Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

David wrote this psalm.

The king's song^[a]

Solomon puts the Covenant Box in the temple

8 Then Solomon told all the leaders of Israel to come to him in Jerusalem. They were all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families. He wanted them to bring the Lord's Covenant Box from Mount Zion, the City of David, to put it in the temple.^{[a] 2} So all the Israelite leaders came together to meet with King Solomon. This happened during the Festival of Huts in the seventh month of the year, called Ethanim.^{[b] 3} When all Israel's leaders had arrived, the priests lifted up the Covenant Box.

⁴ The priests and the Levites carried the Lord's Covenant Box, the Tent of Meeting and all the holy things that were in the tent.

⁵ King Solomon and all the Israelites who were with him walked in front of the Covenant Box. They offered many sheep and bulls as sacrifices. There were more animals than anyone could count.

⁶ Then the priests brought the Lord's Covenant Box to its proper place in the inside room of the temple. That was the Most Holy Place. They put it under the wings of the cherubs. ⁷ The wings of the cherubs touched each other above the place where the Covenant Box was. The cherubs covered the Covenant Box and the poles that the Levites used to carry it.^{[c] 8} The poles were very long. The priests could see their ends from the Holy Place, if they stood in front of the Most Holy Place. But nobody could see the poles from outside the temple. And they are still there today.

⁹ There was nothing in the Covenant Box, except the two flat stones that Moses had put there at Sinai. That was where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out from Egypt.

¹⁰ When the priests came out from the Holy Place, a cloud filled the Lord's temple. ¹¹ The priests could not do their work to serve the Lord, because of the cloud. The Lord's bright glory filled his temple.

¹² Then Solomon prayed, ‘Lord, you have said that you live in a dark cloud. ¹³ Now I have built a great temple for you. It is a place where you can live for ever.’

Solomon speaks to his people

¹⁴ While all the Israelite people stood there, the king turned round towards them. He prayed that God would bless them. ¹⁵ He said, ‘Praise the Lord, Israel's God, as he deserves. He has used his power to do what he promised to do for my father David. ¹⁶ He told David, “I brought my people, the Israelites, out from Egypt. From that time, I have not chosen a city in any of Israel's tribes to build a temple where my people would worship me. Now I have chosen David to rule Israel, my people, as king.” ¹⁷ My father David wanted very much to build a temple to give honour to the Lord, Israel's God. ¹⁸ But the Lord said to my father David, “It was good that you wanted to build a temple to give me honour. ¹⁹ But you will not build the temple. Instead, one of your own sons will build it to give honour to me.” ²⁰ Now the Lord has done what he promised to do. I now rule Israel as king on the throne of my father David, as the Lord promised. I have built this temple to give honour to the Lord, Israel's God. ²¹ I have made a place there for the Covenant Box. It contains the covenant that the Lord made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.’

Jesus talks about the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod

¹⁴ Jesus' disciples had forgotten to take bread with them. They only had one loaf in the boat. ¹⁵ Jesus said to them, ‘Be careful. Do not accept the yeast of the Pharisees or the yeast of Herod.’^[a]

¹⁶ The disciples began to say to each other, ‘Jesus is saying that because we do not have any bread.’

¹⁷ Jesus knew what they were talking about. So he said to them, ‘You should not be arguing about the bread. You still do not understand my teaching. You seem unable to learn. ¹⁸ You are like people who have eyes but they cannot see with them. You are like people who have ears but they cannot hear with them. ¹⁹ Remember that I used five loaves of bread to feed 5,000 men. How many baskets did you fill with pieces of food that were left?’

‘There were 12 baskets,’ they replied.

²⁰ Jesus asked them, ‘I also used seven loaves to feed 4,000 people. That time, how many baskets did you fill with pieces of food?’

‘There were seven baskets,’ they replied.

²¹ ‘You really should understand about me now,’ he said to them.