Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 84[a]
Prayer of a Pilgrim to Jerusalem
1 For the leader; “upon the gittith.” A psalm of the Korahites.
I
2 How lovely your dwelling,
O Lord of hosts!(A)
3 My soul yearns and pines
for the courts of the Lord.(B)
My heart and flesh cry out
for the living God.
4 [b]As the sparrow finds a home
and the swallow a nest to settle her young,
My home is by your altars,
Lord of hosts, my king and my God!(C)
5 Blessed are those who dwell in your house!
They never cease to praise you.
Selah
II
6 Blessed the man who finds refuge in you,
in their hearts are pilgrim roads.
7 As they pass through the Baca valley,[c]
they find spring water to drink.
The early rain covers it with blessings.
8 They will go from strength to strength[d]
and see the God of gods on Zion.
III
9 Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
listen, God of Jacob.
Selah
10 [e]O God, watch over our shield;
look upon the face of your anointed.(D)
IV
11 Better one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere.
Better the threshold of the house of my God
than a home in the tents of the wicked.
12 For a sun and shield is the Lord God,
bestowing all grace and glory.
The Lord withholds no good thing
from those who walk without reproach.
13 O Lord of hosts,
blessed the man who trusts in you!
Chapter 5
Solomon’s Riches: International Affairs. 1 [a]Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River[b] to the land of the Philistines, down to the border of Egypt; they paid Solomon tribute and served him as long as he lived. 2 [c]Solomon’s provisions for each day were thirty kors of fine flour, sixty kors of meal, 3 ten fatted oxen, twenty pasture-fed oxen, and a hundred sheep, not counting harts, gazelles, roebucks, and fatted fowl. 4 He had dominion over all the land west of the River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, and all its kings, and he had peace on all his borders round about. 5 (A)Thus Judah and Israel lived in security, everyone under their own vine and fig tree from Dan to Beer-sheba, as long as Solomon lived.
Solomon’s Riches: Chariots and Horses. 6 (B)Solomon had forty thousand stalls for horses for chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. 7 [d]The governors, one for each month, provided food for King Solomon and for all the guests at King Solomon’s table. They left nothing unprovided. 8 For the chariot horses and draft animals also, each brought his quota of barley and straw to the required place.
Solomon’s Renown. 9 (C)Moreover, God gave Solomon wisdom, exceptional understanding, and knowledge, as vast as the sand on the seashore. 10 Solomon’s wisdom surpassed that of all the peoples of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt. 11 He was wiser than anyone else—wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, or Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the musicians—and his fame spread throughout the neighboring peoples. 12 Solomon also uttered three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five.
5 And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’ 7 and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.
The Answer to Prayer.(A) 9 “And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.(B) 10 For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? 12 Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? 13 If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit[a] to those who ask him?”
Jesus and Beelzebul.(C)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.