Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

To the director: On the gittith. A song of praise from the Korah family.

Solomon and Hiram

5 Hiram was the king of Tyre. He had always been David’s friend. So when Hiram heard that Solomon had become the new king after David, he sent his servants to Solomon. ² This is what Solomon said to King Hiram:

³ “You remember that my father, King David, had to fight many wars all around him. So he was never able to build a temple to honor the Lord his God. King David was waiting until the Lord allowed him to defeat all his enemies. ⁴ But now the Lord my God has given me peace along all the borders of my country. I have no enemies, and my people are in no danger.

⁵ “The Lord made a promise to my father David. He said, ‘I will make your son king after you, and he will build a temple to honor me.’ Now, I plan to build that temple to honor the Lord my God. ⁶ And so I ask you to help me. Send your men to Lebanon to cut down cedar trees for me. My servants will work with yours. I will pay you any price that you decide as your servants’ wages, but I need your help. Our carpenters^[a] are not as good as the carpenters of Sidon.”

⁷ Hiram was very happy when he heard what Solomon asked. He said, “I praise the Lord today for giving David a wise son to rule this great nation!” ⁸ Then Hiram sent this message to Solomon:

“I heard what you asked for. I will give you all the cedar trees and the fir trees you want. ⁹ My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea. Then I will tie them together and float them down the shore to the place you choose. There I will separate the logs, and you can take them from there. As payment for this, you will give food to all those who live in my palace.”

¹⁰ So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and fir logs that he wanted.

¹¹ Solomon gave Hiram about 120,000 bushels^[b] of wheat and about 120,000 gallons^[c] of pure olive oil every year for his family.

¹² The Lord made Solomon wise as he had promised. Hiram and Solomon made a treaty between themselves and were at peace with one another.

Ask God for What You Need^(A)

^5-6 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose one of you went to your friend’s house very late at night and said to him, ‘A friend of mine has come into town to visit me. But I have nothing for him to eat. Please give me three loaves of bread.’ ⁷ Your friend inside the house answers, ‘Go away! Don’t bother me! The door is already locked. My children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you the bread now.’ ⁸ I tell you, maybe friendship is not enough to make him get up to give you the bread. But he will surely get up to give you what you need if you continue to ask. ⁹ So I tell you, continue to ask, and God will give to you. Continue to search, and you will find. Continue to knock, and the door will open for you. ¹⁰ Yes, whoever continues to ask will receive. Whoever continues to look will find. And whoever continues to knock will have the door opened for them. ¹¹ Do any of you have a son? What would you do if your son asked you for a fish? Would any father give him a snake? ¹² Or, if he asked for an egg, would you give him a scorpion? Of course not! ¹³ Even you who are bad know how to give good things to your children. So surely your heavenly Father knows how to give the Holy Spirit to the people who ask him.”