M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Chapter 4

Solomon’s Wealth and Household. ¹ King Solomon reigned over all of Israel. ² These were his officials: Azariah, the son of Zadok, was the priest; ³ Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were the scribes; Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, kept the records; ⁴ Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was the commander of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were the priests; ⁵ Azariah, the son of Nathan, was the director of the local officials; Zabud, the son of Nathan, was the king’s own priest and advisor; ⁶ Ahishar was the major-domo of the palace; and Adoniram, the son of Abda, was in charge of forced labor.

⁷ Solomon had twelve local officials in charge of all of Israel.^[a] They provided food for the king and his household. Each of them was assigned to provide provisions for one month each year. ⁸ These are their names: Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim; ⁹ Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elon-beth-hanan; ¹⁰ Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (Socoh and all the lands of Hepher belonged to it); ¹¹ Ben-abinadab, (who was married to Taphath, the daughter of Solomon) in Naphath-dor; ¹² Baana, the son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, and in all of Beth-shean, which lie alongside of Zarethan below Jezreel, running from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah and on across to Jokmeam; ¹³ Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (the towns of Jair, the son of Manasseh, in Gilead were his as well as the region of Argob in Bashan with its sixty large cities fortified with bronze gate bars); ¹⁴ Ahinadab, the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; ¹⁵ Ahimaaz, (who married Basemath, the daughter of Solomon) in Naphtali; ¹⁶ Baana, the son of Hushai, in Asher and Aloth; ¹⁷ Jehoshaphat, the son of Paruah, in Issachar; ¹⁸ Shimei, the son of Ela, in Benjamin; ¹⁹ and Geber, the son of Uri, in Gilead (the land of Sihon, the king of the Amorites, and of Og, the king of Bashan). He was the only district official in that territory.

²⁰ The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the shore of the sea. They ate, and they drank, and they were happy. ²¹ Solomon ruled over all of the kingdoms in the land that extended from the river over to the land of the Philistines and down to the border with Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon for his entire lifetime.

²² Each day’s provision for Solomon included thirty cors^[b] of fine flour, sixty cors of meal, ²³ ten fat oxen, twenty pasture-fed cattle, and one hundred sheep, in addition to deer, gazelles, roebuck, and fatted fowl.

²⁴ He ruled over all of this side of the river, from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all of the kings on this side of the river. He had peace on every side.

²⁵ Judah and Israel lived in safety from Dan to Beer-sheba, every man under his own vine and under his own fig tree, during the entire time of Solomon. ²⁶ Solomon also had forty thousand stalls for his chariot horses, and twelve thousand horsemen.

²⁷ Those officials provided food for King Solomon and for all of those who came to King Solomon’s table. Each one was assigned his month, and they saw to it that nothing was missing. ²⁸ Each of them also brought his quota of barley and straw for the chariot horses and the other horses to the assigned place.

²⁹ The Wisdom of Solomon. God granted Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, a largeness of heart that was as abundant as the sand on the shore of the sea. ³⁰ The wisdom of Solomon was even greater than that of the wisdom of all of the men of the East and of the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹ He was wiser than any other person, including Ethan the Ezrahite and Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. His fame spread to all of the surrounding nations. ³² He proclaimed three thousand proverbs,^[c] and he produced one thousand and five songs. ³³ He was able to discourse upon trees, from the cedars of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. ³⁴ Everyone came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, sent by kings from all over the world who had heard about his wisdom.

Chapter 5

Temple Plans. ¹ Hiram, the king of Tyre, sent his servants to Solomon for he had heard that he had been anointed as king in his father’s place, for Hiram had always been a friend of David.^{[d] 2} Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, ³ “You know that David, my father, could not build a temple for the name of the Lord, his God, because he had to fight battles on every side until the Lord placed them under his feet. ⁴ Now the Lord, my God, has given me rest on every side, so that there are neither adversaries nor disasters. ⁵ I therefore intend to build a temple for the name of the Lord, my God, as the Lord foretold to David, my father, when he said, ‘Your son whom I will establish to take your place upon your throne will be the one who will build a temple for my name.’ ⁶ Give orders to cut cedars of Lebanon for me. My servants will work alongside your servants, and I will pay your servants whatever wage you set. You know that we have no one among us who is as skilled as the Sidonians in cutting down trees.”

⁷ When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he rejoiced greatly. He said, “Blessed be the Lord today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.” ⁸ Hiram sent word to Solomon, saying, “I have received the message you sent me, and I will do everything that you wish concerning the cedar trees and fir trees. ⁹ My servants will haul them down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will float them across the water by rafts, bringing them to the place that you establish for me. They will be broken apart for you there, and you can take them away. You, in turn, can fulfill my desire by providing food for my household.”

¹⁰ So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar trees and fir trees that he desired, ¹¹ and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat as food for his household and twenty cors of pure oil. This is what Solomon gave to Hiram every year. ¹² The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they made a covenant with each other.

^13 [e]Then King Solomon raised up a labor force from all of Israel, and the labor force numbered thirty thousand men. ¹⁴ He sent ten thousand of them each month to Lebanon in shifts. They were in Lebanon for one month, and then they were home for two months. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor.

¹⁵ Solomon also had sixty thousand who served as porters, and eighty thousand who carved stone in the hill country. ¹⁶ In addition, Solomon had three thousand and three hundred supervisors in charge of the work. They directed the people who did the work. ¹⁷ The king gave orders, and they prepared huge, costly stones to lay the foundation of the temple with hewn stones. ¹⁸ Thus Solomon’s workmen, and Hiram’s workmen, and the men of Gebal prepared the timber and the stone for the construction of the temple.

Chapter 2

Christ Brought Us from Death to Life.^{[a] 1} You formerly were dead as a result of your transgressions and sins, ² which were your way of life in this worldly era,^[b] obeying the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit that is now at work among the children of rebellion. ³ We too were all numbered among them at one time. We were ruled by our sinful nature, succumbing to the temptations of the flesh and desires. And like all others, we were by nature children of wrath.

⁴ But God is rich in his mercy, and because he had such great love for us, ⁵ he brought us to life with Christ when we were already dead through sin—it is by grace that you have been saved. ⁶ He raised us up in union with Christ Jesus and enthroned us with him in the heavens, ⁷ so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace evidenced by his mercy to us in Christ Jesus.

^8 [c]For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith. This has not come from you but from the gift of God. ⁹ It does not come from works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for a life of good works that God had prepared for us to do.

¹¹ Jews and Gentiles Reconciled in the Church.^[d] Therefore, do not forget that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcised by those who refer to themselves as the circumcised because of a physical rite. ¹² Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, excluded from the community of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants^[e] of promise. You were in the world without hope and without God.

¹³ But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

¹⁹ As a result, you are no longer strangers and foreigners. Rather, you are fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. ²¹ Through him the entire structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord. ²² In him you are also being built together into a dwelling place for God in the Spirit.

Chapter 35^[a]

Against Edom. ¹ This word of the Lord came to me: ² Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it. ³ Say to it: Thus says the Lord God:

¹⁰ Because you said, “These two nations and the two lands will be mine, and we will take possession of them,” even though I, the Lord, was there, ¹¹ therefore, as I live, says the Lord God, I will act with the same anger and jealousy that you showed in your hatred for them, and I will make myself known among you when I judge you.

¹² You will know that I, the Lord, have heard of all the contemptible things you have uttered against the mountains of Israel, saying, “They have been laid waste and have been given to us to devour.” ¹³ You made insolent remarks about me and showed no restraint in your insults, and I have heard them.

¹⁴ Thus says the Lord God: I will make you a desolate wasteland, and the entire earth will rejoice. ¹⁵ As you were unable to conceal your joy over the devastation of the heritage of the house of Israel, so will I treat you. You will be desolate, Mount Seir, you and all of Edom. Thus, they shall know that I am the Lord.

Psalm 85^[a]

Prayer for the People’s Salvation

¹ For the director.^[b] A psalm of the sons of Korah.