M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon
(2 Chronicles 9.1-12)
10 (A) The Queen of Sheba heard how famous Solomon was, so she went to Jerusalem to test him with difficult questions. 2 She took along several of her officials, and she loaded her camels with gifts of spices, jewels, and gold. When she arrived, she and Solomon talked about everything she could think of. 3 He answered every question, no matter how difficult it was.
4-5 The Queen was amazed at Solomon's wisdom. She was breathless when she saw his palace, the food on his table, his officials, his servants in their uniforms, the people who served his food, and the sacrifices he offered at the Lord's temple. 6 She said:
Solomon, in my own country I had heard about your wisdom and all you've done. 7 But I didn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes! And there's so much I didn't hear about. You are wiser and richer than I was told. 8 Your wives[a] and officials are lucky to be here where they can listen to the wise things you say.
9 I praise the Lord your God. He is pleased with you and has made you king of Israel. The Lord has always loved Israel, so he has given them a king who will rule fairly and honestly.
10 The Queen of Sheba gave Solomon more than four tons of gold, many jewels, and more spices than anyone had ever brought into Israel.
11-13 In return, Solomon gave her the gifts he would have given any other ruler, but he also gave her everything else she wanted. Then she and her officials went back to their own country.
Solomon's Wealth
(2 Chronicles 9.13-28)
King Hiram's ships brought gold, juniper wood, and jewels from the country of Ophir. Solomon used the wood to make steps[b] for the temple and palace, and harps and other stringed instruments for the musicians. It was the best juniper wood anyone in Israel had ever seen.
14 Solomon received almost 23 tons of gold a year. 15 The merchants and traders, as well as the kings of Arabia and rulers from Israel, also gave him gold.
16 Solomon made 200 gold shields and used almost seven kilograms of gold for each one. 17 He also made 300 smaller gold shields, using almost two kilograms for each one, and he put the shields in his palace in Forest Hall.
18 His throne was made of ivory and covered with pure gold. 19-20 The back of the throne was rounded at the top, and it had armrests on each side. There was a statue of a lion on both sides of the throne, and there was a statue of a lion at both ends of each of the six steps leading up to the throne. No other throne in the world was like Solomon's.
21 Since silver was almost worthless in those days, everything was made of gold, even the cups and dishes used in Forest Hall.
22 Solomon had a lot of seagoing ships.[c] Every three years he sent them out with Hiram's ships to bring back gold, silver, and ivory, as well as monkeys and peacocks.[d]
23 He was the richest and wisest king in the world. 24 People from every nation wanted to hear the wisdom God had given him. 25 Year after year people came and brought gifts of silver and gold, as well as clothes, weapons, spices, horses, or mules.
26 (B) Solomon had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses that he kept in Jerusalem and other towns.
27 (C) While he was king, there was silver everywhere in Jerusalem, and cedar was as common as ordinary sycamore trees in the foothills.
28-29 (D) Solomon's merchants bought his horses and chariots in the regions of Musri and Kue.[e] They paid 600 pieces of silver for a chariot and 150 pieces of silver for a horse. They also sold horses and chariots to the Hittite and Syrian kings.
1 (A) From Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus.
To all God's people who belong to Christ Jesus at Philippi and to all your bishops and deacons.
2 I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!
Paul's Prayer for the Church in Philippi
3 Every time I think of you, I thank my God. 4 And whenever I mention you in my prayers, it makes me happy. 5 This is because you have taken part with me in spreading the good news from the first day you heard about it. 6 God is the one who began this good work in you, and I am certain that he won't stop before it is complete on the day that Christ Jesus returns.
7 You have a special place in my heart. So it is only natural for me to feel the way I do. All of you have helped in the work God has given me, as I defend the good news and tell about it here in jail. 8 God himself knows how much I want to see you. He knows I care for you in the same way Christ Jesus does.
9 I pray that your love will keep on growing and you will fully know and understand 10 how to make the right choices. Then you will still be pure and innocent when Christ returns. And until that day, 11 Jesus Christ will keep you busy doing good deeds that bring glory and praise to God.
What Life Means to Paul
12 My dear friends, I want you to know that what has happened to me has helped to spread the good news. 13 (B) The Roman guards and all the others know I am here in jail because I serve Christ. 14 Now most of the Lord's followers have become brave and are fearlessly telling the message.[a]
15 Some are preaching about Christ because they are jealous and envious of us. Others are preaching because they want to help. 16 They love Christ and know I am here to defend the good news about him. 17 But the ones who are jealous of us are not sincere. They just want to cause trouble for me while I am in jail. 18 But that doesn't matter. All that matters is that people are telling about Christ, whether they are sincere or not. This is what makes me glad.
I will keep on being glad, 19 because I know that your prayers and the help that comes from the Spirit of Christ Jesus will keep me safe. 20 I honestly expect and hope I will never do anything to be ashamed of. Whether I live or die, I always want to be as brave as I am now and bring honor to Christ.
21 If I live, it will be for Christ, and if I die, I will gain even more. 22 I don't know what to choose. I could keep on living and doing something useful. 23 It is a hard choice to make. I want to die and be with Christ, because this would be much better. 24-25 But I know that all of you still need me. This is why I am sure I will stay on to help you grow and be happy in your faith. 26 Then, when I visit you again, you will have good reason to take great pride in Christ Jesus because of me.[b]
27 Above all else, you must live in a way that brings honor to the good news about Christ. Then, whether I visit you or not, I will hear that all of you think alike. I will know that you are working together and are struggling side by side to get others to believe the good news.
28 Be brave when you face your enemies. Your courage will show them that they are going to be destroyed, and it will show you that you will be saved. God will make all of this happen, 29 and he has blessed you. Not only do you have faith in Christ, but you suffer for him. 30 (C) You saw me suffer, and you still hear about my troubles. Now you must suffer in the same way.
Ezekiel Sees the Future Temple in Jerusalem
40 1-2 (A) Twenty-five years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, and 14 years after the Babylonians had captured Jerusalem, the Lord's power took control of me on the tenth day of the first month.[a] The Lord showed me some visions in which I was carried to the top of a high mountain in Jerusalem. I looked to the south and saw what looked like a city full of buildings. 3 (B) In my vision the Lord took me closer, and I saw a man who was sparkling like polished bronze. He was standing near one of the gates and was holding a tape measure in one hand and a measuring stick in the other. 4 The man said, “Ezekiel, son of man, pay close attention to everything I'm going to show you—that's why you've been brought here. Listen carefully, because you must tell the people of Israel what you see.”
The East Gate
5 (C) The first thing I saw was an outer wall that completely surrounded the temple area. The man took his measuring stick, which was three meters long, and measured the wall; it was three meters high and three meters thick. 6-7 Then he went to the east gate, where he walked up steps that led to a long passageway. On each side of this passageway were three guardrooms, which were three meters square, and they were separated by walls two and a half meters thick. The man measured the distance between the opening of the gate and the first guardroom, and it was three meters, the thickness of the outer wall.
At the far end of this passageway, I saw an entrance room that faced the courtyard of the temple itself. There was also a distance of three meters between the last guardroom and the entrance room 8-9 at the end of the passageway. The man measured this room: It was four meters from the doorway to the opposite wall, and the distance from the doorway to the wall on either side was one meter. 10 The three guardrooms on each side of the passageway were the same size, and the walls that separated them were the same thickness.
11 Next, the man measured the width of the passageway, and it was six and a half meters, but the two doors of the gate were only five meters wide.[b] 12 In front of the guardrooms, which were three meters square, was a railing about 50 centimeters high and 50 centimeters thick. 13 The man measured the distance from the back wall[c] of one of these rooms to the same spot in the room directly across the passageway, and it was twelve and a half meters. 14 He measured the entrance room at the far end of the passageway, and it was ten meters wide.[d] 15 Finally, he measured the total length of the passageway, from the outer wall to the entrance room, and it was 25 meters. 16 The three walls in the guardrooms had small windows in them, just like the ones in the entrance room.[e] The walls along the passageway were decorated with carvings of palm trees.
The Outer Courtyard
17 The man then led me through the passageway and into the outer courtyard of the temple, where I saw 30 rooms built around the outside of the courtyard.[f] These side rooms were built against the outer wall, and in front of them was a sidewalk that circled the courtyard. 18 This was known as the lower sidewalk, and it was 25 meters wide.
19 I saw the gates that led to the inner courtyard of the temple and noticed that they were higher than those leading to the outer courtyard. The man measured the distance between the outer and inner gates, and it was 50 meters.[g]
The North Gate
20 Next, the man measured the north gate that led to the outer courtyard. 21 This gate also had three guardrooms on each side of a passageway. The measurements of these rooms, the walls between them, and the entrance room at the far end of the passageway were exactly the same as those of the east gate. The north gate was also 25 meters long and 12.5 meters wide, 22 and the windows, the entrance room, and the carvings of palm trees were just like those in the east gate. The entrance room also faced the courtyard of the temple and had seven steps leading up to it. 23 Directly across the outer courtyard was a gate that led to the inner courtyard, just as there was for the east gate. The man measured the distance between the outer and inner gate, and it was 50 meters.
The South Gate
24 The man then took me to the south gate. He measured the walls and the entrance room of this gate, and the measurements were exactly the same as those of the other two gates. 25 There were windows in the guardrooms of this gate and in the entrance room, just like the others, and this gate was also 25 meters long and 12.5 meters wide. 26 Seven steps led up to the gate; the entrance room was at the far end of the passageway and faced the courtyard of the temple. Carvings of palm trees decorated the walls along the passageway. 27 And directly across the outer courtyard was a gate on the south side of the inner courtyard. The man measured the distance between the outer and inner gate, and it was also 50 meters.
The Gates Leading to the Inner Courtyard
28 We then went into the inner courtyard, through the gate on the south side of the temple. The man measured the gate, and it was the same size as the gates in the outer wall. 29-30 In fact, everything along the passageway was also the same size, including the guardrooms, the walls separating them, the entrance room at the far end, and the windows. This gate, like the others, was 25 meters long and 12.5 meters wide. 31 The entrance room of this gate faced the outer courtyard, and carvings of palm trees decorated the walls of the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate.
32 Next, we went through the east gate to the inner courtyard. The man measured this gate, and it was the same size as the others. 33 The guardrooms, the walls separating them, and its entrance room had the same measurements as the other gates. The guardrooms and the entrance room had windows, and the gate was 25 meters long and 12.5 meters wide. 34 The entrance room faced the outer courtyard, and the walls in the passageway were decorated with carvings of palm trees. Eight steps also led up to this gate.
35 Then the man took me to the north gate. He measured it, and it was the same size as the others, 36 including the guardrooms, the walls separating them, and the entrance room. There were also windows in this gate. It was 25 meters long and 12.5 meters wide, 37 and like the other inner gates, its entrance room faced the outer courtyard, and its walls were decorated with carvings of palm trees. Eight steps also led up to this gate.
The Rooms for Sacrificing Animals
38-39 Inside the entrance room of the north gate, I saw four tables, two on each side of the room, where the animals to be sacrificed were killed. Just outside[h] this room was a small building used for washing the animals before they were offered as sacrifices to please the Lord[i] or sacrifices for sin[j] or sacrifices to make things right.[k] 40 Four more tables were in the outer courtyard, two on each side of the steps leading into the entrance room. 41 So there was a total of eight tables, four inside and four outside, where the animals were killed, 42-43 and where the meat was placed until it was sacrificed on the altar.[l]
Next to the tables in the entrance room were four stone tables 50 centimeters high and 75 centimeters square; the equipment used for killing the animals was kept on top of these tables. All around the walls of this room was a 75-millimeter shelf.[m]
The Rooms Belonging to the Priests
44 The man then took me to the inner courtyard, where I saw two buildings, one beside the inner gate on the north and the other beside the inner gate on the south.[n] 45 He said, “The building beside the north gate belongs to the priests who serve in the temple, 46 and the building beside the south gate belongs to those who serve at the altar. All of them are descendants of Zadok and are the only Levites allowed to serve as the Lord's priests.”
The Inner Courtyard and the Temple
47 Now the man measured the inner courtyard; it was 50 meters square. I also saw an altar in front of the temple.
48 We walked to the porch of the temple, and the man measured the doorway of the porch: It was seven meters long,[o] two and a half meters wide, and the distance from the doorway to the wall on either side was one and a half meters. 49 The porch itself was ten meters by six[p] meters, with steps[q] leading up to it. There was a column on each side of these steps.
The Lord Is My Fortress
1 Live under the protection
of God Most High
and stay in the shadow
of God All-Powerful.
2 Then you will say to the Lord,
“You are my fortress,
my place of safety;
you are my God,
and I trust you.”
3 The Lord will keep you safe
from secret traps
and deadly diseases.
4 He will spread his wings
over you
and keep you secure.
His faithfulness is like
a shield or a city wall.[a]
5 You won't need to worry
about dangers at night
or arrows during the day.
6 And you won't fear diseases
that strike in the dark
or sudden disaster at noon.
7 You will not be harmed,
though thousands fall
all around you.
8 And with your own eyes
you will see the punishment
of the wicked.
9 The Lord Most High
is your fortress.
Run to him for safety,
10 and no terrible disasters
will strike you
or your home.
11 (A) God will command his angels
to protect you
wherever you go.
12 (B) They will carry you
in their arms,
and you won't hurt your feet
on the stones.
13 (C) You will overpower
the strongest lions
and the most deadly snakes.
14 The Lord says, “If you love me
and truly know who I am,
I will rescue you
and keep you safe.
15 When you are in trouble,
call out to me.
I will answer and be there
to protect and honor you.
16 You will live a long life
and see my saving power.”
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