Bible Readings for December 19, 2016

Today, our passages is Zephaniah 1:1–3:20; Revelation 10:1-11; Psalm 138.1-8; and Proverbs 30:11-14. The readings are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson. 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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Zephaniah 1-3:20 (The Message)

Zephaniah 1

No Longer Giving God a Thought or a Prayer

 ¹ God's Message to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah. It came during the reign of Josiah son of Amon, who was king of Judah:  ²"I'm going to make a clean sweep of the earth,
   a thorough housecleaning." God's Decree.
 ³"Men and women and animals,
   including birds and fish—
Anything and everything that causes sin—will go,
   but especially people.
 ^4-6"I'll start with Judah
   and everybody who lives in Jerusalem.
I'll sweep the place clean of every trace
   of the sex-and-religion Baal shrines and their priests.
I'll get rid of the people who sneak up to their rooftops at night
   to worship the star gods and goddesses;
Also those who continue to worship God
   but cover their bases by worshiping other king-gods as well;
Not to mention those who've dumped God altogether,
   no longer giving him a thought or offering a prayer.
 ^7-13"Quiet now!
   Reverent silence before me, God, the Master!
Time's up. My Judgment Day is near:
   The Holy Day is all set, the invited guests made holy.
On the Holy Day, God's Judgment Day,
   I will punish the leaders and the royal sons;
I will punish those who dress up like foreign priests and priestesses,
   Who introduce pagan prayers and practices;
And I'll punish all who import pagan superstitions
   that turn holy places into hellholes.
Judgment Day!" God's Decree!
   "Cries of panic from the city's Fish Gate,
Cries of terror from the city's Second Quarter,
   sounds of great crashing from the hills!
Wail, you shopkeepers on Market Street!
   Moneymaking has had its day. The god Money is dead.
On Judgment Day,
   I'll search through every closet and alley in Jerusalem.
I'll find and punish those who are sitting it out, fat and lazy,
   amusing themselves and taking it easy,
Who think, 'God doesn't do anything, good or bad.
   He isn't involved, so neither are we.'
But just wait. They'll lose everything they have,
   money and house and land.
They'll build a house and never move in.
   They'll plant vineyards and never taste the wine.

A Day of Darkness at Noon

 ^14-18"The Great Judgment Day of God is almost here.
   It's countdown time:...seven, six, five, four...
Bitter and noisy cries on my Judgment Day,
   even strong men screaming for help.
Judgment Day is payday—my anger paid out:
   a day of distress and anguish,
   a day of catastrophic doom,
   a day of darkness at noon,
   a day of black storm clouds,
   a day of bloodcurdling war cries,
   as forts are assaulted,
   as defenses are smashed.
I'll make things so bad they won't know what hit them.
   They'll walk around groping like the blind.
   They've sinned against God!
Their blood will be poured out like old dishwater,
   their guts shoveled into slop buckets.
Don't plan on buying your way out.
   Your money is worthless for this.
This is the Day of God's Judgment—my wrath!
   I care about sin with fiery passion—
A fire to burn up the corrupted world,
   a wildfire finish to the corrupting people."

Zephaniah 2

Seek God

 ^1-2 So get yourselves together. Shape up!
   You're a nation without a clue about what it wants.
Do it before you're blown away
   like leaves in a windstorm,
Before God's Judgment-anger
   sweeps down on you,
Before God's Judgment Day wrath
   descends with full force.  ³Seek God, all you quietly disciplined people
   who live by God's justice.
Seek God's right ways. Seek a quiet and disciplined life.
   Perhaps you'll be hidden on the Day of God's anger.

All Earth-Made Gods Will Blow Away

 ^4-5Gaza is scheduled for demolition,
   Ashdod will be cleaned out by high noon,
   Ekron pulled out by the roots.
Doom to the seaside people,
   the seafaring people from Crete!
The Word of God is bad news for you
   who settled Canaan, the Philistine country:
"You're slated for destruction—
   no survivors!"  ^6-7The lands of the seafarers
   will become pastureland,
A country for shepherds and sheep.
   What's left of the family of Judah will get it.
Day after day they'll pasture by the sea,
   and go home in the evening to Ashkelon to sleep.
Their very own God will look out for them.
   He'll make things as good as before.
 ^8-12"I've heard the crude taunts of Moab,
   the mockeries flung by Ammon,
The cruel talk they've used to put down my people,
   their self-important strutting along Israel's borders.
Therefore, as sure as I am the living God," says God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
   Israel's personal God,
"Moab will become a ruin like Sodom,
   Ammon a ghost town like Gomorrah,
One a field of rocks, the other a sterile salt flat,
   a moonscape forever.
What's left of my people will finish them off,
   will pick them clean and take over.
This is what they get for their bloated pride,
   their taunts and mockeries of the people
   of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
God will be seen as truly terrible—a Holy Terror.
   All earth-made gods will shrivel up and blow away;
And everyone, wherever they are, far or near,
   will fall to the ground and worship him.
Also you Ethiopians,
   you, too, will die—I'll see to it."
 ^13-15Then God will reach into the north
   and destroy Assyria.
He will waste Nineveh,
   leave her dry and treeless as a desert.
The ghost town of a city,
   the haunt of wild animals,
Nineveh will be home to raccoons and coyotes—
   they'll bed down in its ruins.
Owls will hoot in the windows, ravens will croak in the doorways—
   all that fancy woodwork now a perch for birds.
Can this be the famous Fun City
   that had it made,
That boasted, "I'm the Number-One City!
   I'm King of the Mountain!"
So why is the place deserted,
   a lair for wild animals?
Passersby hardly give it a look;
   they dismiss it with a gesture.

Zephaniah 3

Sewer City

 ^1-5 Doom to the rebellious city, the home of oppressors—Sewer City!
The city that wouldn't take advice,
   wouldn't accept correction,
Wouldn't trust God,
   wouldn't even get close to her own god!
Her very own leaders
   are rapacious lions,
Her judges are rapacious timber wolves
   out every morning prowling for a fresh kill.
Her prophets are out for what they can get.
   They're opportunists—you can't trust them.
Her priests desecrate the Sanctuary.
   They use God's law as a weapon to maim and kill souls.
Yet God remains righteous in her midst,
   untouched by the evil.
He stays at it, day after day, meting out justice.
   At evening he's still at it, strong as ever.
But evil men and women, without conscience
   and without shame, persist in evil.  ⁶"So I cut off the godless nations.
   I knocked down their defense posts,
Filled her roads with rubble
   so no one could get through.
Her cities were bombed-out ruins,
   unlivable and unlived in.
 ⁷"I thought, 'Surely she'll honor me now,
   accept my discipline and correction,
Find a way of escape from the trouble she's in,
   find relief from the punishment I'm bringing.'
But it didn't faze her. Bright and early
   she was up at it again, doing the same old things.
 ⁸"Well, if that's what you want, stick around."
   God's Decree.
"Your day in court is coming,
   but remember I'll be there to bring evidence.
I'll bring all the nations to the courtroom,
   round up all the kingdoms,
And let them feel the brunt of my anger,
   my raging wrath.
My zeal is a fire
   that will purge and purify the earth.

God Is in Charge at the Center

 ^9-13"In the end I will turn things around for the people.
   I'll give them a language undistorted, unpolluted,
Words to address God in worship
   and, united, to serve me with their shoulders to the wheel.
They'll come from beyond the Ethiopian rivers,
   they'll come praying—
All my scattered, exiled people
   will come home with offerings for worship.
You'll no longer have to be ashamed
   of all those acts of rebellion.
I'll have gotten rid of your arrogant leaders.
   No more pious strutting on my holy hill!
I'll leave a core of people among you
   who are poor in spirit—
What's left of Israel that's really Israel.
   They'll make their home in God.
This core holy people
   will not do wrong.
They won't lie,
   won't use words to flatter or seduce.
Content with who they are and where they are,
   unanxious, they'll live at peace."  ^14-15So sing, Daughter Zion!
   Raise the rafters, Israel!
Daughter Jerusalem,
   be happy! celebrate!
God has reversed his judgments against you
   and sent your enemies off chasing their tails.
From now on, God is Israel's king,
   in charge at the center.
There's nothing to fear from evil
   ever again!

God Is Present Among You

 ^16-17Jerusalem will be told:
   "Don't be afraid.
Dear Zion,
   don't despair.
Your God is present among you,
   a strong Warrior there to save you.
Happy to have you back, he'll calm you with his love
   and delight you with his songs.  ^18-20"The accumulated sorrows of your exile
   will dissipate.
I, your God, will get rid of them for you.
   You've carried those burdens long enough.
At the same time, I'll get rid of all those
   who've made your life miserable.
I'll heal the maimed;
   I'll bring home the homeless.
In the very countries where they were hated
   they will be venerated.
On Judgment Day
   I'll bring you back home—a great family gathering!
You'll be famous and honored
   all over the world.
You'll see it with your own eyes—
   all those painful partings turned into reunions!"
         God's Promise.

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Revelation 10:1-11 (The Message)

Revelation 10

 ^1-4I saw another powerful Angel coming down out of Heaven wrapped in a cloud. There was a rainbow over his head, his face was sun-radiant, his legs pillars of fire. He had a small book open in his hand. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left foot on land, then called out thunderously, a lion roar. When he called out, the Seven Thunders called back. When the Seven Thunders spoke, I started to write it all down, but a voice out of Heaven stopped me, saying, "Seal with silence the Seven Thunders; don't write a word."  ^5-7Then the Angel I saw astride sea and land lifted his right hand to Heaven and swore by the One Living Forever and Ever, who created Heaven and everything in it, earth and everything in it, sea and everything in it, that time was up—that when the seventh Angel blew his trumpet, which he was about to do, the Mystery of God, all the plans he had revealed to his servants, the prophets, would be completed.
 ^8-11The voice out of Heaven spoke to me again: "Go, take the book held open in the hand of the Angel astride sea and earth." I went up to the Angel and said, "Give me the little book." He said, "Take it, then eat it. It will taste sweet like honey, but turn sour in your stomach." I took the little book from the Angel's hand and it was sweet honey in my mouth, but when I swallowed, my stomach curdled. Then I was told, "You must go back and prophesy again over many peoples and nations and languages and kings."

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Psalm 138:1-8 (The Message)

Psalm 138

A David Psalm

 ^1-3 Thank you! Everything in me says "Thank you!" Angels listen as I sing my thanks.
   I kneel in worship facing your holy temple
      and say it again: "Thank you!"
   Thank you for your love,
      thank you for your faithfulness;
   Most holy is your name,
      most holy is your Word.
   The moment I called out, you stepped in;
      you made my life large with strength.

 ^4-6 When they hear what you have to say, God,
      all earth's kings will say "Thank you."
   They'll sing of what you've done:
      "How great the glory of God!"
   And here's why: God, high above, sees far below;
      no matter the distance, he knows everything about us.

 ^7-8 When I walk into the thick of trouble,
      keep me alive in the angry turmoil.
   With one hand
      strike my foes,
   With your other hand
      save me.
   Finish what you started in me, God.
      Your love is eternal—don't quit on me now.

 

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Proverbs 30:11-14 (The Message)

 ¹¹ Don't curse your father
   or fail to bless your mother.

 ¹² Don't imagine yourself to be quite presentable
   when you haven't had a bath in weeks.

 ¹³ Don't be stuck-up
   and think you're better than everyone else.

 ¹⁴ Don't be greedy,
   merciless and cruel as wolves,
Tearing into the poor and feasting on them,
   shredding the needy to pieces only to discard them.

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Verse of the Day

“You, my son, will be called a prophet of God in heaven above. You will go ahead of the Lord to get everything ready for him. You will tell his people that they can be saved when their sins are forgiven. God's love and kindness will shine upon us like the sun that rises in the sky.” - Luke 1:76-78

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era, Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol wrote, “Will you decide what men shall live, what men shall die? It may be, that in the sight of Heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man's child. Oh God! to hear the Insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life among his hungry brothers in the dust.”

Bible Readings for February 7, 2015

Today our passages are Exodus 26:1–27:21; Matthew 25:1-30; Psalm 31:1-8; and Proverbs 8:1-11. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.  

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Exodus 26-27:21 (Contemporary English Version)

Exodus 26

Curtains and Coverings for the Sacred Tent

(Exodus 36.8-19)

¹Furnish the sacred tent with curtains made from ten pieces of the finest linen. They must be woven with blue, purple, and red wool and embroidered with figures of winged creatures. ²Make each piece fourteen yards long and two yards wide ³and sew them together into two curtains with five sections each. ^4-6Put fifty loops of blue cloth along one of the wider sides of each curtain, then fasten the two curtains at the loops with fifty gold hooks. ^7-8As the material for the tent, use goat hair to weave eleven sections fifteen yards by two yards each. ⁹Sew five of the sections together to make one panel. Then sew the other six together to make a second panel, and fold the sixth section double over the front of the tent. ¹⁰Put fifty loops along one of the wider sides of each panel ¹¹and fasten the two panels at the loops with fifty bronze hooks. ^12-13The panel of goat hair will be a yard longer than the tent itself, so fold half a yard of the material behind the tent and on each side as a protective covering. ¹⁴Make two more coverings--one with ram skins dyed red and the other with fine leather.
The LORD said:

The Framework for the Sacred Tent

(Exodus 36.20-34)

¹⁵Build a framework of acacia wood for the walls of the sacred tent. ¹⁶Each frame is to be fifteen feet high and twenty-seven inches wide ¹⁷with two wooden pegs near the bottom. ^18-21Place two silver stands under each frame with sockets for the pegs, so the frames can be joined together. Twenty of these frames are to be used along the south side and twenty more along the north. ²²For the back wall along the west side use six frames ^23-24with two more at the southwest and northwest corners. Make certain that these corner frames are joined from top to bottom. ²⁵Altogether, this back wall will have eight frames with two silver stands under each one. ^26-27Make five crossbars for each of the wooden frames, ²⁸with the center crossbar running the full length of the wall. ²⁹Cover the frames and the crossbars with gold and attach gold rings to the frames to run the crossbars through. ³⁰Then set up the tent in the way I showed you on the mountain.
The LORD said:

The Curtain inside the Sacred Tent

(Exodus 36.35-38)

^31-33Make a curtain to separate the holy place from the most holy place. Use fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool, and embroidered with figures of winged creatures. Cover four acacia wood posts with gold and set them each on a silver stand. Then fasten gold hooks to the posts and hang the curtain there. ³⁴Inside the most holy place, you must put the sacred chest that has the place of mercy on its lid. ^[a]35Outside the curtain put the table for the sacred bread on the right side and the gold lampstand on the left. ³⁶For the entrance to the tent, use a piece of fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool and embroidered with fancy needlework. ³⁷Cover five acacia wood posts with gold and set them each on a bronze stand. Then put gold hooks on the posts and hang the curtain there.
The LORD said to Moses:

Exodus 27

The Altar for Offering Sacrifices

(Exodus 38.1-7)

¹Use acacia wood to build an altar seven and a half feet square and four and a half feet high, ²and make each of the four top corners stick up like the horn of a bull. Then cover the whole altar with bronze, including the four horns. ³All the equipment for the altar must also be made of bronze--the pans for the hot ashes, the shovels, the sprinkling bowls, the meat forks, and the fire pans. ^4-5Midway up the altar build a ledge around it, and cover the bottom half of the altar with a decorative bronze grating. Then attach a bronze ring beneath the ledge at the four corners of the altar. ^6-7Cover two acacia wood poles with bronze and put them through the rings for carrying the altar. ⁸Construct the altar in the shape of an open box, just as you were shown on the mountain. The LORD said:

The Courtyard around the Sacred Tent

(Exodus 38.9-20)

^9-15Surround the sacred tent with a courtyard one hundred fifty feet long on the south and north and seventy-five feet wide on the east and west. Use twenty bronze posts on bronze stands for the south and north and ten for the west. Then hang a curtain of fine linen on the posts along each of these three sides by using silver hooks and rods. Place three bronze posts on each side of the entrance at the east and hang a curtain seven and a half yards wide on each set of posts. ¹⁶Use four more of these posts for the entrance way, then hang on them an embroidered curtain of fine linen ten yards long and woven with blue, purple, and red wool.
^17-18The curtains that surround the courtyard must be two and a half yards high and are to be hung from the bronze posts with silver hooks and rods. ¹⁹The rest of the equipment for the sacred tent must be made of bronze, including the pegs for the tent and for the curtain surrounding the courtyard.
The LORD said to Moses:

The Oil for the Lamp in the Holy Place

(Leviticus 24.1-4)

²⁰Command the people of Israel to supply you with the purest olive oil. Do this so the lamp will keep burning ²¹in front of the curtain that separates the holy place from the most holy place, where the sacred chest is kept. Aaron and his sons are responsible for keeping the lamp burning every night in the sacred tent. The Israelites must always obey this command. The LORD said to Moses:

Footnotes:

1. Exodus 26:34place of mercy on its lid: It was believed that God had his earthly throne on the lid of the sacred chest, and from this place he showed mercy to his people.

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Matthew 25:1-30 (Contemporary English Version)

Matthew 25

A Story about Ten Girls

¹The kingdom of heaven is like what happened one night when ten girls took their oil lamps and went to a wedding to meet the groom. ^[a]2Five of the girls were foolish and five were wise. ³The foolish ones took their lamps, but no extra oil. ⁴The ones who were wise took along extra oil for their lamps. ⁵The groom was late arriving, and the girls became drowsy and fell asleep. ⁶Then in the middle of the night someone shouted, "Here's the groom! Come to meet him!" ⁷When the girls got up and started getting their lamps ready, ⁸the foolish ones said to the others, "Let us have some of your oil! Our lamps are going out."
⁹The girls who were wise answered, "There's not enough oil for all of us! Go and buy some for yourselves."
¹⁰While the foolish girls were on their way to get some oil, the groom arrived. The girls who were ready went into the wedding, and the doors were closed. ¹¹Later the other girls returned and shouted, "Sir, sir! Open the door for us!"
¹²But the groom replied, "I don't even know you!"
¹³So, my disciples, always be ready! You don't know the day or the time when all this will happen.

A Story about Three Servants

(Luke 19.11-27)

¹⁴The kingdom is also like what happened when a man went away and put his three servants in charge of all he owned. ¹⁵The man knew what each servant could do. So he handed five thousand coins to the first servant, two thousand to the second, and one thousand to the third. Then he left the country. ¹⁶As soon as the man had gone, the servant with the five thousand coins used them to earn five thousand more. ¹⁷The servant who had two thousand coins did the same with his money and earned two thousand more. ¹⁸But the servant with one thousand coins dug a hole and hid his master's money in the ground.
¹⁹Some time later the master of those servants returned. He called them in and asked what they had done with his money. ²⁰The servant who had been given five thousand coins brought them in with the five thousand that he had earned. He said, "Sir, you gave me five thousand coins, and I have earned five thousand more."
²¹"Wonderful!" his master replied. "You are a good and faithful servant. I left you in charge of only a little, but now I will put you in charge of much more. Come and share in my happiness!"
²²Next, the servant who had been given two thousand coins came in and said, "Sir, you gave me two thousand coins, and I have earned two thousand more."
²³"Wonderful!" his master replied. "You are a good and faithful servant. I left you in charge of only a little, but now I will put you in charge of much more. Come and share in my happiness!"
²⁴The servant who had been given one thousand coins then came in and said, "Sir, I know that you are hard to get along with. You harvest what you don't plant and gather crops where you haven't scattered seed. ²⁵I was frightened and went out and hid your money in the ground. Here is every single coin!"
²⁶The master of the servant told him, "You are lazy and good-for-nothing! You know that I harvest what I don't plant and gather crops where I haven't scattered seed. ²⁷You could have at least put my money in the bank, so that I could have earned interest on it."
²⁸Then the master said, "Now your money will be taken away and given to the servant with ten thousand coins! ²⁹Everyone who has something will be given more, and they will have more than enough. But everything will be taken from those who don't have anything. ³⁰You are a worthless servant, and you will be thrown out into the dark where people will cry and grit their teeth in pain."

Footnotes:

1. Matthew 25:1to meet the groom: Some manuscripts add "and the bride." It was the custom for the groom to go to the home of the bride's parents to get his bride. Young girls and other guests would then go with them to the home of the groom's parents, where the wedding feast would take place.

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Psalm 31:1-8 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 31

(A psalm by David for the music leader.)

A Prayer for Protection

¹I come to you, LORD, for protection.
Don't let me be ashamed.
Do as you have promised
and rescue me.
²Listen to my prayer
and hurry to save me.
Be my mighty rock ^[a] and the fortress
where I am safe.
³You, LORD God,
are my mighty rock
and my fortress.
Lead me and guide me,
so that your name
will be honored.
⁴Protect me from hidden traps
and keep me safe.
⁵You are faithful,
and I trust you
because you rescued me.
⁶I hate the worshipers
of worthless idols,
but I trust you, LORD.
⁷I celebrate and shout
because you are kind.
You saw all my suffering,
and you cared for me.
⁸You kept me from the hands
of my enemies,
and you set me free.

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 31:2mighty rock: See the note at 18.2.

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Proverbs 8:1-11 (Contemporary English Version)

Proverbs 8

In Praise of Wisdom

¹With great understanding, Wisdom ^[a] is calling out ²as she stands at the crossroads
and on every hill.
³She stands by the city gate
where everyone enters the city,
and she shouts:
⁴"I am calling out
to each one of you!
⁵Good sense and sound judgment
can be yours.
⁶Listen, because what I say
is worthwhile and right.
⁷I always speak the truth
and refuse to tell a lie.
⁸Every word I speak is honest,
not one is misleading
or deceptive.
⁹"If you have understanding,
you will see that my words
are just what you need.
¹⁰Let instruction and knowledge
mean more to you
than silver
or the finest gold.
¹¹Wisdom is worth much more
than precious jewels
or anything else you desire."

Footnotes:

1. Proverbs 8:1Wisdom: See the note at 1.20.

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Verse of the Day

 

“Love the LORD and hate evil! God protects his loyal people and rescues them from violence.” - Psalm 97:10

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

 

English writer and social critic, Charles Dickens wrote, “Reflect upon your present blessings — of which every man has many — not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”

Bible Readings for July 20, 2014

Today our passages are 2 Chronicles 1:1–3:17; Romans 6:1-23; Psalm 16:1-11; and Proverbs 19:20-21. The readings are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson. If you missed a day, you can find all the readings at our blog, The Bible in a Year.

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2 Chronicles 1-3:17 (The Message)

2 Chronicles 1

King Solomon

^1-6Solomon son of David took a firm grip on the reins of his kingdom. God was with him and gave him much help. Solomon addressed all Israel— the commanders and captains, the judges, every leader, and all the heads of families. Then Solomon and the entire company went to the worship center at Gibeon—that's where the Tent of Meeting of God was, the one that Moses the servant of God had made in the wilderness. The Chest of God, though, was in Jerusalem—David had brought it up from Kiriath Jearim, prepared a special place for it, and pitched a tent for it. But the Bronze Altar that Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was in Gibeon, in its place before the Tabernacle of God; and that is where Solomon and the congregation gathered to pray. Solomon worshiped God at the Bronze Altar in front of the Tent of Meeting; he sacrificed a thousand Whole-Burnt-Offerings on it. ⁷ That night God appeared to Solomon. God said, "What do you want from me? Ask."
^8-10 Solomon answered, "You were extravagantly generous with David my father, and now you have made me king in his place. Establish, God, the words you spoke to my father, for you've given me a staggering task, ruling this mob of people. Yes, give me wisdom and knowledge as I come and go among this people—for who on his own is capable of leading these, your glorious people?"
^11-12 God answered Solomon, "This is what has come out of your heart: You didn't grasp for money, wealth, fame, and the doom of your enemies; you didn't even ask for a long life. You asked for wisdom and knowledge so you could govern well my people over whom I've made you king. Because of this, you get what you asked for—wisdom and knowledge. And I'm presenting you the rest as a bonus—money, wealth, and fame beyond anything the kings before or after you had or will have."
¹³ Then Solomon left the worship center at Gibeon and the Tent of Meeting and went to Jerusalem. He set to work as king of Israel.
^14-17 Solomon collected chariots and horses: fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses! He stabled them in the special chariot-cities as well as in Jerusalem. The king made silver and gold as common as rocks, and cedar as common as the fig trees in the lowland hills. His horses were brought in from Egypt and Cilicia, specially acquired by the king's agents. Chariots from Egypt went for fifteen pounds of silver and a horse for about three and three-quarters of a pound of silver. Solomon carried on a brisk horse-trading business with the Hittite and Aramean royal houses.

2 Chronicles 2

The Temple Construction Begins

¹ Solomon gave orders to begin construction on the house of worship in honor of God and a palace for himself. ² Solomon assigned seventy thousand common laborers, eighty thousand to work the quarries in the mountains, and thirty-six hundred foremen to manage the workforce. ^3-4 Then Solomon sent this message to King Hiram of Tyre: "Send me cedar logs, the same kind you sent David my father for building his palace. I'm about to build a house of worship in honor of God, a holy place for burning perfumed incense, for setting out holy bread, for making Whole-Burnt-Offerings at morning and evening worship, and for Sabbath, New Moon, and Holy Day services of worship—the acts of worship required of Israel.
^5-10 "The house I am building has to be the best, for our God is the best, far better than competing gods. But who is capable of building such a structure? Why, the skies—the entire cosmos!—can't begin to contain him. And me, who am I to think I can build a house adequate for God—burning incense to him is about all I'm good for! I need your help: Send me a master artisan in gold, silver, bronze, iron, textiles of purple, crimson, and violet, and who knows the craft of engraving; he will supervise the trained craftsmen in Judah and Jerusalem that my father provided. Also send cedar, cypress, and algum logs from Lebanon; I know you have lumberjacks experienced in the Lebanon forests. I'll send workers to join your crews to cut plenty of timber—I'm going to need a lot, for this house I'm building is going to be absolutely stunning—a showcase temple! I'll provide all the food necessary for your crew of lumberjacks and loggers: 130,000 bushels of wheat, 120,000 gallons of wine, and 120,000 gallons of olive oil."
¹¹ Hiram king of Tyre wrote Solomon in reply: "It's plain that God loves his people—he made you king over them!"
^12-14 He wrote on, "Blessed be the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, and who gave King David a son so wise, so knowledgeable and shrewd, to build a temple for God and a palace for himself. I've sent you Huram-Abi—he's already on his way—he knows the construction business inside and out. His mother is from Dan and his father from Tyre. He knows how to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, in purple, violet, linen, and crimson textiles; he is also an expert engraver and competent to work out designs with your artists and architects, and those of my master David, your father.
^15-16 "Go ahead and send the wheat, barley, olive oil, and wine you promised for my work crews. We'll log the trees you need from the Lebanon forests and raft them down to Joppa. You'll have to get the timber up to Jerusalem yourself."
^17-18 Solomon then took a census of all the foreigners living in Israel, using the same census-taking method employed by his father. They numbered 153,600. He assigned 70,000 of them as common laborers, 80,000 to work the quarries in the mountains, and 3,600 as foremen to manage the work crews.

2 Chronicles 3

^1-4 So Solomon broke ground, launched construction of the house of God in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, the place where God had appeared to his father David. The precise site, the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, had been designated by David. He broke ground on the second day in the second month of the fourth year of his rule. These are the dimensions that Solomon set for the construction of the house of God: ninety feet long and thirty feet wide. The porch in front stretched the width of the building, that is, thirty feet; and it was thirty feet high. ^4-7 The interior was gold-plated. He paneled the main hall with cypress and veneered it with fine gold engraved with palm tree and chain designs. He decorated the building with precious stones and gold from Parvaim. Everything was coated with gold veneer: rafters, doorframes, walls, and doors. Cherubim were engraved on the walls.
^8-9 He made the Holy of Holies a cube, thirty feet wide, long, and high. It was veneered with six hundred talents (something over twenty-two tons) of gold. The gold nails weighed fifty shekels (a little over a pound). The upper rooms were also veneered in gold.
^10-13 He made two sculptures of cherubim, gigantic angel-like figures, for the Holy of Holies, both veneered with gold. The combined wingspread of the side-by-side cherubim (each wing measuring seven and a half feet) stretched from wall to wall, thirty feet. They stood erect facing the main hall.
¹⁴ He fashioned the curtain of violet, purple, and crimson fabric and worked a cherub design into it.
^15-17 He made two huge free-standing pillars, each fifty-two feet tall, their capitals extending another seven and a half feet. The top of each pillar was set off with an elaborate filigree of chains, like necklaces, from which hung a hundred pomegranates. He placed the pillars in front of The Temple, one on the right, and the other on the left. The right pillar he named Jakin (Security) and the left pillar he named Boaz (Stability).

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Romans 6:1-23 (The Message)

Romans 6

When Death Becomes Life

^1-3So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not! If we've left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? Or didn't you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace—a new life in a new land! ^3-5That's what baptism into the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we're going in our new grace-sovereign country.
^6-11Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer at sin's every beck and call! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ's sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That's what Jesus did.
^12-14That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don't give it the time of day. Don't even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you've been raised from the dead!—into God's way of doing things. Sin can't tell you how to live. After all, you're not living under that old tyranny any longer. You're living in the freedom of God.

What Is True Freedom?

^15-18So, since we're out from under the old tyranny, does that mean we can live any old way we want? Since we're free in the freedom of God, can we do anything that comes to mind? Hardly. You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom. Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it's your last free act. But offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your lives you've let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you've started listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom! ¹⁹I'm using this freedom language because it's easy to picture. You can readily recall, can't you, how at one time the more you did just what you felt like doing—not caring about others, not caring about God—the worse your life became and the less freedom you had? And how much different is it now as you live in God's freedom, your lives healed and expansive in holiness?
^20-21As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn't have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right anything for that matter. But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you're proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end.
^22-23But now that you've found you don't have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.

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Psalm 16:1-11 (The Message)

Psalm 16

A David Song

^1-2 Keep me safe, O God, I've run for dear life to you.
I say to God, "Be my Lord!"
Without you, nothing makes sense.

³ And these God-chosen lives all around—
what splendid friends they make!

⁴ Don't just go shopping for a god.
Gods are not for sale.
I swear I'll never treat god-names
like brand-names.

^5-6 My choice is you, God, first and only.
And now I find I'm your choice!
You set me up with a house and yard.
And then you made me your heir!

^7-8 The wise counsel God gives when I'm awake
is confirmed by my sleeping heart.
Day and night I'll stick with God;
I've got a good thing going and I'm not letting go.

^9-10 I'm happy from the inside out,
and from the outside in, I'm firmly formed.
You canceled my ticket to hell—
that's not my destination!

¹¹ Now you've got my feet on the life path,
all radiant from the shining of your face.
Ever since you took my hand,
I'm on the right way.

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Proverbs 19:20-21 (The Message)

²⁰ Take good counsel and accept correction—
that's the way to live wisely and well.

²¹ We humans keep brainstorming options and plans,
but God's purpose prevails.

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Verse of the Day

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” - 1 John 1:7

Today's passage is from the New International Version.

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Thought for the Day

English writer and social critic, Charles Dickens wrote, “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it to anyone else.”