June 10 Reading through the Bible

 

1 KINGS 7:1-51
ACTS 7:30-50
PSALM 128:1-6
PROVERBS 16:31-33

1 KINGS 7:1-51
Solomon also built a palace for himself, and it took him thirteen years to complete the construction. 2 One of Solomon's buildings was called the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. It was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. The great cedar ceiling beams rested on four rows of cedar pillars. 3 It had a cedar roof supported by forty-five rafters that rested on three rows of pillars, fifteen in each row. 4 On each of the side walls there were three rows of windows facing each other. 5 All the doorways were rectangular in frame; they were in sets of three, facing each other. 6 He also built the Hall of Pillars, which was 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. There was a porch at its front, covered by a canopy that was supported by pillars. 7 There was also the Hall of the Throne, also known as the Hall of Judgment, where Solomon sat to hear legal matters. It was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling. 8 Solomon's living quarters surrounded a courtyard behind this hall; they were built the same way. He also built similar living quarters for Pharaoh's daughter, one of his wives. 9 All these buildings were built entirely from huge, costly blocks of stone, cut and trimmed to exact measure on all sides. 10 Some of the huge foundation stones were 15 feet long, and some were 12 feet long. 11 The costly blocks of stone used in the walls were also cut to measure, and cedar beams were also used. 12 The walls of the great courtyard were built so that there was one layer of cedar beams after every three layers of hewn stone, just like the walls of the inner courtyard of the LORD's Temple with its entrance foyer. 13 King Solomon then asked for a man named Huram to come from Tyre, 14 for he was a craftsman skilled in bronze work. He was half Israelite, since his mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father had been a foundry worker from Tyre. So he came to work for King Solomon. 15 Huram cast two bronze pillars, each 27 feet tall and 18 feet in circumference. 16 For the tops of the pillars he made capitals of molded bronze, each 7 feet tall. 17 Each capital was decorated with seven sets of latticework and interwoven chains. 18 He also made two rows of pomegranates that encircled the latticework to decorate the capitals over the pillars. 19 The capitals on the columns inside the foyer were shaped like lilies, and they were 6 feet tall. 20 Each capital on the two pillars had two hundred pomegranates in two rows around them, beside the rounded surface next to the latticework. 21 Huram set the pillars at the entrance of the Temple, one toward the south and one toward the north. He named the one on the south Jakin, and the one on the north Boaz. 22 The capitals on the pillars were shaped like lilies. And so the work on the pillars was finished. 23 Then Huram cast a large round tank, 15 feet across from rim to rim; it was called the Sea. It was 7 feet deep and about 45 feet in circumference. 24 The Sea was encircled just below its rim by two rows of decorative gourds. There were about six gourds per foot all the way around, and they had been cast as part of the tank. 25 The Sea rested on a base of twelve bronze oxen, all facing outward. Three faced north, three faced west, three faced south, and three faced east. 26 The walls of the Sea were about three inches thick, and its rim flared out like a cup and resembled a lily blossom. It could hold about 11,000 gallons of water. 27 Huram also made ten bronze water carts, each 6 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 4 feet tall. 28 They were constructed with side panels braced with crossbars. 29 Both the panels and the crossbars were decorated with carved lions, oxen, and cherubim. Above and below the lions and oxen were wreath decorations. 30 Each of these carts had four bronze wheels and bronze axles. At each corner of the carts were supporting posts for the bronze basins; these supports were decorated with carvings of wreaths on each side. 31 The top of each cart had a circular frame for the basin. It projected 1 feet above the cart's top like a round pedestal, and its opening was 2 feet across; it was decorated on the outside with carvings of wreaths. The panels of the carts were square, not round. 32 Under the panels were four wheels that were connected to axles that had been cast as one unit with the cart. The wheels were 2 feet in diameter 33 and were similar to chariot wheels. The axles, spokes, rims, and hubs were all cast from molten bronze. 34 There were supports at each of the four corners of the carts, and these, too, were cast as one unit with the cart. 35 Around the top of each cart there was a rim 9 inches wide. The supports and side panels were cast as one unit with the cart. 36 Carvings of cherubim, lions, and palm trees decorated the panels and supports wherever there was room, and there were wreaths all around. 37 All ten water carts were the same size and were made alike, for each was cast from the same mold. 38 Huram also made ten bronze basins, one for each cart. Each basin was 6 feet across and could hold 220 gallons of water. 39 He arranged five water carts on the south side of the Temple and five on the north side. The Sea was placed at the southeast corner of the Temple. 40 He also made the necessary pots, shovels, and basins. So at last Huram completed everything King Solomon had assigned him to make for the Temple of the LORD:41 two pillars, two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars, two networks of chains that decorated the capitals, 42 four hundred pomegranates that hung from the chains on the capitals (two rows of pomegranates for each of the chain networks that were hung around the capitals on top of the pillars), 43 the ten water carts holding the ten basins, 44 the Sea and the twelve oxen under it, 45 the pots, the shovels, and the basins. All these utensils for the Temple of the LORD that Huram made for Solomon were made of burnished bronze. 46 The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zarethan. 47 Solomon did not weigh all the utensils because there were so many; the weight of the bronze could not be measured. 48 So Solomon made all the furnishings of the Temple of the LORD:the gold altar, the gold table for the Bread of the Presence, 49 the gold lampstands, five on the south and five on the north, in front of the Most Holy Place, the flower decorations, lamps, and tongs, all of gold, 50 the cups, lamp snuffers, basins, dishes, and firepans, all of pure gold, the doors for the entrances to the Most Holy Place and the main room of the Temple, with their fronts overlaid with gold. 51 So King Solomon finished all his work on the Temple of the LORD. Then Solomon brought all the gifts his father, David, had dedicated--the silver, the gold, and the other utensils--and he stored them in the treasuries of the LORD's Temple.

ACTS 7:30-50
" Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush. 31 Moses saw it and wondered what it was. As he went to see, the voice of the Lord called out to him, 32 ` I am the God of your ancestors--the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Moses shook with terror and dared not look. 33 " And the Lord said to him, ` Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. 34 You can be sure that I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries. So I have come to rescue them. Now go, for I will send you to Egypt.' 35 And so God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected by demanding, ` Who made you a ruler and judge over us?' Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, Moses was sent to be their ruler and savior. 36 And by means of many miraculous signs and wonders, he led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and back and forth through the wilderness for forty years. 37 " Moses himself told the people of Israel, ` God will raise up a Prophet like me from among your own people.' 38 Moses was with the assembly of God's people in the wilderness. He was the mediator between the people of Israel and the angel who gave him life-giving words on Mount Sinai to pass on to us. 39 " But our ancestors rejected Moses and wanted to return to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, ` Make us some gods who can lead us, for we don't know what has become of this Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.' 41 So they made an idol shaped like a calf, and they sacrificed to it and rejoiced in this thing they had made. 42 Then God turned away from them and gave them up to serve the sun, moon, and stars as their gods! In the book of the prophets it is written, ` Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices
during those forty years in the wilderness, Israel?
43 No, your real interest was in your pagan gods--
the shrine of Molech,
the star god Rephan,
and the images you made to worship them.
So I will send you into captivity
far away in Babylon.'
44 " Our ancestors carried the Tabernacle with them through the wilderness. It was constructed in exact accordance with the plan shown to Moses by God. 45 Years later, when Joshua led the battles against the Gentile nations that God drove out of this land, the Tabernacle was taken with them into their new territory. And it was used there until the time of King David. 46 " David found favor with God and asked for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for the God of Jacob. 47 But it was Solomon who actually built it. 48 However, the Most High doesn't live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says,49 ` Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
Could you ever build me a temple as good as that?'
asks the Lord.
` Could you build a dwelling place for me?
50 Didn't I make everything in heaven and earth?'

PSALM 128:1-6
A song for the ascent to Jerusalem.
1 How happy are those who fear the LORD--
all who follow his ways!
2 You will enjoy the fruit of your labor.
How happy you will be! How rich your life!
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine,
flourishing within your home.
And look at all those children!
There they sit around your table
as vigorous and healthy as young olive trees.
4 That is the LORD's reward
for those who fear him.
5 May the LORD continually bless you from Zion.
May you see Jerusalem prosper as long as you live.
6 May you live to enjoy your grandchildren.
And may Israel have quietness and peace.

PROVERBS 16:31-33
Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained by living a godly life. It is better to be patient than powerful; it is better to have self-control than to conquer a city. We may throw the dice, but the LORD determines how they fall.