M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Solomon’s House

7 Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all of it. ² He built the house of the trees of Lebanon. It was as long as fifty long steps, as wide as twenty-five long steps, and eight times taller than a man. It was built on four rows of cedar pillars, and large pieces of cedar wood lying on top of the pillars. ³ And it was covered with cedar above the rooms that were on the forty-five pillars, fifteen in each row. ⁴ There were three rows of special windows on one side, and three rows of windows on the other side. ⁵ All the doors and windows were as high as they were wide. And there were three rows of windows on each side. ⁶ Then he made a room for walking through of large pillars. It was as long as twenty-five long steps, and as wide as fifteen long steps. There was a porch in front with pillars, and an overhead covering in front of them. ⁷ He made a room for the throne, the room for judging. It was where he would decide between right and wrong. It was covered with cedar from the floor to the roof. ⁸ His own house where he was to live, in the place behind the throne room, was built the same way. Solomon made a house like this room for Pharaoh’s daughter also, whom he had married.

⁹ All these were made with stones of much worth, each one cut to be put into place. They were cut with saws, inside and outside, from the very base to the top of the roof, and from the outside to the largest room.

¹⁰ The base of the building was made with large stones of much worth. The stones were as long as five long steps, and four long steps. ¹¹ Above this were stones of much worth, cut to go well into place, and cedar. ¹² The largest room had three rows of cut stone around it, and a row of cedar pieces. The same was around the open space in the house of the Lord, and the porch of the house.

Hiram—the Able Workman

¹³ Now King Solomon brought Hiram from Tyre. ¹⁴ Hiram was the son of a woman whose husband had died, from the family of Naphtali. His father was a man of Tyre, who worked with brass. He was filled with wisdom and understanding and much learning for doing any work with brass. So he came to King Solomon, and did all his work.

The Two Brass Pillars

¹⁵ He made the two pillars of brass. One of them was five times taller than a man. And the length around each of them was as far as six long steps. ¹⁶ He made two top pieces of melted brass to set on the tops of the pillars. One piece to go on top was as tall as a man can raise his hand. And the other piece to go on top was as tall as a man can raise his hand. ¹⁷ He made nets of network and turned strings of chain-work for the pieces on top of the pillars. There were seven for one top piece, and seven for the other. ¹⁸ So Hiram made the pillars. There were two rows of pomegranates around each network, to cover the top pieces. ¹⁹ Now the top pieces on the pillars of the porch were made to look like lily flowers, as tall as a man. ²⁰ The top pieces were upon the two pillars, and above the round part beside the network. There were 200 pomegranates in rows around both top pieces. ²¹ He set up the pillars at the porch of the house. He set up the right pillar and called it Jachin. And he set up the left pillar and called it Boaz. ²² The top pieces on the pillars were made to look like lily flowers. So the work of the pillars was finished.

The Brass Pool

²³ Now he made a large brass water pool. It was round, and as wide as five long steps. It was as tall as a man can raise his hand. And the length around it was as far as fifteen long steps. ²⁴ Gourds went around the top of the pool. There were ten of them for every cubit. The gourds were in two rows, and made right in with the pool. ²⁵ The pool stood on the backs of twelve bulls made of brass. Three looked to the north. Three looked to the west. Three looked to the south. And three looked to the east. The water was set on top of them, and their back parts turned toward the center. ²⁶ The side of the pool was as far through as the width of a man’s open hand. Its round top was made like the top of a cup, like a lily flower. It could hold 2,000 bottles of water.

The Brass Stands

²⁷ Then he made the ten stands of brass. Each stand was as long as two long steps, as wide as two long steps, and as high as a man’s neck. ²⁸ This is how the stands were made. They had sides of the same length between the cross-pieces. ²⁹ On the side pieces between the cross-pieces were lions, bulls and cherubim. On the side pieces, both above and below the lions and bulls, there were round pieces of hanging work. ³⁰ Each stand had four brass wheels on straight pieces of brass. At the four corners were pieces to hold up the basin. These pieces were made of melted brass with round pieces at each side. ³¹ Its opening inside the crown at the top was a cubit. It was round like a pillar, one and a half cubits deep. There were pictures cut on its opening. And their sides were not round, but had four sides of the same length. ³² Under the sides were the four wheels. The pieces that held the wheels were on the stand. The height of a wheel was one and a half cubits. ³³ The wheels were made like the wheel of a war-wagon. The straight pieces which held the wheels, the outside of the wheels, their crosspieces and their center pieces were all made of one piece of brass. ³⁴ There were four pieces at the four corners of each stand to hold it up. These were of one piece with the stands. ³⁵ A narrow piece went all the way around the top that held it up and the sides were of one piece. ³⁶ He cut pictures of cherubim, lions and palm trees in the plates of the parts that held it up and on its sides, where there was room. And there were pictures all around. ³⁷ He made the ten stands like this. All of them were made alike. They had the same length, width and height, and looked the same. ³⁸ He made ten basins of brass. One basin held 40 bottles of water. Each one was as wide as two long steps. And one basin was on each of the ten stands. ³⁹ Then he put the stands in place. Five were on the south side of the house, and five were on the north side of the house. And he set the large basin of brass on the southeast corner of the house.

⁴⁰ Hiram made the basins, and the objects for digging, and the pots. So Hiram finished doing all the work for King Solomon in the house of the Lord. ⁴¹ He made the two pillars, and the two pots of the top pieces on the top of the two pillars. And he made the two networks to cover the two pots of the pieces on top of the pillars. ⁴² He made the 400 pomegranates for the two networks. There were two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two pots of the pieces on top of the pillars. ⁴³ He made the ten stands with the ten basins on top of them. ⁴⁴ He made the large basin and the twelve bulls under it. ⁴⁵ He made the pails, the objects for digging, and the pots. All these things which Hiram made for King Solomon in the house of the Lord were made of shining brass. ⁴⁶ The king made them in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan. ⁴⁷ Solomon did not weigh any of the objects, because there were too many. The weight of the brass was not known.

⁴⁸ Solomon made all the holy things which were in the house of the Lord. He made the gold altar and the gold table for the bread before the Lord. ⁴⁹ He made the lamp-stands of pure gold. There were five on the right side and five on the left side, in front of the most holy place. He made the flowers and the lamps and their objects out of gold. ⁵⁰ He made the cups, the objects to put out the lamps, the pots, the dishes for special perfume, and the fire-holders, of pure gold. He made the hinges of gold, for the doors of the most holy place and for the doors of the house.

⁵¹ So all the work that King Solomon did in the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things which had been set apart by his father David, the silver and the gold and the holy things. He put them in the store-houses of the house of the Lord.

Full-Grown Christians

4 I am being held in prison because of working for the Lord. I ask you from my heart to live and work the way the Lord expected you to live and work. ² Live and work without pride. Be gentle and kind. Do not be hard on others. Let love keep you from doing that. ³ Work hard to live together as one by the help of the Holy Spirit. Then there will be peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit. There is one hope in which you were called. ⁵ There is one Lord and one faith and one baptism. ⁶ There is one God. He is the Father of us all. He is over us all. He is the One working through us all. He is the One living in us all.

⁷ Loving-favor has been given to each one of us. We can see how great it is by the gift of Christ. ⁸ The Holy Writings say, “When Christ went up to heaven, He took those who were held with Him. He gave gifts to men.” ^{(A) 9} When they say, “He went up,” what does it mean but that He had first gone down to the deep parts of the earth? ¹⁰ Christ Who went down into the deep also went up far above the heavens. He did this to fill all the world with Himself.

¹¹ Christ gave gifts to men. He gave to some the gift to be missionaries, some to be preachers, others to be preachers who go from town to town. He gave others the gift to be church leaders and teachers. ¹² These gifts help His people work well for Him. And then the church which is the body of Christ will be made strong. ¹³ All of us are to be as one in the faith and in knowing the Son of God. We are to be full-grown Christians standing as high and complete as Christ is Himself. ¹⁴ Then we will not be as children any longer. Children are like boats thrown up and down on big waves. They are blown with the wind. False teaching is like the wind. False teachers try everything possible to make people believe a lie, ¹⁵ but we are to hold to the truth with love in our hearts. We are to grow up and be more like Christ. He is the leader of the church. ¹⁶ Christ has put each part of the church in its right place. Each part helps other parts. This is what is needed to keep the whole body together. In this way, the whole body grows strong in love.

The Old and the New Life

¹⁷ I tell you this in the name of the Lord: You must not live any longer like the people of the world who do not know God. Their thoughts are foolish. ¹⁸ Their minds are in darkness. They are strangers to the life of God. This is because they have closed their minds to Him and have turned their hearts away from Him. ¹⁹ They do not care anymore about what is right or wrong. They have turned themselves over to the sinful ways of the world and are always wanting to do every kind of sinful act they can think of.

²⁰ But you did not learn anything like this from Christ. ²¹ If you have heard of Him and have learned from Him, ²² put away the old person you used to be. Have nothing to do with your old sinful life. It was sinful because of being fooled into following bad desires. ²³ Let your minds and hearts be made new. ²⁴ You must become a new person and be God-like. Then you will be made right with God and have a true holy life.

²⁵ So stop lying to each other. Tell the truth to your neighbor. We all belong to the same body. ²⁶ If you are angry, do not let it become sin. Get over your anger before the day is finished. ²⁷ Do not let the devil start working in your life. ²⁸ Anyone who steals must stop it! He must work with his hands so he will have what he needs and can give to those who need help. ²⁹ Watch your talk! No bad words should be coming from your mouth. Say what is good. Your words should help others grow as Christians. ³⁰ Do not make God’s Holy Spirit have sorrow for the way you live. The Holy Spirit has put a mark on you for the day you will be set free. ³¹ Put out of your life all these things: bad feelings about other people, anger, temper, loud talk, bad talk which hurts other people, and bad feelings which hurt other people. ³² You must be kind to each other. Think of the other person. Forgive other people just as God forgave you because of Christ’s death on the cross.

The Valley of Dry Bones

37 The hand of the Lord was upon me. He brought me out by His Spirit and set me down in the center of the valley. It was full of bones. ² He led me around the valley. I saw there were very many bones, and they were very dry. ³ He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, only You know that.” ⁴ He said to me, “Speak in My name over these bones. Say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord.’ ⁵ This is what the Lord God says to these bones: ‘I will make breath come into you, and you will come to life. ⁶ I will join you together, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin, and put breath in you to make you come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

⁷ So I spoke as I was told. And as I spoke, there was a noise, the sound of bones hitting against each other. The bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸ I looked and saw that parts had grown to hold them together. Flesh had grown, and they were covered with skin. But there was no breath in them. ⁹ Then He said to me, “Speak to the breath in My name, son of man. Tell the breath, ‘The Lord God says, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these dead bodies to make them come to life.”’” ¹⁰ So I spoke as I had been told. The breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet. They were a large army.

¹¹ Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are all the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is gone. We are all destroyed.’ ¹² So speak in My name and tell them, ‘The Lord God says, “I will open your graves, My people, and make you come out of them. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. ¹³ Then, My people, you will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and brought you up. ¹⁴ I will put My Spirit within you, and you will come to life. I will place you in your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and have done it,” says the Lord.’”

Judah and Israel under One King

¹⁵ The Word of the Lord came to me saying, ¹⁶ “Son of man, take one stick of wood and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the people of Israel with him.’ Then take another stick of wood and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the people of Israel with him.’ ¹⁷ Then join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand. ¹⁸ And when your people say to you, ‘Will you not let us know what you mean by these?’ ¹⁹ tell them, ‘The Lord God says, “I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the people of Israel who are with him. And I will put it with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick. They will be one in My hand.”’ ²⁰ Hold in front of them the sticks you write on, ²¹ and tell them, ‘The Lord God says, “I will take the people of Israel from the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land. ²² I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king will rule over all of them. They will no longer be two nations, and they will no longer be divided under two kings. ²³ They will no longer make themselves unclean with their false gods, or with their hated objects of worship, or with any of their sins. I will keep them from turning again to these sins, and will make them clean. They will be My people, and I will be their God.

²⁴ “My servant David will be their king, and they will have one shepherd. They will follow and keep My Laws, and obey them. ²⁵ And they will live in the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live in it forever. And My servant David will be their leader forever. ²⁶ I will make a peace agreement with them, one that lasts forever. I will bring good to them and make them many in number. And I will set My holy place among them forever. ²⁷ I will live with them, and will be their God, and they will be My people. ²⁸ Then the nations will know that I am the Lord Who makes Israel holy, when My holy place is among them forever.”’”

Praise in Zion

87 The city God built stands on the holy mountains. ² The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the other places of Jacob. ³ Great things are said about you, O city of God. ⁴ I will say that Rahab and Babylon are among those who know Me. Look, Philistia and Tyre and Ethiopia say, “This one was born there.” ⁵ But it will be said of Zion, “This one and that one were born in her.” And the Most High Himself will make her strong. ⁶ The Lord will write in the book of the people, “This one was born there.” ⁷ Then those who sing and those who play music will say, “All my wells of joy are in you.”

A Prayer to Be Saved from Death

88 O Lord, the God Who saves me, I have cried out before You day and night. ² Let my prayer come to You. Listen to my cry. ³ For my soul is filled with troubles. And my life comes near the grave. ⁴ I am added among those who go down into the deep hole. I am like a man without strength. ⁵ I am left among the dead, like those who have been killed and lie in the grave, whom You remember no more. They are cut off from Your help. ⁶ You have put me in the deepest hole, in a dark and deep place. ⁷ Your anger has rested upon me. And You have troubled me with all Your waves. ⁸ You have taken my good friends far from me. You have made me hated by them. I am shut in and cannot go out. ⁹ My eyes have become weak because of trouble. I have called to You every day, O Lord. I have spread out my hands to You.

¹⁰ Will You show Your great works to the dead? Will the dead rise and praise You? ¹¹ Will Your loving-kindness be told about in the grave, and how faithful You are in the place that destroys? ¹² Will Your great works be known in the darkness, and Your right and good works in the land where all is forgotten?

¹³ But I have cried to You for help, O Lord. My prayer comes to You in the morning. ¹⁴ O Lord, why do You turn away from me? Why do You hide Your face from me? ¹⁵ I have been troubled and near death since I was young. I have suffered Your punishment. And I cannot win. ¹⁶ Your burning anger has passed over me. The punishment You have sent destroys me. ¹⁷ They gather around me like water all day long. Together they close in upon me. ¹⁸ You have taken my friend and loved one far from me. Friends that were near to me are in darkness.