Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

This is a song that David wrote for the music leader.

Trust the Lord to keep you safe

¹³ King Solomon commanded 30,000 men from everywhere in Israel to do the work. ¹⁴ He sent them to Lebanon in groups of 10,000 men each month. They worked in Lebanon for one month, then they lived at home for two months. Adoniram was the officer who had authority over them. ¹⁵ Solomon also had 80,000 men to cut stones in the hills. He had 70,000 men to carry the stones to Jerusalem. ¹⁶ He also had 3,300 officers who told the workers what they should do. ¹⁷ The king commanded the workers to cut large pieces of stone from the rocks. They cut the best stones into the right shape to build the foundation of the temple. ¹⁸ Solomon's men and Hiram's men worked together with men from Gebal.^[a] They cut the stones and the wood and they prepared them to build the temple.

Wives and husbands

²¹ Serve one another to show that you respect Christ as your master.

²² Wives, obey your own husbands, as you obey the Lord. ²³ A husband has authority over his wife, in the same way that Christ has authority over the church. The church is like Christ's body. As its head, he saves her. ²⁴ As the church serves Christ as its master, so wives should serve their husbands in everything.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church. He even agreed to die on its behalf. ²⁶ He did that to make us completely clean, as the people of God. It was like he washed us with water, as he brought God's message to us. ²⁷ Christ himself did this to bring us to himself as a beautiful group of his people. His church would belong to him completely. It would be pure, without anything bad to spoil it.

²⁸ So husbands should love their wives, just as they love their own bodies. A man who loves his wife shows that he loves himself. ²⁹ There is nobody who hates his own body. Everyone feeds his body and he takes care of it. In the same way, the church is like Christ's body that he takes care of. ³⁰ We are like the parts of Christ's body. ³¹ The Bible says this: ‘When a man marries, he leaves his father and his mother. Instead, God joins the man and his wife together. The two people become like one body.’^{[a] 32} This is God's secret and it is difficult to understand. But I am saying that it teaches us about Christ and the church. ³³ But each one of you husbands should understand this: love your own wife as you love yourself. And every wife among you must respect her husband.

Children and parents

6 You who are children, obey your parents. Because you belong to the Lord, that is the right thing to do. ² God's Law says: ‘Always respect your father and your mother.’ That is the first rule of God's Law that also has a promise. ³ The promise is this: ‘As a result, you will be happy and you will live for a long time on the earth.’^[b]

⁴ Fathers, do not do things that make your children angry. Instead, teach them carefully as they grow up. Help them to understand the message of the Lord, and help them to obey it.

Slaves and masters

⁵ You who are slaves, obey your human masters. Respect them and be afraid of them. Work well to help them, as if you were working for Christ as your master. ⁶ Do not do good work only when they can see you. Some people only work to make other people like them. Instead, work well all the time, as slaves who serve Christ. Work in the way that God wants you to work. ⁷ Be happy to obey your human masters. Remember that you are serving the Lord himself, not just other people. ⁸ You know that anyone who does some good thing will receive a good gift from the Lord. This will happen whether that person is a slave or a free person.

⁹ You who are masters, be good to your slaves in the same way. Do not frighten them with punishment. Remember that both you and your slaves have the same Master in heaven. And he is always fair when he judges people, whoever they are.