M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Solomon’s Prayer
12 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire congregation of Israel and spread out his hands. 13 For Solomon had made a bronze platform 7½ feet[a] long, 7½ feet wide, and 4½ feet[b] high and put it in the court. He stood on it,(A) knelt down in front of the entire congregation of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven.(B) 14 He said:
Lord God of Israel,
there is no God like you
in heaven or on earth,(C)
who keeps his gracious covenant
with your servants who walk before you
with all their heart.(D)
15 You have kept what you promised
to your servant, my father David.
You spoke directly to him,
and you fulfilled your promise by your power,
as it is today.(E)
16 Therefore, Lord God of Israel,
keep what you promised
to your servant, my father David:
“You will never fail to have a man
to sit before me on the throne of Israel,(F)
if only your sons take care to walk in my Law
as you have walked before me.”
17 Now, Lord God of Israel, please confirm
what you promised to your servant David.
18 But will God indeed live on earth with humans?
Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain you,(G)
much less this temple I have built.
19 Listen[c] to your servant’s prayer and his petition,
Lord my God,
so that you may hear the cry and the prayer
that your servant prays before you,
20 so that your eyes watch over this temple
day and night,
toward the place where you said
you would put your name;(H)
and so that you may hear the prayer
your servant prays toward this place.
21 Hear the petitions of your servant
and your people Israel,
which they pray toward this place.
May you hear in your dwelling place in heaven.
May you hear and forgive.
22 If a man sins against his neighbor
and is forced to take an oath[d]
and he comes to take an oath
before your altar in this temple,
23 may you hear in heaven and act.
May you judge your servants,
condemning the wicked man by bringing
what he has done on his own head
and providing justice for the righteous
by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
24 If your people Israel are defeated before an enemy,
because they have sinned against you,
and they return to you and praise your name,
and they pray and plead for mercy
before you in this temple,
25 may you hear in heaven
and forgive the sin of your people Israel.
May you restore them to the land
you gave them and their ancestors.
26 When the skies are shut and there is no rain
because they have sinned against you,
and they pray toward this place
and praise your name,
and they turn from their sins
because you are afflicting[e](I) them,
27 may you hear in heaven
and forgive the sin of your servants
and your people Israel,
so that you may teach them the good way
they should walk in.
May you send rain on your land
that you gave your people for an inheritance.
28 When there is famine in the land,
when there is pestilence,
when there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper,
when their enemies besiege them
in the land and its cities,[f][g](J)
when there is any plague or illness,
29 every prayer or petition
that any person or that all your people Israel may have—
they each know their own affliction[h] and suffering—
as they spread out their hands toward this temple,
30 may you hear in heaven, your dwelling place,
and may you forgive and give to everyone[i]
according to all their ways, since you know each heart,
for you alone know the human heart,(K)
31 so that they may fear you
and walk in your ways
all the days they live on the land
you gave our ancestors.
32 Even for the foreigner who is not of your people Israel
but has come from a distant land
because of your great name
and your strong hand and outstretched arm:(L)
when he comes and prays toward this temple,
33 may you hear in heaven in your dwelling place,
and do all the foreigner asks you.
Then all the peoples of the earth will know your name,
to fear you as your people Israel do
and know that this temple I have built
bears your name.(M)
34 When your people go out to fight against their enemies,
wherever you send them,
and they pray to you
in the direction of this city you have chosen(N)
and the temple that I have built for your name,
35 may you hear their prayer and petition in heaven
and uphold their cause.
36 When they sin against you—
for there is no one who does not sin(O)—
and you are angry with them
and hand them over to the enemy,
and their captors deport them
to a distant or nearby country,
37 and when they come to their senses
in the land where they were deported
and repent and petition you in their captors’ land,
saying, “We have sinned and done wrong;
we have been wicked,”
38 and when they return to you with all their mind and all their heart
in the land of their captivity where they were taken captive,
and when they pray in the direction of their land
that you gave their ancestors,
and the city you have chosen,
and toward the temple I have built for your name,
39 may you hear their prayer and petitions in heaven,
your dwelling place,
and uphold their cause.[j]
May you forgive your people
who sinned against you.
40 Now, my God,
please let your eyes be open
and your ears attentive
to the prayer of this place.(P)
41 Now therefore:(Q)
Arise, Lord God, come to your resting place,
you and your powerful ark.
May your priests, Lord God, be clothed with salvation,
and may your faithful people rejoice in goodness.
42 Lord God, do not reject your anointed one;[k]
remember your servant David’s acts of faithful love.(R)
5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God,(A) and everyone who loves the Father[a] also loves the one born of him. 2 This is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God and obey[b] his commands. 3 For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden,(B) 4 because everyone who has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.
The Certainty of God’s Testimony
5 Who is the one who conquers the world(C) but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?(D) 6 Jesus Christ—he is the one who came by water and blood, not by water only, but by water(E) and by blood.(F) And the Spirit is the one who testifies,(G) because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify:[c](H) 8 the Spirit,(I) the water, and the blood(J)—and these three are in agreement. 9 If we accept human testimony, God’s testimony(K) is greater, because it is God’s testimony that he has given about his Son. 10 The one who believes in the Son of God has this testimony within himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar,(L) because he has not believed in the testimony God has given about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 The one who has the Son has life.(M) The one who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I have written these things to you who believe in the name(N) of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
Effective Prayer
14 This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask(O) anything according to his will, he hears us.(P) 15 And if we know that he hears whatever we ask,(Q) we know that we have what we have asked of him.(R)
16 If anyone sees a fellow believer[d] committing a sin that doesn’t lead to death, he should ask, and God will give life to him—to those who commit sin that doesn’t lead to death. There is sin[e] that leads to death. I am not saying he should pray about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin that doesn’t lead to death.
Conclusion
18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not sin, but the one who is born of God keeps him,[f](S) and the evil one does not touch him. 19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one. 20 And we know that the Son of God has come(T) and has given us understanding so that we may know the true one.[g] We are in the true one—that is, in his Son, Jesus Christ.(U) He is the true God and eternal life.
21 Little children, guard yourselves from idols.
1 The pronouncement(A) that the prophet Habakkuk saw.(B)
Habakkuk’s First Prayer
2 How long,(C) Lord, must I call for help(D)
and you do not listen
or cry out to you about violence(E)
and you do not save?
3 Why do you force me to look at injustice?(F)
Why do you tolerate[a] wrongdoing?
Oppression and violence are right in front of me.
Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.
4 This is why the law is ineffective
and justice never emerges.
For the wicked restrict(G) the righteous;
therefore, justice(H) comes out perverted.
God’s First Answer
5 Look at the nations[b](I) and observe(J)—
be utterly astounded!(K)
For I am doing something in your days
that you will not believe(L)
when you hear about it.(M)
6 Look! I am raising up(N) the Chaldeans,[c]
that bitter,(O) impetuous nation
that marches across the earth’s open spaces
to seize territories not its own.
7 They are fierce(P) and terrifying;
their views of justice and sovereignty
stem from themselves.
8 Their horses are swifter(Q) than leopards(R)
and more fierce[d] than wolves of the night.
Their horsemen charge ahead;
their horsemen come from distant lands.
They fly like eagles, swooping to devour.(S)
9 All of them come to do violence;
their faces(T) are set in determination.[e]
They gather(U) prisoners like sand.(V)
10 They mock(W) kings,
and rulers are a joke to them.
They laugh(X) at every fortress
and build siege ramps to capture(Y) it.
11 Then they sweep(Z) by like the wind
and pass through.
They are guilty;[f] their strength is their god.
Habakkuk’s Second Prayer
12 Are you not from eternity, Lord my God?(AA)
My Holy One,(AB) you[g] will not die.
Lord, you appointed them to execute judgment;
my Rock,(AC) you destined them to punish us.
13 Your eyes(AD) are too pure(AE) to look on evil,
and you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
So why do you tolerate those who are treacherous?(AF)
Why are you silent
while one[h] who is wicked swallows up
one[i] who is more righteous than himself?
14 You have made mankind
like the fish of the sea,(AG)
like marine creatures that have no ruler.
15 The Chaldeans pull them all up with a hook,
catch them in their dragnet,(AH)
and gather them in their fishing net;
that is why they are glad and rejoice.
16 That is why they sacrifice to their dragnet
and burn incense to their fishing net,
for by these things their portion is rich
and their food plentiful.(AI)
17 Will they therefore empty their net
and continually slaughter nations without mercy?
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
20 One(A) day as he was teaching(B) the people in the temple and proclaiming the good news,(C) the chief priests and the scribes, with the elders,(D) came 2 and said to him, “Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?”
3 He answered them, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me, 4 was the baptism of John from heaven or of human origin?”
5 They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people(E) will stone us, because they are convinced that John was a prophet.”(F) 7 So they answered that they did not know its origin.
8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
The Parable of the Vineyard Owner
9 Now(G) he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard,(H) leased it to tenant farmers, and went away for a long time. 10 At harvest time he sent a servant to the farmers so that they might give him some fruit from the vineyard. But the farmers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 He sent yet another servant, but they beat that one too, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 And he sent yet a third, but they wounded this one too and threw him out.
13 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my beloved(I) son. Perhaps[a] they will respect him.’
14 “But when the tenant farmers saw him, they discussed it among themselves and said, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him, so that the inheritance will be ours.’(J) 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and kill(K) those farmers and give the vineyard to others.”
But when they heard this they said, “That must never happen!” (L)
17 But he looked at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of this Scripture:[b](M)
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will shatter him.”(O)
19 Then the scribes and the chief priests(P) looked for a way to get their hands on him(Q) that very hour, because they knew he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people.(R)
God and Caesar
20 They(S) watched closely(T) and sent spies(U) who pretended to be righteous,[d] so that they could catch him in what he said,(V) to hand him(W) over to the governor’s(X) rule and authority. 21 They questioned him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach correctly,(Y) and you don’t show partiality[e](Z) but teach truthfully the way of God.(AA) 22 Is it lawful(AB) for us to pay taxes(AC) to Caesar(AD) or not?”
23 But detecting their craftiness, he said to them,[f] 24 “Show me a denarius.[g] Whose image and inscription does it have?”
“Caesar’s,” they said.
25 “Well then,” he told them, “give to Caesar(AE) the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
26 They were not able to catch him in what he said in public, and being amazed at his answer, they became silent.(AF)
The Sadducees and the Resurrection
27 Some(AG) of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection,(AH) came up and questioned him: 28 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother has a wife, and dies childless, his brother should take the wife and produce offspring for his brother.[h](AI) 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife and died without children. 30 Also the second[i] 31 and the third took her. In the same way, all seven died and left no children. 32 Finally, the woman died too. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For all seven had married her.”
34 Jesus told them, “The children of this age(AJ) marry and are given in marriage.(AK) 35 But those who are counted worthy(AL) to take part in that age(AM) and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 For they can no longer die,(AN) because they are like angels and are children of God,(AO) since they are children of the resurrection. 37 Moses even indicated in the passage about the burning bush that the dead are raised, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.[j](AP) 38 He is not the God of the dead but of the living, because all are living to[k] him.”(AQ)
39 Some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” 40 And they no longer dared to ask him anything.
The Question about the Messiah
41 Then(AR) he said to them, “How can they say that the Messiah is the son of David?(AS) 42 For David himself says in the Book of Psalms:(AT)
The Lord declared to my Lord,
‘Sit at my right hand
43 until I make your enemies your footstool.’[l](AU)
44 David calls him ‘Lord.’ How, then, can he be his son?”(AV)
Warning against the Scribes
45 While(AW) all the people were listening, he said to his disciples, 46 “Beware(AX) of the scribes, who want to go around in long robes and who love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets.(AY) 47 They devour widows’ houses and say long prayers just for show. These will receive harsher judgment.”
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