Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Yahweh Is in His Holy Temple

For the choir director. Of David.

¹⁵ Then he ^(A)built the walls of the house on the inside with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house to the ^[a]ceiling he overlaid the walls on the inside with wood, and he overlaid the floor of the house with boards of cypress. ^16 (B)And he built twenty cubits on the rear part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the ^[b]ceiling; he built them for it on the inside as an inner sanctuary, as ^(C)the Holy of Holies. ¹⁷ And the house, that is, the nave in front of the inner sanctuary, was ^[c]forty cubits long. ¹⁸ And there was cedar on the house within, carved in the shape of ^(D)gourds and open flowers; all was cedar, there was no stone seen. ¹⁹ Then he prepared an inner sanctuary within the house in order to place there the ark of the covenant of Yahweh. ²⁰ Now ^[d]the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height, and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid the altar with cedar. ²¹ So Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold. And he drew chains of gold across the front of the inner sanctuary, and he overlaid it with gold. ²² So he overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. Also ^(E)the whole altar which was by the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.

^23 (F)Also in the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. ²⁴ And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub and five cubits the other wing of the cherub; from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing were ten cubits. ²⁵ The other cherub was also ten cubits; both the cherubim were of the same measure and the same form. ²⁶ The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other cherub. ²⁷ And he put the cherubim in the midst of the inner house, and ^(G)the wings of the cherubim were spread out, so that the wing of the one was touching the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub was touching the other wall. And their wings were touching each other in the center of the house. ²⁸ He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

²⁹ Then he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, from within the inner and outer sanctuaries. ³⁰ And he overlaid the floor of the house with gold, in the inner and outer sanctuaries.

³¹ For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood, the lintel, and five-sided doorposts. ³² So he made two doors of olive wood, and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread the gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees.

³³ So also he made for the entrance of the nave four-sided doorposts of olive wood ³⁴ and ^(H)two doors of cypress wood; the two leaves of the one door turned on pivots, and the two ^[e]leaves of the other door turned on pivots. ³⁵ And he carved on it cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the engraved work. ^36 (I)And he built the inner court with three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams.

^37 (J)In the fourth year the foundation of the house of Yahweh was laid, in the month of Ziv. ³⁸ Now in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was completed throughout all its parts and according to all its ^[f]plans. So he built it in seven years.

^16 (A)You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and ^(B)bear fruit, and that your fruit would abide, so that ^(C)whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. ¹⁷ This ^(D)I command you, that you love one another.

If the World Hates You

¹⁸ “^(E)If the world hates you, ^[a]know that it has hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but ^(F)I chose you out of the world, ^(G)because of this the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you, ‘^(H)A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, ^(I)they will also persecute you; if they ^(J)kept My word, they will keep yours also. ²¹ But all these things they will do to you ^(K)for My name’s sake, ^(L)because they do not know the One who sent Me. ^22 (M)If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have ^[b]sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ He who hates Me hates My Father also. ^24 (N)If I had not done among them ^(O)the works which no one else did, they would not have ^[c]sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. ²⁵ But this happened to fulfill the word that is written in their ^(P)Law, ‘^(Q)They hated Me without cause.’