Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Ark Brought into the Temple

8 ^(A)Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all ^(B)the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, ^(C)to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from ^(D)the city of David, that is, Zion.

⁶ Then ^(A)the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord ^(B)to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Most Holy Place, ^(C)under the wings of the cherubim.

¹⁰ And it happened that when the priests came from the holy place, ^(A)the cloud filled the house of the Lord, ¹¹ so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

The Prayer of Dedication

²² Then ^(A)Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and he ^(B)spread out his hands toward heaven. ²³ And he said, “Lord, God of Israel, ^(C)there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth beneath, ^(D)keeping the covenant and showing faithfulness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart, ²⁴ You who have kept with Your servant, my father David, that which You ^[a]promised him; You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day. ²⁵ Now then, Lord, God of Israel, keep with Your servant David my father that which You have ^[b]promised him, saying, ‘^[c](E)You shall not be deprived of a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful about their way, to walk before Me as you have walked.’ ²⁶ Now then, God of Israel, let Your words, please, be confirmed, ^(F)which You have spoken to Your servant, my father David.

²⁷ “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, ^(G)heaven and the ^[d]highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built! ²⁸ Nevertheless, turn Your attention to the ^(H)prayer of Your servant and to his plea, Lord, my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You today, ^29 (I)so that Your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward ^(J)the place of which You have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ to listen to the prayer which Your servant will pray toward this place. ³⁰ And ^(K)listen to the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel, ^(L)when they pray toward this place; hear in heaven Your dwelling place; hear and ^(M)forgive!

⁴¹ “Also regarding the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel, when he comes from a far country on account of Your name ⁴² (for they will hear of Your great name ^(A)and Your mighty hand, and of Your outstretched arm); when he comes and prays toward this house, ⁴³ hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and act in accordance with all for which the foreigner calls to You, in order ^(B)that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, to ^[a]fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that ^[b]this house which I have built is called by Your name.

Longing for the Temple Worship.

For the music director; ^[a]on the Gittith. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

The Armor of God

¹⁰ Finally, ^(A)be strong in the Lord and in ^(B)the strength of His might. ^11 (C)Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the ^(D)schemes of the devil. ¹² For our ^(E)struggle is not against ^[a](F)flesh and blood, but ^(G)against the rulers, against the powers, against the ^(H)world forces of this ^(I)darkness, against the ^(J)spiritual forces of wickedness in ^(K)the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore, take up ^(L)the full armor of God, so that you will be able to ^(M)resist on ^(N)the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. ¹⁴ Stand firm therefore, ^(O)having belted your waist with truth, and having ^(P)put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having ^(Q)strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace; ^16 [b]in addition to all, taking up the ^(R)shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the ^(S)flaming arrows of ^(T)the evil one. ¹⁷ And take ^(U)the helmet of salvation and the ^(V)sword of the Spirit, which is ^(W)the word of God.

^18 [c]With every ^(X)prayer and request, ^[d](Y)pray at all times ^(Z)in the Spirit, and with this in view, ^[e](AA)be alert with all ^(AB)perseverance and every ^(AC)request for all the ^[f]saints, ¹⁹ and ^(AD)pray in my behalf, that speech may be given to me ^(AE)in the opening of my mouth, to make known with ^(AF)boldness ^(AG)the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ^(AH)ambassador ^(AI)in ^[g]chains; that ^[h]in proclaiming it I may speak ^(AJ)boldly, ^(AK)as I ought to speak.

⁵⁶ The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood ^(A)remains in Me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ Just as the ^(B)living Father ^(C)sent Me, and I live because of the Father, the one who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that ^(D)came down out of heaven, not as ^(E)the fathers ate and died; the one who eats this bread ^(F)will live forever.”

Words to the Disciples

⁵⁹ These things He said ^(G)in the synagogue as He taught ^(H)in Capernaum.

⁶⁰ So then many of His ^(I)disciples, when they heard this, said, “^(J)This statement is very ^[a]unpleasant; who can listen to it?” ⁶¹ But Jesus, ^(K)aware that His disciples were complaining about this, said to them, “Is this ^[b](L)offensive to you? ⁶² What then if you see ^(M)the Son of Man ^(N)ascending to where He was before? ^63 (O)It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh provides no benefit; ^(P)the words that I have spoken to you are spirit, and are life. ⁶⁴ But there are ^(Q)some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus ^(R)knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and ^(S)who it was who would ^[c]betray Him. ⁶⁵ And He was saying, “For this reason I have ^(T)told you that no one can come to Me unless ^(U)it has been granted him from the Father.”

Peter’s Confession of Faith

⁶⁶ As a result of this many of His ^(V)disciples ^(W)left, and would no longer walk with Him. ⁶⁷ So Jesus said to ^(X)the twelve, “You do not want to leave also, do you?” ^68 (Y)Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have ^(Z)words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ And we have already believed and have come to know that You are ^(AA)the Holy One of God.”