M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

29 To the whole community, David the king said, “Shlomo my son is the only one God has chosen. But he is still young and inexperienced, whereas the work to be done is great; because the palace is not for anyone human, but for Adonai, God. ² Now I have used all my strength to prepare for the house of my God the gold needed for the articles of gold, the silver for the articles of silver, the bronze for the articles of bronze, the iron for the articles of iron, the wood for the articles of wood, onyx stones, gemstones to be set, brilliant stones of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, as well as marble in abundance. ³ In addition, because my desire is set on the house of my God, since I have my own supply of gold and silver, I herewith give it to the house of my God — over and above everything I have prepared for the holy house — ⁴ ninety-nine tons of gold from the gold of Ofir and 231 tons of refined silver to be used for overlaying the walls of the houses. ⁵ The gold is for whatever is to be made of gold, and the silver is for whatever is to be made of silver; and they may be used for anything to be made by craftsmen. Therefore, who offers willingly to consecrate himself today to Adonai?”

⁶ Then the clan leaders, the leaders of the tribes of Isra’el, the captains of thousands and of hundreds, along with the supervisors over the king’s work offered willingly. ⁷ They gave for the service of the house of God 165 tons of gold, 330 tons of silver, 594 tons of bronze and 3,300 tons of iron. ⁸ Those who had precious stones gave them to the storehouse of the house of Adonai, supervised by Yechi’el the Gershuni.

⁹ The people were filled with joy, because they had given willingly — wholeheartedly they had given willingly to Adonai; and David the king too was completely filled with joy, ¹⁰ as he blessed Adonai before the entire community: “Blessed be you, Adonai, the God of Isra’el our father, forever and ever. ¹¹ Yours, Adonai, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory and the majesty; for everything in heaven and on earth is yours. The kingdom is yours, Adonai; and you are exalted as head over all. ¹² Riches and honor come from you, you rule everything, in your hand is power and strength, you have the capacity to make great and to give strength to all. ¹³ Therefore, our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name.

¹⁴ “But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to give so willingly in this way? For all things come from you, so that we have given you what is already yours. ¹⁵ For in your presence we are temporary residents, just passing through, as all our ancestors were — our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. ¹⁶ Adonai our God, all these supplies that we have prepared in order to build you a house for your holy name come from your own hand, all of it is already yours. ¹⁷ I know also, my God, that you test the heart and take pleasure in integrity. As for myself, I have given all these things willingly, in the integrity of my heart; and now, with joy, I have seen your people who are present here give willingly to you. ¹⁸ Adonai, God of Avraham, Yitz’chak and Isra’el our ancestors, guard forever the inclinations of the thoughts in the hearts of your people; direct their hearts to you; ¹⁹ and give to Shlomo my son wholeheartedness to obey your mitzvot, instructions and rules, to do all these things, and to build the palace for which I have made provision.”

²⁰ Then David said to all the community, “Now bless Adonai your God.” All the community blessed Adonai, the God of their ancestors, bowing their heads and prostrating themselves before Adonai and before the king. ²¹ On the following day they presented sacrifices to Adonai and offered burnt offerings to Adonai — a thousand bulls, a thousand rams and a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings — and sacrifices in abundance for all Isra’el. ²² They ate and drank before Adonai that day with great joy.

Then, for the second time, they made Shlomo the son of David king, anointing him before Adonai to be king, and Tzadok to be cohen. ²³ Shlomo sat on the throne of Adonai as king in place of David his father and prospered, and all Isra’el obeyed him. ²⁴ All the leaders, the warrior-heroes and likewise the sons of King David submitted themselves to Shlomo the king. ²⁵ Adonai gave Shlomo exceedingly great power, in full view of all Isra’el, and bestowed on him royal majesty such as had not been seen on any king before him in Isra’el.

²⁶ Now David the son of Yishai ruled over all Isra’el. ²⁷ The duration of his reign over Isra’el was forty years; he reigned seven years in Hevron, and he reigned thirty-three years in Yerushalayim. ²⁸ Then he died, at a ripe old age, full of years, riches and honor; and Shlomo his son reigned in his place. ²⁹ The activities of David the king, from first to last, are written in the records of Sh’mu’el the seer, Natan the prophet and Gad the seer, ³⁰ with all his reign and his power, and the events that he, Isra’el and the kingdoms of other countries experienced.

3 Dear friends, I am writing you now this second letter; and in both letters I am trying to arouse you to wholesome thinking by means of reminders; ² so that you will keep in mind the predictions of the holy prophets and the command given by the Lord and Deliverer through your emissaries.

³ First, understand this: during the Last Days, scoffers will come, following their own desires ⁴ and asking, “Where is this promised ‘coming’ of his? For our fathers have died, and everything goes on just as it has since the beginning of creation.” ⁵ But, wanting so much to be right about this, they overlook the fact that it was by God’s Word that long ago there were heavens, and there was land which arose out of water and existed between the waters, ⁶ and that by means of these things the world of that time was flooded with water and destroyed. ⁷ It is by that same Word that the present heavens and earth, having been preserved, are being kept for fire until the Day of Judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.

⁸ Moreover, dear friends, do not ignore this: with the Lord, one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day^{[a] 9} The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some people think of slowness; on the contrary, he is patient with you; for it is not his purpose that anyone should be destroyed, but that everyone should turn from his sins. ¹⁰ However, the Day of the Lord will come “like a thief.” On that Day the heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will melt and disintegrate, and the earth and everything in it will be burned up.

¹¹ Since everything is going to be destroyed like this, what kind of people should you be? You should lead holy and godly lives, ¹² as you wait for the Day of God and work to hasten its coming. That Day will bring on the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt from the heat; ¹³ but we, following along with his promise, wait for new heavens and a new earth,^[b] in which righteousness will be at home. ¹⁴ Therefore, dear friends, as you look for these things, do everything you can to be found by him without spot or defect and at peace. ¹⁵ And think of our Lord’s patience as deliverance, just as our dear brother Sha’ul also wrote you, following the wisdom God gave him. ¹⁶ Indeed, he speaks about these things in all his letters. They contain some things that are hard to understand, things which the uninstructed and unstable distort, to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

¹⁷ But you, dear friends, since you know this in advance, guard yourselves; so that you will not be led away by the errors of the wicked and fall from your own secure position. ¹⁸ And keep growing in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah. To him be the glory, both now and forever! Amen.

15 The tax-collectors and sinners kept gathering around to hear Yeshua, ² and the P’rushim and Torah-teachers kept grumbling. “This fellow,” they said, “welcomes sinners — he even eats with them!” ³ So he told them this parable: ⁴ “If one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, doesn’t he leave the other ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? ⁵ When he does find it, he joyfully hoists it onto his shoulders; ⁶ and when he gets home, he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Come, celebrate with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’ ⁷ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who turns to God from his sins than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.

⁸ “Another example: what woman, if she has ten drachmas and loses one of these valuable coins, won’t light a lamp, sweep the house and search all over until she finds it? ⁹ And when she does find it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Come, celebrate with me, because I have found the drachma I lost.’ ¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy among God’s angels when one sinner repents.”

¹¹ Again Yeshua said, “A man had two sons. ¹² The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that will be mine.’ So the father divided the property between them. ¹³ As soon as he could convert his share into cash, the younger son left home and went off to a distant country, where he squandered his money in reckless living. ¹⁴ But after he had spent it all, a severe famine arose throughout that country, and he began to feel the pinch.

¹⁵ “So he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his stomach with the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him any.

¹⁷ “At last he came to his senses and said, ‘Any number of my father’s hired workers have food to spare; and here I am, starving to death! ¹⁸ I’m going to get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against Heaven and against you; ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired workers.” ’ ²⁰ So he got up and started back to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran and threw his arms around him and kissed him warmly. ²¹ His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son — ’ ²² but his father said to his slaves, ‘Quick, bring out a robe, the best one, and put it on him; and put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet; ²³ and bring the calf that has been fattened up, and kill it. Let’s eat and have a celebration! ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead, but now he’s alive again! He was lost, but now he has been found!’ And they began celebrating.

²⁵ “Now his older son was in the field. As he came close to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called one of the servants and asked, ‘What’s going on?’ ²⁷ The servant told him, ‘Your brother has come back, and your father has slaughtered the calf that was fattened up, because he has gotten him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸ But the older son became angry and refused to go inside.

“So his father came out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ ‘Look,’ the son answered, ‘I have worked for you all these years, and I have never disobeyed your orders. But you have never even given me a young goat, so that I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ Yet this son of yours comes, who squandered your property with prostitutes, and for him you slaughter the fattened calf!’ ³¹ ‘Son, you are always with me,’ said the father, ‘and everything I have is yours. ³² We had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead but has come back to life — he was lost but has been found.’”