M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Solomon Assembles the Labor and Materials for the Temple(A)
2 [a]Solomon gave orders to begin building the temple for the Lord’s name and a royal palace for himself.
2 Solomon drafted 70,000 men to carry heavy loads, 80,000 to quarry stones in the mountains, and 3,600 foremen. 3 Solomon sent word to King Huram of Tyre by saying, “Do what you did for my father David. You sent him cedar so that he could build a palace to live in. 4 I want to build the temple for the name of the Lord my God. I want to dedicate it to him, burn sweet-smelling incense in his presence, and have rows of bread there continually. I want to ⌞sacrifice⌟ burnt offerings every morning and evening, on weekly days of rest—holy days, New Moon Festivals, and during the annual festivals appointed by the Lord our God. (⌞These festivals⌟ are always to be celebrated by Israel.) 5 The temple I am building will be great because our God is greater than all other gods. 6 But who is able to build him a temple when heaven itself, the highest heaven, cannot hold him? Who am I to build him a temple except as a place to sacrifice in his presence?
7 “Send me a man who has the skill to work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron as well as purple, dark red, and violet cloth. He should know how to make engravings with the skilled men whom my father David provided for me in Judah and Jerusalem. 8 Send me cedar, cypress, and sandalwood from Lebanon. I know that your servants are skilled Lebanese lumberjacks. My workers will work with your workers. 9 They’ll prepare plenty of lumber for me, because the temple I want to build will be large and astonishing. 10 I will give your lumberjacks 120,000 bushels of ground wheat, 120,000 bushels of barley, 200,000 gallons of wine, and 200,000 gallons of olive oil.”
11 Then King Huram of Tyre responded to Solomon by sending a letter that said, “Because the Lord loves his people, he made you their king.” 12 Huram added, “May the Lord God of Israel be praised. He made the heavens and the earth and has given King David a wise son who has insight and intelligence and can build the Lord’s temple and a royal palace. 13 And now, I’m sending a man with skill and intelligence—Huram Abi. 14 He was the son of a woman from the tribe of Dan, and his father is a native of Tyre. Huram knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, wood, purple, violet, and dark red cloth, and linen. He also knows how to make all kinds of engravings and follow any set of plans that will be given to him. ⌞He can work⌟ with your skilled workmen and the skilled workmen of His Majesty David, your father. 15 Your Majesty may now send the wheat, barley, olive oil, and wine he promised the workers. 16 We will cut all the lumber you need in Lebanon. Then we will make rafts out of it and send them to you in Joppa by sea. You can take it ⌞from there⌟ to Jerusalem.”
17 Solomon counted all the men who were foreigners in the land of Israel, as his father David had counted them. Solomon counted 153,600 foreigners. 18 He made 70,000 of them carry heavy loads, 80,000 of them quarry stone in the mountains, and 3,600 of them supervise the work as foremen.
2 My dear children, I’m writing this to you so that you will not sin. Yet, if anyone does sin, we have Jesus Christ, who has God’s full approval. He speaks on our behalf when we come into the presence of the Father. 2 He is the payment for our sins, and not only for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Those Who Know Christ Obey His Commandments
3 We are sure that we know Christ if we obey his commandments. 4 The person who says, “I know him,” but doesn’t obey his commandments is a liar. The truth isn’t in that person. 5 But whoever obeys what Christ says is the kind of person in whom God’s love is perfected. That’s how we know we are in Christ. 6 Those who say that they live in him must live the same way he lived.
7 Dear friends, it’s not as though I’m writing to give you a new commandment. Rather, I’m giving you an old commandment that you’ve had from the beginning. It’s the old commandment you’ve already heard. 8 On the other hand, I’m writing to give you a new commandment. It’s a truth that exists in Christ and in you: The darkness is fading, and the true light is already shining.
9 Those who say that they are in the light but hate other believers are still in the dark. 10 Those who love other believers live in the light. Nothing will destroy the faith of those who live in the light. 11 Those who hate other believers are in the dark and live in the dark. They don’t know where they’re going, because they can’t see in the dark.
Don’t Love the World
12 I’m writing to you, dear children, because your sins are forgiven through Christ.
13 I’m writing to you, fathers, because you know Christ who has existed from the beginning.
I’m writing to you, young people, because you have won the victory over the evil one.
14 I’ve written to you, children, because you know the Father.
I’ve written to you, fathers, because you know Christ, who has existed from the beginning.
I’ve written to you, young people, because you are strong and God’s word lives in you. You have won the victory over the evil one.
15 Don’t love the world and what it offers. Those who love the world don’t have the Father’s love in them. 16 Not everything that the world offers—physical gratification, greed, and extravagant lifestyles—comes from the Father. It comes from the world, and 17 the world and its evil desires are passing away. But the person who does what God wants lives forever.
Live in Christ
18 Children, it’s the end of time. You’ve heard that an antichrist is coming. Certainly, many antichrists are already here. That’s how we know it’s the end of time. 19 They left us. However, they were never really part of us. If they had been, they would have stayed with us. But by leaving they made it clear that none of them were part of us.
20 The Holy One has anointed you, so all of you have knowledge. 21 I’m writing to you because you know the truth, not because you don’t know the truth. You know that no lie ever comes from the truth.
22 Who is a liar? Who else but the person who rejects Jesus as the Messiah? The person who rejects the Father and the Son is an antichrist. 23 Everyone who rejects the Son doesn’t have the Father either. The person who acknowledges the Son also has the Father. 24 Make sure that the message you heard from the beginning lives in you. If that message lives in you, you will also live in the Son and in the Father. 25 Christ has given us the promise of eternal life.
26 I’m writing to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 The anointing you received from Christ lives in you. You don’t need anyone to teach you something else. Instead, Christ’s anointing teaches you about everything. His anointing is true and contains no lie. So live in Christ as he taught you to do.
We Are God’s Children
28 Now, dear children, live in Christ. Then, when he appears we will have confidence, and when he comes we won’t turn from him in shame. 29 If you know that Christ has God’s approval, you also know that everyone who does what God approves of has been born from God.
Nahum’s Vision
1 This is a revelation from the Lord about Nineveh. This book contains the vision of Nahum from Elkosh.
Who Can Withstand the Lord’s Anger?
2 God does not tolerate rivals. The Lord takes revenge.
The Lord takes revenge and is full of anger.
The Lord takes revenge against his enemies
and holds a grudge against his foes.
3 The Lord is patient and has great strength.
The Lord will never let the guilty go unpunished.
Raging winds and storms mark his path,
and clouds are the dust from his feet.
4 He yells at the sea and makes it dry.
He dries up all the rivers.
Bashan and Carmel wither.
The flowers of Lebanon wither.
5 The mountains quake because of him.
The hills melt.
The earth draws back in his presence.
The world and all who live in it draw back as well.
6 Who can stand in the presence of his rage?
Who can oppose his burning anger?
He pours out his rage like fire
and smashes the rocky cliffs.
Why Does Nineveh Oppose the Lord?
7 The Lord is good.
⌞He is⌟ a fortress in the day of trouble.
He knows those who seek shelter in him.
8 He will put an end to Nineveh
with a devastating flood.
He will pursue his enemies with darkness.
9 What do you think about the Lord?
He is the one who will bring Nineveh to an end.
This trouble will never happen again.
10 ⌞The people of Nineveh will be⌟ like tangled thorns
and like people drunk on their own drink.
They will be completely burned up like very dry straw.
11 From you, Nineveh, a person who plans evil against the Lord sets out.
His advice is wicked.
Nineveh Will Fall
12 This is what the Lord says:
Though the people of Nineveh are physically fit and many in number,
they will be cut down and die.
Though I have humbled you, Judah,
I will not humble you again.
13 But now I will break Nineveh’s yoke [a] off of you
and tear its chains from you.
14 The Lord has given this command about you, Nineveh:
You will no longer have descendants to carry on your name.
I will remove the wooden and metal idols from the temple of your gods.
I will prepare your grave because you are worthless.[b]
An Army Will Conquer Nineveh
15 There on the mountains are the feet of a messenger
who announces the good news: “All is well!”
Celebrate your festivals, Judah! Keep your vows!
This wickedness will never pass your way again.
It will be completely removed.
Causing Others to Lose Faith(A)
17 Jesus told his disciples, “Situations that cause people to lose their faith are certain to arise. But how horrible it will be for the person who causes someone to lose his faith! 2 It would be best for that person to be thrown into the sea with a large stone hung around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to lose his faith. 3 So watch yourselves!
“If a believer sins, correct him. If he changes the way he thinks and acts, forgive him. 4 Even if he wrongs you seven times in one day and comes back to you seven times and says that he is sorry, forgive him.”
The Apostles Ask for More Faith
5 Then the apostles said to the Lord, “Give us more faith.”
6 The Lord said, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Pull yourself up by the roots, and plant yourself in the sea!’ and it would obey you.
7 “Suppose someone has a servant who is plowing fields or watching sheep. Does he tell his servant when he comes from the field, ‘Have something to eat’? 8 No. Instead, he tells his servant, ‘Get dinner ready for me! After you serve me my dinner, you can eat yours.’ 9 He doesn’t thank the servant for following orders. 10 That’s the way it is with you. When you’ve done everything you’re ordered to do, say, ‘We’re worthless servants. We’ve only done our duty.’ ”
Ten Men with a Skin Disease Are Healed
11 Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee on his way to Jerusalem. 12 As he went into a village, ten men with a skin disease met him. They stood at a distance 13 and shouted, “Jesus, Teacher, have mercy on us!”
14 When he saw them, he told them, “Show yourselves to the priests.” As they went, they were made clean.[a] 15 When one of them saw that he was healed, he turned back and praised God in a loud voice. 16 He quickly bowed at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. (The man was a Samaritan.)
17 Jesus asked, “Weren’t ten men made clean? Where are the other nine? 18 Only this foreigner came back to praise God.”
19 Jesus told the man, “Get up, and go home! Your faith has made you well.”
The Pharisees Ask about God’s Kingdom
20 The Pharisees asked Jesus when God’s kingdom would come.
He answered them, “People can’t observe the coming of God’s kingdom. 21 They can’t say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ You see, God’s kingdom is within [b] you.”
Jesus Teaches about the Time When He Will Come Again
22 Jesus said to his disciples, “The time will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 People will say, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Don’t run after those people. 24 The day of the Son of Man [c] will be like lightning that flashes from one end of the sky to the other. 25 But first he must suffer a lot and be rejected by the people of his day.
26 “When the Son of Man comes again, the situation will be like the time of Noah. 27 People were eating, drinking, and getting married until the day that Noah went into the ship. Then the flood destroyed all of them.
28 “The situation will also be like the time of Lot. People were eating, drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But on the day that Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from the sky and destroyed all of them. 30 The day when the Son of Man is revealed will be like that.
31 “On that day those who are on the roof shouldn’t come down to get their belongings out of their houses. Those who are in the field shouldn’t turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Those who try to save their lives will lose them, and those who lose their lives will save them.
34 “I can guarantee that on that night if two people are in one bed, one will be taken and the other one will be left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together. One will be taken, and the other one will be left.” [d]
37 They asked him, “Where, Lord?”
Jesus told them, “Vultures will gather wherever there is a dead body.”
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