Psalm 35; 1 Kings 4:1–6; 1 Kings 4:20–34; Hebrews 3

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Psalm 35

Great Is the Lord

Of David.

Contend, O Lord, with those who ycontend with me;

zfight against those who fight against me!

Take hold of ashield and buckler

and rise for my help!

Draw the spear and javelin1

against my pursuers!

Say to my soul,

I am your salvation!

bLet them be cput to shame and dishonor

who seek after my life!

Let them be dturned back and disappointed

who devise evil against me!

Let them be like echaff before the wind,

with the angel of the Lord driving them away!

Let their way be dark and fslippery,

with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!

For gwithout cause hthey hid their net for me;

without cause they dug ia pit for my life.2

Let jdestruction come upon him kwhen he does not know it!

And let the net that he hid ensnare him;

let him fall into itto his destruction!

Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord,

lexulting in his salvation.

10  All my mbones shall say,

O Lord, nwho is like you,

delivering the poor

from him who is too strong for him,

the poor and needy from him who robs him?

11  oMalicious3 witnesses rise up;

they ask me of things that I do not know.

12  pThey repay me evil for good;

my soul is bereft.4

13  But I, qwhen they were sick

I rwore sackcloth;

I safflicted myself with fasting;

I prayed twith head bowed5 on my chest.

14  I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;

as one who laments his mother,

I ubowed down in mourning.

15  But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;

they gathered together against me;

vwretches whom I did not know

tore at me without ceasing;

16  like profane mockers at a feast,6

they wgnash at me with their teeth.

17  How long, O Lord, will you xlook on?

Rescue me from their destruction,

ymy precious life from the lions!

18  I will thank you in zthe great congregation;

in the mighty throng I will praise you.

19  aLet not those rejoice over me

who are bwrongfully my foes,

and let not those cwink the eye

who dhate me ewithout cause.

20  For they do not speak peace,

but against those who are quiet in the land

they devise words of deceit.

21  They fopen wide their mouths against me;

they say, gAha, Aha!

Our eyes have seen it!

22  hYou have seen, O Lord; ibe not silent!

O Lord, jbe not far from me!

23  Awake and krouse yourself for lmy vindication,

for my cause, my God and my Lord!

24  mVindicate me, O Lord, my God,

according to your righteousness,

and nlet them not rejoice over me!

25  Let them not say in their hearts,

oAha, our heart’s desire!

Let them not say, pWe have swallowed him up.

26  Let them be qput to shame and disappointed altogether

who rejoice at my calamity!

Let them be rclothed with shame and dishonor

who smagnify themselves against me!

27  Let those who delight in my righteousness

shout for joy and be glad

tand say evermore,

uGreat is the Lord,

who vdelights in the welfare of his servant!

28  Then my wtongue shall tell of your righteousness

and of your praise all the day long.


1 Kings 4:1–6

Solomon’s Officials

King Solomon was king over all Israel, and these were his high officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was bthe priest; Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha were secretaries; cJehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; dBenaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the army; eZadok and Abiathar were priests; Azariah the son of Nathan was over fthe officers; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and gking’s friend; Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and hAdoniram the son of Abda was in charge of ithe forced labor.


1 Kings 4:20–34

Solomon’s Wealth and Wisdom

20 Judah and Israel were as many ras the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. 1 21 sSolomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the tEuphrates2 to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. uThey brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

22 Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty cors3 of fine flour and sixty cors of meal, 23 ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. 24 For he had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates4 from Tiphsah to vGaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates. wAnd he had peace on all sides around him. 25 And Judah and Israel xlived in safety, yfrom Dan even to Beersheba, zevery man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon. 26 aSolomon also had 40,0005 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. 27 And those officers supplied provisions for King Solomon, and for all who came to King Solomon’s table, each one in his month. They let nothing be lacking. 28 Barley also and straw for the horses and bswift steeds they brought to the place where it was required, each according to his duty.

29 cAnd God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind dlike the sand on the seashore, 30 so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all ethe people of the east fand all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 For he was cwiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. 32 gHe also spoke 3,000 proverbs, hand his songs were 1,005. 33 He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. 34 And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from iall the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.


Hebrews 3

Jesus Greater Than Moses

Therefore, holy brothers,1 you who share in ra heavenly calling, consider Jesus, sthe apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, tjust as Moses also was faithful in all God’s2 house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Mosesas much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but uthe builder of all things is God.) vNow Moses was faithful in all God’s house was a servant, xto testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as ya son. And zwe are his house, if indeed we ahold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.3

A Rest for the People of God

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

bToday, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,

on the day of testing in the wilderness,

where your fathers put me to the test

and saw my works for cforty years.

10  Therefore I was provoked with that generation,

and said, They always go astray in their heart;

they have not known my ways.

11  dAs I swore in my wrath,

They shall not enter my rest.

12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from ethe living God. 13 But fexhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by gthe deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, hif indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15 As it is said,

bToday, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.

16 For iwho were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not jall those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, kwhose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that lthey would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that mthey were unable to enter because of unbelief.