M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
12 Solomon’s Prayer.[a] Then, in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel, Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord and spread out his hands. 13 Solomon had made a bronze platform, measuring five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, which he directed to be placed in the center of the courtyard, and he stood on it. Then he knelt down[b] in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.
14 “Lord, God of Israel,” he said, “there is no God like you in heaven or on earth, as you keep your covenant and show steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart. 15 You have kept the promise you made to my father David. Indeed, what you promised him with your words you have fulfilled by your deeds.
16 “And now, Lord, God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant David, my father, when you said: ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit in my presence on the throne of Israel, provided that your sons are careful to keep to their ways and conform to my law, as you yourself have done.’ 17 Therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, let this promise be confirmed which you promised to your servant David.
18 “And yet, will God indeed dwell with the people on earth? If the heavens and even the highest heavens cannot contain you, how much less this temple which I have built! 19 Look with kindness on your servant’s prayer and his plea, O Lord, my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant makes before you.
20 “May your eyes be forever on this house day and night, the place where you decreed that you would establish your name. Listen to the prayer that your servant offers in your presence. 21 Also hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel which they direct toward this place. Listen from your heavenly dwelling, and when you hear, grant us forgiveness.
22 “When anyone sins against his neighbor and is required to take an oath, and he comes forth and swears before your altar in this temple, 23 then listen from heaven and take the necessary action. Judge your servants, requiting the guilty person and holding him responsible for his conduct, but absolving the innocent person and rewarding him in accordance with his righteousness.
24 “Should your people Israel sin against you and as a result be defeated by an enemy, but then return to you and confess your name and pray and plead to you in this temple, 25 listen to them and forgive the sin of your people Israel and then bring them back to the land that you gave to them and their ancestors.
26 “When the heavens are shut and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, but then they pray toward this place, praise your name, and desist from sin because you have afflicted them, 27 listen to their pleas in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel. Show them the path of righteousness along which they should walk and send down rain upon your land which you have given to your people as an inheritance.
28 “Should there be famine afflicting the land, or plague, or blight, or mildew, or locusts, or caterpillars, or should enemies besiege your people in any of their cities, or should plague or sickness befall them, 29 then mercifully listen to the prayer or supplication of everyone among your people Israel, each one knowing his own suffering and his own sorrows and stretching out his hands toward this temple. 30 Listen from heaven, your dwelling place, as you grant forgiveness and deal with each man according to his deeds, since you alone know what is in each person’s heart.[c] 31 As a result, the people will fear you and walk in your ways throughout all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our ancestors.
32 “Likewise, when foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel come from a distant land because of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, and they approach and pray in your temple, 33 listen from heaven, your dwelling place, and grant whatever they ask of you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may acknowledge your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built bears your name.
34 “If your people go forth to engage in war against their enemies, wherever you choose to send them, and they pray to you, facing toward this city that you have chosen and toward this house that I have built to honor your name, 35 then listen from heaven to their prayer and their supplication, and defend their cause.
36 “When your people sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and in your anger against them you deliver them into the power of the enemy who will carry them away captive to a land far or near, 37 and then, later on, if they come to their senses in the land to which they have been taken as captives and they repent, entreating you in the land of their captivity as they say: ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’ 38 and they repent with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity to which they have been taken, and they pray, turning toward the land which you gave to their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built to honor your name, 39 then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, uphold their cause, and forgive your people who have sinned against you.
40 “Now, O my God, let your eyes be open and your ears be attentive to the prayer offered in this place.
41 “Now rise up, O Lord God,
and go to your resting place,
you and the Ark of your might.
Let your priests, Lord God,
be clothed with your salvation,
and let your faithful ones
rejoice in your goodness.
42 O Lord God, do not reject your anointed one.
Remember the faithful love of your servant David.”
Chapter 5
Believe in the Son of God[a]
Faith Conquers the World
1 Everyone who believes
that Jesus is the Christ
is born of God,
and everyone who loves the parent
loves the one begotten of him as well.
2 This is how we know
that we love the children of God:
by loving God and obeying his commandments.
3 For the love of God is this:
that we keep his commandments.
And his commandments are not burdensome,
4 for everyone born of God
conquers the world.
And the victory that conquers the world
is our faith.
5 Who indeed conquers the world
except the one who believes
that Jesus is the Son of God?
6 This is the one
who came by water and blood,
Jesus Christ—
not by water alone,
but by water and blood.
And to this the Spirit bears witness,
for the Spirit is truth.[b]
7 Thus, there are three[c] witnesses,
8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood,
and these three are as one.[d]
9 If we accept human testimony,
the testimony of God is greater.
For it is the testimony of God,
the testimony that he has given about his Son.
10 Whoever believes in the Son of God
has this testimony in himself,
but those who do not believe in God
have made him out to be a liar
by refusing to believe the testimony
that God has given about his Son.
11 And this is the testimony:
God gave us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son.
12 Whoever possesses the Son
possesses life;
whoever does not possess the Son of God
does not possess life.
Epilogue[e]
So That You May Know[f]
13 I write these things to you
who believe in the name of the Son of God
so that you may know
that you have eternal life.
Prayer for Sinners[g]
14 And thus we can have confidence in him
that if we ask anything
that is in accordance with his will,
he hears us.
15 And if we know that he hears us
in regard to whatever we ask him,
we may be sure
that all we ask of him will be ours.
16 If anyone sees a brother commit a sin
that does not lead to death,
he should intercede for him,
and God will grant him life—
provided that the sin is not deadly.
There is a sin that leads to death,
and I do not say
that you should pray about it.[h]
17 All wrongdoing is sinful,
but not all sins are deadly.
The Great Certitudes[i]
18 We know that one born of God does not continue to sin,
because he who is born of God protects him,
and the evil one has no power over him.
19 We know
that we are from God
and that the entire world
lies under the power of the evil one.
20 We also know
that the Son of God has come
and given us understanding
so that we can know the one who is true.
And we are in the one who is true,
since we are in his Son Jesus Christ.
He is the true God and eternal life.
21 Dear children,
keep away from idols.
Chapter 1
1 [a]This is the oracle that the prophet Habakkuk received in a vision.
Habakkuk’s Discussion with God
2 How long, O Lord, must I cry for help
while you do not listen?
I cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you refuse to intervene.
3 Why do you make me witness wrongdoing
and confront me with wickedness?
Destruction and violence confront me;
strife is everywhere, and discord abounds.
4 As a result, the law becomes ineffective
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
and judgment becomes perverted.
5 “Gaze upon the nations and see.
You will be amazed, even astounded.
You will not believe it when you are told
what I am doing in your days.
6 For I am stirring up the Chaldeans,
that savage and unruly people,
who march across the whole earth
to seize dwellings of other people.
7 They inspire fear and terror,
and they impose justice and judgment
according to their own standards.
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards
and more frightening than wolves at dusk.
Their horses gallop on,
with riders advancing from far away,
swooping like eagles to devour their prey.
9 They are all bent on violence,
a horde moving steadily forward like an east wind;
they scoop up captives like sand.
10 They scoff at kings,
they despise rulers.
They regard every fortress with contempt,
as they build earthen ramps to conquer it.
11 Then they sweep past like the wind and are gone,
as they ascribe their strength to their god.”
12 “O Lord, are you not from everlasting,
my holy God, you who are immortal?
You have marked them for judgment, O Lord;
you, O Rock, have designated them for punishment.
13 Your eyes are too pure to gaze upon evil,
and you cannot countenance wrongdoing.
Why then do you remain silent
as you gaze on the treachery of the wicked,
watching them while they devour
those who are more righteous?
14 You have made men like the fish of the sea,
like crawling creatures without a ruler.
15 The wicked haul all of them up with a hook
or catch them in a net.
They gather them up in a seine,
and then rejoice and exult.
16 Therefore, the wicked offer sacrifice to their net
and burn incense to their seine,
for, thanks to them, they live sumptuously
and enjoy elegant food.
17 Shall they then be allowed
to draw their sword unceasingly,
and to slaughter nations without mercy?
Verbal Clashes[a]
Chapter 20
The Authority of Jesus Questioned.[b] 1 One day as Jesus was teaching in the temple and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and scribes, accompanied by the elders, approached and 2 said to him, “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things. Or who is it that gave you this authority?” 3 He said to them in reply, “I will also ask you one question. Tell me: 4 Did John’s baptism originate from heaven or from men?”
5 The question caused them to discuss it among themselves, saying, “If we say: ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say: ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.”
7 Therefore, they answered that they did not know where it came from. 8 And Jesus said to them, “Then neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
The Parable of the Tenants.[c] 9 Then Jesus began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenants, and went off on a journey for a long period.
10 “When the time arrived, he sent a servant to the tenants to receive his share of the produce of the vineyard. But the tenants beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed. 11 Again, he sent another servant, but him they also beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. 12 Then he sent a third servant, but him too they wounded and cast out.
13 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Perhaps they will respect him.’ 14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’ 15 And 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 put those tenants to death and give the vineyard to others.”
When the people heard this, they said, “God forbid!” 17 But Jesus looked directly at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone’?
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken into pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.”
19 The scribes and the chief priests realized that this parable was directed at them, and they wanted to seize him at that very hour, but they feared the people.
20 God or Caesar.[d] So they watched him closely and sent spies who pretended to be honorable men. They intended to trap Jesus in something he might say so that they could hand him over to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. 21 They posed this question to him: “Teacher, we know that you say and teach what is right. Moreover, you show no partiality to anyone but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. 22 Is it lawful or not for us to pay taxes to Caesar?”
23 Jesus saw through their duplicity and said to them, 24 “Show me a coin.[e] Whose image is this, and whose inscription?” They replied, “Caesar’s.” 25 He said to them, “Give to Caesar what is due to Caesar, and to God what is due to God.” 26 They found they could not trap him by anything he said in the presence of the people, and, stunned at his reply, they fell silent.
27 Marriage and the Resurrection.[f] Then some Sadducees, who assert that there is no resurrection, approached him and posed this question: 28 “Teacher, Moses wrote down for us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must marry his brother’s wife and raise up children for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first married a woman but died childless. 30 Then the second 31 and the third married the widow, and it was the same with all seven: they all died leaving no children. 32 Last of all, the woman also died. 33 Now at the resurrection, whose wife will the woman be, inasmuch as all seven had her?”
34 Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry and are given in marriage, 35 but those who are judged worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection of the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage. 36 They are no longer subject to death, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are children of the resurrection.
37 “That the dead are raised Moses himself showed in the account about the bush where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for in his sight all are alive.”
39 Some of the scribes then said, “Teacher, you have answered well.” 40 And they no longer dared to ask him anything.
41 Jesus Is Lord.[g] Then Jesus said to them, “How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David? 42 For David himself says in the Book of Psalms:
‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
43 until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’
44 David thus calls him ‘Lord’; so how can he be his son?”
45 Denunciation of the Scribes.[h] While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples, 46 “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and who love to be greeted respectfully in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 47 They devour the houses of widows, while for the sake of appearance they recite lengthy prayers. They will receive the severest possible condemnation.”
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