M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Queen of Sheba^(A)

10 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame connected to the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. ² She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices, and very much gold, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. ³ Solomon answered all her questions; there was not anything too difficult for the king which he could not answer. ⁴ When the queen of Sheba observed Solomon’s wisdom and the house he had built ⁵ and the meat of his table and the sitting of his servants and the attendance of his ministers and their clothing and his cupbearers and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, it took her breath away.

⁶ She said to the king, “What I heard in my own land about your acts and your wisdom was true! ⁷ I did not believe it until I came and saw it with my own eyes! In fact, I was not even told half. Your wisdom and prosperity are greater than the stories I heard! ⁸ Happy are your men, and happy are these your servants who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! ⁹ Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel, because the Lord loved Israel forever; therefore He made you king in order to execute judgment and justice.”

¹⁰ She gave the king a hundred and twenty talents^[a] of gold and a great amount of spices and precious stones. No one gave as many spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹¹ The ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, also brought from Ophir a large quantity of almug wood and precious stones. ¹² The king made pillars for the house of the Lord out of the almug trees and harps also and psalteries for singers for the king’s house. Never before had such almug wood been brought, nor has any such been seen to this day.

¹³ King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all she desired, no matter what she asked for, in addition to what Solomon gave her from his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

Solomon’s Wealth^(B)

¹⁴ Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents^[b] of gold. ¹⁵ In addition, he collected from the merchantmen and the traffic of the spice merchants and from all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country.

¹⁶ King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold made of six hundred shekels^[c] of gold each. ¹⁷ He made three hundred shields of beaten gold with three pounds^[d] of gold in each shield. And the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.

¹⁸ The king also made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with the best gold. ¹⁹ The throne had six steps, and the back of the throne was round, and there were armrests on either side of the seat with two lions standing beside the armrests. ²⁰ Twelve lions stood on the sides of the six steps, and there was no other like it in any kingdom. ²¹ All of King Solomon’s drinking cups were made of gold, and all the cups of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were made of pure gold. None were made of silver, for it was not considered valuable in the days of Solomon. ²² For the king had ships at sea at Tarshish with the ships of Hiram. Every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

²³ So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in terms of riches and wisdom. ²⁴ All the earth came to Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. ²⁵ Everyone brought an annual tribute in the form of presents, silver and gold cups, garments, armor, spices, horses, and mules.

²⁶ Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen whom he stationed in the cities for chariots and with the king at Jerusalem. ²⁷ The king made silver to be in Jerusalem as plentiful as stones, and he made cedars to be as plentiful as sycamore trees in the valley. ²⁸ Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt along with linen yarn. The king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price. ²⁹ He brought chariots from Egypt at a price of six hundred shekels of silver and a horse for a hundred and fifty.^[e] And he exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram, by their means.

Salutation

1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:

² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul’s Prayer for the Philippians

³ I thank my God for every reminder of you. ⁴ In every prayer of mine for you all, I have always made requests with joy, ⁵ due to your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶ I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ.

⁷ It is right for me to think this of you all because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonments and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are fellow partakers of my grace. ⁸ For God is my witness, how I long after you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.

⁹ And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all discernment, ¹⁰ that you may approve things that are excellent so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ being filled with the fruit of righteousness, which comes through Jesus Christ, for the glory and praise of God.

To Live Is Christ

¹² But I want you to know, brothers, that the things which happened to me have resulted in advancing the gospel, ¹³ so that my imprisonments in Christ have become known throughout the entire palace guard and to all the rest. ¹⁴ And a great many of the brothers in the Lord, having become confident because of my incarcerations, have dared to speak the word without fear.

¹⁵ Some indeed are preaching Christ out of envy and strife, and some also from good will. ¹⁶ The former preach Christ out of contention, not sincerely, intending to add trouble to my circumstance. ¹⁷ But the latter preach out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. ¹⁸ What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice.

Indeed, I will rejoice. ¹⁹ For I know that through your prayer and the support of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will result in my deliverance. ²⁰ Accordingly, it is my earnest expectation and my hope that I shall be ashamed in nothing, but that with all boldness as always, so now also, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. ²¹ For to me, to continue living is Christ, and to die is gain. ²² But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor to me. Yet I do not know what I shall choose. ²³ I am in a difficult position between the two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. ²⁴ Nevertheless, to remain in the flesh is more needful for your sake. ²⁵ Having this confidence, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your joyful advancement of the faith, ²⁶ so that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ when I am in your presence again.

²⁷ Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, that whether or not I come and see you, I may hear of your activities, that you are standing fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. ²⁸ Do not be frightened by your adversaries. This is a sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and this from God. ²⁹ For to you it was granted on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, ³⁰ having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.

The Vision of the New Temple

40 In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck, on that very day the hand of the Lord was upon me and He brought me there. ² In the visions of God He brought me into the land of Israel and set me upon a very high mountain, on which was as the frame of a city on the south. ³ He brought me there, and there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, with a line of flax and a measuring reed in his hand. And he stood in the gate. ⁴ The man said to me, “Son of man, look with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart on all that I shall show you. For you have been brought here to show it to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.”

The East Gate

⁵ There was a wall all around the outside of the temple. In the man’s hand was a measuring reed of six cubits^[a] long, each being a cubit and a handbreadth.^[b] So he measured the width of the building, one reed. And the height, one reed.

⁶ Then he went to the gateway facing east; and he went up its stairs and measured the threshold of the gate, which was one reed wide. And the other threshold of the gate was one reed wide. ⁷ Every little chamber was one reed long and one reed wide. And between the little chambers were five cubits.^[c] And the threshold of the gate by the vestibule of the inside gate was one reed.

⁸ He measured also the vestibule of the gate within, one reed. ⁹ Then he measured the vestibule of the gate, eight cubits.^[d] And its posts, two cubits.^[e] And the vestibule of the gate was the inner end.

¹⁰ The little chambers of the gate eastward were three on this side and three on that side. The three were of one measurement. And the posts had one measure on this side and on that side. ¹¹ He measured the width of the entrance of the gate, ten cubits,^[f] and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits.^{[g] 12} The space also before the little chambers was one cubit^[h] on this side, and the space was one cubit on that side. And the little chambers were six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side. ¹³ He measured then the gate from the roof of one little chamber to the roof of another; the width was twenty-five cubits,^[i] door against door. ¹⁴ He measured the posts, sixty cubits,^[j] even to the post of the court all around the gate. ¹⁵ From the face of the gate of the entrance to the face of the vestibule of the inner gate was fifty cubits.^{[k] 16} There were narrow windows in the little chambers and in their posts inside the gate all around, and likewise in the vestibules. And windows were all around inside. And on each post were palm tree ornaments.

The Outer Court

¹⁷ Then he brought me into the outer court, and there were chambers and a pavement made all around the court. Thirty chambers were on the pavement. ¹⁸ The pavement was by the side of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates; this was the lower pavement. ¹⁹ Then he measured the width from the front of the lower gate to the outer front of the inner court, a hundred cubits^[l] eastward and northward.

The North Gate

²⁰ As for the gate of the outer court that faced north, he measured its length and its width. ²¹ Its little chambers, three on this side and three on that side, its posts, and its arches had the same measurements as the first gate; its length was fifty cubits, and its width twenty-five cubits. ²² Its windows, and those of its arches, and its palm trees had the same measurements as the gate facing east. Seven steps led up to it; and its arches were in front of it. ²³ The gate of the inner court was opposite the gate on the north, as on the east. And he measured from gate to gate, a hundred cubits.

The South Gate

²⁴ After that he brought me toward the south, and there was a gate facing south. And he measured its posts and its arches according to these same measurements. ²⁵ There were windows in it and in its arches all around like those windows. The length was fifty cubits, and the width twenty-five cubits. ²⁶ There were seven steps to go up to it, and its arches were before them. And it had palm tree ornaments, one on this side, and another on that side on its posts. ²⁷ There was a gate in the inner court facing south. And he measured from gate to gate toward the south, a hundred cubits.

The Inner Court

²⁸ He brought me to the inner court by the south gate. And he measured the south gate according to these same measurements. ²⁹ And its little chambers and its posts and its arches were according to these same measurements. And there were windows in it and in its arches all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁰ The arches all around were twenty-five cubits long and five cubits wide. ³¹ Its arches faced the outer court. And palm tree ornaments were on its posts. And its staircase had eight steps.

³² He brought me into the inner court facing east. And he measured the gate according to these same measurements. ³³ Its little chambers and its posts and its arches were according to these same measurements. And there were windows in it and in its arches all around. It was fifty cubits^[m] long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁴ Its arches faced the outer court. And palm tree ornaments were on its posts, on this side and on that side. And its staircase had eight steps.

³⁵ He brought me to the north gate and measured it according to these same measurements; ³⁶ its little chambers, its posts, and its arches, and it had windows all around: the length was fifty cubits, and the width twenty-five cubits. ³⁷ Its posts faced the outer court. And palm tree ornaments were on its posts, on this side and on that side. And its staircase had eight steps.

Chambers for Washing the Sacrifice

³⁸ The chambers and its entrance were by the posts of the gates where they washed the burnt offering. ³⁹ In the vestibule of the gate were two tables on this side and two tables on that side, to slay on it the burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering. ⁴⁰ On the outside of the vestibule, as one goes up to the entrance of the north gate, were two tables. And on the other side of the vestibule of the gate were two tables. ⁴¹ Four tables were on this side and four tables on that side by the side of the gate, eight tables on which they slaughtered their sacrifices. ⁴² The four tables were of hewn stone for the burnt offering, of a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half wide, and one cubit high.^[n] On which also they laid the instruments with which they slaughtered the burnt offering and the sacrifice. ⁴³ Within were hooks, a handbreadth wide,^[o] fastened all around. And on the tables was the flesh of the offering.

Chambers for the Singers and Priests

⁴⁴ Outside the inner gate were the chambers for the singers in the inner court, one at the side of the north gate facing south, the other at the side of the east gate facing north. ⁴⁵ He said to me, “This chamber that faces south is for the priests who have charge of the temple. ⁴⁶ The chamber that faces north is for the priests who have charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi, who come near to the Lord to minister to Him.”

⁴⁷ So he measured the court, a hundred cubits long, and a hundred cubits wide, foursquare. And the altar was before the temple.

The Vestibule of the Temple

⁴⁸ Then he brought me to the vestibule of the temple and measured each post of the vestibule, five cubits^[p] on this side, and five cubits on that side. And the width of the gate was three cubits^[q] on this side and three cubits on that side. ⁴⁹ The length of the vestibule was twenty cubits^[r] and the width eleven cubits.^[s] And he brought me by the steps whereby they went up to it. And there were pillars by the posts, one on this side and another on that side.

Psalm 91