Bible Readings for June 10, 2017

Today our passages are 1 Kings 7:1-51; Acts 7:30-50; Psalm 128:1-6; and Proverbs 16:31-33. The readings are from the Contemporary English Version. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal by using the link below.

 

 

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1 Kings 7:1-51 (Contemporary English Version)

1 Kings 7

Solomon's Palace Is Built

 ¹Solomon's palace took thirteen years to build.     ^2-3Forest Hall was the largest room in the palace. It was one hundred fifty feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high, and was lined with cedar from Lebanon. It had four rows of cedar pillars, fifteen in a row, and they held up forty-five cedar beams. The ceiling was covered with cedar. ⁴Three rows of windows on each side faced each other, ⁵and there were three doors on each side near the front of the hall.
    ⁶Pillar Hall was seventy-five feet long and forty-five feet wide. A covered porch supported by pillars went all the way across the front of the hall.
    ⁷Solomon's throne was in Justice Hall, where he judged cases. This hall was completely lined with cedar.
    ⁸The section of the palace where Solomon lived was behind Justice Hall and looked exactly like it. He had a similar place built for his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt.
    ⁹From the foundation all the way to the top, these buildings and the courtyard were made out of the best stones ^{a<="" value="[a]" >[]} carefully cut to size, then smoothed on every side with saws. ¹⁰The foundation stones were huge, good stones--some of them fifteen feet long and others twelve feet long. ¹¹The cedar beams and other stones that had been cut to size were on top of these foundation stones. ¹²The walls around the palace courtyard were made out of three layers of cut stones with one layer of cedar beams, just like the front porch and the inner courtyard of the temple.

Hiram Makes the Bronze Furnishings

(2 Chronicles 3.15-17; 4.1-10)

 ^13-14Hiram was a skilled bronze worker from the city of Tyre. ^[b<="">] His father was now dead, but he also had been a bronze worker from Tyre, and his mother was from the tribe of Naphtali. King Solomon asked Hiram to come to Jerusalem and make the bronze furnishings to use for worship in the LORD's temple, and he agreed to do it.     ¹⁵Hiram made two bronze columns twenty-seven feet tall and about six feet across. ¹⁶For the top of each column, he also made a bronze cap seven and a half feet high. ¹⁷The caps were decorated with seven rows of designs that looked like chains, ^{[c<="">] 18}with two rows of designs that looked like pomegranates. ^{[d<="">] 19}The caps for the columns of the porch were six feet high and were shaped like lilies. ^{[e<="">] 20}The chain designs on the caps were right above the rounded tops of the two columns, and there were two hundred pomegranates in rows around each cap. ²¹Hiram placed the two columns on each side of the main door of the temple. The column on the south side was called Jachin, ^[f<="">] and the one on the north was called Boaz. ^{[g<="">] 22}The lily-shaped caps were on top of the columns.
   This completed the work on the columns.
    ²³Hiram also made a large bowl called the Sea. It was seven and a half feet deep, about fifteen feet across, and forty-five feet around. ²⁴Two rows of bronze gourds were around the outer edge of the bowl, ten gourds to every eighteen inches. ²⁵The bowl itself sat on top of twelve bronze bulls with three bulls facing outward in each of four directions. ²⁶The sides of the bowl were four inches thick, and its rim was like a cup that curved outward like flower petals. The bowl held about eleven thousand gallons.
    ²⁷Hiram made ten movable bronze stands, each one four and a half feet high, six feet long, and six feet wide. ^28-29The sides were made with panels attached to frames decorated with flower designs. The panels themselves were decorated with figures of lions, bulls, and winged creatures. ^30-31Each stand had four bronze wheels and axles and a round frame twenty-seven inches across, held up by four supports eighteen inches high. A small bowl rested in the frame. The supports were decorated with flower designs, and the frame with carvings.
   The side panels of the stands were square, ³²and the wheels and axles were underneath them. The wheels were about twenty-seven inches high ³³and looked like chariot wheels. The axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were made out of bronze.
    ^34-35Around the top of each stand was a nine-inch strip, and there were four braces ^[h<="">] attached to the corners of each stand. The panels and the supports were attached to the stands, ³⁶and the stands were decorated with flower designs and figures of lions, palm trees, and winged creatures. ³⁷Hiram made the ten bronze stands from the same mold, so they were exactly the same size and shape. ³⁸Hiram also made ten small bronze bowls, one for each stand. The bowls were six feet across and could hold about two hundred thirty gallons.
    ³⁹He put five stands on the south side of the temple, five stands on the north side, and the large bowl at the southeast corner of the temple.
    ⁴⁰Hiram made pans for hot ashes, and also shovels and sprinkling bowls.
   This is a list of the bronze items that Hiram made for the LORD's temple:

A List of Everything inside the Temple

(2 Chronicles 4.11--5.1)

 ⁴¹two columns; two bowl-shaped caps for the tops of the columns; two chain designs on the caps; ⁴²four hundred pomegranates ^[i<="">] for the chain designs; ⁴³ten movable stands; ten small bowls for the stands; ⁴⁴a large bowl; twelve bulls that held up the bowl; ⁴⁵pans for hot ashes, and also shovels and sprinkling bowls. Hiram made these bronze things for Solomon ⁴⁶near the Jordan River between Succoth and Zarethan by pouring melted bronze into clay molds.     ⁴⁷There were so many bronze things that Solomon never bothered to weigh them, and no one ever knew how much bronze was used.
    ⁴⁸Solomon gave orders to make the following temple furnishings out of gold: the altar; the table that held the sacred loaves of bread; ^{[j<="">] 49}ten lampstands that went in front of the most holy place; flower designs; lamps and tongs; ⁵⁰cups, lamp snuffers, and small sprinkling bowls; dishes for incense; fire pans; and the hinges for the doors to the most holy place and the main room of the temple. ⁵¹After the LORD's temple was finished, Solomon put into its storage rooms everything that his father David had dedicated to the LORD, including the gold and the silver.
   

Footnotes:

1. 1 Kings 7:9 From. . . best stones: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
2. 1 Kings 7:13 Hiram. . . city of Tyre: This is not the same person as "King Hiram of Tyre" (see 5.1).
3. 1 Kings 7:17 seven rows. . . chains: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
4. 1 Kings 7:18 pomegranates: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 18. A pomegranate is a bright red fruit that looks like an apple. In ancient times, it was a symbol of life.
5. 1 Kings 7:19 lilies: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 19.
6. 1 Kings 7:21 Jachin: Or "He makes secure."
7. 1 Kings 7:21 Boaz: Or "He is strong."
8. 1 Kings 7:34 braces: Or "handles."
9. 1 Kings 7:42 pomegranates: See the note at 7.18.
10. 1 Kings 7:48 sacred loaves of bread: This bread was offered to the LORD and was a symbol of the LORD's presence in the temple. It was put out on a special table, and was replaced with fresh bread each week (see Leviticus 24.5-9).

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Acts 7:30-50 (Contemporary English Version)

³⁰Forty years later, an angel appeared to Moses from a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. ³¹Moses was surprised by what he saw. He went closer to get a better look, and the Lord said, ³²"I am the God who was worshiped by your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Moses started shaking all over and didn't dare to look at the bush.
    ³³The Lord said to him, "Take off your sandals. The place where you are standing is holy. ³⁴With my own eyes I have seen the suffering of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now I am sending you back to Egypt."
    ³⁵This was the same Moses that the people rejected by saying, "Who made you our leader and judge?" God's angel had spoken to Moses from the bush. And God had even sent the angel to help Moses rescue the people and be their leader.
    ³⁶In Egypt and at the Red Sea ^{a<="" value="[a]" >[]} and in the desert, Moses rescued the people by working miracles and wonders for forty years. ³⁷Moses is the one who told the people of Israel, "God will choose one of your people to be a prophet, just as he chose me." ³⁸Moses brought our people together in the desert, and the angel spoke to him on Mount Sinai. There he was given these life-giving words to pass on to us. ³⁹But our ancestors refused to obey Moses. They rejected him and wanted to go back to Egypt. ⁴⁰The people said to Aaron, "Make some gods to lead us! Moses led us out of Egypt, but we don't know what's happened to him now." ⁴¹Then they made an idol in the shape of a calf. They offered sacrifices to the idol and were pleased with what they had done.
    ⁴²God turned his back on his people and left them. Then they worshiped the stars in the sky, just as it says in the Book of the Prophets, "People of Israel, you didn't offer sacrifices and offerings to me during those forty years in the desert. ⁴³Instead, you carried the tent where the god Molech is worshiped, and you took along the star of your god Rephan. You made those idols and worshiped them. So now I will have you carried off beyond Babylonia."
    ⁴⁴The tent where our ancestors worshiped God was with them in the desert. This was the same tent that God had commanded Moses to make. And it was made like the model that Moses had seen. ⁴⁵Later it was given to our ancestors, and they took it with them when they went with Joshua. They carried the tent along as they took over the land from those people that God had chased out for them. Our ancestors used this tent until the time of King David. ⁴⁶He pleased God and asked him if he could build a house of worship for the people ^[b<="">] of Israel. ⁴⁷And it was finally King Solomon who built a house for God. ^{[c<="">] 48}But the Most High God doesn't live in houses made by humans. It is just as the prophet said, when he spoke for the Lord,
    ⁴⁹"Heaven is my throne,
   and the earth
   is my footstool.
   What kind of house
   will you build for me?
   In what place will I rest?
    ⁵⁰I have made everything."
   

Footnotes:

1. Acts 7:36 Red Sea: This name comes from the Bible of the early Christians, a translation made into Greek about 200 B.C. It refers to the body of water that the Israelites crossed and was one of the marshes or fresh water lakes near the eastern part of the Nile Delta, where they lived and where the towns of Exodus 13.17--14.9 were located.
2. Acts 7:46 the people: Some manuscripts have "God."
3. Acts 7:47 God: Or "the people."

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Psalm 128:1-6 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 128

(A song for worship.)

The LORD Rewards His Faithful People

 ¹The LORD will bless you    if you respect him
   and obey his laws.
    ²Your fields will produce,
   and you will be happy
   and all will go well.
    ³Your wife will be as fruitful
   as a grapevine,
   and just as an olive tree
   is rich with olives,
   your home will be rich
   with healthy children.
    ⁴That is how the LORD will bless
   everyone who respects him.
    ⁵I pray that the LORD
   will bless you from Zion
   and let Jerusalem prosper
   as long as you live.
    ⁶May you live long enough
   to see your grandchildren.
   Let's pray for peace in Israel!

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Proverbs 16:31-33 (Contemporary English Version)

³¹Gray hair is a glorious crown
   worn by those
   who have lived right.
    ³²Controlling your temper
   is better than being a hero
   who captures a city.
    ³³We make our own decisions,
   but the LORD alone
   determines what happens.

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Verse of the Day

“Put up with each other, and forgive anyone who does you wrong, just as Christ has forgiven you.” - Colossians 3:13

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

Canadian-American writer, Saul Bellow wrote, “A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.”

 

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A Joke for Today

 

An elderly woman had just returned to her home from an evening of Church services when she was startled by an intruder. She caught the man in the act of robbing her home of its valuables and yelled, "Stop! Acts 2:38!" (Repent and be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven.) The burglar stopped in his tracks.

 

The woman calmly called the police and explained what she had done.

 

As the officer cuffed the man to take him in, he asked the burglar, "Why did you just stand there? All the old lady did was yelling a scripture to you."

 

"Scripture?" replied the burglar. "She said she had an Ax and Two 38's!"