Psalm 84

For the director of music. According to gittith.[b] Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

¹ How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty!

² My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

³ Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young- a place near your altar, Lord Almighty, my King and my God.

⁴ Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.

⁵ Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

⁶ As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

⁷ They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.

⁸ Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty; listen to me, God of Jacob.

⁹ Look on our shield, O God; look with favor on your anointed one.

¹⁰ Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

¹¹ For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

¹² Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you.

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1 Kings 6:1-4

Solomon Builds the Temple

¹ In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the Lord.² The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high.³ The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits, and projected ten cubits from the front of the temple.⁴ He made narrow windows high up in the temple walls.

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1 Kings 6:21-22

²¹ Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold.²² So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.

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1 Corinthians 3:10-23

¹⁰ By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.¹² If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,¹³ their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person's work.¹⁴ If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.¹⁵ If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved-even though only as one escaping through the flames.¹⁶ Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?

¹⁷ If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person; for God's temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.¹⁸ Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become "fools" so that you may become wise.¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness";

²⁰ and again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile."²¹ So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours,²² whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future-all are yours,²³ and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

Psalm 84

For the director of music. According to gittith.[b] Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

¹ How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty!

² My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

³ Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young- a place near your altar, Lord Almighty, my King and my God.

⁴ Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.

⁵ Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

⁶ As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

⁷ They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.

⁸ Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty; listen to me, God of Jacob.

⁹ Look on our shield, O God; look with favor on your anointed one.

¹⁰ Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

¹¹ For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

¹² Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you.

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2 Chronicles 29:1-11

Hezekiah Purifies the Temple

¹ Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother's name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.² He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.³ In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the Lord and repaired them.⁴ He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side


⁵ and said: "Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary.⁶ Our parents were unfaithful; they did evil in the eyes of the Lord our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the Lord's dwelling place and turned their backs on him.⁷ They also shut the doors of the portico and put out the lamps. They did not burn incense or present any burnt offerings at the sanctuary to the God of Israel.

⁸ Therefore, the anger of the Lord has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of dread and horror and scorn, as you can see with your own eyes.⁹ This is why our fathers have fallen by the sword and why our sons and daughters and our wives are in captivity.¹⁰ Now I intend to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us.¹¹ My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense."

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2 Chronicles 29:16-19

¹⁶ Then the priests went into the sanctuary of the Lord to purify it. They brought out to the courtyard of the Lord's temple everything unclean that they found in the temple of the Lord. The Levites took it and carried it out to the Kidron Valley.¹⁷ They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and by the eighth day of the month they reached the portico of the Lord. For eight more days they consecrated the temple of the Lord itself, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month.

¹⁸ Then they went in to King Hezekiah and reported: "We have purified the entire temple of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table for setting out the consecrated bread, with all its articles.¹⁹ We have prepared and consecrated all the articles that King Ahaz removed in his unfaithfulness while he was king. They are now in front of the Lord's altar."

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Hebrews 9:23-28

²³ It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.²⁴ For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence.

²⁵ Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.²⁶ Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.²⁷ Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,²⁸ so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Psalm 84

For the director of music. According to gittith.[b] Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

¹ How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty!

² My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

³ Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young- a place near your altar, Lord Almighty, my King and my God.

⁴ Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.

⁵ Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

⁶ As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

⁷ They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.

⁸ Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty; listen to me, God of Jacob.

⁹ Look on our shield, O God; look with favor on your anointed one.

¹⁰ Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

¹¹ For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

¹² Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you.

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Ezra 6:1-16

The Decree of Darius

¹King Darius then issued an order, and they searched in the archives stored in the treasury at Babylon. ² A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana in the province of Media, and this was written on it:
Memorandum:
³ In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem:
Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid. It is to be sixty cubits high and sixty cubits wide, ⁴ with three courses of large stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid by the royal treasury.

⁵ Also, the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be returned to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; they are to be deposited in the house of God.
⁶ Now then, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and you other officials of that province, stay away from there. ⁷ Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God. Let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this house of God on its site.
⁸ Moreover, I hereby decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in the construction of this house of God:

Their expenses are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury, from the revenues of Trans-Euphrates, so that the work will not stop. ⁹ Whatever is needed-young bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and olive oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem-must be given them daily without fail, ¹⁰ so that they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-being of the king and his sons.
¹¹ Furthermore, I decree that if anyone defies this edict, a beam is to be pulled from their house and they are to be impaled on it. And for this crime their house is to be made a pile of rubble. ¹² May God, who has caused his Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change this decree or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem.
I Darius have decreed it. Let it be carried out with diligence.

Completion and Dedication of the Temple.

¹³ Then, because of the decree King Darius had sent, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates carried it out with diligence.

¹⁴ So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. ¹⁵ The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
¹⁶ Then the people of Israel-the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles-celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.

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Mark 11:15-19

¹⁵ On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves,¹⁶ and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.¹⁷ And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'"¹⁸ The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

¹⁹ When evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.

Psalm 107:1-3

BOOK V

¹ Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.² Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story- those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,³ those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.

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Psalm 107:17-22

¹⁷ Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.¹⁸ They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death.¹⁹ Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.²⁰ He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.²¹ Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.²² Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.

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Genesis 9:8-17

⁸ Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: ⁹ "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you ¹⁰ and with every living creature that was with you-the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you-every living creature on earth. ¹¹ I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth." ¹² And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: ¹³ I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

¹⁴ Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, ¹⁵ I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. ¹⁶ Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth." ¹⁷ So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."

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Ephesians 1:3-6

Praise for Spiritual Blessings in Christ

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵ he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will- ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

Psalm 107:1-3

BOOK V

¹ Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.² Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story- those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,³ those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.

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Psalm 107:17-22

¹⁷ Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.¹⁸ They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death.¹⁹ Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.²⁰ He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.²¹ Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.²² Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.

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Daniel 12:5-13

⁵ Then I, Daniel, looked, and there before me stood two others, one on this bank of the river and one on the opposite bank. ⁶ One of them said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, "How long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled?" ⁷ The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, "It will be for a time, times and half a time. When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed." ⁸ I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, "My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?"

⁹ He replied, "Go your way, Daniel, because the words are rolled up and sealed until the time of the end. ¹⁰ Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand. ¹¹ "From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. ¹² Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days. ¹³ "As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance."

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Ephesians 1:7-14

⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace ⁸ that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, ⁹ he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ¹⁰ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment-to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. ¹¹ In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, ¹² in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

¹³ And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-to the praise of his glory.

Psalm 107:1-3

BOOK V

¹ Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.² Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story- those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,³ those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.

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Psalm 107:17-22

¹⁷ Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.¹⁸ They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death.¹⁹ Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.²⁰ He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.²¹ Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.²² Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.

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Numbers 20:22-29

The Death of Aaron

²² The whole Israelite community set out from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor. ²³ At Mount Hor, near the border of Edom, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²⁴ "Aaron will be gathered to his people. He will not enter the land I give the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵ Get Aaron and his son Eleazar and take them up Mount Hor.

²⁶ Remove Aaron's garments and put them on his son Eleazar, for Aaron will be gathered to his people; he will die there." ²⁷ Moses did as the Lord commanded: They went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community. ²⁸ Moses removed Aaron's garments and put them on his son Eleazar. And Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain, ²⁹ and when the whole community learned that Aaron had died, all the Israelites mourned for him thirty days.

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John 3:1-13

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

¹ Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. ² He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him." ³ Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again." ⁴ "How can someone be born when they are old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother's womb to be born!" ⁵ Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. ⁷ You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'

⁸ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." ⁹ "How can this be?" Nicodemus asked. ¹⁰ "You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus,"and do you not understand these things? ¹¹ Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. ¹² I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven-the Son of Man.

Psalm 107:1-3

BOOK V

¹ Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.² Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story- those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,³ those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.

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Psalm 107:17-22

¹⁷ Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.¹⁸ They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death.¹⁹ Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.²⁰ He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.²¹ Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.²² Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.

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Numbers 21:4-9

The Bronze Snake

⁴ They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; ⁵ they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!" ⁶ Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.

⁷ The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people. ⁸ The Lord said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." ⁹ So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.

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Ephesians 2:1-10

¹ As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. ⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved.

⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

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John 3:14-21

¹⁴ Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵ that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him." ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. ¹⁹ This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.