Daily Readings for August 12

Daily Readings for August 12
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1Kings 7

1.Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house. 2.For he built the house of the forest of Lebanon; its length was one hundred cubits, and its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars. 3.It was covered with cedar above over the forty-five beams, that were on the pillars; fifteen in a row. 4.There were beams in three rows, and window was over against window in three ranks. 5.All the doors and posts were made square with beams: and window was over against window in three ranks. 6.He made the porch of pillars; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits; and a porch before them; and pillars and a threshold before them. 7.He made the porch of the throne where he was to judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from floor to floor. 8.His house where he was to dwell, the other court within the porch, was of the like work. He made also a house for Pharaoh's daughter (whom Solomon had taken as wife), like this porch. 9.All these were of costly stones, even of cut stone, according to measure, sawed with saws, inside and outside, even from the foundation to the coping, and so on the outside to the great court. 10.The foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits. 11.Above were costly stones, even cut stone, according to measure, and cedar wood. 12.The great court around had three courses of cut stone, and a course of cedar beams; like as the inner court of the house of Yahweh, and the porch of the house. 13.King Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of 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 brass; and he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill, to work all works in brass. He came to king Solomon, and performed all his work. 15.For he fashioned the two pillars of brass, eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits encircled either of them about. 16.He made two capitals of molten brass, 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 nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the capitals which were on the top of the pillars; seven for the one capital, and seven for the other capital. 18.So he made the pillars; and there were two rows around on the one network, to cover the capitals that were on the top of the pillars: and he did so for the other capital. 19.The capitals that were on the top of the pillars in the porch were of lily work, four cubits. 20.There were capitals above also on the two pillars, close by the belly which was beside the network: and the pomegranates were two hundred, in rows around on the other capital. 21.He set up the pillars at the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called its name Jachin; and he set up the left pillar, and called its name Boaz. 22.On the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the work of the pillars finished. 23.He made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and its height was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits encircled it. 24.Under its brim around there were buds which encircled it, for ten cubits, encircling the sea: the buds were in two rows, cast when it was cast. 25.It stood on twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; and the sea was set on them above, and all their hinder parts were inward. 26.It was a handbreadth thick: and its brim was worked like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily: it held two thousand baths. 27.He made the ten bases of brass; four cubits was the length of one base, and four cubits its breadth, and three cubits its height. 28.The work of the bases was like this: they had panels; and there were panels between the ledges; 29.and on the panels that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and on the ledges there was a pedestal above; and beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work. 30.Every base had four bronze wheels, and axles of brass; and the four feet of it had supports: beneath the basin were the supports molten, with wreaths at the side of each. 31.The mouth of it within the capital and above was a cubit: and its mouth was round after the work of a pedestal, a cubit and a half; and also on its mouth were engravings, and their panels were foursquare, not round. 32.The four wheels were underneath the panels; and the axles of the wheels were in the base: and the height of a wheel was a cubit and half a cubit. 33.The work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel: their axles, and their rims, and their spokes, and their naves, were all molten. 34.There were four supports at the four corners of each base: its supports were of the base itself. 35.In the top of the base was there a round compass half a cubit high; and on the top of the base its stays and its panels were of the same. 36.On the plates of its stays, and on its panels, he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the space of each, with wreaths all around. 37.In this way, he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure, and one form. 38.He made ten basins of brass: one basin contained forty baths; and every basin was four cubits; and on every one of the ten bases one basin. 39.He set the bases, five on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house: and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, toward the south. 40.Hiram made the basins, and the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he worked for king Solomon in the house of Yahweh: 41.the two pillars, and the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; 42.and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks; two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars; 43.and the ten bases, and the ten basins on the bases; 44.and the one sea, and the twelve oxen under the sea; 45.and the pots, and the shovels, and the basins: even all these vessels, which Hiram made for king Solomon, in the house of Yahweh, were of burnished brass. 46.The king cast them in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan. 47.Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were exceeding many: the weight of the brass could not be found out. 48.Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of Yahweh: the golden altar, and the table whereupon the show bread was, of gold; 49.and the lampstands, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, of pure gold; and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, of gold; 50.and the cups, and the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the fire pans, of pure gold; and the hinges, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, of the temple, of gold. 51.Thus all the work that king Solomon worked in the house of Yahweh was finished. Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated, the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of the house of Yahweh.

Jeremiah 33

1.Moreover the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the guard, saying, 2.Thus says Yahweh who does it, Yahweh who forms it to establish it; Yahweh is his name: 3.Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great things, and difficult, which you don't know. 4.For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are broken down [to make a defense] against the mounds and against the sword; 5.while [men] come to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have killed in my anger and in my wrath, and for all whose wickedness I have hidden my face from this city: 6.Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them; and I will reveal to them abundance of peace and truth. 7.I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first. 8.I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, by which they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, by which they have sinned against me, and by which they have transgressed against me. 9.[This city] shall be to me for a name of joy, for a praise and for a glory, before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do to them, and shall fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I procure to it. 10.Thus says Yahweh: Yet again there shall be heard in this place, about which you say, It is waste, without man and without animal, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without animal, 11.the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, Give thanks to Yahweh of Armies, for Yahweh is good, for his loving kindness endures forever; [and of them] who bring [sacrifices of] thanksgiving into the house of Yahweh. For I will cause the captivity of the land to return as at the first, says Yahweh. 12.Thus says Yahweh of Armies: Yet again shall there be in this place, which is waste, without man and without animal, and in all its cities, a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. 13.In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks again pass under the hands of him who numbers them, says Yahweh. 14.Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will perform that good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah. 15.In those days, and at that time, will I cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up to David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16.In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is [the name] by which she shall be called: Yahweh our righteousness. 17.For thus says Yahweh: David shall never want a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; 18.neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to burn meal offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. 19.The word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying, 20.Thus says Yahweh: If you can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, so that there shall not be day and night in their season; 21.then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. 22.As the army of the sky can't be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured; so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites who minister to me. 23.The word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying, 24.Don't consider what this people has spoken, saying, The two families which Yahweh chose, he has cast them off? thus do they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them. 25.Thus says Yahweh: If my covenant of day and night fails, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; 26.then will I also cast away the seed of Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and will have mercy on them.

Mark 7

1.Then the Pharisees, and some of the scribes gathered together to him, having come from Jerusalem. 2.Now when they saw some of his disciples eating bread with defiled, that is, unwashed, hands, they found fault. 3.(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, don't eat unless they wash their hands and forearms, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4.They don't eat when they come from the marketplace, unless they bathe themselves, and there are many other things, which they have received to hold to: washings of cups, pitchers, bronze vessels, and couches.) 5.The Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why don't your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unwashed hands?"

6.He answered them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7.But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'¹⁵

8."For you set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the tradition of men--the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things." 9.He said to them, "Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. 10.For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother;'¹⁶ and, 'He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.'¹⁷ 11.But you say, 'If a man tells his father or his mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban¹⁸, that is to say, given to God;"' 12.then you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother, 13.making void the word of God by your tradition, which you have handed down. You do many things like this."

14.He called all the multitude to himself, and said to them, "Hear me, all of you, and understand. 15.There is nothing from outside of the man, that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man. 16.If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!"

17.When he had entered into a house away from the multitude, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18.He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also? Don't you perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside can't defile him, 19.because it doesn't go into his heart, but into his stomach, then into the latrine, thus purifying all foods¹⁹?" 20.He said, "That which proceeds out of the man, that defiles the man. 21.For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, murders, thefts, 22.covetings, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. 23.All these evil things come from within, and defile the man."

24.From there he arose, and went away into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. He entered into a house, and didn't want anyone to know it, but he couldn't escape notice. 25.For a woman, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having heard of him, came and fell down at his feet. 26.Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by race. She begged him that he would cast the demon out of her daughter. 27.But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not appropriate to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."

28.But she answered him, "Yes, Lord. Yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."

29.He said to her, "For this saying, go your way. The demon has gone out of your daughter."

30.She went away to her house, and found the child having been laid on the bed, with the demon gone out.

31.Again he departed from the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and came to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the region of Decapolis. 32.They brought to him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech. They begged him to lay his hand on him. 33.He took him aside from the multitude, privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue. 34.Looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha!" that is, "Be opened!" 35.Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was released, and he spoke clearly. 36.He commanded them that they should tell no one, but the more he commanded them, so much the more widely they proclaimed it. 37.They were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf hear, and the mute speak!"