Psalm 89

I Will Sing of the Steadfast Love of the Lord

A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.

I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord forever;
with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
2
For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever;
in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.”
3
You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have sworn to David my servant:
4
‘I will establish your offspring forever,
and build your throne for all generations.’” Selah

5
Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,
your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!
6
For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord,
7
a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones,
and awesome above all who are around him?
8
O Lord God of hosts,
who is mighty as you are, O Lord,
with your faithfulness all around you?
9
You rule the raging of the sea;
when its waves rise, you still them.
10
You crushed Rahab like a carcass;
you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
11
The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;
the world and all that is in it, you have founded them.
12
The north and the south, you have created them;
Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.
13
You have a mighty arm;
strong is your hand, high your right hand.
14
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
15
Blessed are the people who know the festal shout,
who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face,
16
who exult in your name all the day
and in your righteousness are exalted.
17
For you are the glory of their strength;
by your favor our horn is exalted.
18
For our shield belongs to the Lord,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.

19
Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one, and said:
“I have granted help to one who is mighty;
I have exalted one chosen from the people.
20
I have found David, my servant;
with my holy oil I have anointed him,
21
so that my hand shall be established with him;
my arm also shall strengthen him.
22
The enemy shall not outwit him;
the wicked shall not humble him.
23
I will crush his foes before him
and strike down those who hate him.
24
My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him,
and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
25
I will set his hand on the sea
and his right hand on the rivers.
26
He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,
my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’
27
And I will make him the firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.
28
My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,
and my covenant will stand firm for him.
29
I will establish his offspring forever
and his throne as the days of the heavens.
30
If his children forsake my law
and do not walk according to my rules,
31
if they violate my statutes
and do not keep my commandments,
32
then I will punish their transgression with the rod
and their iniquity with stripes,
33
but I will not remove from him my steadfast love
or be false to my faithfulness.
34
I will not violate my covenant
or alter the word that went forth from my lips.
35
Once for all I have sworn by my holiness;
I will not lie to David.
36
His offspring shall endure forever,
his throne as long as the sun before me.
37
Like the moon it shall be established forever,
a faithful witness in the skies.” Selah

38
But now you have cast off and rejected;
you are full of wrath against your anointed.
39
You have renounced the covenant with your servant;
you have defiled his crown in the dust.
40
You have breached all his walls;
you have laid his strongholds in ruins.
41
All who pass by plunder him;
he has become the scorn of his neighbors.
42
You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
you have made all his enemies rejoice.
43
You have also turned back the edge of his sword,
and you have not made him stand in battle.
44
You have made his splendor to cease
and cast his throne to the ground.
45
You have cut short the days of his youth;
you have covered him with shame. Selah

46
How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your wrath burn like fire?
47
Remember how short my time is!
For what vanity you have created all the children of man!
48
What man can live and never see death?
Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah

49
Lord, where is your steadfast love of old,
which by your faithfulness you swore to David?
50
Remember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked,
and how I bear in my heart the insults of all the many nations,
51
with which your enemies mock, O Lord,
with which they mock the footsteps of your anointed.

52
Blessed be the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.

1 Kings 7

Solomon Builds His Palace

Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished his entire house.
2 He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was a hundred cubits and its breadth fifty cubits and its height thirty cubits, and it was built on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars. 3 And it was covered with cedar above the chambers that were on the forty-five pillars, fifteen in each row. 4 There were window frames in three rows, and window opposite window in three tiers. 5 All the doorways and windows had square frames, and window was opposite window in three tiers. 6 And he made the Hall of Pillars; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits. There was a porch in front with pillars, and a canopy in front of them. 7 And he made the Hall of the Throne where he was to pronounce judgment, even the Hall of Judgment. It was finished with cedar from floor to rafters. 8 His own house where he was to dwell, in the other court at the back of the hall, was of like workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter whom he had taken in marriage. 9 All these were made of costly stones, cut according to measure, sawed with saws, back and front, even from the foundation to the coping, and from the outside to the great court. 10 The foundation was of costly stones, huge stones, stones of eight and ten cubits. 11 And above were costly stones, cut according to measurement, and cedar. 12 The great court had three courses of cut stone all around, and a course of cedar beams; so had the inner court of the house of the Lord and the vestibule of the house.

The Temple Furnishings

13 And King Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre.
14 He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze. And he was full of wisdom, understanding, and skill for making any work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his work. 15 He cast two pillars of bronze. Eighteen cubits was the height of one pillar, and a line of twelve cubits measured its circumference. It was hollow, and its thickness was four fingers. The second pillar was the same. 16 He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits. 17 There were lattices of checker work with wreaths of chain work for the capitals on the tops of the pillars, a lattice for the one capital and a lattice for the other capital. 18 Likewise he made pomegranates in two rows around the one latticework to cover the capital that was on the top of the pillar, and he did the same with the other capital. 19 Now the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars in the vestibule were of lily-work, four cubits. 20 The capitals were on the two pillars and also above the rounded projection which was beside the latticework. There were two hundred pomegranates in two rows all around, and so with the other capital. 21 He set up the pillars at the vestibule of the temple. He set up the pillar on the south and called its name Jachin, and he set up the pillar on the north and called its name Boaz. 22 And on the tops of the pillars was lily-work. Thus the work of the pillars was finished. 23 Then he made the sea of cast metal. It was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. 24 Under its brim were gourds, for ten cubits, compassing the sea all around. The gourds were in two rows, cast with it when it was cast. 25 It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The sea was set on them, and all their rear parts were inward. 26 Its thickness was a handbreadth, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It held two thousand baths. 27 He also made the ten stands of bronze. Each stand was four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high. 28 This was the construction of the stands: they had panels, and the panels were set in the frames, 29 and on the panels that were set in the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the frames, both above and below the lions and oxen, there were wreaths of beveled work. 30 Moreover, each stand had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze, and at the four corners were supports for a basin. The supports were cast with wreaths at the side of each. 31 Its opening was within a crown that projected upward one cubit. Its opening was round, as a pedestal is made, a cubit and a half deep. At its opening there were carvings, and its panels were square, not round. 32 And the four wheels were underneath the panels. The axles of the wheels were of one piece with the stands, and the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half. 33 The wheels were made like a chariot wheel; their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast. 34 There were four supports at the four corners of each stand. The supports were of one piece with the stands. 35 And on the top of the stand there was a round band half a cubit high; and on the top of the stand its stays and its panels were of one piece with it. 36 And on the surfaces of its stays and on its panels, he carved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the space of each, with wreaths all around. 37 After this manner he made the ten stands. All of them were cast alike, of the same measure and the same form. 38 And he made ten basins of bronze. Each basin held forty baths, each basin measured four cubits, and there was a basin for each of the ten stands. 39 And he set the stands, five on the south side of the house, and five on the north side of the house. And he set the sea at the southeast corner of the house. 40 Hiram also made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished all the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of the Lord: 41 the two pillars, the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars, and the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars; 42 and the four hundred pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars; 43 the ten stands, and the ten basins on the stands; 44 and the one sea, and the twelve oxen underneath the sea. 45 Now the pots, the shovels, and the basins, all these vessels in the house of the Lord, which Hiram made for King Solomon, were of burnished bronze. 46 In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan. 47 And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because there were so many of them; the weight of the bronze was not ascertained. 48 So Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of the Lord: the golden altar, the golden table for the bread of the Presence, 49 the lampstands of pure gold, five on the south side and five on the north, before the inner sanctuary; the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of gold; 50 the cups, snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and fire pans, of pure gold; and the sockets of gold, for the doors of the innermost part of the house, the Most Holy Place, and for the doors of the nave of the temple. 51 Thus all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and the vessels, and stored them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.