M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Lord Appears to Solomon Again
9 So Solomon finished building the Temple of the Lord and his royal palace. Solomon finished building everything he wanted to build. 2 Then the Lord appeared to him again. This was just as he had done before, in Gibeon. 3 The Lord said to him: “I have heard your prayer. I have heard what you asked me to do. You built this Temple. And I have made it a holy place. So I will be worshiped there forever. I will watch over it and protect it always.
4 “But you must serve me as your father David did. He was fair and sincere. You must obey my laws and do everything I command. 5 If you do these things, I will allow your family to rule Israel forever. I made this promise to your father David. I told him that someone from his family would always be king over Israel.
6 “But you and your children must follow me. You must obey the laws and commands I have given you. You must not go off to serve or worship other gods. 7 If you do, I will force Israel to leave the land I have given them. I made the Temple holy for people to worship me there. But if you don’t obey me, I will tear it down. Then Israel will become a bad example, a joke, to other people. 8 If the Temple is destroyed, everyone who sees it will be shocked. They will make fun of you and ask, ‘Why did the Lord do this? Why did he do this terrible thing to this land and this Temple?’ 9 Other people will answer, ‘This happened because they left the Lord their God. He brought their ancestors out of Egypt. But they decided to follow other gods. They worshiped and served those gods. That is why the Lord brought all this disaster to them.’”
Solomon’s Other Activities
10 By the end of 20 years, King Solomon had built the Temple of the Lord. And he had built the royal palace. 11 At that time King Solomon gave 20 towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre. Solomon did this because Hiram had helped with the buildings. Hiram had given him all the cedar, pine and gold he wanted. 12 So Hiram traveled from Tyre to see the towns Solomon had given him. When Hiram saw them, he was not pleased. 13 He asked, “What are these towns you have given me, my brother?” So he named that land the Land of Cabul.[a] And it is still called that today. 14 Hiram had sent to King Solomon about 9,000 pounds of gold.
15 King Solomon had forced slaves to build the Temple and the palace. Then he had them fill in the land on the east side of the city. And he had them build the wall around Jerusalem. He also had them rebuild the cities of Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. 16 (In the past the king of Egypt had attacked Gezer and captured it. He had burned it and killed the Canaanites who lived there. Then he gave it to his daughter as a wedding present. His daughter married Solomon. 17 So Solomon rebuilt it.) He also built the cities of Lower Beth Horon, 18 Baalath and Tadmor, which is in the Judean desert. 19 King Solomon also built cities where he could store grain and supplies. And he built cities for his chariots and chariot soldiers. Solomon built whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon and everywhere he ruled.
20 There were people in the land who were not Israelites. There were some Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 21 The Israelites had not been able to destroy them from the land. So Solomon forced them to work for him as slaves. And they are still slaves today. 22 But Solomon did not force any Israelites to be his slaves. The Israelites were his soldiers, government leaders, officers, captains and chariot commanders and drivers.
23 There were 550 supervisors over Solomon’s projects. They were supervisors over the men who did the work.
24 The daughter of the king of Egypt moved from the old part of Jerusalem to the palace. This was the palace Solomon had built for her. Then Solomon filled in the land on the east side of the city.
25 Three times each year Solomon offered whole burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar. This is the altar he had built for the Lord. Solomon also burned incense before the Lord. So he finished the work on the Temple.
26 Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber. This town is near Elath. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Aqaba, in the land of Edom. 27 King Hiram had sailors who knew much about the sea. So he sent them to serve in Solomon’s ships with Solomon’s men. 28 Solomon’s ships sailed to Ophir. From there they brought back about 32,000 pounds of gold to King Solomon.
Children and Parents
6 Children, obey your parents the way the Lord wants. This is the right thing to do. 2 The command says, “Honor your father and mother.”[a] This is the first command that has a promise with it. 3 The promise is: “Then everything will be well with you, and you will have a long life on the earth.”[b]
4 Fathers, do not make your children angry, but raise them with the training and teaching of the Lord.
Slaves and Masters
5 Slaves, obey your masters here on earth with fear and respect. And do that with a heart that is true, just as you obey Christ. 6 You must do more than obey your masters to please them only while they are watching you. You must obey them as you are obeying Christ. With all your heart you must do what God wants. 7 Do your work, and be happy to do it. Work as if you were serving the Lord, not as if you were serving only men. 8 Remember that the Lord will give a reward to everyone, slave or free, for doing good.
9 Masters, in the same way, be good to your slaves. Do not say things to scare them. You know that the One who is your Master and their Master is in heaven. And that Master treats everyone alike.
Wear the Full Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his great power. 11 Wear the full armor of God. Wear God’s armor so that you can fight against the devil’s evil tricks. 12 Our fight is not against people on earth. We are fighting against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world’s darkness. We are fighting against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly world. 13 That is why you need to get God’s full armor. Then on the day of evil you will be able to stand strong. And when you have finished the whole fight, you will still be standing. 14 So stand strong, with the belt of truth tied around your waist. And on your chest wear the protection of right living. 15 And on your feet wear the Good News of peace to help you stand strong. 16 And also use the shield of faith. With that you can stop all the burning arrows of the Evil One. 17 Accept God’s salvation to be your helmet. And take the sword of the Spirit—that sword is the teaching of God. 18 Pray in the Spirit at all times. Pray with all kinds of prayers, and ask for everything you need. To do this you must always be ready. Never give up. Always pray for all God’s people.
19 Also pray for me. Pray that when I speak, God will give me words so that I can tell the secret truth of the Good News without fear. 20 I have the work of speaking that Good News. I am doing that now, here in prison. Pray that when I preach the Good News I will speak without fear, as I should.
Final Greetings
21 I am sending to you Tychicus, our brother whom we love. He is a faithful servant of the Lord’s work. He will tell you everything that is happening with me. Then you will know how I am and what I am doing. 22 That is why I am sending him. I want you to know how we are. I am sending him to encourage you.
23 Peace and love with faith to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 God’s grace to all of you who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love that never ends.
The Death of Gog and His Army
39 “Human being, prophesy against Gog and say: ‘This is what the Lord God says: I am against you, Gog, chief ruler of Meshech and Tubal. 2 I will turn you around and lead you. I will bring you from the far north. I will send you to attack the mountains of Israel. 3 I will knock your bow out of your left hand. I will throw down your arrows from your right hand. 4 You will fall dead on the mountains of Israel. You, all your troops and the nations with you will fall dead. I will let you be food for every bird that eats meat and every wild animal. 5 You will die in the country. I have spoken, says the Lord God. 6 I will send fire on Magog and those who live in safety on the coastlands. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
7 “‘And I will make myself known among my people Israel. I will not let myself be dishonored anymore. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord. They will know I am the Holy One in Israel. 8 It is coming! It will happen, says the Lord God. The day I talked about is coming.
9 “‘Then those who live in the cities of Israel will go out. They will make fires with the enemy’s weapons and burn them. They will burn both large and small shields. They will burn bows and arrows, war clubs and spears. They will use the weapons to burn in their fires for seven years. 10 They won’t need to take wood from the field or chop firewood from the forests. This is because they will make fires with the weapons. They will take the valuable things of those who took their valuable things. They will grab the things of those who grabbed their things, says the Lord God.
11 “‘On that day I will give Gog a place to be buried in Israel. It will be the Valley of the Travelers, east of the Dead Sea. It will block the road for travelers. This is because Gog and all his army will be buried there. People will call it The Valley of Gog’s Army.
12 “‘The people of Israel will be burying them for seven months to make the land clean again. 13 All the people of the land will bury them. The people of Israel will be honored on the day of my victory, says the Lord God.
14 “‘They will choose men to work through the land to make it clean. With others they will bury Gog’s soldiers still lying dead on the ground. After the seven months are finished, they will still search. 15 They will go through the land. If one person sees a human bone, he will put a marker by it. The sign will stay there until the gravediggers come. They will bury the bone in The Valley of Gog’s Army. 16 A city will be there named Hamonah. So they will make the land clean again.’
17 “Human being, this is what the Lord God says: Speak to every kind of bird and wild animal: ‘Come together, come! Come together from all around to my sacrifice. I will prepare it for you. It is a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. Then you can eat flesh and drink blood. 18 You will eat the flesh of mighty men. You will drink the blood of the rulers of the earth. You will do it as people eat all the fat animals from Bashan: male sheep, lambs, goats and bulls. 19 You will eat and drink from my sacrifice which I have made ready for you. So you will eat fat until you are full. You will drink blood until you are drunk. 20 At my table you will eat until you are full of horses and riders and all kinds of soldiers,’ says the Lord God.
21 “And I will show my greatness among the nations. All the nations will feel my power when I punish them. 22 From that day on the people of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God. 23 And the nations will know Israel was taken away captive because they turned against me. So I turned away from them. And I let their enemies defeat them. All of them died in war. 24 I punished them for their uncleanness and their sins. I turned away from them.
25 “So this is what the Lord God says: Now I will bring the people of Jacob back from captivity. I will have mercy on the whole nation of Israel. I will not let them dishonor me. 26 The people will forget their shame. And they will forget how they rejected me. They will live in safety on their own land. No one will make them afraid. 27 I will bring the people back from other lands. I will gather them from the lands of their enemies. That is how I will show that I am holy through my people. And many nations will see that I am holy. 28 Then my people will know that I am the Lord their God. This is because I sent them into captivity among the nations. But then I brought them back to their own land. And I didn’t leave any behind. 29 I will not turn away from them anymore. I will put my Spirit into the people of Israel, says the Lord God.”
Book 4
Psalms 90—106
God Is Eternal, and We Are Not
A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
90 Lord, you have been our home
since the beginning.
2 Before the mountains were born,
and before you created the earth and the world,
you are God.
You have always been, and you will always be.
3 You turn people back into dust.
You say, “Go back into dust, human beings.”
4 To you, a thousand years
is like the passing of a day.
It passes like an hour in the night.
5 While people sleep, you take their lives.
They are like weeds that grow in the morning.
6 In the morning they are fresh and new.
But by evening they dry up and die.
7 We are destroyed by your anger.
We are terrified by your hot anger.
8 You have put the evil we have done right in front of you.
You clearly see our secret sins.
9 All our days pass while you are angry.
Our years end with a moan.
10 Our lifetime is 70 years.
If we are strong, we may live to be 80.
But the years are full of hard work and pain.
They pass quickly, and then we are gone.
11 Who knows the full power of your anger?
Your anger is as great as our fear of you should be.
12 Teach us how short our lives really are
so that we may be wise.
13 Lord, how long before you return
and show kindness to your servants?
14 Fill us with your love every morning.
Then we will sing and rejoice all our lives.
15 We have seen years of trouble.
Now give us joy as you gave us sorrow.
16 Show your servants the wonderful things you do.
Show your greatness to their children.
17 Lord our God, be pleased with us.
Give us success in what we do.
Yes, give us success in what we do.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.