M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 3
Construction of the Temple.[a] 1 Then Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the site that David had chosen, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2 He commenced building it on the second day of the second month of the fourth year of his reign.
3 These are the measurements specified by Solomon for building the house of God. According to the old standard of measurement, its length was sixty cubits and its width was twenty cubits.[b] 4 The vestibule was twenty cubits long, spanning the entire breadth of the house of God, and its height was also twenty cubits.
5 He overlaid the nave with cypress, which he covered with fine gold and embossed with palms and chains. 6 He also adorned the house beautifully with settings of precious stones and with gold from Parvaim. 7 Then he overlaid the house with gold, including its beams, its thresholds, its walls, and its doors, and he carved cherubim on the walls.
8 He also made the Holy of Holies. Its length, corresponding to the width of the house, was twenty cubits, and its width was also twenty cubits. He overlaid all of it with six hundred talents of fine gold. 9 The weight of the gold nails was fifty shekels. He also overlaid the upper chambers with gold.
10 For the Holy of Holies he made two carved cherubim which were then overlaid with gold. 11 The wings of the cherubim[c] together had a total span of twenty cubits. A wing of one cherub, five cubits in length, extended to a wall of the building, while the other wing reached out to meet a wing of the other cherub. 12 Similarly, one wing of the second cherub also extended five cubits to touch the other wall of the building, while its other wing reached out to meet a wing of the first cherub.
13 The combined wings of these two cherubim extended twenty cubits. They stood with their feet on the ground, facing the nave. 14 Solomon also made the curtain[d] of purple, crimson, and blue fabrics and fine linen and embroidered it with winged creatures.
15 In front of the temple he erected two pillars that totaled thirty-five cubits high, with a capital measuring five cubits on the top of each pillar. 16 Next he made chains in the form of a necklace and put them on the tops of the pillars, and then he carved one hundred pomegranates and attached them to the chains. 17 Finally, he erected the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right and the other on the left. The one on the right he called Jachin, and the one on the left he called Boaz.
Chapter 4
1 Then Solomon made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high. 2 After that, he made the sea of cast metal. It was circular in shape, ten cubits from rim to rim, and five cubits high.
3 Under the sea and completely encircling the thirty cubits of its circumference there was a ring of figures of oxen in two rows, ten to the cubit. 4 It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The hindquarters of each faced inward, and the sea was set on them. 5 It was a hand’s breadth in thickness, and its rim was like that of a cup—lily-shaped. It could hold three thousand baths.[e]
6 He also made ten basins for washing, placing five on the right and five on the left. These were to be employed to rinse what would be used for the burnt offerings. However, the sea was for the priests to wash in.
7 Then he made ten lampstands of gold as prescribed and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. 8 He also made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the right and five on the left, as well as one hundred basins of gold.[f]
9 Next he made the court of the priests and the great courtyard with its gates. After he had overlaid the doors with bronze, 10 he placed the sea off to the southeast on the right-hand side of the temple.
11 Meanwhile Huram made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. He thus completed all the work he had undertaken for King Solomon on the temple of God: 12 the two pillars, the bowls, and the two capitals that were on the top of the pillars; the two sets of filigree to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; 13 the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, with two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover two bowl-shaped capitals surmounting the two pillars; 14 the ten stands and the basins on the stands; 15 the one sea and the twelve oxen that supported it; 16 likewise the pots, the shovels, and the basins—all of these articles Huram-abi made of burnished bronze cast for King Solomon for the house of the Lord.
17 Then the king had them cast in the foundry between Succoth and Zeredah in the plain of the Jordan. 18 Solomon made all these objects in great quantities, and as a result, the weight of the bronze was not determined.
19 Solomon had all of these articles made for the Lord God: the golden altar, the tables for the bread of the Presence, 20 [g]the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn before the inner sanctuary as prescribed; 21 the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of the purest gold; 22 the snuffers, the bowls, the ladles, and the firepans of pure gold. As for the entrance to the temple, the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and the doors to the nave of the temple were of gold.
Chapter 3
1 See what love
the Father has bestowed on us,
enabling us to be called the children of God,
and that is what we are.
If the world does not recognize us,
that is because it did not know him.
2 Beloved,
we are God’s children now.
What we shall be
has not yet been revealed.
However, we do know that when he appears
we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he really is.
3 Everyone who has this hope in him
keeps himself pure,
just as he is pure.
The Rupture with Sin[a]
4 Everyone who sins breaks the law,
for sin is lawlessness.
5 You know that he appeared
in order to take away sins,
and that there is no sin in him.
6 Whoever remains in him does not sin,[b]
and whoever sins has not seen him
nor known him.
7 Dear children,
do not let anyone deceive you.
Everyone who does what is right is righteous,
just as he is righteous.
8 Everyone who sins comes from the devil,
for the devil has been a sinner
from the very beginning.
The Son of God appeared for this very purpose:
to destroy the work of the devil.
9 Whoever is born of God
does not sin,
because his seed[c] remains in him.
He cannot sin
because he is begotten by God.
10 This is what distinguishes
the children of God from the children of the devil:
anyone who fails to live righteously
does not belong to God;
neither does anyone who fails to love a brother.
The Message of Love[d]
11 For from the beginning
you have heard the message
that we should love one another,
12 unlike Cain who was from the evil one
and slew his brother.
And why did he slay him?
Because his own deeds were evil
while those of his brother were righteous.
13 Do not be surprised, my brethren,
if the world hates you.
14 We know that we have passed
from death to life
because we love our brethren.
Whoever does not love remains in death.
15 Anyone who hates his brother
is a murderer,
and you know that no murderer
has eternal life abiding in him.
16 This is how we know what love is:
he laid down his life for us,
and we in turn must be prepared
to lay down our lives for our brethren.
17 If anyone is rich in worldly possessions
and sees a brother in need
but refuses to open his heart,
how can the love of God abide in him?
18 Dear children,
let us love not in word or speech
but in deed and truth.[e]
19 This is how we know
that we belong to the truth
and reassure our hearts in his presence
20 even if our hearts experience a sense of guilt.
For God is greater than our hearts,
and he knows everything.
21 Beloved,
if our hearts do not condemn us,
we can approach God with confidence
22 and receive from him whatever we ask,
because we obey his commandments
and do whatever is pleasing to him.[f]
23 And this is his commandment:
that we should believe
in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another just as he commanded us.[g]
24 All those who keep his commandments abide in him,
and he abides in them.
And the proof that he abides in us
is the Spirit that he has given us.
Chapter 2
The Message of Liberation
1 Behold on the mountains the feet of the herald
who proclaims good news and announces peace.
Celebrate your festivals, O Judah,
and fulfill your vows.
For never again will the wicked invade you;
they will be completely destroyed.
2 The Lord will restore the majesty of Jacob
as well as that of Israel,[a]
even though the plunderers have ravaged them
and destroyed their vines.
3 A destroying enemy is advancing against you;
guard the ramparts.
Keep watch on the road,
gird your loins,
and prepare to exert
every last ounce of courage.
The Agony of Nineveh[b]
Devastation, Plunder, and Destruction[c]
4 The shields of his warriors are red with blood;
their garments are scarlet in color.
The metal on the chariots flashes
as he summons them for battle;
the horses are frenzied in anticipation.
5 The chariots charge madly through the streets,
rushing back and forth through the squares.
They have the appearance of a blazing fire;
they dash about like lightning bolts.
6 His finest troops are summoned
and rush forward to the attack.
They hasten toward the wall
and set up the mantelet.
7 The river gates are opened
and the palace trembles.
8 The captives are taken into exile
and its slave girls are carried away,
moaning like doves
and beating their breasts.
9 Nineveh is like a lake
whose waters are ebbing away.
“Stop! Stop!” goes up the cry,
but no one turns back.
10 “Plunder the silver!
Plunder the gold!
There is no end to the treasure,
an abundance of wealth
from precious things of every kind.”
11 Devastation, desolation, and ruin
confront faint hearts and trembling knees.
The loins of all are filled with anguish;
every face is drained of color.
Where Is the Lions’ Den?[d]
12 Where now is the lions’ den,
the cave where they fed their whelps,
where the lion and lioness cared for their cubs,
with no one to disturb them?
13 There the lion stored up
sufficient food for his whelps
and strangled prey for his mate.
He filled his dens with prey
and his caves with torn flesh.
14 “I come against you,”
says the Lord of hosts.
“I will set your chariots aflame,
and the sword will devour your young lions.
I will cut off your prey from the earth,
and the threats of your messengers
will no longer be heard.”
Chapter 18
The Parable of the Importunate Widow.[a] 1 Then Jesus told them a parable about the need for them to pray always and never to lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor had any respect for people. 3 In that same town there was a widow who kept coming to him and pleading, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For a long time he refused her request, but finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I neither fear God nor have any respect for people, 5 yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will see to it that she gets justice. Otherwise, she will keep coming and wear me out.’ ”
6 Then the Lord said, “You have heard what the unjust judge says. 7 Will not God, therefore, grant justice to his elect who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay in answering their pleas? 8 I tell you, he will grant them justice quickly. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.[b] 9 He also told the following parable to some people who prided themselves about their own righteousness and regarded others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood up and said this prayer to himself: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and pay tithes on all my income.’
13 “The tax collector, however, stood some distance away and would not even raise his eyes to heaven. Rather, he kept beating his breast as he said, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner.’ 14 This man, I tell you, returned to his home justified, whereas the other did not. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
15 Jesus Blesses the Children.[c] People were bringing even infants to Jesus so that he might touch them. When the disciples observed this, they rebuked them. 16 However, Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them. For it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 17 Amen, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
18 The Rich Young Man.[d]A certain ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery. Do not kill. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Honor your father and your mother.’ ”
21 The man replied, “I have kept all these since I was a child.” 22 On hearing this, Jesus said to him, “You need to do one further thing. Sell everything you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 23 But when he heard this, he became sad, because he was very rich.
24 Danger of Riches. Jesus looked at him and said, “How difficult it is for those who are rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 Those who heard this asked, “Then who can be saved?” 27 He replied, “What is impossible for men is possible for God.”
28 The Reward of Renunciation. Peter said to him, “We have given up our homes to follow you.” 29 Jesus replied, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 who will not receive many times as much in this age, and eternal life in the age to come.”
31 Jesus Predicts His Passion a Third Time.[e] Then Jesus took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are now going up to Jerusalem, and everything that has been written by the Prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32 He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon. 33 After they have scourged him, they will put him to death, and on the third day he will rise again.”
34 But they understood nothing of this. Its meaning remained obscure to them, and they failed to comprehend what he was telling them.
35 Jesus Heals a Blind Man.[f] As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 When he heard the crowd going past, he inquired what was happening. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 He shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” 39 The people in front rebuked him and ordered him to be silent, but he only shouted all the louder, “Son of David, have pity on me!”
40 Jesus stopped and ordered that the man be brought to him. And when he had come near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” He answered, “Lord, let me receive my sight.” 42 Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight. Your faith has made you well.” 43 Immediately, he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. And all the people who witnessed this also gave praise to God.
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