut to measure/size]. Then they were trimmed with a saw in the front and back. These fine stones went from the foundations of the buildings to the ·top of the walls [eaves; coping]. ·Even the courtyard was made with blocks of stone […and all the way to the courtyard]. ¹⁰ The foundations were made with large blocks of ·fine [costly; high-grade] stone, some as long as ·fifteen feet [^Lten cubits]. Others were ·twelve feet [^Leight cubits] long. ¹¹ On top of these foundation stones were other blocks of ·fine [costly; high-grade] stone and cedar beams [cut to measure/size]. ¹² The ·palace courtyard [great court], the courtyard inside the ·Temple [^Lhouse], and the porch of the ·Temple [^Lhouse] were surrounded by walls. All of these walls had three ·rows [layers] of stone blocks ·and one row [for each layer] of cedar beams.

⁹ “·Jacob’s sons [^LThe patriarchs] became jealous of Joseph and sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him ¹⁰ and ·saved [rescued; delivered] him from all his ·troubles [afflictions]. God gave Joseph ·wisdom to gain the favor of [^Lfavor and wisdom before] Pharaoh, king of Egypt. The king made him governor of Egypt and put him in charge of ·all the people in his palace [^Lhis whole household].

¹¹ “Then all the land of Egypt and Canaan experienced a famine, and the people suffered very much. ·Jacob’s sons, our ancestors, [^LOur fathers] could not find anything to eat. ¹² But when Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent ·his sons [^Lour fathers] there. This was their first trip to Egypt [Gen. 42]. ¹³ When they went there a second time [Gen. 43—45], Joseph ·told his brothers who he was [made himself known to his brothers], and ·the king [^LPharaoh] learned about Joseph’s family. ¹⁴ Then Joseph sent messengers to ·invite [summon; call] Jacob, his father, to come to Egypt along with all his relatives (seventy-five persons altogether). ¹⁵ So Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and ·his sons [^Lour fathers] died. ¹⁶ Later their bodies were moved to Shechem and put in a grave there. (It was the same grave Abraham had bought for a sum of ·money [^Lsilver] from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.) [^CStephen combines two accounts, Abraham’s purchase of a field in Hebron (Gen. 23:3–20) and Jacob’s purchase of a field in Shechem (Josh. 24:32).]