Come to Our Help
To the choirmaster. A Maskil1 of the Sons of Korah.
1 O God, we have heard with our ears,
hour fathers have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
in the idays of old:
2 you with your own hand drove out the nations,
but them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
but them you set free;
3 for jnot by their own sword did they win the land,
nor did their own arm save them,
but your right hand and your arm,
and the klight of your face,
for you delighted in them.
4 You are my King, O God;
ordain salvation for Jacob!
5 Through you we push down our foes;
through your name we tread down those who rise up against us.
6 For lnot in my bow do I trust,
nor can my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our foes
and have put to shame those who hate us.
8 In God we have mboasted continually,
and nwe will give thanks to your name forever. Selah
9 But you have orejected us and disgraced us
and phave not gone out with our armies.
10 You have made us turn back from the foe,
and those who hate us have gotten spoil.
11 You have made us qlike sheep for slaughter
and have rscattered us among the nations.
12 You have ssold your people for a trifle,
demanding no high price for them.
13 You have made us the taunt of our neighbors,
the tderision and scorn of those around us.
14 You have made us a byword among the nations,
a laughingstock2 among the peoples.
15 All day long my disgrace is before me,
and shame has covered my face
16 at the sound of the taunter and reviler,
at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has come upon us,
though we have not uforgotten you,
and we have not been false to your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
vnor have our steps departed from your way;
19 yet you have broken us in the place of jackals
and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 wIf we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a xforeign god,
21 would not God discover this?
For he yknows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yet zfor your sake we are killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
23 aAwake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever!
24 Why do you hide your face?
Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
25 For bour soul is bowed down to the dust;
our belly clings to the ground.
26 Rise up; come to our help!
Redeem us cfor the sake of your steadfast love!
Solomon Builds His Palace
1 Solomon was building his own house xthirteen years, and he finished his entire house.
2 He built the yHouse of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was a hundred cubits1 and its breadth fifty cubits and its height thirty cubits, and it was built on four2 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 windows3 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 zcanopy 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.4
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 aPharaoh’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 bthree 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 cAnd 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 dfull of wisdom, understanding, and skill for making any work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his work.
40 Hiram also made the qpots, 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.
47 And Solomon left all the vessels sunweighed, 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 tgolden altar, the ugolden table for the vbread of the Presence, 49 the wlampstands 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 xthat David his father had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and the vessels, and stored them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.
The Priestly Order of Melchizedek
1 For mthis Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.
4 See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! 5 And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office nhave a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers,1 though these also are descended from Abraham. 6 But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. 9 One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.
Jesus Compared to Melchizedek
11 Now oif perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the porder of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. 13 For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord was qdescended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.
15 This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, 16 who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is witnessed of him,
r“You are a priest forever,
after the order of Melchizedek.”
18 For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its sweakness and uselessness 19 (for the law tmade nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better uhope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.
20 And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, 21 but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him:
v“The Lord has sworn
and wwill not change his mind,
‘You are a priest forever.’”
22 This makes Jesus the guarantor of a xbetter covenant.
23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost2 those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to ymake intercession for them.
26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a zhigh priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first afor his own sins and then for those of the people, since bhe did this conce for all when he offered up himself. 28 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son dwho has been made perfect forever.
