M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Men and Materials
28 Now David assembled all the leaders of Israel in Jerusalem—the tribal officers, the commanders of the divisions that served the king, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, and the stewards over all the property and livestock of the king and of his sons, along with the high officials, the mighty warriors and all the men of valor.
2 Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people! As for me, it was in my heart to build a resting place for the Ark of the Covenant of Adonai and for the footstool of our God. So I made the preparations for the building. 3 But God said to me, ‘You will not build a House for My name because you are a man of war and have shed blood.’ 4 Yet Adonai, the God of Israel, has chosen me out of all my ancestral house to be king over Israel forever. For He chose Judah as ruler, and of the house of Judah, my father’s house, and of my father’s sons, He took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel. 5 Moreover, of all my sons—for Adonai has given me many sons—He has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of Adonai over Israel.
6 “He said to me, ‘Solomon your son will build My House and My courts for I have chosen him to be a son to Me and I will be a father to him. 7 I will establish his kingdom forever, if he resolutely observes My mitzvot and My ordinances as at this day.’ 8 Now therefore, in the sight of all Israel, the congregation of Adonai and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek all the mitzvot of Adonai your God so that you may possess this good land and may bequeath it to your children after you forever.
9 “Now you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him with a whole heart and with a willing mind; for Adonai searches all hearts and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you. But if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever. 10 Consider now, for Adonai has chosen you to build a House for the Sanctuary. Chazak! And do it!”
11 Then David gave Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, its houses, its storerooms, its upper rooms, its inner rooms, and the place of atonement; 12 and the plan of all that he had by the Ruach for the courts of the House of Adonai and all the surrounding rooms, for the storehouses of the House of God and for the treasuries of the dedicated things; 13 also for the divisions of the kohanim and the Levites, for all the tasks of the avodah of the House of Adonai, and for all the vessels of avodah in the House of Adonai. 14 For gold, the weight of gold for all vessels of every kind of avodah, and silver, the weight of silver for all vessels for every type of avodah; 15 and the weight for the gold menorot and their gold lamps, including the weight of each menorah and its lamps, for the silver menorot, including the weight of each menorah and its lamps according to the use of each menorah; 16 also the weight of gold for the tables of the rows of bread, for every table and silver for the silver tables; 17 and the forks, the basins, and the pitchers of pure gold, and for the golden bowls with the weight for every bowl, and for the silver bowls with the weight for every bowl; 18 and for the altar of incense with the weight of refined gold; and gold for the form of the chariot—the cheruvim—that spread out their wings covering the Ark of the Covenant of Adonai.
19 “All this I put in writing is from the hand of Adonai upon me as He gave me insight regarding the plan of all the works.”
20 Also David said to his son Solomon: “Chazak! And be courageous, and do it! Do not be afraid or dismayed, for Adonai Elohim my God is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the avodah of the House of Adonai is finished. 21 Now behold, here are the divisions of the kohanim and the Levites for all the avodah of the House of God, and with you in all the work are willing men, skilled in all types of tasks. Also the officials and all the people are at your command.”
False Teachers Condemned
2 But false prophets also arose among the people,[a] just as there will also be false teachers among you. They will secretly bring in destructive heresies. They will even deny the Master who bought them[b]—bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2 Many will follow their immoral ways, and as a result the way of the truth will be maligned. 3 In their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction does not slumber.
4 For God did not spare angels when they sinned, but threw them into Sheol.[c] He put them in chains of gloomy darkness, to be held until the judgment. [d] 5 He did not spare the ancient world. He preserved only Noah, a proclaimer of righteousness, along with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly. 6 He devastated the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, reducing them to ashes[e]—making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly. 7 He rescued Lot, a righteous man deeply troubled by the shameless immorality of the wicked. [f] 8 (For that righteous man, while living among them, was tormented in his righteous soul day after day by lawless deeds he saw and heard.) 9 Therefore the Lord certainly knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and how to keep the unrighteous being punished until the Day of Judgment— 10 especially those who follow after the flesh in its unclean desires and who despise the Lord’s authority.[g]
Brazen and arrogant, these people do not tremble while slandering glorious beings; 11 yet even angels, though stronger and more powerful, do not bring a slanderous charge against them before the Lord. [h] 12 But these people are like irrational animals—creatures of instinct born to be captured and killed. They malign what they don’t understand, and in their destruction they will be utterly destroyed. 13 They will be paid back for what they have done—evil for evil.[i] They consider carousing in broad daylight a pleasure. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceitful pleasures while feasting together with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery that never stop sinning, enticing unstable souls. They have hearts trained in greed—a cursed brood! 15 They have abandoned the straight way. They have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor,[j] who loved the wages of wickedness. 16 But he received a rebuke for his own wrongdoing. A dumb donkey spoke with a man’s voice and put a stop to the prophet’s madness.[k]
17 These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. The gloom of utter darkness has been reserved for them. [l] 18 For by mouthing grandiosities that amount to nothing, they entice in sensual fleshly passions those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption—for a person is a slave to whatever has overcome him. 20 For if—after escaping the world’s pollutions through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Yeshua the Messiah—they again become entangled in these things and are overcome, the end for them has become worse than the beginning. 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after learning about it, to turn back from the holy commandment passed on to them. [m] 22 What has happened to them confirms the truth of the proverb, “A dog returns to its vomit,”[n] and “A scrubbed pig heads right back into the mud.”
Eternal Ruler from Bethlehem
5 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah[a]—
least among the clans of Judah—
from you will come out to Me
One to be ruler in Israel,
One whose goings forth are from of old,
from days of eternity.
2 Therefore He will give them up
until the time when she who is in labor has given birth.
Then the remnant of His brothers
will return to Bnei-Yisrael.
3 So He will arise and tend His flock
with the strength of Adonai—
in the majesty of the Name of Adonai His God.
And they will live securely,
for then He will be great to the ends of the earth.
4 This One will be shalom.[b]
When Assyria invades our land
when he treads on our citadels,
then we will raise up against him seven shepherds
and eight human princes.
5 They will devastate the land of Assyria with the sword—
even Nimrod’s land with a drawn blade.[c]
He will deliver us from Assyria,
when he invades our land,
when he tramples on our territory.
The Remnant of Jacob
6 Now the remnant of Jacob will be
in the midst of many peoples,
like dew from Adonai,
like abundant showers on grass
that does not wait for a man,
nor lingers for the sons of men.
7 For the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,
in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the forest beasts,
like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
who, if he passed through, would trample and tear to pieces,
and there would be no deliverer.
8 May your hand be raised up against your adversaries,
and may all your foes be cut off.
9 “Now in that day”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“I will cut off your horses among you,
and I will destroy your chariots.
10 I will cut off the cities of your land,
and throw down all your strongholds.
11 I will cut off sorceries from your hand,
and you will have no more diviners.
12 I will cut off your carved images
and your sacred pillars from among you,
so you will no longer bow down
to the work of your hands.
13 I will uproot your Asherah poles from among you,
and destroy your cities.
14 So I will execute vengeance in anger
and wrath on the nations that have not listened.
A Dinner Conversation on Shabbat
14 Now when Yeshua went into the home of one of the leaders of the Pharisees to eat a meal on Shabbat, they were watching Him closely. 2 And there before Him was a man swollen with fluid. 3 So Yeshua said to the Torah lawyers and the Pharisees, “Is it permitted to heal on Shabbat, or not?”
4 But they kept silent. So Yeshua took hold of him and healed him, and He sent him away. 5 Then He said to them, “Which of you, with a son or an ox falling into a well on Yom Shabbat, will not immediately pull him out?” [a] 6 And they could not reply to these things.
7 Yeshua began telling a parable to those who had been invited, when He noticed how they were choosing the seats of honor. He said to them, 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding, don’t take the seat of honor, for someone more highly esteemed than you may have been invited by him. 9 Then the one who invited both of you will come to you and say, ‘Give up this seat.’ And with shame, you would proceed to take the lowest seat. 10 But when you are invited, go and recline in the lowest seat so that when the one who invited you comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you shall be honored in the presence of all those who are dining with you. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”[b]
12 Then Yeshua was also saying to the one who invited Him, “When you host a luncheon or dinner, don’t invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors. Otherwise they might invite you in return as your payback. 13 But when you host a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind; 14 and you will be blessed, since they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
15 Now hearing this, one of those dining with Yeshua said to Him, “Blessed is he who eats bread in the kingdom of God.”
16 But Yeshua said to him, “A certain man was hosting a large banquet, and he invited many. 17 At the time for the banquet, he sent his slave to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, everything is already prepared.’
18 “But every one of them began to beg off. The first said to him, ‘I bought a farm, and I’m obligated to go out to see it. I’m asking you to have me excused.’ 19 Then another one said, ‘I’ve purchased five teams of oxen, and I’m going to check them out. I’m asking you to have me excused.’ 20 Still another said, ‘I’ve married a wife, so I cannot come.’[c]
21 “The slave came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house got angry and said to his slave, ‘Quickly go out into the squares and alleys of the city and bring here the poor, the maimed, the blind, and the lame.’
22 “And the slave said, ‘Master, I have done as you instructed, and still there is room.’
23 “So the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the thoroughfares and fenced areas, and press them to come in so my home may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my banquet.’”
Telling Parables Along the Road
25 Now great crowds were traveling with Yeshua; and He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters—and yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.
28 “For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and figure out the cost, to see if he has enough to finish it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and isn’t able to finish everything, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and wasn’t able to finish!’
31 “Or what king, going to make war against another king, won’t first sit down to consider whether he is able with ten thousand to confront the one coming against him with twenty thousand? [d] 32 If not, while the other is still far away, he sends an ambassador and asks for peace. 33 So in the same way, whoever does not renounce all that he has, cannot be My disciple.
34 “Therefore, salt is good; but if the salt should lose its flavor, how shall it be made salty again? 35 It is not suitable for the soil or for a manure heap—it is thrown out. The one who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.