Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
To the director: A song of David.
11 I trust in the Lord, so why did you tell me to run and hide?
Why did you say, “Fly like a bird to your mountain?”
2 Like hunters, the wicked hide in the dark.
They get their bows ready and aim their arrows.
They shoot at good, honest people.
3 What would good people do
if the wicked destroyed all that is good?[a]
4 The Lord is in his holy temple.
The Lord sits on his throne in heaven.
He sees everything that happens.
He watches people closely.
5 The Lord examines those who are good and those who are wicked;
he hates those who enjoy hurting others.
6 He will make hot coals and burning sulfur fall like rain on the wicked.
They will get nothing but a hot, burning wind.
7 The Lord always does what is right, and he loves seeing people do right.
Those who live good lives will be with him.[b]
Solomon Builds the Temple
6 So in the month of Ziv, the second month of the year, during Solomon’s fourth year as king, he began work on the Temple. This was 480 years after the Israelites left Egypt.[a] 2 The Temple was 60 cubits[b] long, 20 cubits[c] wide, and 30 cubits[d] high. 3 The porch of the Temple was 20 cubits long and 10 cubits[e] wide. The porch ran along the front of the main part of the Temple itself. Its length was equal to the width of the Temple. 4 There were narrow windows in the Temple. These windows were smaller on the inside of the wall than on the outside.[f] 5 Then Solomon built a row of rooms around the main part of the Temple. This row of rooms was three stories tall with the rooms built one above the other. 6 The rooms touched the Temple wall, but their beams were not built into that wall. The Temple wall became thinner at the top, so the rooms on the upper floors were larger than the ones below them. The rooms on the bottom floor were 5 cubits[g] wide. The rooms on the middle floor were 6 cubits[h] wide. The rooms above that were 7 cubits[i] wide. 7 The stones were completely finished before they were brought into the Temple area, so there was no noise of hammers, axes, or any other iron tools in the Temple.
8 The entrance to these rooms was on bottom floor at the south side of the Temple. Inside there were stairs that went up to the second floor and from there to the third floor.
9 Solomon finished building the main part of the Temple and then covered it inside with cedar boards. 10 Then he finished building the rooms around the Temple. Each story was 5 cubits tall. The cedar beams in these rooms rested on a ledge of the Temple wall.
11 The Lord said to Solomon, 12 “If you obey all my laws and commands, I will do for you what I promised your father David. 13 I will live among the children of Israel in this Temple that you are building, and I will never leave the people of Israel.”
14 When Solomon finished the stonework on the Temple,
Final Greetings
21 I am sending you Tychicus, the brother we love. He is a faithful servant of the Lord’s work. He will tell you everything that is happening with me. Then you will know how I am and what I am doing. 22 That’s why I am sending him—to let you know how we are and to encourage you.
23 I pray that God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will give peace and love with faith to all the brothers and sisters there. 24 God’s grace to all of you who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love that never ends.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International