M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Solomon’s Kingdom
4 King Solomon ruled over all Israel. 2 These are the names of his leading officials:
Azariah son of Zadok was the priest;
3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha, had the job of writing notes about what happened in the courts;
Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud wrote notes about the history of the people;
4 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was the commander of the army;
Zadok and Abiathar were priests;
5 Azariah son of Nathan was in charge of the district governors;
Zabud son of Nathan was a priest and an advisor to King Solomon;
6 Ahishar was responsible for everything in the king’s palace;
Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of the slaves.
7 Israel was divided into twelve districts. Solomon chose governors to rule over each district. These governors were ordered to gather food from their districts and give it to the king and his family. Each of the twelve governors was responsible for giving food to the king one month each year. 8 These are the names of the twelve governors:
Ben Hur was governor of the hill country of Ephraim.
9 Ben Deker was governor of Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Bethhanan.
10 Ben Hesed was governor of Arubboth, Socoh, and Hepher.
11 Ben Abinadab was governor of Naphoth Dor. He was married to Taphath, daughter of Solomon.
12 Baana son of Ahilud was governor of Taanach and Megiddo and all of Beth Shean next to Zarethan. This was below Jezreel, from Beth Shean to Abel Meholah across from Jokmeam.
13 Ben Geber was governor of Ramoth Gilead. He was governor of all the towns and villages of Jair son of Manasseh in Gilead. He was also governor of the district of Argob in Bashan. In this area there were 60 cities with big walls around them. These cities also had bronze bars on the gates.
14 Ahinadab son of Iddo was governor of Mahanaim.
15 Ahimaaz was governor of Naphtali. He was married to Basemath the daughter of Solomon.
16 Baana son of Hushai was governor of Asher and Aloth.
17 Jehoshaphat son of Paruah was governor of Issachar.
18 Shimei son of Ela was governor of Benjamin.
19 Geber son of Uri was governor of Gilead. There had been two kings in this area, King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan, but Solomon appointed only one governor for that district.
20 In Judah and Israel there were as many people as sand on the seashore. The people were happy and had plenty to eat and drink.
21 Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines. His kingdom went as far as the border of Egypt. These countries sent gifts to Solomon, and they obeyed him all of his life.[a]
22-23 This is the amount of food that Solomon needed each day for himself and for everyone who ate at his table: 150 bushels[b] of fine flour, 300 bushels[c] of flour, 10 cattle that were fed grain, 20 cattle that were raised in the fields, 100 sheep, wild animals such as deer, gazelles, roebucks,[d] and game birds.
24 Solomon ruled over all the countries west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah to Gaza. And Solomon had peace along all the borders of his kingdom. 25 During Solomon’s life everyone in Judah and Israel, all the way from Dan to Beersheba, lived in peace and security. The people were at peace sitting under their own fig trees and grapevines.
26 Solomon had places to keep 4000[e] horses for his chariots and he had 12,000 horse soldiers. 27 And each month one of the twelve district governors gave King Solomon everything he needed for all the people who ate at the king’s table. 28 The district governors also gave the king enough straw and barley for the chariot horses and the riding horses. Everyone brought this grain to the necessary places.
Solomon’s Wisdom
29 God made Solomon very wise. Solomon could understand more than you can imagine. 30 He was wiser than anyone in the East[f] or in Egypt. 31 He was wiser than anyone on earth, even Ethan the Ezrahite and the sons of Mahol—Heman, Calcol, and Darda. King Solomon became famous in all the surrounding countries. 32 By the end of his life, he had written[g] 3000 proverbs and 1005 songs.
33 Solomon also knew very much about nature. He taught about many different kinds of plants—everything from the great cedar trees of Lebanon to the little vines that grow out of the walls. He also taught about animals, birds, and snakes.[h] 34 People from every nation came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom. Kings all over the world sent their people to listen to him.
Solomon and Hiram
5 Hiram was the king of Tyre. He had always been David’s friend. So when Hiram heard that Solomon had become the new king after David, he sent his servants to Solomon. 2 This is what Solomon said to King Hiram:
3 “You remember that my father, King David, had to fight many wars all around him. So he was never able to build a temple to honor the Lord his God. King David was waiting until the Lord allowed him to defeat all his enemies. 4 But now the Lord my God has given me peace along all the borders of my country. I have no enemies, and my people are in no danger.
5 “The Lord made a promise to my father David. He said, ‘I will make your son king after you, and he will build a temple to honor me.’ Now, I plan to build that temple to honor the Lord my God. 6 And so I ask you to help me. Send your men to Lebanon to cut down cedar trees for me. My servants will work with yours. I will pay you any price that you decide as your servants’ wages, but I need your help. Our carpenters[i] are not as good as the carpenters of Sidon.”
7 Hiram was very happy when he heard what Solomon asked. He said, “I praise the Lord today for giving David a wise son to rule this great nation!” 8 Then Hiram sent this message to Solomon:
“I heard what you asked for. I will give you all the cedar trees and the fir trees you want. 9 My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea. Then I will tie them together and float them down the shore to the place you choose. There I will separate the logs, and you can take them from there. As payment for this, you will give food to all those who live in my palace.”
10 So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and fir logs that he wanted.
11 Solomon gave Hiram about 120,000 bushels[j] of wheat and about 120,000 gallons[k] of pure olive oil every year for his family.
12 The Lord made Solomon wise as he had promised. Hiram and Solomon made a treaty between themselves and were at peace with one another.
13 King Solomon forced 30,000 men of Israel to help in this work. 14 He chose a man named Adoniram to be in charge of them. Solomon divided the men into three groups with 10,000 men in each group. Each group worked one month in Lebanon and then went home for two months. 15 Solomon also forced 80,000 men to work in the hill country cutting stone. There were also 70,000 men to carry the stones. 16 There were 3300 men to supervise the workers. 17 King Solomon commanded them to cut large, expensive stones for the foundation of the Temple. 18 Then Solomon and Hiram’s builders and the men from Byblos[l] carved the stones and prepared them and the logs for use in building the Temple.
From Death to Life
2 In the past you were spiritually dead because of your sins and the things you did against God. 2 Yes, in the past your lives were full of those sins. You lived the way the world lives, following the ruler of the evil powers[a] that are above the earth. That same spirit is now working in those who refuse to obey God. 3 In the past all of us lived like that, trying to please our sinful selves. We did all the things our bodies and minds wanted. Like everyone else in the world, we deserved to suffer God’s anger just because of the way we were.
4 But God is rich in mercy, and he loved us very much. 5 We were spiritually dead because of all we had done against him. But he gave us new life together with Christ. (You have been saved by God’s grace.) 6 Yes, it is because we are a part of Christ Jesus that God raised us from death and seated us together with him in the heavenly places. 7 God did this so that his kindness to us who belong to Christ Jesus would clearly show for all time to come the amazing richness of his grace.
8 I mean that you have been saved by grace because you believed. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. 9 You are not saved by the things you have done, so there is nothing to boast about. 10 God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do.
One in Christ
11 You were not born as Jews. You are the people the Jews call “uncircumcised.[b]” Those Jews who call you “uncircumcised” call themselves “circumcised.” (Their circumcision is only something they themselves do to their bodies.) 12 Remember that in the past you were without Christ. You were not citizens of Israel, and you did not know about the agreements[c] with the promises that God made to his people. You had no hope, and you did not know God. 13 Yes, at one time you were far away from God, but now in Christ Jesus, you are brought near to him. You are brought near to God through the blood sacrifice of Christ.
14 Christ is the reason we are now at peace. He made us Jews and you who are not Jews one people. We were separated by a wall of hate that stood between us, but Christ broke down that wall. By giving his own body, 15 Christ ended the law with its many commands and rules. His purpose was to make the two groups become one in him. By doing this he would make peace. 16 Through the cross Christ ended the hate between the two groups. And after they became one body, he wanted to bring them both back to God. He did this with his death on the cross. 17 Christ came and brought the message of peace to you non-Jews who were far away from God. And he brought that message of peace to those who were near to God. 18 Yes, through Christ we all have the right to come to the Father in one Spirit.
19 So now you non-Jewish people are not visitors or strangers, but you are citizens together with God’s holy people. You belong to God’s family. 20 You believers are like a building that God owns. That building was built on the foundation that the apostles and prophets prepared. Christ Jesus himself is the most important stone[d] in that building. 21 The whole building is joined together in Christ, and he makes it grow and become a holy temple[e] in the Lord. 22 And in Christ you are being built together with his other people. You are being made into a place where God lives through the Spirit.
The Message Against Edom
35 The word of the Lord came to me. He said, 2 “Son of man,[a] look toward Mount Seir and speak against it for me. 3 Say to it, ‘This is what the Lord God says:
“‘I am against you, Mount Seir!
I will punish you and make you an empty wasteland.
4 I will destroy your cities,
and you will become empty.
Then you will know that I am the Lord.
5 “‘Why? Because you have always been against my people. You used your sword against Israel at the time of their trouble, at the time of their final punishment.’” 6 So the Lord God says, “But I promise by my own life that I will let death have you. Death will chase you. You did not hate killing people, so death will chase you. 7 I will make Mount Seir an empty ruin. I will kill everyone who enters or leaves that city. 8 I will cover its mountains with those who are killed. There will be dead bodies all over your hills, in your valleys, and in all your ravines. 9 I will make you empty forever. No one will live in your cities. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”
10 You said, “These two nations and countries, Israel and Judah, will be mine. We will take them for our own.”
But the Lord is there! 11 And the Lord God says, “You were jealous of my people. You were angry and hateful to them. So by my life, I swear that I will punish you the same way you hurt them! I will punish you and let my people know that I am with them. 12 And then you, too, will know that I am the Lord.
“I have heard you making fun of Israel’s hill country. You said, ‘It is in ruins, just waiting for us to swallow it up.’ 13 Your proud boasting is really against me. Time after time you have insulted me, and I have heard every word.”
14 This is what the Lord God says: “All the earth will be happy when I destroy you. 15 You were happy when the country of Israel was destroyed. I will treat you the same way. Mount Seir and the whole country of Edom will be destroyed. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”
To the director: A song of praise from the Korah family.
85 Lord, you have been so kind to your land.
You have brought success again to the people of Jacob.
2 You have forgiven the bad things your people did.
You have taken away the guilt of their sins! Selah
3 You stopped being angry with them.
Your terrible anger has gone away.
4 Our God and Savior, accept us again.
Don’t be angry with us anymore.
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will your anger reach to our children and to their children?
6 Please, give us new life!
Make your people happy to be yours.
7 Lord, save us
and show us your love.
8 I heard what the Lord God said.
He said there would be peace for his people and his loyal followers.
So they must not go back to their foolish way of living.
9 He will soon save his faithful followers.
His glory will again live in our land.[a]
10 God’s love will come together with his faithful people.
Goodness and peace will greet them with a kiss.
11 People on earth will be loyal to God,
and God in heaven will be good to them.[b]
12 The Lord will give us many good things.
The ground will grow many good crops.
13 Goodness will go before the Lord
and prepare the way for him.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International