M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Solomon Prepares for the Temple
2 Solomon decided to build a temple as a place to worship the Lord and also a palace for himself. 2 He chose seventy thousand men to carry loads, eighty thousand men to cut stone in the hill country, and thirty-six hundred men to direct the workers.
3 Solomon sent this message to Hiram king of the city of Tyre: “Help me as you helped my father David by sending him cedar logs so he could build himself a palace to live in. 4 I will build a temple for worshiping the Lord my God, and I will give this temple to him. There we will burn sweet-smelling spices in his presence. We will continually set out the holy bread in God’s presence. And we will burn sacrifices every morning and evening, on Sabbath days and New Moons, and on the other feast days commanded by the Lord our God. This is a rule for Israel to obey forever.
5 “The temple I build will be great, because our God is greater than all gods. 6 But no one can really build a house for our God. Not even the highest of heavens can hold him. How then can I build a temple for him except as a place to burn sacrifices to him?
7 “Now send me a man skilled in working with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and with purple, red, and blue thread. He must also know how to make engravings. He will work with my skilled craftsmen in Judah and Jerusalem, whom my father David chose.
8 “Also send me cedar, pine, and juniper logs from Lebanon. I know your servants are experienced at cutting down the trees in Lebanon, and my servants will help them. 9 Send me a lot of wood, because the temple I am going to build will be large and wonderful. 10 I will give your servants who cut the wood one hundred twenty-five thousand bushels of wheat, one hundred twenty-five thousand bushels of barley, one hundred fifteen thousand gallons of wine, and one hundred fifteen thousand gallons of oil.”
11 Then Hiram king of Tyre answered Solomon with this letter: “Solomon, because the Lord loves his people, he chose you to be their king.” 12 Hiram also said: “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth! He has given King David a wise son, one with wisdom and understanding, who will build a temple for the Lord and a palace for himself.
13 “I will send you a skilled and wise man named Huram-Abi. 14 His mother was from the people of Dan, and his father was from Tyre. Huram-Abi is skilled in working with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and with purple, blue, and red thread, and expensive linen. He is skilled in making engravings and can make any design you show him. He will help your craftsmen and the craftsmen of your father David.
15 “Now send my servants the wheat, barley, oil, and wine you promised. 16 We will cut as much wood from Lebanon as you need and will bring it on rafts by sea to Joppa. Then you may carry it to Jerusalem.”
17 Solomon counted all the foreigners living in Israel. (This was after the time his father David had counted the people.) There were one hundred fifty-three thousand six hundred foreigners in the country. 18 Solomon chose seventy thousand of them to carry loads, eighty thousand of them to cut stone in the mountains, and thirty-six hundred of them to direct the workers and to keep the people working.
Jesus Is Our Helper
2 My dear children, I write this letter to you so you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have a helper in the presence of the Father—Jesus Christ, the One who does what is right. 2 He died in our place to take away our sins, and not only our sins but the sins of all people.
3 We can be sure that we know God if we obey his commands. 4 Anyone who says, “I know God,” but does not obey God’s commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if someone obeys God’s teaching, then in that person God’s love has truly reached its goal. This is how we can be sure we are living in God: 6 Whoever says that he lives in God must live as Jesus lived.
The Command to Love Others
7 My dear friends, I am not writing a new command to you but an old command you have had from the beginning. It is the teaching you have already heard. 8 But also I am writing a new command to you, and you can see its truth in Jesus and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.
9 Anyone who says, “I am in the light,”[a] but hates a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. 10 Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light and will not cause anyone to stumble in his faith. 11 But whoever hates a brother or sister is in darkness, lives in darkness, and does not know where to go, because the darkness has made that person blind.
12 I write to you, dear children,
because your sins are forgiven through Christ.
13 I write to you, fathers,
because you know the One who existed from the beginning.
I write to you, young people,
because you have defeated the Evil One.
14 I write to you, children,
because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
because you know the One who existed from the beginning.
I write to you, young people,
because you are strong;
the teaching of God lives in you,
and you have defeated the Evil One.
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you. 16 These are the ways of the world: wanting to please our sinful selves, wanting the sinful things we see, and being too proud of what we have. None of these come from the Father, but all of them come from the world. 17 The world and everything that people want in it are passing away, but the person who does what God wants lives forever.
Reject the Enemies of Christ
18 My dear children, these are the last days. You have heard that the enemy of Christ is coming, and now many enemies of Christ are already here. This is how we know that these are the last days. 19 These enemies of Christ were in our fellowship, but they left us. They never really belonged to us; if they had been a part of us, they would have stayed with us. But they left, and this shows that none of them really belonged to us.
20 You have the gift[b] that the Holy One gave you, so you all know the truth.[c] 21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth but because you do know the truth. And you know that no lie comes from the truth.
22 Who is the liar? It is the person who does not accept Jesus as the Christ. This is the enemy of Christ: the person who does not accept the Father and his Son. 23 Whoever does not accept the Son does not have the Father. But whoever confesses the Son has the Father, too.
24 Be sure you continue to follow the teaching you heard from the beginning. If you continue to follow what you heard from the beginning, you will stay in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is what the Son promised to us—life forever.
26 I am writing this letter about those people who are trying to lead you the wrong way. 27 Christ gave you a special gift that is still in you, so you do not need any other teacher. His gift teaches you about everything, and it is true, not false. So continue to live in Christ, as his gift taught you.
28 Yes, my dear children, live in him so that when Christ comes back, we can be without fear and not be ashamed in his presence. 29 Since you know that Christ is righteous, you know that all who do right are God’s children.
1 This is the message for the city of Nineveh.[a] This is the book of the vision of Nahum, who was from the town of Elkosh.
The Lord Is Angry with Nineveh
2 The Lord is a jealous God who punishes;
the Lord punishes and is filled with anger.
The Lord punishes those who are against him,
and he stays angry with his enemies.
3 The Lord does not become angry quickly,
and his power is great.
The Lord will not let the guilty go unpunished.
Where the Lord goes, there are whirlwinds and storms,
and the clouds are the dust beneath his feet.
4 He speaks to the sea and makes it dry;
he dries up all the rivers.
The areas of Bashan and Carmel dry up,
and the flowers of Lebanon dry up.
5 The mountains shake in front of him,
and the hills melt.
The earth trembles when he comes;
the world and all who live in it shake with fear.
6 No one can stay alive when he is angry;
no one can survive his strong anger.
His anger is poured out like fire;
the rocks are smashed by him.
7 The Lord is good,
giving protection in times of trouble.
He knows who trusts in him.
8 But like a rushing flood,
he will completely destroy Nineveh;
he will chase his enemies until he kills them.
9 The Lord will completely destroy
anyone making plans against him.
Trouble will not come a second time.
10 Those people will be like tangled thorns
or like people drunk from their wine;
they will be burned up quickly like dry weeds.
11 Someone has come from Nineveh
who makes evil plans against the Lord
and gives wicked advice.
12 This is what the Lord says:
“Although Assyria is strong and has many people,
it will be defeated and brought to an end.
Although I have made you suffer, Judah,
I will make you suffer no more.
13 Now I will free you from their control
and tear away your chains.”
14 The Lord has given you this command, Nineveh:
“You will not have descendants to carry on your name.
I will destroy the idols and metal images
that are in the temple of your gods.
I will make a grave for you,
because you are wicked.”
15 Look, there on the hills,
someone is bringing good news!
He is announcing peace!
Celebrate your feasts, people of Judah,
and give your promised sacrifices to God.
The wicked will not come to attack you again;
they have been completely destroyed.
Sin and Forgiveness
17 Jesus said to his followers, “Things that cause people to sin will happen, but how terrible for the person who causes them to happen! 2 It would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large stone around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 So be careful!
“If another follower sins, warn him, and if he is sorry and stops sinning, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in one day and says that he is sorry each time, forgive him.”
How Big Is Your Faith?
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Give us more faith!”
6 The Lord said, “If your faith were the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Dig yourself up and plant yourself in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
Be Good Servants
7 “Suppose one of you has a servant who has been plowing the ground or caring for the sheep. When the servant comes in from working in the field, would you say, ‘Come in and sit down to eat’? 8 No, you would say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat. Then get yourself ready and serve me. After I finish eating and drinking, you can eat.’ 9 The servant does not get any special thanks for doing what his master commanded. 10 It is the same with you. When you have done everything you are told to do, you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done the work we should do.’”
Be Thankful
11 While Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he was going through the area between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he came into a small town, ten men who had a skin disease met him there. They did not come close to Jesus 13 but called to him, “Jesus! Master! Have mercy on us!”
14 When Jesus saw the men, he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”[a]
As the ten men were going, they were healed. 15 When one of them saw that he was healed, he went back to Jesus, praising God in a loud voice. 16 Then he bowed down at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. (And this man was a Samaritan.) 17 Jesus said, “Weren’t ten men healed? Where are the other nine? 18 Is this Samaritan the only one who came back to thank God?” 19 Then Jesus said to him, “Stand up and go on your way. You were healed because you believed.”
God’s Kingdom Is Within You
20 Some of the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the kingdom of God come?”
Jesus answered, “God’s kingdom is coming, but not in a way that you will be able to see with your eyes. 21 People will not say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ because God’s kingdom is within[b] you.”
22 Then Jesus said to his followers, “The time will come when you will want very much to see one of the days of the Son of Man. But you will not see it. 23 People will say to you, ‘Look, there he is!’ or, ‘Look, here he is!’ Stay where you are; don’t go away and search.
When Jesus Comes Again
24 “When the Son of Man comes again, he will shine like lightning, which flashes across the sky and lights it up from one side to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by the people of this time. 26 When the Son of Man comes again, it will be as it was when Noah lived. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying, and giving their children to be married until the day Noah entered the boat. Then the flood came and killed them all. 28 It will be the same as during the time of Lot. People were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom,[c] fire and sulfur rained down from the sky and killed them all. 30 This is how it will be when the Son of Man comes again.
31 “On that day, a person who is on the roof and whose belongings are in the house should not go inside to get them. A person who is in the field should not go back home. 32 Remember Lot’s wife.[d] 33 Those who try to keep their lives will lose them. But those who give up their lives will save them. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be sleeping in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 There will be two women grinding grain together; one will be taken, and the other will be left. [ 36 Two people will be in the field. One will be taken, and the other will be left.]”[e]
37 The followers asked Jesus, “Where will this be, Lord?”
Jesus answered, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.