Bible Readings for July 21, 2013

Today our passages are 2 Chronicles 4:1–6:11; Romans 7:1-13; Psalm 17:1-15; and Proverbs 19:22-23. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.

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2 Chronicles 4-6:11 (Contemporary English Version)

2 Chronicles 4

The Furnishings for the Temple

(1 Kings 7.23-51)

 ¹Solomon had a bronze altar made that was thirty feet square and fifteen feet high.    ²He also gave orders to make a large metal bowl called the Sea. It was fifteen feet across, about seven and a half feet deep, and forty-five feet around.
   ³Its outer edge was decorated with two rows of carvings of bulls, ten bulls to every eighteen inches, all made from the same piece of metal as the bowl.
   ⁴The bowl itself sat on top of twelve bronze bulls, with three bulls facing outward in each of four directions.
   ⁵The sides of the bowl were four inches thick, and its rim was in the shape of a cup that curved outward like flower petals. The bowl held about fifteen thousand gallons.
   ⁶He also made ten small bowls and put five on each side of the large bowl. The small bowls were used to wash the animals that were burned on the altar as sacrifices, and the priests used the water in the large bowl to wash their hands.
   ⁷Ten gold lampstands were also made according to the plans. Solomon placed these lampstands inside the temple, five on each side of the main room.
   ⁸He also made ten tables and placed them in the main room, five on each side. And he made a hundred small gold sprinkling bowls.
   ⁹Solomon gave orders to build two courtyards: a smaller one that only priests could use and a larger one. The doors to these courtyards were covered with bronze.
   ¹⁰The large bowl called the Sea was placed near the southeast corner of the temple.
   ¹¹Huram made shovels, sprinkling bowls, and pans for hot ashes. Here is a list of the other furnishings he made for God's temple:
   ¹²two columns, two bowl-shaped caps for the tops of these columns, two chain designs on the caps,
   ¹³four hundred pomegranates ^[a] for the chain designs,
   ¹⁴the stands and the small bowls,
   ¹⁵the large bowl and the twelve bulls that held it up,
   ¹⁶pans for hot ashes, as well as shovels and meat forks. Huram made all these things out of polished bronze
   ¹⁷by pouring melted bronze into the clay molds he had set up near the Jordan River, between Succoth and Zeredah.
   ¹⁸There were so many bronze furnishings that no one ever knew how much bronze it took to make them.
   ¹⁹Solomon also gave orders to make the following temple furnishings out of gold: the altar, the tables that held the sacred loaves of bread, ^[b]
   20the lampstands and the lamps that burned in front of the most holy place,
   ²¹flower designs, lamps and tongs,
   ²²lamp snuffers, small sprinkling bowls, ladles, fire pans, and the doors to the most holy place and the main room of the temple.
   

2 Chronicles 5

 ¹After the LORD's temple was finished, Solomon put in its storage rooms everything that his father David had dedicated to the LORD, including the gold and silver, and the objects used in worship.    

Solomon Brings the Sacred Chest to the Temple

(1 Kings 8.1-13)

 ^2-3The sacred chest had been kept on Mount Zion, also known as the city of David. But Solomon decided to have the chest moved to the temple while everyone was in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Shelters during the seventh month. ^[c] Solomon called together all the important leaders of Israel.    ^4-5Then the priests and the Levites picked up the sacred chest, the sacred tent, and the objects used for worship, and they carried them to the temple.
   ⁶Solomon and a crowd of people walked in front of the chest, and along the way they sacrificed more sheep and cattle than could be counted.
   ⁷The priests carried the chest into the most holy place and put it under the winged creatures,
   ⁸whose wings covered the chest and the poles used for carrying it.
   ⁹The poles were so long that they could be seen from just outside the most holy place, but not from anywhere else. And they stayed there from then on.
   ¹⁰The only things kept in the chest were the two flat stones Moses had put there when the LORD made his agreement with the people of Israel at Mount Sinai, ^[d] after bringing them out of Egypt.
   ^11-13The priests of every group had gone through the ceremony to make themselves clean and acceptable to the LORD. The Levite musicians, including Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and relatives, were wearing robes of fine linen. They were standing on the east side of the altar, playing cymbals, small harps, and other stringed instruments. One hundred twenty priests were with these musicians, and they were blowing trumpets.
   They were praising the LORD by playing music and singing:
   "The LORD is good,
   and his love never ends."
   Suddenly a cloud filled the temple as the priests were leaving the holy place.
   ¹⁴The LORD's glory was in that cloud, and the light from it was so bright that the priests could not stay inside to do their work.
   

2 Chronicles 6

 ¹Solomon prayed:    "Our LORD, you said that you
   would live in a dark cloud.
   ²Now I've built a glorious temple
   where you can live forever."
   

Solomon Speaks to the People

(1 Kings 8.14-21)

 ³Solomon turned toward the people standing there. Then he blessed them    ^4-6and said:
   Praise the LORD God of Israel! He brought his people out of Egypt long ago and later kept his promise to make my father David the king of Israel. The LORD also promised him that Jerusalem would be the city where his temple will be built, and now that promise has come true.
   ⁷When my father wanted to build a temple for the LORD God of Israel,
   ⁸the LORD said, "It's good that you want to build a temple where I can be worshiped.
   ⁹But you're not the one to do it. Your son will build the temple to honor me."
   ¹⁰The LORD has done what he promised. I am now the king of Israel, and I've built a temple for the LORD our God.
   ¹¹I've also put the sacred chest in the temple. And in that chest are the two flat stones on which is written the solemn agreement the LORD made with our ancestors when he rescued them from Egypt.
   

Footnotes:

1. 2 Chronicles 4:13 pomegranates: See the note at 3.16.
2. 2 Chronicles 4:19 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 special tables, and was replaced with fresh bread every week (see Leviticus 24.5-9).
3. 2 Chronicles 5:2 seventh month: Tishri (also called Ethanim), the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-September to mid-October.
4. 2 Chronicles 5:10 Sinai: Hebrew "Horeb."

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Romans 7:1-13 (Contemporary English Version)

Romans 7

An Example from Marriage

 ¹My friends, you surely understand enough about law to know that laws only have power over people who are alive. ²For example, the Law says that a man's wife must remain his wife as long as he lives. But once her husband is dead, she is free ³to marry someone else. However, if she goes off with another man while her husband is still alive, she is said to be unfaithful.     ⁴That is how it is with you, my friends. You are now part of the body of Christ and are dead to the power of the Law. You are free to belong to Christ, who was raised to life so that we could serve God. ⁵When we thought only of ourselves, the Law made us have sinful desires. It made every part of our bodies into slaves who are doomed to die. ⁶But the Law no longer rules over us. We are like dead people, and it cannot have any power over us. Now we can serve God in a new way by obeying his Spirit, and not in the old way by obeying the written Law.
   

The Battle with Sin

 ⁷Does this mean that the Law is sinful? Certainly not! But if it had not been for the Law, I would not have known what sin is really like. For example, I would not have known what it means to want something that belongs to someone else, unless the Law had told me not to do that. ⁸It was sin that used this command as a way of making me have all kinds of desires. But without the Law, sin is dead.     ⁹Before I knew about the Law, I was alive. But as soon as I heard that command, sin came to life, ¹⁰and I died. The very command that was supposed to bring life to me, instead brought death. ¹¹Sin used this command to trick me, and because of it I died. ¹²Still, the Law and its commands are holy and correct and good.
    ¹³Am I saying that something good caused my death? Certainly not! It was sin that killed me by using something good. Now we can see how terrible and evil sin really is.

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Psalm 17:1-15 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 17

(A prayer by David.)

The Prayer of an Innocent Person

 ¹I am innocent, LORD!    Won't you listen as I pray
   and beg for help?
   I am honest!
   Please hear my prayer.
    ²Only you can say
   that I am innocent,
   because only your eyes
   can see the truth.
    ³You know my heart,
   and even during the night
   you have tested me
   and found me innocent.
   I have made up my mind
   never to tell a lie.
    ⁴I don't do like others.
   I obey your teachings
   and am not cruel.
    ⁵I have followed you,
   without ever stumbling.
    ⁶I pray to you, God,
   because you will help me.
   Listen and answer my prayer!
    ⁷Show your wonderful love.
   Your mighty arm protects those
   who run to you
   for safety
   from their enemies.
    ⁸Protect me as you would
   your very own eyes;
   hide me in the shadow
   of your wings.
    ⁹Don't let my brutal enemies
   attack from all sides
   and kill me.
    ¹⁰They refuse to show mercy,
   and they keep bragging.
    ¹¹They have caught up with me!
   My enemies are everywhere,
   eagerly hoping to smear me
   in the dirt.
    ¹²They are like hungry lions
   hunting for food,
   or like young lions
   hiding in ambush.
    ¹³Do something, LORD!
   Attack and defeat them.
   Take your sword and save me
   from those evil people.
    ¹⁴Use your powerful arm
   and rescue me
   from the hands of mere humans
   whose world won't last. ^[a] You provide food
   for those you love.
   Their children have plenty,
   and their grandchildren
   will have more than enough.
    ¹⁵I am innocent, LORD,
   and I will see your face!
   When I awake, all I want
   is to see you as you are.
   

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 17:14 last: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 14.

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Proverbs 19:22-23 (Contemporary English Version)

²²What matters most is loyalty.
   It's better to be poor
   than to be a liar.
    ²³Showing respect to the LORD
   brings true life--
   if you do it, you can relax
   without fear of danger.

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Verse of the Day

“I am determined to be faithful and to respect your laws.” - Psalm 119:30

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great Aristotle wrote, “Hope is the dream of a waking man.”