M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
22 Then David said, “This is where the Lord God’s temple will be. Israel’s altar for burnt offerings will also be here.”
David Helps Solomon Prepare to Build the Temple
2 David ordered the foreigners living in Israel to gather. He appointed some of them to cut stones to build God’s temple. 3 David prepared a large quantity of iron for nails and fittings on the doors of the gates. He also prepared so much bronze that it couldn’t be weighed. 4 The men of Sidon and Tyre brought David so many cedar logs that the logs couldn’t be counted.
5 David thought, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the temple that will be built for the Lord must be magnificent, large, famous, praised, and honored in all other countries. I’ll prepare ⌞the building materials⌟ for him.” So David prepared many materials ⌞for Solomon⌟ before he died.
6 He summoned his son Solomon and commanded him to build a temple for the Lord God of Israel. 7 David told his son Solomon, “I had my heart set on building a temple for the name of the Lord, my God. 8 But the Lord spoke his word to me by saying, ‘You have caused a lot of bloodshed and fought in a lot of wars. You must not build a temple for my name because you have caused so much bloodshed in my presence. 9 You will have a son who will be a peaceful man. I will give him peace from all the enemies around him. His name will be Solomon [Peace], and in his time I will give Israel peace and quiet. 10 He will build a temple for my name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. I will establish the throne of his kingdom permanently over Israel.’ ”
11 ⌞David continued,⌟ “Now, son, the Lord will be with you. You will be successful, and you will build the temple of the Lord your God as he predicted you would. 12 The Lord will give you insight and understanding as he commands you to take charge of Israel and to follow the Teachings of the Lord your God. 13 Then you will succeed if you will carefully obey the laws and decrees the Lord commanded Moses to give to Israel. Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or terrified.
14 “Despite my troubles I’ve made preparations for the Lord’s temple. There are 7,500,000 pounds of gold, 75,000,000 pounds of silver, and so much bronze and iron that it can’t be weighed. I’ve also prepared wood and stones, and you may add to them. 15 You have many kinds of workers: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and men skilled in every kind of work. 16 The gold, silver, bronze, and iron are more than can be counted. So get to work! May the Lord be with you.”
17 David ordered all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon. 18 ⌞David said,⌟ “Isn’t the Lord your God with you? Hasn’t he given you peace with all your neighbors? He put the people who live in this country under my power, and the country has been conquered by the Lord and his people. 19 So dedicate your hearts and lives to serving the Lord your God. Start building the holy place of the Lord God so that you can bring the ark of the Lord’s promise and God’s holy utensils into the temple that will be built for the Lord’s name.”
3 Wives, in a similar way, place yourselves under your husbands’ authority. Some husbands may not obey God’s word. Their wives could win these men ⌞for Christ⌟ by the way they live without saying anything. 2 Their husbands would see how pure and reverent their lives are.
3 Wives must not let their beauty be something external. Beauty doesn’t come from hairstyles, gold jewelry, or clothes. 4 Rather, beauty is something internal that can’t be destroyed. Beauty expresses itself in a gentle and quiet attitude which God considers precious. 5 After all, this is how holy women who had confidence in God expressed their beauty in the past. They placed themselves under their husbands’ authority 6 as Sarah did. Sarah obeyed Abraham and spoke to him respectfully. You became Sarah’s daughters by not letting anything make you afraid to do good.
7 Husbands, in a similar way, live with your wives with understanding since they are weaker than you are. Honor your wives as those who share God’s life-giving kindness [a] so that nothing will interfere with your prayers.
Dedicate Your Lives to Jesus
8 Finally, everyone must live in harmony, be sympathetic, love each other, have compassion, and be humble. 9 Don’t pay people back with evil for the evil they do to you, or ridicule those who ridicule you. Instead, bless them, because you were called to inherit a blessing.
10 “People who want to live a full life and enjoy good days
must keep their tongues from saying evil things,
and their lips from speaking deceitful things.
11 They must turn away from evil and do good.
They must seek peace and pursue it.
12 The Lord’s eyes are on those who do what he approves.
His ears hear their prayer.
The Lord confronts those who do evil.”
13 Who will harm you if you are devoted to doing what is good? 14 But even if you suffer for doing what God approves, you are blessed. Don’t be afraid of those who want to harm you. Don’t get upset. 15 But dedicate your lives to Christ as Lord. Always be ready to defend your confidence ⌞in God⌟ when anyone asks you to explain it. However, make your defense with gentleness and respect. 16 Keep your conscience clear. Then those who treat the good Christian life you live with contempt will feel ashamed that they have ridiculed you. 17 After all, if it is God’s will, it’s better to suffer for doing good than for doing wrong.
18 This is true because Christ suffered for our sins once. He was an innocent person, but he suffered for guilty people so that he could bring you to God. His body was put to death, but he was brought to life through his spirit. 19 In it he also went to proclaim his victory to the spirits kept in prison. 20 They are like those who disobeyed long ago in the days of Noah when God waited patiently while Noah built the ship. In this ship a few people—eight in all—were saved by water. 21 Baptism, which is like that water, now saves you. Baptism doesn’t save by removing dirt from the body. Rather, baptism is a request to God for a clear conscience. It saves you through Jesus Christ, who came back from death to life. 22 Now Christ has gone to heaven where he holds the honored position—the one next to God the Father on the throne. Angels, rulers, and powers have been placed under his authority.
The Prophet Micah
1 The Lord spoke his word to Micah, who was from Moresheth, when Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah. This is the vision that Micah saw about Samaria and Jerusalem.
The Capital Cities of Israel and Judah Destroyed
2 Listen, all you people!
Pay attention, earth and all who are on it.
The Almighty Lord will be a witness against you.
The Lord will be a witness from his holy temple.
3 The Lord is going to come from his place.
He is going to come down and step on the worship places of the earth.
4 Mountains will melt under him like wax near a fire.
Valleys will split apart like water pouring down a steep hill.
5 All this is because of Jacob’s crime and Israel’s sin.
What is Jacob’s crime? Isn’t it Samaria?
What is Judah’s worship place? Isn’t it Jerusalem?
6 So I will turn Samaria into a pile of rubble,
a place for planting vineyards.
I will roll its stones down into a valley and expose its foundations.
7 All its idols will be smashed to pieces.
All its wages for being a prostitute will be burned.
All its statues will be turned into a pile of rubble.
Samaria collected its wages for being a prostitute.
That money will again pay for prostitutes.
8 I will mourn and cry because of this.
I will walk around barefoot and naked.
I will cry like a jackal and mourn like an ostrich.
9 Samaria’s wounds are incurable.
⌞The news about Samaria⌟ will come to Judah.
It will reach the gates of my people in Jerusalem.
10 Don’t report it in Gath. Don’t cry there.
Roll in the dust of Beth Leaphrah.[a]
11 Pass by, naked and ashamed, inhabitants of Shaphir.
Don’t come out, inhabitants of Zaanan.
Beth Ezel is in mourning.
It will take its support away from you.
12 Wait anxiously for good, inhabitants of Maroth.
From the Lord disaster will come on the gates of Jerusalem.
13 Harness the horses to the chariots, inhabitants of Lachish.
You were the first to lead the people of Zion into sin.
The rebellious acts of Israel are found in you.
14 That is why you will give farewell gifts to Moresheth Gath.
The town of Achzib will betray the kings of Israel.
15 I will again bring a conqueror against the inhabitants of Mareshah.
The glory of Israel will come to Adullam.
16 Shave your head in mourning for the children you love.
Make yourselves as bald as vultures
because your children will be taken from you into exile.
Jesus Sends Disciples to Do Mission Work
10 After this, the Lord appointed 70 [a] other disciples to go ahead of him to every city and place that he intended to go. They were to travel in pairs.
2 He told them, “The harvest is large, but the workers are few. So ask the Lord who gives this harvest to send workers to harvest his crops. 3 Go! I’m sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Don’t carry a wallet, a traveling bag, or sandals, and don’t stop to greet anyone on the way. 5 Whenever you go into a house, greet the family right away with the words, ‘May there be peace in this house.’ 6 If a peaceful person lives there, your greeting will be accepted. But if that’s not the case, your greeting will be rejected. 7 Stay with the family that accepts you. Eat and drink whatever they offer you. After all, the worker deserves his pay. Do not move around from one house to another. 8 Whenever you go into a city and the people welcome you, eat whatever they serve you. 9 Heal the sick that are there, and tell the people, ‘God’s kingdom is near you!’
10 “But whenever you go into a city and people don’t welcome you, leave. Announce in its streets, 11 ‘We are wiping your city’s dust from our feet in protest against you! But realize that God’s kingdom is near you!’ 12 I can guarantee that judgment day will be easier for Sodom than for that city.
13 “How horrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How horrible it will be for you, Bethsaida! If the miracles worked in your cities had been worked in Tyre and Sidon, they would have changed the way they thought and acted. Long ago they would have worn sackcloth and sat in ashes. 14 Judgment day will be better for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to heaven? No, you will go to hell!
16 “The person who hears you hears me, and the person who rejects you rejects me. The person who rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
17 The 70 disciples came back very happy. They said, “Lord, even demons obey us when we use the power and authority of your name!”
18 Jesus said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 I have given you the authority to trample snakes and scorpions and to destroy the enemy’s power. Nothing will hurt you. 20 However, don’t be happy that evil spirits obey you. Be happy that your names are written in heaven.”
21 In that hour the Holy Spirit filled Jesus with joy. Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding these things from wise and intelligent people and revealing them to little children. Yes, Father, this is what pleased you.
22 “My Father has turned everything over to me. Only the Father knows who the Son is. And no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son is willing to reveal him.”
23 He turned to his disciples in private and said to them, “How blessed you are to see what you’ve seen. 24 I can guarantee that many prophets and kings wanted to see and hear what you’ve seen and heard, but they didn’t.”
A Story about a Good Samaritan
25 Then an expert in Moses’ Teachings stood up to test Jesus. He asked, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 Jesus answered him, “What is written in Moses’ Teachings? What do you read there?”
27 He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind. And love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ ”
28 Jesus told him, “You’re right! Do this, and life will be yours.”
29 But the man wanted to justify his question. So he asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus replied, “A man went from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way robbers stripped him, beat him, and left him for dead.
31 “By chance, a priest was traveling along that road. When he saw the man, he went around him and continued on his way. 32 Then a Levite came to that place. When he saw the man, he, too, went around him and continued on his way.
33 “But a Samaritan, as he was traveling along, came across the man. When the Samaritan saw him, he felt sorry for the man, 34 went to him, and cleaned and bandaged his wounds. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day the Samaritan took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. He told the innkeeper, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than that, I’ll pay you on my return trip.’
36 “Of these three men, who do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by robbers?”
37 The expert said, “The one who was kind enough to help him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and imitate his example!”
Mary Listens to Jesus
38 As they were traveling along, Jesus went into a village. A woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary. Mary sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to him talk.
40 But Martha was upset about all the work she had to do. So she asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work all by myself? Tell her to help me.”
41 The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha! You worry and fuss about a lot of things. 42 There’s only one thing you need.[b] Mary has made the right choice, and that one thing will not be taken away from her.”
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