Tuesday in Season after Pentecost

1Verse 1. Solomon, however, took thirteen years to complete the construction of his entire palace. 2Verse 2. He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high, with four rows of cedar pillars supporting the cedar beams. 3Verse 3. The house was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the pillars — forty-five beams, fifteen per row. 4Verse 4. There were three rows of high windows facing one another in three tiers. 5Verse 5. All the doorways had rectangular frames, with the openings facing one another in three tiers. 6Verse 6. Solomon made his colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty cubits wide, with a portico in front of it and a canopy with pillars in front of the portico. 7Verse 7. In addition, he built a hall for the throne, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge. It was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling. 8Verse 8. And the palace where Solomon would live, set further back, was of similar construction. He also made a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married. 9Verse 9. All these buildings were constructed with costly stones, cut to size and trimmed with saws inside and out from the foundation to the eaves, and from the outside to the great courtyard. 10Verse 10. The foundations were laid with large, costly stones, some ten cubits long and some eight cubits long. 11Verse 11. Above these were costly stones, cut to size, and cedar beams. 12Verse 12. The great courtyard was surrounded by three rows of dressed stone and a row of trimmed cedar beams, as were the inner courtyard and portico of the house of the LORD.

1Verse 1. Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me!” So none of them were with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2Verse 2. But he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household soon heard of it. 3Verse 3. Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But they were unable to answer him, because they were terrified in his presence. 4Verse 4. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near me.” And they did so. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt! 5Verse 5. And now, do not be distressed or angry with yourselves that you sold me into this place, because it was to save lives that God sent me before you. 6Verse 6. For the famine has covered the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting. 7Verse 7. God sent me before you to preserve you as a remnant on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8Verse 8. Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God, who has made me a father to Pharaoh — lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 9Verse 9. Now return quickly to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me without delay. 10Verse 10. You shall settle in the land of Goshen and be near me— you and your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything you own. 11Verse 11. And there I will provide for you, because there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise, you and your household and everything you own will come to destitution.’ 12Verse 12. Behold! You and my brother Benjamin can see that I, Joseph, am the one speaking with you. 13Verse 13. Tell my father about all my splendor in Egypt and everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.” 14Verse 14. Then Joseph threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept as they embraced. 15Verse 15. Joseph kissed each of his brothers as he wept over them. And afterward his brothers talked with him.