M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon

10 The queen of Sheba heard about how famous Solomon was. She also heard about how he served and worshiped the Lord. So she came to test Solomon with hard questions. ² She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large group of attendants. Her camels were carrying spices, huge amounts of gold, and valuable jewels. She came to Solomon and asked him about everything she wanted to know. ³ Solomon answered all her questions. There wasn’t anything too hard for the king to explain to her. ⁴ So the queen of Sheba saw how very wise Solomon was. She saw the palace he had built. ⁵ She saw the food on his table. She saw his officials sitting there. She saw the robes of the servants who waited on everyone. She saw his wine tasters. And she saw the burnt offerings Solomon sacrificed at the Lord’s temple. She could hardly believe everything she had seen.

⁶ She said to the king, “Back in my own country I heard a report about you. I heard about how much you had accomplished. I also heard about how wise you are. Everything I heard is true. ⁷ But I didn’t believe those things. So I came to see for myself. And now I believe it! You are twice as wise and wealthy as people say you are. The report I heard doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story about you. ⁸ How happy your people must be! How happy your officials must be! They always get to serve you and hear the wise things you say. ⁹ May the Lord your God be praised. He takes great delight in you. He placed you on the throne of Israel. The Lord will love Israel for all time to come. That’s why he has made you king. He knows that you will do what is fair and right.”

¹⁰ She gave the king four and a half tons of gold. She also gave him huge amounts of spices and valuable jewels. No one would ever bring to King Solomon as many spices as the queen of Sheba gave him.

¹¹ Hiram’s ships brought gold from Ophir. From there they also brought huge amounts of almugwood and valuable jewels. ¹² The king used the almugwood to make supports for the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. He also used it to make harps and lyres for those who played the music. That much almugwood has never been brought into Judah or seen there since that day.

¹³ King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she wanted and asked for. That was in addition to what he had given her out of his royal riches. Then she left. She returned to her own country with her attendants.

Solomon’s Greatness

¹⁴ Each year Solomon received 25 tons of gold. ¹⁵ That didn’t include the money brought in by business and trade. It also didn’t include the money from all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the territories.

¹⁶ King Solomon made 200 large shields out of hammered gold. Each one weighed 15 pounds. ¹⁷ He also made 300 small shields out of hammered gold. Each one weighed seven and a half pounds. The king put all the shields in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.

¹⁸ Then he made a large throne. It was covered with ivory. And that was covered with fine gold. ¹⁹ The throne had six steps. Its back had a rounded top. The throne had armrests on both sides of the seat. A statue of a lion stood on each side of the throne. ²⁰ Twelve lions stood on the six steps. There was one at each end of each step. Nothing like that throne had ever been made for any other kingdom. ²¹ All of King Solomon’s cups were made out of gold. All the things used in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were made out of pure gold. Nothing was made out of silver. When Solomon was king, silver wasn’t considered to be worth very much. ²² He had many ships that carried goods to be traded. His ships went to sea along with Hiram’s ships. Once every three years the ships returned. They brought gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks.

²³ King Solomon was richer than all the other kings on earth. He was also wiser than they were. ²⁴ People from the whole world wanted to meet Solomon in person. They wanted to see for themselves how wise God had made him. ²⁵ Year after year, everyone who came to him brought a gift. They brought gifts made out of silver and gold. They brought robes, weapons and spices. They also brought horses and mules.

²⁶ Solomon had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He kept some of his horses and chariots in the chariot cities. He kept the others with him in Jerusalem. ²⁷ The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones. He made cedar wood as common there as sycamore-fig trees in the western hills. ²⁸ Solomon got horses from Egypt and from Kue. The royal traders bought them from Kue at the current price. ²⁹ They weighed out 15 pounds of silver for a chariot from Egypt. And they weighed out almost four pounds of silver for a horse. They also sold horses and chariots to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Arameans.

1 We, Paul and Timothy, are writing this letter. We serve Christ Jesus.

We are sending this letter to you, all God’s holy people in Philippi. You belong to Christ Jesus. We are also sending this letter to your leaders and deacons.

² May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Paul Prays and Gives Thanks

³ I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴ In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy. ⁵ I am happy because you have joined me in spreading the good news. You have done so from the first day until now. ⁶ God began a good work in you. And I am sure that he will carry it on until it is completed. That will be on the day Christ Jesus returns.

⁷ It is right for me to feel this way about all of you. I love you with all my heart. I may be held by chains, or I may be standing up for the truth of the good news. Either way, all of you share in God’s grace together with me. ⁸ God is my witness that I long for all of you. I love you with the love that Christ Jesus gives.

⁹ I pray that your love will grow more and more. And let it be based on knowledge and understanding. ¹⁰ Then you will be able to know what is best. Then you will be pure and without blame for the day that Christ returns. ¹¹ You will be filled with the fruit of right living produced by Jesus Christ. All these things bring glory and praise to God.

Paul Spreads the Good News While in Prison

¹² Brothers and sisters, here is what I want you to know. What has happened to me has actually helped to spread the good news. ¹³ One thing has become clear. I am being held by chains because I am a witness for Christ. All the palace guards and everyone else know it. ¹⁴ And because I am a prisoner, most of the believers have become bolder in the Lord. They now dare even more to preach the good news without fear.

¹⁵ It’s true that some preach about Christ because they are jealous. But others preach about Christ to help me in my work. ¹⁶ The last group acts out of love. They know I have been put here to be a witness for the good news. ¹⁷ But the others preach about Christ only to get ahead. They preach Christ for the wrong reasons. They think they can stir up trouble for me while I am being held by chains. ¹⁸ But what does it matter? Here is the important thing. Whether for right or wrong reasons, Christ is being preached about. That makes me very glad.

And I will continue to be glad. ¹⁹ I know that you are praying for me. I also know that God will give me the Spirit of Jesus Christ to help me. So no matter what happens, I’m sure I will still be set free. ²⁰ I completely expect and hope that I won’t be ashamed in any way. I’m sure I will be brave enough. Now as always Christ will receive glory because of what happens to me. He will receive glory whether I live or die. ²¹ For me, life finds all its meaning in Christ. Death also has its benefits. ²² Suppose I go on living in my body. Then I will be able to carry on my work. It will bear a lot of fruit. But what should I choose? I don’t know! ²³ I can’t decide between the two. I long to leave this world and be with Christ. That is better by far. ²⁴ But it is more important for you that I stay alive. ²⁵ I’m sure of this. So I know I will remain with you. And I will continue with all of you to help you grow in your faith. I will also continue to help you be joyful in what you have been taught. ²⁶ I’m sure I will be with you again. Then you will be able to boast in Christ Jesus even more because of me.

Living to Honor the Good News

²⁷ No matter what happens, live in a way that brings honor to the good news about Christ. Then I will know that you remain strong together in the one Spirit. I will know this if I come and see you or only hear about you. I will know that you work together as one person. I will know that you work to spread the teachings about the good news. ²⁸ So don’t be afraid in any way of those who oppose you. This will show them that they will be destroyed and that you will be saved. That’s what God will do. ²⁹ Here is what he has given you to do for Christ. You must not only believe in him. You must also suffer for him. ³⁰ You are going through the same struggle you saw me go through. As you have heard, I am still struggling.

The New Temple Area

40 It was the 14th year after Jerusalem had been captured. We had been brought to Babylon as prisoners. It was the tenth day of a month near the beginning of the 25th year after that. On that day the power of the Lord came on me. He took me back to my land. ² In visions God gave me, he brought me to the land of Israel. He set me on a very high mountain. Some buildings were on the south side of it. They looked like a city. ³ He took me there. I saw a man who appeared to be made out of bronze. He was standing at the gate of the outer courtyard. He was holding a linen measuring tape and a measuring rod. ⁴ The man said to me, “Son of man, look carefully and listen closely. Pay attention to everything I show you. That is why the Lord brought you here. Tell the people of Israel everything you see.”

The East Gate to the Outer Courtyard

⁵ I saw a wall that completely surrounded the temple area. The measuring rod in the man’s hand was 11 feet long. He measured the wall with it. The wall was as thick and as high as one measuring rod.

⁶ Then the man went to the east gate. He climbed its steps. He measured the gateway. It was one rod wide. ⁷ The rooms where the guards stood were one rod long and one rod wide. The walls between the rooms were almost nine feet thick. The gateway next to the porch was one rod wide. The porch faced the front of the temple.

⁸ Then the man measured the porch of the gateway. ⁹ It was 14 feet wide. Each of its doorposts was three and a half feet thick. The porch of the gateway faced the front of the temple.

¹⁰ Inside the east gate were three rooms on each side. All the rooms were the same size. The walls on each side of the rooms had the same thickness. ¹¹ Then the man measured the entrance of the gateway. It was 18 feet wide and 23 feet long. ¹² In front of each room was a wall. It was 21 inches high. The rooms measured 11 feet on each side. ¹³ Then he measured the gateway from the back wall of one room to the back wall of the room across from it. It was 44 feet from the top of one wall to the top of the other. ¹⁴ He measured along the front of the side walls all around the inside of the gateway. The total was 105 feet. That didn’t include the porch that faced the courtyard. ¹⁵ It was 88 feet from the entrance of the gateway to the far end of its porch. ¹⁶ The rooms and their side walls inside the gateway had narrow openings on top of them. So did the porch. All the openings faced the inside. The front of each side wall was decorated with a palm tree.

The Outer Courtyard

¹⁷ Then the man brought me into the outer courtyard. There I saw some rooms and a sidewalk. They had been built all around the courtyard. Along the sidewalk were 30 rooms. ¹⁸ The sidewalk went all the way up to the sides of the gateways. It was as wide as they were long. This was the lower sidewalk. ¹⁹ Then he measured from the inside of the lower gateway to the outside of the inner courtyard. The east side measured 175 feet. So did the north side.

The North Gate

²⁰ Then the man measured the north gate. He wanted to show me how long and wide it was. The gate led into the outer courtyard. ²¹ It had three rooms on each side. Their side walls and porch measured the same as the ones at the first gateway. They measured 88 feet long and 44 feet wide. ²² Its openings, porch and palm tree decorations measured the same as the ones at the east gate. Seven steps led up to the north gate. Its porch was across from them. ²³ The inner courtyard had a gate. It faced the gate on the north. It was just like the east gate. He measured from one gate to the one across from it. The total was 175 feet.

The South Gate

²⁴ Then the man led me to the south side of the courtyard. There I saw the south gate. He measured its doorposts and porch. They measured the same as the others. ²⁵ The gateway and its porch had narrow openings all around. The openings were the same as the others had. The side walls and porch measured 88 feet long and 44 feet wide. ²⁶ Seven steps led up to it. Its porch was across from them. The front of each side wall was decorated with a palm tree. ²⁷ The inner courtyard also had a gate that faced south. The man measured from this gate to the outer gate on the south side. The total was 175 feet.

The Gates to the Inner Courtyard

²⁸ Then the man brought me into the inner courtyard. We went through the south gate. He measured it. It was the same size as the others. ²⁹ Its rooms, side walls and porch measured the same as the ones at the other gateways. The gateway and its porch had openings all around. The side walls and porch measured 88 feet long and 44 feet wide. ³⁰ The porches of the gateways around the inner courtyard were 44 feet wide and nine feet long. ³¹ Its porch faced the outer courtyard. Palm trees decorated its doorposts. Eight steps led up to it.

³² Then the man brought me to the east side of the inner courtyard. There he measured the gateway. It was the same size as the others. ³³ Its rooms, side walls and porch measured the same as the ones at the other gateways. The gateway and its porch had openings all around. The side walls and porch measured 88 feet long and 44 feet wide. ³⁴ Its porch faced the outer courtyard. Each doorpost was decorated with a palm tree. Eight steps led up to the porch.

³⁵ Then the man brought me to the north gate. He measured it. It was the same size as the others. ³⁶ Its rooms, side walls and porch measured the same as the ones at the other gateways. It had openings all around. The side walls and the porch measured 88 feet long and 44 feet wide. ³⁷ The porch faced the outer courtyard. Each doorpost was decorated with a palm tree. Eight steps led up to the porch.

The Rooms for Preparing Sacrifices

³⁸ A room with a doorway was by the porch of each inner gateway. The burnt offerings were washed there. ³⁹ On each side of the porch of the gateway were two tables. The burnt offerings were killed on them. So were the sin offerings and guilt offerings. ⁴⁰ Two more tables were by the outer wall of the gateway porch. They were near the steps at the entrance of the north gateway. Two more tables were on the other side of the steps. ⁴¹ So there were four tables on each side of the gateway. The total number of tables was eight. Animals for sacrifice were killed on all of them. ⁴² There were also four other tables for the burnt offerings. They were made out of blocks of stone. Each table was two and a half feet long and two and a half feet wide. And each was almost two feet high. The tools for killing the burnt offerings and other sacrifices were placed on them. ⁴³ Large hooks hung on the walls all around. Each was three inches long. The meat of the offerings was placed on the tables.

The Rooms for the Priests

⁴⁴ Near the inner gates were two rooms. They were in the inner courtyard. One room was next to the north gate. It faced south. The other one was next to the south gate. It faced north. ⁴⁵ The man said to me, “The room that faces south is for the priests who guard the temple. ⁴⁶ The one that faces north is for the priests who guard the altar. All these priests are the sons of Zadok. They are the only Levites who can approach the Lord to serve him.”

⁴⁷ Then the man measured the courtyard. It was square. It measured 175 feet long and 175 feet wide. And the altar was in front of the temple.

The New Temple

⁴⁸ The man brought me to the porch of the temple. He measured the doorposts of the porch. Each of them was almost nine feet wide. The entrance was 24 and a half feet wide. Each of the side walls was a little over five feet wide. ⁴⁹ The porch was 35 feet wide. It was 21 feet from front to back. It was reached by some stairs. Pillars were on each side of the doorposts.