M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Beginnings of Solomon’s Administration(A)
1 As David’s son Solomon consolidated[a] his administration,[b] the Lord his God was with him to make him very successful.[c] 2 Solomon addressed the entire nation of Israel, including the commanders of thousands and hundreds, the judges, all the other leaders of Israel, and all of the heads of the ancestral houses of Israel.
3 Solomon, along with the whole assembly with him, met at the high place in Gibeon because that’s where God’s Tent of Meeting that the Lord’s servant Moses had constructed in the wilderness was located. 4 Nevertheless, David had brought the Ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place that David had prepared for it, after having erected a tent for it in Jerusalem. 5 Also, the bronze altar that Uri’s son Bezalel, Hur’s grandson, had erected, was in place in front of the Lord’s tent. Solomon and the assembly sought the Lord[d] there. 6 Solomon approached the presence of the Lord at the bronze altar that had been placed at the Tent of Meeting and offered 1,000 burnt offerings on it.
Solomon Asks God for Wisdom
7 That very night God appeared to Solomon and told him, “Ask what I am to give you.”
8 Solomon replied to God, “You showed great gracious love to my father David, and have established me as king in his place. 9 Now, Lord God, your promise to my father David is fulfilled, because you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 Give me wisdom now, so I may go in and out among[e] this people, because who can rule this great people that belongs to you?
11 God told Solomon, “Since you had this in mind,[f] to ask neither to focus on riches, wealth, honor, or the lives of those who hate you, nor have you requested a long life, but instead you have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself, so that you may rule my people over whom I have established you as king, 12 wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. Furthermore, I will give you riches, wealth, and honor—such as none of the kings owned who lived before you and none after you are to ever attain their equal.”
Solomon’s Wealth(B)
13 So Solomon returned from the Tent of Meeting at the high place in Gibeon to Jerusalem, where he reigned over Israel. 14 Solomon amassed both chariots and horsemen: he owned 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, stationing them in armories[g] and with the king in Jerusalem. 15 The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and made cedar[h] trees as plentiful as sycamore[i] trees that grow in the Shephelah.[j] 16 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue; the king’s procurement officials obtained them from Kue at great[k] price. 17 Chariots were imported from Egypt for 600 shekels[l] each, and horses cost 150 shekels[m] each, and then they exported them to all of the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram.
Jesus, the Word of Life
1 What existed from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we observed and touched with our own hands—this is the[a] Word of life! 2 This life was revealed to us, and we have seen it and testify about it. We declare to you this eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us. 3 What we have seen and heard we declare to you so that you, too, can have fellowship with us. Now this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus, the Messiah.[b] 4 We are writing these things[c] so that our[d] joy may be full.
Living in the Light
5 This is the message that we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness—none at all! 6 If we claim that we have fellowship with him but keep living in darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth. 7 But if we keep living in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we do not have any sin, we are deceiving ourselves and we’re not being truthful to ourselves. 9 If we make it our habit to confess our sins, in his faithful righteousness he forgives us for those sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have never sinned, we make him a liar and his word has no place in us.
The Evil Behavior of the People
7 Poor me!
I feel like those who harvest summer fruit,
or like those who pick grapes—
there are no clusters to eat
or any fresh fruit that I want.
2 The faithful have died off,
and there is not one upright human being in the land.
They all stalk one another[a] with lethal intent,
a man will even hunt his own brother with a net.
3 And speaking of evil,
they practice it eagerly—with both hands!
Both leader and judge demand a bribe,
the famous confess their perverted desires,
and they scheme together.
4 The best of them is like a thorn,
and their most upright like a hedge of thorns.
The day announced by[b] your watchmen—
and by your own calculations—approaches.
Now it’s your time to be[c] confused!
5 Don’t trust your friends,
don’t confide in a companion,
watch what you say to your wife.[d]
6 The son disrespects his father,
the daughter rebels against her mother,
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law,
and a man’s enemies are the people of his own house.[e]
Micah Looks to God
7 But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
I will wait for the God who will deliver me.
My God will hear me.
8 Don’t be glad on my account, my enemy.
When I fall, I’ll get up.
Though I sit in darkness,
the Lord is a light for me.
9 I will endure the Lord’s anger—
since I have sinned against him—
until he takes over my defense,
administers justice on my behalf,
and brings me out to the light,
where I will gaze on his righteousness.
10 Then my enemy will observe it,
and shame will engulf the ones[f] who asked me,
‘Where is the Lord your God?’
My own eyes will see them,[g]
they[h] will be trampled on like mud in the streets.
A Word of Restoration
11 When the time comes[i] for rebuilding your walls,
that time[j] will surely be extended.[k]
12 At that time[l] armies[m] will invade you from Assyria,
from Egyptian cities to the Euphrates[n] River,
from sea to sea
and from mountain to mountain.
13 The land will become desolate
because of its inhabitants,
and as a result of their behavior.
14 Use your rod to shepherd your people,
the flock that belongs to you,
that lives alone in the forest of Carmel.
Let them find pasture in Bashan and Gilead,
as they did long ago.
15 As I did when[o] you came out of the land of Egypt,
I will show you[p] awesome things.
16 The nations will look on
and will be ashamed in spite of all their power;
they will cup their hands over their mouths,
and their ears will be deaf.
17 They will lick the dust like a serpent;
they will crawl from their strongholds like snakes.
They will fear the Lord our God.
They will be terrified because of you.
Who is like God?
18 Is there any God like you,
forgiving iniquity,
passing over transgressions by the survivors who are your[q] heritage?[r]
He is not angry forever,
because he delights in gracious love.
19 He will again show us compassion;
he will subdue our iniquities.
You will hurl all their sins into the deepest sea.
20 You will remain true to Jacob,
and merciful to Abraham,
as you promised our ancestors long ago.
The Parable about a Dishonest Manager
16 Now Jesus[a] was saying to the disciples, “A rich man had a servant manager who was accused of wasting his assets. 2 So he called for him and asked him, ‘What’s this I hear about you? You can’t be my manager any longer. Now give me a report about your management!’
3 “Then the servant manager told himself, ‘What should I do? My master is taking my position away from me. I’m not strong enough to plow, and I’m ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I’ll do so that people[b] will welcome me into their homes when I’m dismissed from my job.’
5 “So he called for each of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 The man replied, ‘A hundred jars of olive oil.’ The manager[c] told him, ‘Get your bill. Sit down quickly and write “50.”’ 7 Then he asked another debtor,[d] ‘How much do you owe?’ The man replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ The manager[e] told him, ‘Get your bill and write “80.”’ 8 The master praised the dishonest servant manager for being so clever, because worldly people[f] are more clever than enlightened people[g] in dealing with their own.[h]
9 “I’m telling you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails, they will welcome you into eternal homes.[i] 10 Whoever is faithful with very little is also faithful with a lot, and whoever is dishonest with very little is also dishonest with a lot. 11 So if you haven’t been faithful with unrighteous wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? 12 And if you haven’t been faithful with what belongs to foreigners, who will give you what is your own?
13 “No servant can serve two masters, because either he will hate one and love the other, or be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and wealth!”
The Law and the Kingdom of God(A)
14 Now the Pharisees, who love money, had been listening to all this and began to ridicule Jesus.[j] 15 So he told them, “You try to justify yourselves in front of people, but God knows your hearts, because what is highly valued by people is detestable to God.
16 “The Law and the Prophets were fulfilled[k] with John. Since then, the good news about the kingdom of God is being proclaimed, and everybody enters it enthusiastically.[l] 17 However, it is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for one stroke of a letter in the Law to be dropped. 18 Any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.”
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “Once there was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and live in great luxury every day. 20 A beggar named Lazarus, who was covered with sores, was brought to his gate. 21 He was always trying to satisfy his hunger with what fell[m] from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs used to come and lick his sores.
22 “One day, the beggar died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In the afterlife,[n] where he was in constant torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus by his side. 24 So he shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool off my tongue, because I am suffering in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham said, ‘My child, remember that during your lifetime you received blessings,[o] while Lazarus received hardships.[p] But now he is being comforted here, while you suffer. 26 Besides all this, a wide chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to cross from this side to you cannot do so, nor can they cross from your side to us.’
27 “The rich man[q] said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus[r] to my father’s house— 28 because I have five brothers—to warn them, so that they won’t end up in this place of torture, too.’
29 “Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets. They should listen to them!’
30 “But the rich man[s] replied, ‘No, father Abraham! But if someone from the dead went to them, they would repent.’
31 “Then Abraham[t] told him, ‘If your brothers[u] do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded, even if someone were to rise from the dead.’”
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