M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Construction of the Temple
6 In the four hundred eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month named Ziv,[a] which is the second month, Solomon began to build the house for the Lord.
2 The house which King Solomon built for the Lord was ninety feet long, thirty feet wide, and forty-five feet high.[b] 3 The porch[c] in front of the temple building[d] was thirty feet wide, the same as the width of the building. It extended out fifteen feet from the front of the building.
4 He made latticed windows[e] high on the walls of the building.
5 He added a structure along the outer walls of the building, all the way around the three sides of the building. It was built against the walls of both the front room[f] and the inner room[g] of the sanctuary. In this structure he constructed three levels of storage rooms, all the way around the building. 6 The width of the rooms on the lowest story was seven and a half feet. The rooms of the middle story were nine feet wide, and the rooms of the third story were ten and a half feet wide, because he had built three receding ledges into the outside wall of the temple building all the way around, so that the floor beams of each story would not have to be inserted into the walls of the main building.
7 While the building was under construction, only stones that had been finished at the quarry were used in the building. No hammer or chisel or any other iron tool was heard in the building while it was under construction. 8 The entrance into the lowest story[h] of the side rooms was on the south side[i] of the building. Winding stairs[j] went up to the middle floor, and also from the middle floor to the third floor. 9 So Solomon finished building the house, and he covered[k] the house with beams and planks of cedar. 10 He built the floors for the storerooms that were all around the house. Each story was seven and a half feet high. Each story was supported by cedar timbers which rested on the receding ledges constructed along the walls of the building.[l]
11 The word of the Lord came to Solomon. He said, 12 “In regard to this house which you are building, if you walk according to my statutes and carry out my ordinances and keep all my commands by walking according to them, you will be the one through whom I will fulfill my promise which I spoke to your father David. 13 I will dwell among the descendants of Israel, and I will not forsake my people Israel.”
14 So Solomon finished building the house. 15 He paneled the inside walls of the building with cedar boards, from the floor of the building to the rafters[m] of the ceiling. He covered the inside walls with wood. He also covered the floor of the building with boards of fir wood.
16 Thirty feet from the back wall of the building he built a wall of cedar boards from the floor to the ceiling. He built this wall inside the building to create an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.
17 The front part of the building became a main room sixty feet long. 18 Gourds[n] and open flowers were carved into the cedar on the inside of the building. Everything was covered with cedar. No stone was visible.
19 He prepared the inner room of the sanctuary inside the building as a place to set the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. 20 The inner sanctuary was thirty feet long, thirty feet wide, and thirty feet high, and he overlaid it with pure gold.
He also overlaid the cedar altar with gold. 21 So Solomon covered the inside of the building with pure gold. He stretched gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, and he overlaid the sanctuary with gold. 22 He overlaid the whole building with gold, until the whole building had been covered. He also overlaid the whole altar, which was in front of the inner sanctuary, with gold.
The Cherubim
23 For the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim[o] of olive wood. Each one was fifteen feet tall. 24 Seven and a half feet was the length of one wing of a cherub, and seven and a half feet was the length of the other wing of a cherub. The distance from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other was fifteen feet.[p] 25 The other cherub also was fifteen feet wide. Both of the cherubim were the same size and looked the same. 26 One cherub was fifteen feet tall, and so was the other cherub. 27 He set the cherubim inside the inner sanctuary of the house. The wings of the cherubim were stretched out, so that the outer wing of the first one touched the wall, and the outer wing of the other cherub touched the opposite wall, and their wings touched one another in the middle of the room. 28 He overlaid the cherubim with gold.
29 He decorated the walls on all sides of both rooms of the building with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. 30 He overlaid the floor of the building with gold in both the inner and outer rooms.
The Doors
31 For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, he made olive wood doors with five-sided frames.[q] 32 He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold. He shaped sheets of hammered gold to cover the cherubim and the palm trees.
33 He did the same for the entrance to the front room. It had door posts of olive wood that were four-sided 34 and two doors of fir wood. The door on one side was made with two folding leaves, and the door on the other side was made with two folding leaves. 35 He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on them, and he overlaid them with gold leaf, shaped to the carvings.
The Courtyard
36 He built the inner courtyard with three courses of cut stone and one course of cedar beams.
37 The foundation of the Lord’s house was laid in the fourth year, in the month named Ziv.[r] 38 In the eleventh year, in the month named Bul,[s] which is the eighth month, all the parts of the house were finished according to all its specifications. Solomon had spent seven years building it.
The Mystery of the Gospel Revealed
3 For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—[a]
2 Surely you have heard of the administration of God’s grace given to me for you, 3 namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation (as I have already written briefly). 4 When you read this, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ. 5 This mystery was not made known to people in past generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that in Christ Jesus the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and people who also share in the promise through the gospel.
7 I became a servant of this gospel, in keeping with the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of his power. 8 To me—even though I am the very least of all the saints—was given this grace: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ 9 and to enlighten everyone about the administration of this mystery. In past ages this mystery remained hidden in God, who created all things. 10 He did this so that, through the church, the multifaceted wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was done according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him we can freely approach God with confidence through faith in him. 13 So I ask you not to lose heart because of what I am suffering for you, because it is your glory.
Paul’s Prayer and Praise
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,[b] 15 from whom the entire family in heaven and on earth receives its name. 16 I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he would strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner self, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 I pray that you would be able to comprehend, along with all the saints, how wide and long and high and deep his love is, 19 and that you would be able to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled to all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him, who is able, according to the power that is at work within us, to do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine, 21 to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.
Prophesy Against the Mountains
36 Now you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say this.
Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord.
2 This is what the Lord God says.
Because the enemy said about you, “Aha! At last! The ancient heights have become our possession,” 3 you are to prophesy and say, “This is what the Lord God says.”
Because they have devastated and crushed you from all sides, so that you would become the possession of the rest of the nations and a subject of people’s gossip and slander, 4 therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. This is what the Lord God says to the mountains, hills, valleys, ravines, desolate ruins, and abandoned cities, which have become a source of plunder and are subjected to ridicule by the rest of the nations all around.
5 So, this is what the Lord God says. Without fail, in my fiery zeal I am speaking against the rest of the nations and against all of Edom, because they took my land as their own with whole-hearted glee and deep-seated contempt, and they occupied its pastureland. 6 Therefore, prophesy about the land of Israel and say to the mountains, hills, valleys, and ravines: This is what the Lord God says. In my zeal and wrath I am speaking because you have endured the taunts of the nations.
7 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says. I swear with an uplifted hand that the nations all around you will endure taunts against them. 8 But you, O mountains of Israel, will shoot forth your branches and bear your fruit for my people Israel, because they will soon come back. 9 Yes, I am on your side. I will look on you with favor, and your land will be cultivated and planted. 10 I will multiply people for you, for the whole house of Israel, all of it. The cities will be resettled and the ruins rebuilt. 11 I will multiply both people and animals on you. They will multiply and be fruitful. I will resettle you as you were in earlier times and do more good for you than I did when you began. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 12 I will cause people, my people Israel, to walk over you. They will take possession of you. You will become their inheritance, and never again will you deprive them of their children.
13 This is what the Lord God says. Because some people say to you, “You devour your people and keep on depriving your nations[a] of their children,” 14 therefore, you will no longer devour your people or deprive your nations of their children, declares the Lord God. 15 No longer will I let you hear the taunts of the nations or endure the scorn of the peoples. Never again will you deprive your nations of their children, declares the Lord God.
The Lord Will Sprinkle His People
16 The word of the Lord came to me.
17 Son of man, when the house of Israel was living on their own soil, they defiled it by their conduct and by their actions. To me their conduct was as unclean as the blood of a woman’s period. 18 So I poured out my wrath on them because of the blood they had poured on the ground and because of the filthy idols[b] with which they had defiled it, 19 and I scattered them among the nations so that they were dispersed among the countries. On the basis of their conduct and their actions I judged them. 20 Then when they came to the various nations, they profaned my holy name when people said about them, “These are the people of the Lord, but they had to leave his land.” 21 So I was concerned about my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the various nations to which they had come.
22 Therefore, say this to the house of Israel. This is what the Lord God says. I am about to act, O house of Israel, not for your sake, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you have gone. 23 I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when I reveal myself as holy in front of their eyes through you. 24 I will take you from among the nations. I will gather you from all the lands, and I will bring you to your own soil. 25 I will sprinkle purifying water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurity and from all your filthy idols.
The Lord Will Give His People a New Heart
26 Then I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit inside you. I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put my Spirit within you and will cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will carefully observe my ordinances. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your fathers. You will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your impurity. I will summon the grain and make it plentiful. I will not bring famine upon you. 30 I will increase the fruit on the trees and the produce in the fields, so that you will never again suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves on account of your guilty deeds and your abominations. 32 It is not for your sake that I am about to act, declares the Lord God. Let this be known to you! Be ashamed and embarrassed because of your ways, O house of Israel.
33 This is what the Lord God says. On the day that I cleanse you from all your guilty deeds, I will resettle your cities, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of remaining desolate in the sight of every passerby. 35 People will say, “This land that was devastated has become like the Garden of Eden, and the cities that were ruined, desolate, and destroyed are now fortified and inhabited.” 36 Then the nations that remain around you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the places that were destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it.
37 This is what the Lord God says. I will also allow the house of Israel to ask me to do this for them. I will multiply them so their people are like flocks. 38 Like flocks consecrated for sacrifice, like the flocks of Jerusalem on its festival days, so the ruined cities will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
Psalm 86
Guard My Life
Heading
A prayer by David.
David’s Need and David’s Faith
1 Turn your ear, O Lord.
Answer me, for I am poor and needy.
2 Guard my life, for I am favored by you.[a]
You are my God.
Save your servant, who trusts in you.
3 Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for I call to you all day long.
4 Bring joy to the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
God’s Grace
5 Indeed, you, Lord, are good and forgiving
and abounding in mercy to all who call to you.
6 Give ear to my prayer, O Lord.
Pay attention to the sound of my cries for mercy.
God’s Ruling Power
7 In the day of my distress I will call to you,
because you will answer me.
8 There is no one like you among the gods, O Lord.
There are no deeds like your deeds.
9 All the nations you have made will come.
They will bow before you, O Lord,
and they will give glory to your name,
10 because you are great and do marvelous deeds.
You alone are God.
God’s Praise
11 Teach me your way, O Lord.
I will walk in your truth.
Give me wholehearted commitment to fear your name.
12 I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
and I will glorify your name forever.
13 For great is your mercy toward me,
and you have delivered my soul from “the lowest hell.”[b]
The Plea Repeated
14 God, the arrogant rise against me.
A mob of ruthless men seeks my life.
They pay no attention to you.
15 But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in mercy and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and have mercy on me.
Give your strength to your servant.
Save the son of your maidservant.
17 Give a sign of your goodness for me.
Then those who hate me will see it and be put to shame,
because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.