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11 [a]Love and truth will meet;
    justice and peace will kiss.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 85:11–13 Divine activity is personified as pairs of virtues.

15 Justice and judgment are the foundation of your throne;
    mercy and faithfulness march before you.(A)

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You will be to me a kingdom of priests,[a] a holy nation.(A) That is what you must tell the Israelites.

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Footnotes

  1. 19:6 Kingdom of priests: inasmuch as this phrase is parallel to “holy nation,” it most likely means that the whole Israelite nation is set apart from other nations and so consecrated to God, or holy, in the way priests are among the people (cf. Is 61:6; 1 Pt 2:5, 9).

11 (A)You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain blazed to the heart of the heavens with fire and was enveloped in a dense black cloud.

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Moses as Mediator. 22 These words the Lord spoke with a loud voice to your entire assembly on the mountain from the midst of the fire and the dense black cloud, and added no more. He inscribed them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.(A)

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12 [a](A)Then Solomon said,

“The Lord intends to dwell in the dark cloud;

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Footnotes

  1. 8:12–13 This brief poem is rich in layered meanings. The “dark cloud” in which the Lord intends to dwell refers not only to the cloud that filled the Temple (v. 10) but to the darkness of the windowless holy of holies and to the mystery of the God enthroned invisibly upon the cherubim as well. Solomon calls the Temple he offers God a firm base, using terminology similar to that used for God’s firm establishment of Solomon’s own kingdom (2:12, 46). Finally, Solomon intends this as a place for God to yashab, but the Hebrew word yashab can mean “to dwell” or “to sit.” In other words, the Temple can be understood both as a place where God resides and as the earthly foundation of God’s heavenly throne. The double meaning allows an understanding of the divine presence as both transcendent and graciously immanent. See Solomon’s sentiments in 8:27, and the frequent reference in 8:30–52 to God’s hearing in heaven prayers that were offered in or toward the Temple.