Monday in Season after Pentecost

13Verse 13. Then King Solomon conscripted a labor force of 30,000 men from all Israel. 14Verse 14. He sent them to Lebanon in monthly shifts of 10,000 men, so that they would spend one month in Lebanon and two months at home. And Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor. 15Verse 15. Solomon had 70,000 porters and 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains, 16Verse 16. not including his 3,300 foremen who supervised the workers. 17Verse 17. And the king commanded them to quarry large, costly stones to lay the foundation of the temple with dressed stones. 18Verse 18. So Solomon’s and Hiram’s builders, along with the Gebalites, quarried the stone and prepared the timber and stone for the construction of the temple.

1Verse 1. On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth, with dust on their heads. 2Verse 2. Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all the foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3Verse 3. While they stood in their places, they read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and they spent another quarter of the day in confession and worship of the LORD their God. 4Verse 4. And the Levites — Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani — stood on the raised platform and cried out in a loud voice to the LORD their God. 5Verse 5. Then the Levites— Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah— said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting: Blessed be Your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. 6Verse 6. You alone are the LORD. You created the heavens, the highest heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all things, and the host of heaven worships You. 7Verse 7. You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram, who brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. 8Verse 8. You found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites and Hittites, of the Amorites and Perizzites, of the Jebusites and Girgashites— to give it to his descendants. You have kept Your promise, because You are righteous. 9Verse 9. You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt; You heard their cry at the Red Sea. 10Verse 10. You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all his officials, and all the people of his land, for You knew they had acted with arrogance against our fathers. You made a name for Yourself that endures to this day. 11Verse 11. You divided the sea before them, and they crossed through it on dry ground. You hurled their pursuers into the depths like a stone into raging waters. 12Verse 12. You led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they should travel. 13Verse 13. You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You gave them just ordinances, true laws, and good statutes and commandments. 14Verse 14. You revealed to them Your holy Sabbath and gave them commandments and statutes and laws through Your servant Moses. 15Verse 15. In their hunger You gave them bread from heaven; in their thirst You brought them water from the rock. You told them to go in and possess the land that You had sworn to give them.