Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A song of David.
101 I will sing about love and justice.
Lord, I will sing to you.
2 I will be careful to live a pure life.
I will live in my house with complete honesty.
When will you come to me?
3 I will not even look at anything shameful.[a]
I hate all wrongdoing.
I want no part of it!
4 I will not be involved in anything dishonest.
I will have nothing to do with evil.
5 I will stop anyone who secretly
says bad things about a neighbor.
I will not allow people to be proud
and think they are better than others.
6 I will look throughout the land for those who can be trusted.
Only such people can live with me.
Only those who live pure lives can be my servants.
7 I will never let a dishonest person live in my house.
I will not let liars stay near me.
8 My goal each day will be to destroy the wicked living in our land.
I will force all who do evil to leave the city of the Lord.
The Box of the Agreement in the Temple
8 Then King Solomon told all the elders of Israel, the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the families of Israel to come together in Jerusalem. Solomon wanted them to join in moving the Box of the Lord’s Agreement from the City of David up to the Temple. 2 So during the special festival[a] in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month of the year, all the men of Israel came to the meeting with King Solomon.
3-4 When all the elders of Israel arrived, the priests and Levites carried the Holy Box of the Lord up to the Temple. They also carried the Meeting Tent and all the holy things that were in it up to the Temple. 5 King Solomon and all Israel met together before the Box of the Agreement and sacrificed so many sheep and cattle that no one was able to count them all. 6 The priests carried the Box of the Lord’s Agreement to its proper place inside the Most Holy Place in the Temple, under the wings of the Cherub angels. 7 The wings of the Cherub angels spread out over the Holy Box, and they covered the Holy Box and its carrying poles. 8 The poles are still there today. They are too long for the Most Holy Place, so anyone standing in the Holy Place can see the ends of the poles, although no one outside can see them. 9 The only things inside the Holy Box are the two tablets that Moses put there at Mt. Horeb. This is where the Lord made his agreement with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.
10 When the priests came out of the Holy Place, the cloud[b] filled the Lord’s Temple. 11 The priests could not continue their work because the Temple was filled with the Glory of the Lord. 12 Then Solomon said,
“The Lord caused the sun to shine in the sky,
but he chose to live in a dark cloud.[c]
13 Now, Lord, I have built a beautiful Temple for you,
where you may live forever.”
14 Then King Solomon turned toward all the Israelites who were standing there and asked God to bless them. 15 He prayed this long prayer to the Lord:
“The Lord, the God of Israel, is great. He has done what he promised my father David. He told my father, 16 ‘I brought my people, Israel, out of Egypt, but I had not yet chosen a city from among the tribes of Israel for a temple to honor me. And I had not chosen a man to be leader over my people, Israel. But now I have chosen Jerusalem to be the city where I will be honored.[d] And I have chosen David to rule over my people, Israel.’
17 “My father David wanted very much to build a temple to honor the Lord, the God of Israel. 18 But the Lord said to my father, ‘I know that you want very much to build a temple to honor me, and it is good that you want to build it. 19 But you are not the one to build my temple. Your son will build my temple.’
20 “So the Lord has kept his promises. I am the king now in place of my father David. I rule the people of Israel as the Lord promised. And I have built the Temple for the Lord, the God of Israel. 21 I have made a place in the Temple for the Holy Box. Inside that Holy Box is the agreement that the Lord made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”
Jesus’ Followers Misunderstand Him(A)
14 The followers had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat. They forgot to bring more bread. 15 Jesus warned them, “Be careful! Guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”
16 The followers discussed the meaning of this. They said, “He said this because we have no bread.”
17 Jesus knew that the followers were talking about this. So he asked them, “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are you not able to understand? 18 Do you have eyes that can’t see? Do you have ears that can’t hear? Remember what I did before, when we did not have enough bread? 19 I divided five loaves of bread for 5000 people. Remember how many baskets you filled with pieces of food that were not eaten?”
The followers answered, “We filled twelve baskets.”
20 “And when I divided seven loaves of bread for 4000 people, how many baskets did you fill with the leftover pieces?”
They answered, “We filled seven baskets.”
21 Then he said to them, “You remember these things I did, but you still don’t understand?”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International