Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Desire for God’s House

84 How beautiful are the places where You live, O Lord of all! ² My soul wants and even becomes weak from wanting to be in the house of the Lord. My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. ³ Even the bird has found a home. The swallow has found a nest for herself where she may lay her young at Your altars, O Lord of all, my King and my God. ⁴ How happy are those who live in Your house! They are always giving thanks to You.

⁵ How happy is the man whose strength is in You and in whose heart are the roads to Zion! ⁶ As they pass through the dry valley of Baca, they make it a place of good water. The early rain fills the pools with good also. ⁷ They go from strength to strength. Every one of them stands before God in Zion.

⁸ O Lord God of all, hear my prayer. Listen, O God of Jacob. ⁹ Look upon our safe-covering, O God. And look upon the face of Your chosen one. ¹⁰ For a day in Your house is better than a thousand outside. I would rather be the one who opens the door of the house of my God, than to live in the tents of the sinful. ¹¹ For the Lord God is a sun and a safe-covering. The Lord gives favor and honor. He holds back nothing good from those who walk in the way that is right. ¹² O Lord of all, how happy is the man who trusts in You!

Solomon’s Riches

²⁰ There were many people in Judah and Israel, as much as the sand beside the sea. They were eating and drinking and full of joy.

²¹ Solomon ruled over all the nations from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines and to the land of Egypt. They brought taxes and worked for Solomon all the days of his life. ²² The food brought to Solomon for one day was 300 baskets of fine flour, 600 baskets of seeds, ²³ ten fat bulls, twenty grass-fed bulls, 100 sheep, and deer, gazelles, roebucks and fat birds. ²⁴ Solomon ruled over everything west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah to Gaza. He ruled over all the kings west of the Euphrates. And he had peace around him on all sides. ²⁵ So Judah and Israel were safe. Every man was safe under his vine and fig tree, from Dan to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. ²⁶ Solomon had 40,000 rooms for his war-wagon horses, and 12,000 horsemen. ²⁷ Those leaders brought food for King Solomon and all who came to his table, each during his month. They made sure nothing was missing. ²⁸ They brought barley and straw for the fast horses and the war-wagon horses, where it was needed. Each man did the work he had been given to do.

Watch for the Lord to Come Again

5 You do not need anyone to write to tell you when and at what kind of times these things will happen. ² You know for sure that the day the Lord comes back to earth will be as a robber coming in the night. ³ When they say, “Everything is fine and safe,” then all at once they will be destroyed. It will be like pain that comes on a woman when a child is born. They will not be able to get away from it. ⁴ But you are not in darkness, Christian brothers. That day will not surprise you as a robber would. ⁵ For you are children of the light and of the day. We are not of darkness or of night. ⁶ Keep awake! Do not sleep like others. Watch and keep your minds awake to what is happening. ⁷ People sleep at night. Those who get drunk do it at night. ⁸ Because we are men of the day, let us keep our minds awake. Let us cover our chests with faith and love. Let us cover our heads with the hope of being saved. ⁹ God planned to save us from the punishment of sin through our Lord Jesus Christ. He did not plan for us to suffer from His anger. ¹⁰ He died for us so that, dead or alive, we will be with Him. ¹¹ So comfort each other and make each other strong as you are already doing.