Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
12
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13
For He has strengthened the bars of your gates,
He has blessed your children within you.
14
He makes peace in your borders;
He satisfies you with the finest of the wheat.
15
He sends His command to the earth;
His word runs very swiftly.
16
He gives [to the earth] snow like [a blanket of] wool;
He scatters the frost like ashes.
17
He casts out His ice like fragments;
Who can stand before His cold?
18
He sends out His word and melts the ice;
He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow.
19
He declares His word to Jacob,
His statutes and His ordinances to Israel.(A)
20
He has not dealt this way with any [other] nation;
They have not known [understood, appreciated, heeded, or cherished] His ordinances.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)(B)
7 That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask what I shall give to you.”
Solomon’s Prayer for Wisdom
8 Then Solomon said to God, “You have shown great lovingkindness and mercy to my father David, and have made me king in his place. 9 Now, O Lord God, Your promise to my father David is fulfilled, for You have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 Give me wisdom and knowledge, so that I may go out and come in [performing my duties] before this people, for [otherwise] who can rule and administer justice to this great people of Yours?” 11 God replied to Solomon, “Because this was in your heart and you did not ask for riches, possessions or honor and personal glory, or the life of those who hate you, nor have you even asked for long life, but you have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself so that you may rule and administer justice to My people over whom I have made you king, 12 wisdom and knowledge have been granted you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings who were before you has possessed nor will those who will come after you.” 13 So Solomon went from the high place at Gibeon, from the Tent of Meeting, to Jerusalem. And he reigned over Israel.
32 But of that [exact] day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son [in His humanity], but the Father alone.
33 “Be on guard and stay constantly alert [a][and pray]; for you do not know when the appointed time will come. 34 It is like a man away on a journey, who when he left home put his servants in charge, each with his particular task, and also ordered the doorkeeper to be continually alert. 35 Therefore, be continually on the alert—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— 36 [stay alert,] in case he should come suddenly and unexpectedly and find you asleep and unprepared. 37 What I say to you I say to everyone, ‘Be on the alert [stay awake and be continually cautious]!’”
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