M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
12 Solomon stood before the assembly of Israel in front of the altar of the Eternal and spread out his hands. 13 Then he stood on the bronze platform he had built in the center of the court (90 inches long, 90 inches wide, and 54 inches high), knelt down, spread out his hands toward heaven, 14 and prayed.
Solomon: Eternal God of Israel, You are unparalleled among the gods of heaven and earth. You honor Your covenants with Your servants and give limitless loyal love to those who faithfully follow You. 15 Until now, You have honored Your covenant with my father David, Your servant and our beloved king, by doing all that You promised him. 16 Now that David is no longer king and I have replaced him, remember what You promised to my father David, Your servant: “As long as your descendants follow My laws as you have done, one of them will always be a king of Israel.” 17 Eternal God of Israel, honor this promise which You made to Your servant David.
18 How can I think that this temple I have built will be suitable lodging for You when the heavens You created are not vast enough? Certainly we are not worthy to have You live among us humans. 19 Yet we hope that You will hear and address our prayers and our pleas, Eternal God, and 20 that You will watch this humble temple day and night. This will be the place for us to communicate with You. Here Your reputation will be honored, so You will be able to hear the prayers Your servants offer here. 21 Listen to these prayers when we, Your people Israel, pray, looking toward this temple, Your earthly house; hear these prayers from Your house in heaven, and forgive us.
22 If a man breaks one of Your commandments by sinning against his neighbor, making an oath, and confesses the oath before Your altar in this earthly house, 23 then hear his oath from Your house in heaven. Judge his actions and act upon Your judgment—either punish the wicked man with the consequences of his actions or forgive the righteous man proportionate to his own righteousness.
24 If Your people Israel break Your commandments, are crushed by an enemy, and return to You, praying for forgiveness in Your earthly house, 25 then hear their prayers from Your house in heaven. Forgive the sins of Your people Israel and return them to the land You have given to their ancestors and their descendants.
26 If Your people Israel break Your commandments, are punished by a devastating drought, and return to You after their punishment by praying for forgiveness in Your earthly house, 27 then hear their prayers from Your house in heaven. Forgive the sins of Your servants, Your people Israel, teach them how to follow Your ways, and send rain to Your land that You have given as an inheritance to Your people.
28 If disasters, plague, or disease strike Israel—famine, pestilence, blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or military attacks at their gates— 29-30 then hear from Your house in heaven the prayers of every man (for his own sins) and the prayers of all Israel (for the sins of the nation) offered up with outstretched hands toward Your earthly house. Forgive or punish each man (whose intentions and heart only You know) proportionate to his behavior, 31 so that man will fear and obey You as long as he lives in the land that You have given to his ancestors.
32 If a foreigner (who is not one of Your people in Israel) travels to see this Your earthly house and pray toward it because of Your great name and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, 33 then hear his prayers from Your house in heaven. Grant the foreigner’s request so that all nations may recognize Your name, fear You as we do, and recognize this temple as Your name’s dwelling place.
34 If Your people pray to You, facing Jerusalem and Your earthly house, while they are away fighting their enemies, 35 then hear their prayers and requests from heaven. Grant them victory.
36 When Your people sin against You (as everyone does), angering You so that You give them to their enemies and into foreign captivity, 37 if they pray to You and repent while in that land, admitting, “We have sinned, we have distorted Your ways, and we have acted wickedly,” 38 if they genuinely repent while captive in that foreign land and pray facing Israel (that You gave to our ancestors), and the city Jerusalem that You have chosen, and Your earthly house (which I have built to honor Your reputation), 39 then hear their prayers and requests from Your house in heaven. Sustain their cause and forgive their sins carried out against You.
40-41 Eternal God, may Your eyes witness and Your ears hear my prayer in this temple: Come to Your resting place, both You and the covenant chest of Your power. Let Your priests, O Eternal God, dress themselves in salvation. Let Your godly ones rejoice in goodness. 42 Do not turn away from Your newly anointed king; remember the loyal love You promised to Your servant, my father David.
It’s easy to say “I love God,” but genuine love reflects God’s love. If we belong to God, then we will love each other regardless of how hard love is.
5 Everyone who trusts Jesus as the long-awaited Anointed One is a child of God, and everyone who loves the Father cannot help but love the child fathered by Him. 2 Then how do we know if we truly love God’s children? We love them if we love God and keep His commands. 3 You see, to love God means that we keep His commands, and His commands don’t weigh us down. 4 Everything that has been fathered by God overcomes the corrupt world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.
5-6 Who is the person conquering the world? It is the one who truly trusts that Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus the Anointed is the One who came by water and blood—not by the water only, but by the water and the blood.
Just as we do not get to choose our biological brothers and sisters, we do not get to choose our spiritual brothers and sisters either. But what comes along with loving the Father is loving all His other children—even the really annoying ones! While it might seem to be easier to go off and live in isolation rather than put up with those we are not naturally attracted to, there are responsibilities that come with living in a spiritual family. We reflect our worship of God by living in respect with our Christian brothers and sisters. How we treat the people around us on a daily basis is the real test of our love for God.
The Spirit of God testifies to this truth because the Spirit is the truth. 7 So there are three testifying witnesses: 8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood. All three are in total agreement. 9 If we accept the testimonies of people, then we must realize the testimony of God is greater than that of any person. God certified the truth about His own Son. 10 Anyone who trusts the Son of God has this truthful testimony at the core of his being. Anyone who does not trust God calls God a liar because he ignores God’s truthful testimony regarding His own Son. 11 And this is the truth: God has given us the gift of eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 If you have the Son, you have eternal life. If you do not have the Son of God, you are not acquainted with true life.
13 I am writing all of this to you who have entrusted your lives to the Son of God—so you will realize eternal life already is yours. 14 We live in the bold confidence that God hears our voices when we ask for things that fit His plan. 15 And if we have no doubt that He hears our voices, we can be assured that He moves in response to our call.
16 In this regard, if you notice a brother or sister in faith making moral missteps and blunders, disregarding and disobeying God even to the point of God removing this one from the body by death, then pray for that person; and God will grant him life on this journey. But to be clear, there is a sin that is ultimately fatal and leads to death. I am not talking about praying for that fatal sin, 17 but I am talking about all those wrongs and sins that plague God’s family that don’t lead to death.
18 We all know that everyone fathered by God will not make sin a way of life because God protects His children from the evil one, and the evil one can’t touch them. 19 Have confidence in the fact that we belong to God, but also know that the world around us is in the grips of the evil one. 20 We also can be sure of the fact that the Son of God has come and given us a mind so that we may know Him as the embodiment of all that is true. We live in this truth, in His Son Jesus, the Anointed One. He is the True God and eternal life.
21 My little children, keep away from idols.
John’s final bit of pastoral advice sounds an alarm against idolatry. If we look carefully at our culture and into our own hearts, we will find we are ultimately concerned about ourselves, our entertainment, our comforts, and our wallets. None of these are worthy of our highest devotion; but we put more time, energy, money, and emotion into these than we do into the one true God. So John’s warning should be heeded: watch out for the steady impulse to love other things more than God.
1 This is the vision with which the prophet Habakkuk was burdened.
2 How long must I cry, O Eternal One,
and get no answer from You?
Even when I yell to You, “Violence is all around!”
You do nothing to save those in distress.
3 Why do You force me to see these atrocities?
Why do You make me watch such wickedness?
Disaster and violence, conflict and controversy are raging all around me.
4 Your law is powerless to stop this; injustice prevails.
The depraved surround the innocent, and justice is perverted.
5 Eternal One: Take a look at the nations and watch what happens!
You will be shocked and amazed.
For in your days, I am doing a work,
a work you will never believe even if someone tells you plainly![a]
6 Look! I am provoking and raising up the bitter and thieving Babylonian warriors from Chaldea;
they are moving out across the earth
And seizing others’ homes and property in their path.
Chaldea is an area along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in southernmost Babylon.
7 That nation is terrifying people, is feared by everyone.
It makes the rules and serves only its own interests.
8 Babylonia’s horses run faster than leopards,
are fiercer than wolves when the sun goes down.
Its horsemen rush ahead with deadly force, galloping great distances;
the troops swoop down like eagles ready to devour,
9 And Babylonia keeps on coming, hungry for violence.
Hordes of determined faces are on the move like a hot east wind,
Scooping up captives like sand.
10 Their leader mocks kings and ridicules those in authority.
He laughs at every fortress
And builds ramps of dirt against their walls to capture it.
11 He blows through like the wind and then presses on to the next attack.
For their king, his god is his strength, but he will be held responsible.
12 Have You not existed from ancient times, O Eternal One, my holy God?
Surely You do not plan for us to die.
You, O Eternal One, have made Babylonia Your tool for judgment.
You, O Rock, have established that king as Your instrument of correction.
13 Your eyes are too pure to even look at evil.
You cannot turn Your face toward injustice.
So why do You stand by and watch those who act treacherously?
Why do You say and do nothing
When the wicked swallows up one who is more in the right than he is?
14 You made humans like fish in the sea,
like creatures under no rule or authority.
The Chaldeans were known for their fishing, in addition to their brutality.
15 But the Babylonian yanks up his enemies with a hook,
dragging them away with his net.
Gathering them up like fish in a net,
the king shrieks and shouts for joy at his catch.
16 So he offers a sacrifice to his net that has made him rich;
the smoke of his sacrifices rises for his fishing net that has brought him success;
Because of it, his table is full and his belly is fat.
17 Will he empty and fill his net without end?
Will he continue to murder the people of the world without pity?
20 One day when He was teaching the people in the temple and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests, religious scholars, and elders came up and questioned Him.
Elders: 2 Tell us by what authority You march into the temple and disrupt our worship. Who gave You this authority?
Jesus: 3 Let Me ask you a question first. Tell Me this: 4 was the ritual cleansing of baptism John did from God, or was it merely a human thing?
Chief Priests, Religious Scholars, and Elders (conferring together): 5 If we say it was from God, then He’ll ask us why we didn’t believe John. 6 If we say it was merely human, all the people will stone us because they are convinced that John was a true prophet.
7 So they said they didn’t know where John’s ritual washing came from.
Jesus: 8 Well then, if you won’t answer My question, I won’t tell you by what authority I have acted.
9 He told the people another parable:
Jesus: A man planted a vineyard. He rented it to tenants and went for a long trip to another country. 10 At the harvest time, he sent a servant to the tenants so he could be paid his share of the vineyard’s fruit, but the tenants beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed. 11 The man sent another servant, and they beat him and treated him disgracefully and sent him away empty-handed too. 12 He sent a third servant who was injured and thrown out. 13 Then the vineyard owner said, “Now what am I going to do? I’ll send my much-loved son. They should treat him with respect.”
14 But when the tenants recognized the owner’s son, they said, “Here’s our chance to actually own this vineyard! Let’s kill the owner’s heir so we can claim this place as our own!” 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and murdered him. What do you think the owner will do to these scoundrels?
16 I’ll tell you what he’ll do; he’ll come and wipe those tenants out, and he’ll give the vineyard to others.
Crowd: No! God forbid that this should happen!
Jesus: 17 Why then do the Hebrew Scriptures contain these words:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the very stone
that holds together the entire foundation?[a]
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to fragments, and if that stone falls on anyone, he will be ground to dust.
19 That was the last straw for the religious scholars and the chief priests; they were ready to attack Him right then and there. But they couldn’t for fear of public opinion, and they realized that Jesus, through this parable, had exposed their violent intentions.
Since they can’t use overt violence against Him, they develop a covert plan.
20 They would keep Him under constant surveillance. They would send spies, pretending to ask sincere questions, listening for something they could seize upon that would justify His arrest and condemnation under the governor’s authority.
In addition to the Pharisees, there is a religious sect in Roman-occupied Israel called the Sadducees. They are religious conservatives holding to an ancient tradition in Judaism that doesn’t believe in an afterlife. Their disbelief in an afterlife seems to make them conclude, “There’s only one life, and this is it, so you’d better play it safe.” That means they are very happy to collaborate with the Romans—and make a healthy profit—rather than risk any kind of rebellion or revolt. For this reason, they are closely allied with another group called the Herodians, allies of Caesar’s puppet king Herod. Their contemporaries, the Pharisees, who believe in an afterlife, are more prone to risk their lives in a rebellion since they hope martyrs will be rewarded with resurrection. For this reason, the Pharisees are closely allied with the Zealots, who are more overtly revolutionary. Each group tries to trap Jesus, but He turns the tables on them, using each encounter to shed more light on the message of the kingdom of God. In case after case, Jesus brings His hearers to the heart of the matter; and again and again, the bottom-line issue is money.
Chief Priests, Religious Scholars, and Elders: 21 Teacher, we respect You because You speak and teach only what is right, You show no partiality to anyone, and You truly teach the way of God. 22 So—is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar’s occupying regime, or should we refuse?
23 He saw through their transparent trick.
Jesus: [Why are you trying to trick Me?][b] 24 Show Me a coin. Whose image and name are on this coin?
Chief Priests, Religious Scholars, and Elders: Caesar’s.
Jesus: 25 Well then, you should give to Caesar whatever is Caesar’s, and you should give to God whatever is God’s.
26 Once again they failed to humiliate Him in public or catch Him in a punishable offense. They were confounded by His reply and couldn’t say anything in response.
27 Another group came to test Him—this time from the Sadducees, a rival party of the Pharisees, who believe that there is no resurrection.
Sadducees: 28 Teacher, Moses wrote in the Hebrew Scriptures that a man must marry his brother’s wife and the new couple should bear children for his brother if his brother dies without heirs.[c] 29 Well, once there were seven brothers, and the first took a wife and then died without fathering children. 30 The second [took her as his wife and then he died childless,][d] 31 and then the third, and so on through the seven. They all died leaving no children. 32 Finally the woman died too. 33 Here’s our question: in the resurrection, whose wife will she be, since all seven had her for a while? Will she be the wife of seven men at once?
Jesus: 34 The children of this era marry and are given in marriage, 35 but those who are considered worthy to attain the resurrection of the dead in the coming era do not marry and are not given in marriage. 36 They are beyond mortality; they are on the level of heavenly messengers; they are children of God and children of the resurrection. 37 Since you brought up the issue of resurrection, even Moses made clear in the passage about the burning bush that the dead are, in fact, raised. After all, he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.[e] 38 By Moses’ time, they were all dead, but God isn’t God of the dead, but of the living. So all live to God.
Religious Scholars: 39 Teacher, that was a good answer.
40 After this no one had the courage to ask Him any more questions. 41 But He asked them a question.
Jesus: How is it that people say the Anointed One is David’s descendant? 42 Don’t you remember how David himself wrote in the psalms,
The Master said to my master:
“Sit here at My right hand,
in the place of honor and power.
43 And I will gather Your enemies together,
lead them in on hands and knees,
and You will rest Your feet on their backs.”[f]
44 Did you hear that? David calls his son “Lord.” Elders don’t defer to those who are younger in that way. How is David’s son also “Lord”?
45 Jesus turned to His disciples, speaking loudly enough for the others to hear.
Jesus: 46 Beware of the religious scholars. They like to parade around in long robes. They love being greeted in the marketplaces. They love taking the best seats in the synagogues. They adore being seated around the head table at banquets. 47 But in their greed they rob widows of their houses and cover up their greed with long pretentious prayers. Their condemnation will be all the worse because of their hypocrisy.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.