M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Solomon builds the temple
3 Solomon began to build the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord[a] had appeared to his father David, on the place David had prepared at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2 He began building in the second month[b] of the fourth year of his rule. 3 Solomon laid the foundations[c] for these structures in order to build the temple of God. The length according to the old standard of measurement was ninety feet and the width thirty feet. 4 Across the front of the temple[d] was a porch as long as the temple was and thirty feet wide, and thirty feet[e] high. He covered the inside walls with pure gold. 5 He paneled the walls of the main room with pine, covered them with fine gold, and decorated them with palm trees and chains. 6 He studded the room with precious stones for beauty; the gold was from Parvaim. 7 He covered the room, its beams, doorframes, walls, and doors with gold, and carved images of winged creatures on the walls. 8 Then he made the most holy place. It was as long as the temple was wide, thirty feet long and thirty feet wide. He covered it with six hundred kikkars of fine gold. 9 The gold nails weighed fifty shekels.[f] He also covered the upper rooms with gold.
10 In the most holy place he formed two statues of winged creatures and covered them with gold. 11 Together the wingspan of these creatures was thirty feet. One of the first creature’s wings was seven and a half feet long and touched the temple wall, while the other wing was seven and a half feet long, touching the wing of the other creature. 12 Similarly, one wing of the other creature was seven and a half feet long and touched the temple wall, while the other wing was seven and a half feet long and touched the other creature. 13 The wings of these creatures extended thirty feet. They stood on their feet facing the main room.
14 Then he made the curtain out of fine linen and violet, purple, and crimson yarn, weaving winged creatures into it. 15 Then he made two columns in front of the temple, fifty-two and a half feet high, with a seven and a half foot cap on top of each. 16 Then he made chains like a necklace[g] and placed them on the tops of the columns. He made a hundred pomegranates and placed them into the chains. 17 Then he set up the pillars in front of the sanctuary, one on the south, the other on the north. The one on the south he named Jachin, and the one on the north he named Boaz.
Solomon’s temple equipment
4 He[h] also made a bronze altar thirty feet long, thirty feet wide, and fifteen feet high. 2 Then he made a tank of cast metal called the Sea. It was circular in shape, fifteen feet from rim to rim, seven and a half feet high, and forty-five feet in circumference. 3 Under the rim were two rows of oxlike figures completely encircling it, ten every eighteen inches, each cast in its mold. 4 The Sea rested on twelve oxen with their backs toward the center, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. 5 The Sea was as thick as the width of a hand. Its rim was shaped like a cup or an open lily blossom. It could hold three thousand baths.[i] 6 He also made ten washbasins and put five on the south and five on the north. The items used for the entirely burned offerings were rinsed in these. The priests washed in the Sea. 7 He made ten gold lampstands as prescribed and put them in the sanctuary, five on the south and five on the north. 8 He also made ten tables and put them in the sanctuary, five on the south and five on the north, as well as a hundred gold bowls. 9 He made the courtyard of the priests and the great courtyard, with doors covered with bronze for the courtyard. 10 He placed the Sea at the southeast corner.
11 Huram made the pots, the shovels, and the bowls. So Huram finished all his work on God’s temple for King Solomon:
12 two columns;
two circular capitals on top of the columns;
two networks adorning the two circular capitals on top of the columns;
13 four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, with two rows of pomegranates for each network that adorned the two circular capitals on top of the columns;
14 ten[j] stands with ten[k] basins on them;
15 one Sea;
twelve oxen beneath the Sea;
16 and the pots, the shovels, and the meat forks.
All the things that Huram-abi made for King Solomon for the Lord’s temple were made of polished bronze. 17 The king cast them in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zarethan.[l] 18 Due to the very large number of objects, Solomon didn’t even try to weigh the bronze. 19 Solomon also made all the equipment for God’s temple: the gold altar; the tables for the bread of the presence; 20 the lampstands with their lamps, all of pure gold, to burn before the inner sanctuary as prescribed; 21 the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of pure gold; 22 and the wick trimmers, bowls, ladles, and censers of pure gold. As for the temple entrance, the inner doors to the most holy place as well as the doors to the main hall were made of gold.
3 See what kind of love the Father has given to us in that we should be called God’s children, and that is what we are! Because the world didn’t recognize him, it doesn’t recognize us.
2 Dear friends, now we are God’s children, and it hasn’t yet appeared what we will be. We know that when he appears we will be like him because we’ll see him as he is. 3 And all who have this hope in him purify themselves even as he is pure. 4 Every person who practices sin commits an act of rebellion, and sin is rebellion. 5 You know that he appeared to take away sins, and there is no sin in him. 6 Every person who remains in relationship to him does not sin. Any person who sins has not seen him or known him.
Practicing sin or righteousness
7 Little children, make sure no one deceives you. The person who practices righteousness is righteous, in the same way that Jesus is righteous. 8 The person who practices sin belongs to the devil, because the devil has been sinning since the beginning. God’s Son appeared for this purpose: to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Those born from God don’t practice sin because God’s DNA[a] remains in them. They can’t sin because they are born from God. 10 This is how God’s children and the devil’s children are apparent: everyone who doesn’t practice righteousness is not from God, including the person who doesn’t love a brother or sister. 11 This is the message that you heard from the beginning: love each other. 12 Don’t behave like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he kill him? He killed him because his own works were evil, but the works of his brother were righteous.
Loving each other
13 Don’t be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have transferred from death to life, because we love the brothers and sisters. The person who does not love remains in death. 15 Everyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that murderers don’t have eternal life residing in them. 16 This is how we know love: Jesus laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 But if someone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but refuses to help—how can the love of God dwell in a person like that?
18 Little children, let’s not love with words or speech but with action and truth. 19 This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and reassure our hearts in God’s presence. 20 Even if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have confidence in relationship to God. 22 We receive whatever we ask from him because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23 This is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love each other as he commanded us. 24 Those who keep his commandments dwell in God and God dwells in them. This is how we know that he dwells in us, because of the Spirit he has given us.
A city under attack
2 A scatterer has come up against you.
Guard the ramparts, watch the road,
protect your groin, save your[a] strength!
2 The Lord will restore the pride of Jacob,
indeed, the pride of Israel,
because ravagers have destroyed
them and spoiled their branches.
3 The shields of his warriors are red;
his soldiers are dressed in crimson.
The ironwork of the chariots flashes like fire
on the day he has prepared;
the horses quiver.
4 The chariots race wildly through the streets;
they rush back and forth through the squares.
They look like flaming torches;
they dart like bolts of lightning.
5 He musters his officers;
they stumble as they press forward.
They hurry to the city wall,
and the portable shield is set up.
6 The gates of the rivers are opened;
the palace melts.
7 It is decreed:[b] She is sent into exile, carried away,
while her female servants moan like doves, beating their breasts.
8 Nineveh has been like a pool of water.
Such are its waters,[c] and others are fleeing.
“Stop, stop!”—but no one can turn them back.
9 Plunder silver! Plunder gold!
There is no end to the supplies,
an abundance of precious objects!
10 Destruction and devastation;
the city is laid waste!
The heart grows faint and knees buckle;
there is anguish in every groin;
all the faces grow pale.
Cruel Nineveh will be destroyed
11 Where is the lions’ den, the meadow of the young lions,
where lion, lioness, even lion cub go about with no one to terrify them?
12 The lion has torn enough prey
for his cubs and strangled enough for his lionesses;
he has filled his lairs with prey,
his dens with torn flesh.
13 Look! I am against you, proclaims the Lord of heavenly forces.
I will burn your[d] chariots in smoke;
the sword will devour your young lions;
I will cut off your prey from the earth,
the voice of your messengers will never again be heard!
Justice for the faithful
18 Jesus was telling them a parable about their need to pray continuously and not to be discouraged. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people. 3 In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him, asking, ‘Give me justice in this case against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused but finally said to himself, I don’t fear God or respect people, 5 but I will give this widow justice because she keeps bothering me. Otherwise, there will be no end to her coming here and embarrassing me.” 6 The Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 Won’t God provide justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he be slow to help them? 8 I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Human One[a] comes, will he find faithfulness on earth?”
The Pharisee and the tax collector
9 Jesus told this parable to certain people who had convinced themselves that they were righteous and who looked on everyone else with disgust: 10 “Two people went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself with these words, ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like everyone else—crooks, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of everything I receive.’ 13 But the tax collector stood at a distance. He wouldn’t even lift his eyes to look toward heaven. Rather, he struck his chest and said, ‘God, show mercy to me, a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, this person went down to his home justified rather than the Pharisee. All who lift themselves up will be brought low, and those who make themselves low will be lifted up.”
Jesus blesses children
15 People were bringing babies to Jesus so that he would bless them. When the disciples saw this, they scolded them. 16 Then Jesus called them to him and said, “Allow the children to come to me. Don’t forbid them, because God’s kingdom belongs to people like these children. 17 I assure you that whoever doesn’t welcome God’s kingdom like a child will never enter it.”
A rich man’s question
18 A certain ruler asked Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to obtain eternal life?”
19 Jesus replied, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except the one God. 20 You know the commandments: Don’t commit adultery. Don’t murder. Don’t steal. Don’t give false testimony. Honor your father and mother.”[b]
21 Then the ruler said, “I’ve kept all of these things since I was a boy.”
22 When Jesus heard this, he said, “There’s one more thing. Sell everything you own and distribute the money to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.” 23 When he heard these words, the man became sad because he was extremely rich.
24 When Jesus saw this, he said, “It’s very hard for the wealthy to enter God’s kingdom! 25 It’s easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom.”
26 Those who heard this said, “Then who can be saved?”
27 Jesus replied, “What is impossible for humans is possible for God.”
28 Peter said, “Look, we left everything we own and followed you.”
29 Jesus said to them, “I assure you that anyone who has left house, husband, wife, brothers, sisters, parents, or children because of God’s kingdom 30 will receive many times more in this age and eternal life in the coming age.”
Jesus predicts his death and resurrection
31 Jesus took the Twelve aside and said, “Look, we’re going up to Jerusalem, and everything written about the Human One[c] by the prophets will be accomplished. 32 He will be handed over to the Gentiles. He will be ridiculed, mistreated, and spit on. 33 After torturing him, they will kill him. On the third day, he will rise up.” 34 But the Twelve understood none of these words. The meaning of this message was hidden from them and they didn’t grasp what he was saying.
A blind man is healed
35 As Jesus came to Jericho, a certain blind man was sitting beside the road begging. 36 When the man heard the crowd passing by, he asked what was happening. 37 They told him, “Jesus the Nazarene is passing by.”
38 The blind man shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, show me mercy.” 39 Those leading the procession scolded him, telling him to be quiet, but he shouted even louder, “Son of David, show me mercy.”
40 Jesus stopped and called for the man to be brought to him. When he was present Jesus asked, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?”
He said, “Lord, I want to see.”
42 Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight! Your faith has healed you.” 43 At once he was able to see, and he began to follow Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they praised God too.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible