Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 84
For the Music Director. According to The Gittith. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
1 How lovely is Your dwelling place,
O Lord of Hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, even faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my body cry out
for the living God.
3 Yes, the sparrow has found a home
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
even at Your altars,
O Lord of Hosts, my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;
they continually praise You. Selah
5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
in whose heart are the paths to Zion.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they makes it a spring;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
every one of them appears in Zion before God.
8 O Lord God of Hosts, hear my prayer,
and give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah
9 Behold, O God our shield,
and look upon the face of Your anointed.
10 For a day in Your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord will give favor and glory,
for no good thing will He withhold
from the one who walks uprightly.
12 O Lord of Hosts,
blessed is the man who trusts in You.
The Decree of Darius
6 Then Darius the king issued a decree and a search was made in the house of records, where the treasures were stored in Babylon. 2 At Ecbatana, in the provincial palace of the Medes, a scroll was found, and in it the following record was written:
3 “In the first year of Cyrus the king, the same Cyrus the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God at Jerusalem:
“Let the house be rebuilt, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations of it be strongly laid, to a height of sixty cubits,[a] and a width of sixty cubits. 4 Let it consist of three rows of great stones and a row of new timber, and let the expenses be paid from the king’s treasury. 5 Also, let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be returned and brought back to their places in the temple in Jerusalem. Put them in the house of God.
6 “Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, and Shethar-Bozenai, along with your colleagues, the officials who are in the province Beyond the River, stay far away from there. 7 Let the work of this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in its place.
8 “Moreover, I issue a decree concerning what you shall do for the elders of these Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God:
“The cost is to be paid to these men, in full and without delay, from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province Beyond the River. 9 Whatever they need—whether young bulls, rams, and lambs for the burnt offerings to the God of heaven, or wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests in Jerusalem—let it be given them daily without fail, 10 so that they may offer acceptable sacrifices to the God of heaven, as well as pray for the life of the king and of his sons.
11 “Also, I have issued a decree that whoever shall violate this word, the timber will be pulled down from his house and arranged so that he may be hanged on it. Thus shall his house be made a dunghill for this. 12 May the God who has caused His name to dwell there overthrow all kings and people who stretch forth their hand to violate or destroy this house of God in Jerusalem.
“I, Darius, have issued the decree; so let it be done diligently.”
Completion and Dedication of the Temple
13 In compliance, Tattenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-Bozenai, and their companions speedily accomplished what Darius the king had decreed. 14 The rebuilding by the elders of the Jews prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built, and finished it, according to the decree of the God of Israel and according to the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. 15 This temple was finished on the third day of the month Adar during the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.
16 The children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the descendants of the captivity kept the dedication of this house of God with joy.
The Cleansing of the Temple(A)
15 And they came to Jerusalem. Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who sold and bought in the temple, and He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who sold doves. 16 And He would not allow anyone to carry any vessel through the temple. 17 And He taught them, and said, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’[a]? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’[b] ”
18 The scribes and chief priests heard it and looked for a way to kill Him. For they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching.
19 When evening came, He went out of the city.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.