M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

David’s Plans for the Temple

28 David asked all the officials of Israel to come together at Jerusalem. He sent for the officers who were over the tribes. He sent for the commanders of the military groups who served the king. He sent for the commanders of thousands of men and commanders of hundreds. He sent for the officials who were in charge of all the royal property and livestock. They belonged to the king and his sons. He sent for the palace officials and the warriors. He also sent for all the brave fighting men.

² King David stood up. He said, “All of you Israelites, listen to me. With all my heart I wanted to build a house for the Lord. I wanted it to be a place of peace and rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord. The ark is the stool for our God’s feet. I made plans to build the Lord’s house. ³ But God said to me, ‘You are not the one who will build a house for my Name. That is because you are a fighting man. You have spilled people’s blood.’

⁴ “But the Lord chose me. He is the God of Israel. He chose me from my whole family to be king over Israel forever. He chose Judah to lead the tribes. From the tribe of Judah he chose my family. From my father’s sons he chose me. He was pleased to make me king over the whole nation of Israel. ⁵ The Lord has given me many sons. From all of them he has chosen my son Solomon. He wants Solomon to sit on the throne of the Lord’s kingdom. He wants him to rule over Israel. ⁶ The Lord said to me, ‘Your son Solomon is the one who will build my house and my courtyards. I have chosen him to be my son. And I will be his father. ⁷ I will make his kingdom secure. It will last forever. That will happen if he continues to obey my commands and laws. He must continue to obey them, just as he is doing now.’

⁸ “So I’m giving you a command in the sight of all the people of Israel. The Lord’s community is watching. And our God is listening. I command you to be careful to follow all the commands of the Lord your God. Then you will own this good land. You will pass it on to your children after you as their share forever.

⁹ “My son Solomon, always remember the God of your father. Serve him with all your heart. Do it with a mind that wants to obey him. The Lord looks deep down inside every heart. He understands every desire and every thought. If you look to him, you will find him. But if you desert him, he will turn his back on you forever. ¹⁰ Think about it. The Lord has chosen you to build a house as a holy place where he can live. So be strong. Get to work.”

¹¹ Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the porch of the temple. He gave him the plans for its buildings and its storerooms. He gave him the plans for its upper parts and its inside rooms. He gave him the plans for the place where sin is paid for and forgiven. ¹² He gave him the plans for everything the Spirit of the Lord had put in his mind. There were plans for the courtyards of the Lord’s temple. There were plans for all the rooms around it. There were plans for the places where the treasure of God’s temple would be kept. There were plans for the places where the things set apart for God would be kept. ¹³ David told Solomon how to separate the priests and Levites into groups. He gave him directions for all the work they should do when they served in the Lord’s temple. David also showed Solomon how all the objects should be used at the temple. ¹⁴ Different things were used for different purposes. David told Solomon how much gold should be used for each gold object. He also told him how much silver should be used for each silver object. ¹⁵ He told him how much gold should be used to make each gold lampstand and its lamps. He told him how much silver should be used to make each silver lampstand and its lamps. The amount depended on how each lampstand would be used. ¹⁶ David told Solomon how much gold should be used to make each table for holy bread. He told him how much silver should be used to make the silver tables. ¹⁷ He told him how much pure gold should be used to make the forks, sprinkling bowls and pitchers. He told him how much gold should be used to make each gold dish. He told him how much silver should be used to make each silver dish. ¹⁸ And David told Solomon how much pure gold should be used to make the altar for burning incense. He also gave Solomon the plan for the chariot of the gold cherubim. The cherubim spread their wings over the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

¹⁹ David said, “I have written everything down. I wrote it all down as the Lord guided me. He helped me understand every part of the plan.”

²⁰ David also said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and brave. Get to work. Don’t be afraid. Don’t lose hope. The Lord God is my God. He is with you. He won’t fail you. He won’t desert you until all the work for serving in the Lord’s temple is finished. ²¹ The groups of the priests and Levites are ready to do all the work on God’s temple. Every person who is willing and skilled can help you do all the work. The officials and all the people will obey every command you give them.”

False Teachers Will Be Destroyed

2 But there were also false prophets among the people. In the same way there will be false teachers among you. In secret they will bring in teachings that will destroy you. They will even turn against the Lord and Master who died to pay for their sins. So they will quickly destroy themselves. ² Many people will follow their lead. These people will do the same evil things the false teachers do. They will cause people to think badly about the way of truth. ³ These teachers are never satisfied. They want to get something out of you. So they make up stories to take advantage of you. They have been under a sentence of death for a long time. The God who will destroy them has not been sleeping.

⁴ God did not spare angels when they sinned. Instead, he sent them to hell. He chained them up in dark prisons. He will keep them there until he judges them. ⁵ God did not spare the world’s ungodly people long ago. He brought the flood on them. But Noah preached about the right way to live. God kept him safe. He also saved seven others. ⁶ God judged the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He burned them to ashes. He made them an example of what is going to happen to ungodly people. ⁷ God saved Lot, a man who did what was right. Lot was shocked by the evil conduct of people who didn’t obey God’s laws. ⁸ That good man lived among them day after day. He saw and heard the evil things they were doing. They were breaking God’s laws. And the godly spirit of Lot was deeply troubled. ⁹ Since all this is true, then the Lord knows how to save godly people. He knows how to keep them safe in times of testing. The Lord also knows how to keep ungodly people under guard. He will do so until the day they will be judged and punished. ¹⁰ Most of all, this is true of people who follow desires that come from sin’s power. These people hate to be under authority.

They are bold and proud. So they aren’t even afraid to speak evil things against heavenly beings. ¹¹ Now angels are stronger and more powerful than these people. But even angels don’t speak evil things against heavenly beings. They don’t do this when they bring judgment on them from the Lord. ¹² These people speak evil about things they don’t understand. They are like wild animals who can’t think. Instead, they do what comes naturally to them. They are born only to be caught and destroyed. Just like animals, these people too will die.

¹³ They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to have wild parties in the middle of the day. They are like dirty spots and stains. They enjoy their sinful pleasures while they eat with you. ¹⁴ They stare at women who are not their wives. They want to sleep with them. They never stop sinning. They trap those who are not firm in their faith. They have mastered the art of getting what they want. God has placed them under his judgment. ¹⁵ They have left God’s way. They have wandered off. They follow the way of Balaam, son of Beor. He loved to get paid for doing his evil work. ¹⁶ But a donkey corrected him for the wrong he did. Animals don’t speak. But the donkey spoke with a human voice. It tried to stop the prophet from doing a very dumb thing.

¹⁷ These people are like springs without water. They are like mists driven by a storm. The blackest darkness is reserved for them. ¹⁸ They speak empty, bragging words. They make their appeal to the evil desires that come from sin’s power. They tempt new believers who are just escaping from the company of sinful people. ¹⁹ They promise to give freedom to these new believers. But they themselves are slaves to sinful living. That’s because “people are slaves to anything that controls them.” ²⁰ They may have escaped the sin of the world. They may have come to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But what if they are once again caught up in sin? And what if it has become their master? Then they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. ²¹ Suppose they had not known the way of godliness. This would have been better than to know godliness and then turn away from it. The way of godliness is the sacred command passed on to them. ²² What the proverbs say about them is true. “A dog returns to where it has thrown up.” (Proverbs 26:11) And, “A pig that is washed goes back to rolling in the mud.”

A Promised Ruler Will Come From Bethlehem

² The Lord says,

Jesus Eats at a Pharisee’s House

14 One Sabbath day, Jesus went to eat in the house of a well-known Pharisee. While he was there, he was being carefully watched. ² In front of him was a man whose body was badly swollen. ³ Jesus turned to the Pharisees and the authorities on the law. He asked them, “Is it breaking the Law to heal on the Sabbath day?” ⁴ But they remained silent. So Jesus took hold of the man and healed him. Then he sent him away.

⁵ He asked them another question. He said, “Suppose one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day. Wouldn’t you pull it out right away?” ⁶ And they had nothing to say.

⁷ Jesus noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table. So he told them a story. ⁸ He said, “Suppose someone invites you to a wedding feast. Do not take the place of honor. A person more important than you may have been invited. ⁹ If so, the host who invited both of you will come to you. He will say, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then you will be filled with shame. You will have to take the least important place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, take the lowest place. Then your host will come over to you. He will say, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests. ¹¹ All those who lift themselves up will be made humble. And those who make themselves humble will be lifted up.”

¹² Then Jesus spoke to his host. “Suppose you give a lunch or a dinner,” he said. “Do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, or your relatives, or your rich neighbors. If you do, they may invite you to eat with them. So you will be paid back. ¹³ But when you give a banquet, invite those who are poor. Also invite those who can’t see or walk. ¹⁴ Then you will be blessed. Your guests can’t pay you back. But you will be paid back when those who are right with God rise from the dead.”

The Story of the Great Banquet

¹⁵ One of the people at the table with Jesus heard him say those things. So he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in God’s kingdom.”

¹⁶ Jesus replied, “A certain man was preparing a great banquet. He invited many guests. ¹⁷ Then the day of the banquet arrived. He sent his servant to those who had been invited. The servant told them, ‘Come. Everything is ready now.’

¹⁸ “But they all had the same idea. They began to make excuses. The first one said, ‘I have just bought a field. I have to go and see it. Please excuse me.’

¹⁹ “Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen. I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’

²⁰ “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’

²¹ “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry. He ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the town. Bring in those who are poor. Also bring those who can’t see or walk.’

²² “ ‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done. But there is still room.’

²³ “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads. Go out to the country lanes. Make the people come in. I want my house to be full. ²⁴ I tell you, not one of those people who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’ ”

The Cost of Being a Disciple

²⁵ Large crowds were traveling with Jesus. He turned and spoke to them. He said, ²⁶ “Anyone who comes to me must hate their father and mother. They must hate their wife and children. They must hate their brothers and sisters. And they must hate even their own life. Unless they do this, they can’t be my disciple. ²⁷ Whoever doesn’t carry their cross and follow me can’t be my disciple.

²⁸ “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you sit down first and figure out how much it will cost? Then you will see whether you have enough money to finish it. ²⁹ Suppose you start building and are not able to finish. Then everyone who sees what you have done will laugh at you. ³⁰ They will say, ‘This person started to build but wasn’t able to finish.’

³¹ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. And suppose he has 10,000 men, while the other has 20,000 coming against him. Won’t he first sit down and think about whether he can win? ³² And suppose he decides he can’t win. Then he will send some men to ask how peace can be made. He will do this while the other king is still far away. ³³ In the same way, you must give up everything you have. Those of you who don’t cannot be my disciple.

³⁴ “Salt is good. But suppose it loses its saltiness. How can it be made salty again? ³⁵ It is not good for the soil. And it is not good for the trash pile. It will be thrown out.

“Whoever has ears should listen.”