1 CHRONICLES 22:1-23:32
ROMANS 3:9-31
PSALM 12:1-8
PROVERBS 19:13-14
1 CHRONICLES 22:1-23:32
Then David said, " This will be the location for the Temple of the LORD God and the place of the altar for Israel's burnt offerings!" 2 So David gave orders to call together the foreigners living in Israel, and he assigned them the task of preparing blocks of stone for building the Temple of God. 3 David provided large amounts of iron for the nails that would be needed for the doors in the gates and for the clamps, and more bronze than they could ever weigh. 4 He also provided innumerable cedar logs, for the men of Tyre and Sidon had brought vast amounts of cedar to David. 5 David said, " My son Solomon is still young and inexperienced, and the Temple of the LORD must be a magnificent structure, famous and glorious throughout the world. So I will begin making preparations for it now." So David collected vast amounts of building materials before his death. 6 Then David sent for his son Solomon and instructed him to build a Temple for the LORD, the God of Israel. 7 " I wanted to build a Temple to honor the name of the LORD my God," David told him. 8 " But the LORD said to me, ` You have killed many men in the great battles you have fought. And since you have shed so much blood before me, you will not be the one to build a Temple to honor my name. 9 But you will have a son who will experience peace and rest. I will give him peace with his enemies in all the surrounding lands. His name will be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign. 10 He is the one who will build a Temple to honor my name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.' 11 " Now, my son, may the LORD be with you and give you success as you follow his instructions in building the Temple of the LORD your God. 12 And may the LORD give you wisdom and understanding, that you may obey the law of the LORD your God as you rule over Israel. 13 For if you carefully obey the laws and regulations that the LORD gave to Israel through Moses, you will be successful. Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or lose heart! 14 " I have worked hard to provide materials for building the Temple of the LORD--nearly four thousand tons of gold, nearly forty thousand tons of silver, and so much iron and bronze that it cannot be weighed. I have also gathered lumber and stone for the walls, though you may need to add more. 15 You have many skilled stonemasons and carpenters and craftsmen of every kind available to you. 16 They are expert goldsmiths and silversmiths and workers of bronze and iron. Now begin the work, and may the LORD be with you!"17 Then David ordered all the leaders of Israel to assist Solomon in this project. 18 " The LORD your God is with you," he declared. " He has given you peace with the surrounding nations. He has handed them over to me, and they are now subject to the LORD and his people. 19 Now seek the LORD your God with all your heart. Build the sanctuary of the LORD God so that you can bring the Ark of the LORD's covenant and the holy vessels of God into the Temple built to honor the LORD's name." 23:1 WHEN David was an old man, he appointed his son Solomon to be king over Israel. 2 David summoned all the political leaders of Israel, together with the priests and Levites, for the coronation ceremony. 3 All the Levites who were thirty years old or older were counted, and the total came to thirty-eight thousand. 4 Then David said, " Twenty-four thousand of them will supervise the work at the Temple of the LORD. Six thousand are to serve as officials and judges. 5 Four thousand will work as gatekeepers, and another four thousand will praise the LORD with the musical instruments I have made." 6 Then David divided the Levites into divisions named after the clans descended from the three sons of Levi--Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 7 The Gershonite family units were defined by their lines of descent from Libni and Shimei, the sons of Gershon. 8 Three of the descendants of Libni were Jehiel (the family leader), Zetham, and Joel. 9 These were the leaders of the family of Libni. Three of the descendants of Shimei were Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran. 10 Four other descendants of Shimei were Jahath, Ziza, Jeush, and Beriah. 11 Jahath was the family leader, and Ziza was next. Jeush and Beriah were counted as a single family because neither had many sons. 12 The descendants of Kohath included Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 13 The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were set apart to dedicate the most holy things, to offer sacrifices in the LORD's presence, to serve the LORD, and to pronounce blessings in his name forever. 14 As for Moses, the man of God, his sons were included with the tribe of Levi. 15 The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer.16 The descendants of Gershom included Shebuel, the family leader. 17 Eliezer had only one son, Rehabiah, the family leader. Rehabiah had numerous descendants. 18 The descendants of Izhar included Shelomith, the family leader. 19 The descendants of Hebron included Jeriah (the family leader), Amariah (the second), Jahaziel (the third), and Jekameam (the fourth). 20 The descendants of Uzziel included Micah (the family leader) and Isshiah (the second). 21 The descendants of Merari included Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish. 22 Eleazar died with no sons, only daughters. His daugh-ters married their cousins, the sons of Kish. 23 The three sons of Mushi were Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth.24 These were the descendants of Levi by clans, the leaders of their family groups, registered carefully by name. Each had to be twenty years old or older to qualify for service in the house of the LORD. 25 For David said, " The LORD, the God of Israel, has given us peace, and he will always live in Jerusalem. 26 Now the Levites will no longer need to carry the Tabernacle and its utensils from place to place." 27 It was according to David's final instructions that all the Levites twenty years old or older were registered for service. 28 The work of the Levites was to assist the priests, the descendants of Aaron, as they served at the house of the LORD. They also took care of the courtyards and side rooms, helped perform the ceremonies of purification, and served in many other ways in the house of God. 29 They were in charge of the sacred bread that was set out on the table, the choice flour for the grain offerings, the wafers made without yeast, the cakes cooked in olive oil, and the other mixed breads. They were also responsible to check all the weights and measures. 30 And each morning and evening they stood before the LORD to sing songs of thanks and praise to him. 31 They assisted with the burnt offerings that were presented to the LORD on Sabbath days, at new moon celebrations, and at all the appointed festivals. The proper number of Levites served in the LORD's presence at all times, following all the procedures they had been given. 32 And so, under the supervision of the priests, the Levites watched over the Tabernacle and the Temple and faithfully carried out their duties of service at the house of the LORD.
ROMANS 3:9-31
Well then, are we Jews better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin. 10 As the Scriptures say, " No one is good--
not even one.
11 No one has real understanding;
no one is seeking God.
12 All have turned away from God;
all have gone wrong.
No one does good,
not even one."
13 " Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.
Their speech is filled with lies."
" The poison of a deadly snake drips from their lips."
14 " Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."
15 " They are quick to commit murder.
16 Wherever they go, destruction and misery follow them.
17 They do not know what true peace is."
18 " They have no fear of God to restrain them."
19 Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses and to bring the entire world into judgment before God. 20 For no one can ever be made right in God's sight by doing what his law commands. For the more we know God's law, the clearer it becomes that we aren't obeying it. 21 But now God has shown us a different way of being right in his sight--not by obeying the law but by the way promised in the Scriptures long ago. 22 We are made right in God's sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done. 23 For all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious standard. 24 Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins. 25 For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God's anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us. God was being entirely fair and just when he did not punish those who sinned in former times. 26 And he is entirely fair and just in this present time when he declares sinners to be right in his sight because they believe in Jesus. 27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on our good deeds. It is based on our faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law. 29 After all, God is not the God of the Jews only, is he? Isn't he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. 30 There is only one God, and there is only one way of being accepted by him. He makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. 31 Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.
PSALM 12:1-8
For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by an eight-stringed instrument.
1 Help, O LORD, for the godly are fast disappearing!
The faithful have vanished from the earth!
2 Neighbors lie to each other,
speaking with flattering lips and insincere hearts.
3 May the LORD bring their flattery to an end
and silence their proud tongues.
4 They say, " We will lie to our hearts' content.
Our lips are our own--who can stop us?"
5 The LORD replies, " I have seen violence done to the helpless,
and I have heard the groans of the poor.
Now I will rise up to rescue them,
as they have longed for me to do."
6 The LORD's promises are pure,
like silver refined in a furnace,
purified seven times over.
7 Therefore, LORD, we know you will protect the oppressed,
preserving them forever from this lying generation,
8 even though the wicked strut about,
and evil is praised throughout the land.
PROVERBS 19:13-14
A foolish child is a calamity to a father; a nagging wife annoys like a constant dripping. Parents can provide their sons with an inheritance of houses and wealth, but only the LORD can give an understanding wife.
