Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Lord, a Refuge and Defense.

For the music director. A Psalm of David.

¹⁵ 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 paneled the walls on the inside with wood, and he paneled the floor of the house with boards of juniper. ^16 (B)He also built ^[b]twenty cubits on the rear part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the ^[c]ceiling; he built them for it on the inside as an inner sanctuary, as ^(C)the Most Holy Place. ¹⁷ The house, that is, the main room in front of the inner sanctuary, was ^[d]forty cubits long. ¹⁸ There was cedar inside the house, carved in the shape of ^(D)gourds and open flowers; everything was cedar, there was no stone visible. ¹⁹ Then he prepared an inner sanctuary inside the house in order to place there the ark of the covenant of the Lord. ^20 [e]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 paneled the altar with cedar. ²¹ So Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold. And he extended chains of gold across the front of the inner sanctuary, and he overlaid it with gold. ²² He overlaid the entire house with gold, until all the house was finished. Also ^(E)the entire altar which was by the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.

^23 (F)And in the inner sanctuary he made two ^[f]cherubim of olive wood, each ^[g]ten cubits high. ²⁴ The one wing of the first cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the first cherub was five cubits; from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing were ten cubits. ²⁵ The second cherub was ten cubits; both of the cherubim were of the same measurement and the same form. ²⁶ The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was that of the other cherub. ²⁷ He placed the cherubim in the midst of the inner house, and ^(G)the wings of the cherubim 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 ^[h]end to ^[i]end in the center of the house. ²⁸ He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

²⁹ Then he carved all the surrounding walls of the house with engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, for the inner and outer sanctuaries. ³⁰ And he overlaid the floor of the house with gold, for the inner and outer sanctuaries.

³¹ And 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 overlaid the cherubim and the palm trees with gold.

³³ So too he made for the entrance of the main room four-sided doorposts of olive wood, ³⁴ and ^(H)two doors of juniper wood; the two leaves of the one door turned on pivots, and the two ^[j]leaves of the other door turned on pivots. ³⁵ He carved on it cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold plated on the carved work. ³⁶ And ^(I)he built the inner courtyard with three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams.

^37 (J)In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of Ziv. ³⁸ And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, that is, the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts and in accordance with all its plans. So he was seven years in building it.

^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 remain, 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.

Disciples’ Relation to the World

¹⁸ “^(E)If the world hates you, ^[a]you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love you as 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 persecute you as well; if they ^(J)followed My word, they will follow yours also. ²¹ But all these things they will do to you ^(K)on account of My name, ^(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 The one 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 has happened so that the word that is written in their ^(P)Law will be fulfilled: ‘^(Q)They hated Me for no reason.’