Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Blessed Is the Man Who Trusts in You
For the choir director. According to the [a]Gittith. Of the sons of Korah. A Psalm.
84 How lovely are Your (A)dwelling places,
O Yahweh of hosts!
2 My (B)soul has longed and even [b]fainted for the courts of Yahweh;
My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the (C)living God.
3 Even the bird has found a home,
And the swallow a nest for herself, where she sets her young,
At Your (D)altars, O Yahweh of hosts,
(E)My King and my God.
4 How (F)blessed are those who dwell in Your house!
They are (G)ever praising You. [c]Selah.
5 How blessed is the man whose (H)strength is in You,
In [d]whose heart are the (I)highways to Zion!
6 Passing through the valley of [e]Baca they make it a [f]spring;
The (J)early rain also wraps it up with blessings.
7 They (K)go from strength to strength,
[g]Each one of them (L)appears before God in Zion.
8 O (M)Yahweh God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Give ear, O (N)God of Jacob! Selah.
9 See our (O)shield, O God,
And look upon the face of (P)Your anointed.
10 For (Q)better is a day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere.
I would choose to stand at the threshold of the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For Yahweh God is (R)a sun and (S)shield;
Yahweh gives grace and (T)glory;
(U)No good thing does He withhold [h]from those who walk blamelessly.
12 O Yahweh of hosts,
How (V)blessed is the man who trusts in You!
The Scroll with Cyrus’ Decree Is Found
6 Then King Darius issued a decree, and a (A)search was made in the [a]archives, where the treasures were deposited in Babylon. 2 And in [b]Ecbatana in the fortress, which is (B)in the province of Media, a scroll was found and there was written in it as follows:
“Memorandum—
3 (C)In the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king issued a decree:
‘Concerning the house of God in Jerusalem, let that house, the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt and let its foundations be [c]retained, its height being [d]60 cubits and its width 60 cubits;
5 And also let (E)the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be returned and [g]brought to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall deposit them in the house of God.’
6 “Now (F)Tattenai, governor of the province beyond the [h]River, Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues, the officials of the provinces beyond the River, [i]keep away from there.
7 Leave that work on the house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild that house of God in its designated place.
8 Moreover, (G)I issue a decree concerning what you shall do for those elders of Judah in the rebuilding of that house of God: the full cost is to be given to those people from the royal treasury out of the tribute of the provinces beyond the River, and that without negligence.
9 Whatever is needed, both young bulls, rams, and lambs for a burnt offering to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine, and anointing oil, according to what the priests in Jerusalem say, it is to be given to them daily without negligence,
10 that they may bring sweet-smelling sacrifices near to the God of heaven and (H)pray for the life of the king and his sons.
11 And I issued a decree that (I)any man who violates this edict, a timber shall be pulled out from his house and he shall be impaled on it and (J)his house shall be made a refuse heap on account of this.
12 May the God who (K)has caused His name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who [j]stretches out his hand to change it, so as to destroy that house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree, let it be done with all diligence!”
The Dedication of the House of God
13 Then (L)Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues carried out the decree with all diligence, just as King Darius had sent. 14 And (M)the elders of the Jews were building and succeeding through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. So they built and completed it according to the decree of the God of Israel and the decree (N)of Cyrus, (O)Darius, and (P)Artaxerxes king of Persia. 15 And this house was brought to completion [k]on the third day of the (Q)month Adar; it was the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
16 And the sons of Israel, the priests, the Levites and the rest of the [l]exiles, (R)celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.
Jesus Drives Merchants from the Temple
15 (A)Then they *came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling [a]doves; 16 and He was not permitting anyone to carry [b]merchandise through the temple. 17 And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘(B)My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? (C)But you have made it a robbers’ [c]den.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard this, and (D)began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for (E)the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.
19 (F)And when evening came, [d]they were going out of the city.
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