Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Promise to Rule Well

A psalm of David.

Solomon’s Palace

7 King Solomon also built a palace for himself; it took him thirteen years to finish it. ² Built of cedars from the Forest of Lebanon, it was one hundred fifty feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high. It had four rows of cedar columns which supported the cedar beams. ³ There were forty-five beams on the roof, with fifteen beams in each row, and the ceiling was covered with cedar above the beams. ⁴ Windows were placed in three rows facing each other. ⁵ All the doors were square, and the three doors at each end faced each other.

⁶ Solomon also built the porch that had pillars. This porch was seventy-five feet long and forty-five feet wide. Along the front of the porch was a roof supported by pillars.

⁷ Solomon also built a throne room where he judged people, called the Hall of Justice. This room was covered with cedar from the floor to the ceiling. ⁸ The palace where Solomon lived was built like the Hall of Justice, and it was behind this hall. Solomon also built the same kind of palace for his wife, who was the daughter of the king of Egypt.

⁹ All these buildings were made with blocks of fine stone. First they were carefully cut. Then they were trimmed with a saw in the front and back. These fine stones went from the foundations of the buildings to the top of the walls. Even the courtyard was made with blocks of stone. ¹⁰ The foundations were made with large blocks of fine stone, some as long as fifteen feet. Others were twelve feet long. ¹¹ On top of these foundation stones were other blocks of fine stone and cedar beams. ¹² The palace courtyard, the courtyard inside the Temple, and the porch of the Temple were surrounded by walls. All of these walls had three rows of stone blocks and one row of cedar beams.

⁹ “Jacob’s sons became jealous of Joseph and sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him ¹⁰ and saved him from all his troubles. The king of Egypt liked Joseph and respected him because of the wisdom God gave him. The king made him governor of Egypt and put him in charge of all the people in his palace.

¹¹ “Then all the land of Egypt and Canaan became so dry that nothing would grow, and the people suffered very much. Jacob’s sons, our ancestors, could not find anything to eat. ¹² But when Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent his sons there. This was their first trip to Egypt. ¹³ When they went there a second time, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and the king learned about Joseph’s family. ¹⁴ Then Joseph sent messengers to invite Jacob, his father, to come to Egypt along with all his relatives (seventy-five persons altogether). ¹⁵ So Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and his sons died. ¹⁶ Later their bodies were moved to Shechem and put in a grave there. (It was the same grave Abraham had bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.)