M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
10 When the queen of Sheba heard how wonderfully the Lord had blessed Solomon with wisdom,[a] she decided to test him with some hard questions. 2 She arrived in Jerusalem with a long train of camels carrying spices, gold, and jewels; and she told him all her problems. 3 Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too difficult for him, for the Lord gave him the right answers every time.[b] 4 She soon realized that everything she had ever heard about his great wisdom was true. She also saw the beautiful palace he had built, 5 and when she saw the wonderful foods on his table, the great number of servants and aides who stood around in splendid uniforms, his cupbearers, and the many offerings he sacrificed by fire to the Lord—well, there was no more spirit in her!
6 She exclaimed to him, “Everything I heard in my own country about your wisdom and about the wonderful things going on here is all true. 7 I didn’t believe it until I came, but now I have seen it for myself! And really! The half had not been told me! Your wisdom and prosperity are far greater than anything I’ve ever heard of! 8 Your people are happy and your palace aides are content—but how could it be otherwise, for they stand here day after day listening to your wisdom! 9 Blessed be the Lord your God who chose you and set you on the throne of Israel. How the Lord must love Israel—for he gave you to them as their king! And you give your people a just, good government!”
10 Then she gave the king a gift of $3,500,000 in gold, along with a huge quantity of spices and precious gems; in fact, it was the largest single gift of spices King Solomon had ever received.
11 (And when King Hiram’s ships brought gold to Solomon from Ophir, they also brought along a great supply of algum trees and gems. 12 Solomon used the algum wood to make pillars for the Temple and the palace, and for harps and harpsichords for his choirs. Never before or since has there been such a supply of beautiful wood.)
13 In exchange for the gifts from the queen of Sheba, King Solomon gave her everything she asked him for, besides the presents he had already planned. Then she and her servants returned to their own land.
14 Each year Solomon received gold worth a quarter of a billion dollars, 15 besides sales taxes and profits from trade with the kings of Arabia and the other surrounding territories. 16-17 Solomon had some of the gold beaten into two hundred pieces of armor (gold worth $6,000 went into each piece) and three hundred shields ($1,800 worth of gold in each). And he kept them in his palace in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon.
18 He also made a huge ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold. 19 It had six steps and a rounded back, with arm rests; and a lion standing on each side. 20 And there were two lions on each step—twelve in all. There was no other throne in all the world so splendid as that one.
21 All of King Solomon’s cups were of solid gold, and in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon his entire dining service was made of solid gold. (Silver wasn’t used because it wasn’t considered to be of much value!)
22 King Solomon’s merchant fleet was in partnership with King Hiram’s, and once every three years a great load of gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks arrived at the Israeli ports.
23 So King Solomon was richer and wiser than all the kings of the earth. 24 Great men from many lands came to interview him and listen to his God-given wisdom. 25 They brought him annual tribute of silver and gold dishes, beautiful cloth, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules.
26 Solomon built up a great stable of horses with a vast number of chariots and cavalry—1,400 chariots in all and 12,000 cavalrymen, who lived in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem. 27 Silver was as common as stones in Jerusalem in those days, and cedar was of no greater value than the common sycamore! 28 Solomon’s horses were brought to him from Egypt and southern Turkey, where his agents purchased them at wholesale prices. 29 An Egyptian chariot delivered to Jerusalem cost $400, and the horses were valued at $150 each. Many of these were then resold to the Hittite and Syrian kings.
1 From: Paul and Timothy, slaves of Jesus Christ.
To: The pastors and deacons and all the Christians in the city of Philippi.
2 May God bless you all. Yes, I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will give each of you his fullest blessings and his peace in your hearts and your lives.
3 All my prayers for you are full of praise to God! 4 When I pray for you, my heart is full of joy 5 because of all your wonderful help in making known the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. 6 And I am sure that God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task within you is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns.
7 How natural it is that I should feel as I do about you, for you have a very special place in my heart. We have shared together the blessings of God, both when I was in prison and when I was out, defending the truth and telling others about Christ. 8 Only God knows how deep is my love and longing for you—with the tenderness of Jesus Christ. 9 My prayer for you is that you will overflow more and more with love for others, and at the same time keep on growing in spiritual knowledge and insight, 10 for I want you always to see clearly the difference between right and wrong, and to be inwardly clean, no one being able to criticize you from now until our Lord returns. 11 May you always be doing those good, kind things that show you are a child of God, for this will bring much praise and glory to the Lord.
12 And I want you to know this, dear brothers: Everything that has happened to me here has been a great boost in getting out the Good News concerning Christ. 13 For everyone around here, including all the soldiers over at the barracks, knows that I am in chains simply because I am a Christian. 14 And because of my imprisonment, many of the Christians here seem to have lost their fear of chains! Somehow my patience has encouraged them, and they have become more and more bold in telling others about Christ.
15 Some, of course, are preaching the Good News because they are jealous of the way God has used me. They want reputations as fearless preachers! But others have purer motives, 16-17 preaching because they love me, for they know that the Lord has brought me here to use me to defend the Truth. And some preach to make me jealous, thinking that their success will add to my sorrows here in jail! 18 But whatever their motive for doing it, the fact remains that the Good News about Christ is being preached, and I am glad.
19 I am going to keep on being glad, for I know that as you pray for me, and as the Holy Spirit helps me, this is all going to turn out for my good. 20 For I live in eager expectation and hope that I will never do anything that will cause me to be ashamed of myself but that I will always be ready to speak out boldly for Christ while I am going through all these trials here, just as I have in the past; and that I will always be an honor to Christ, whether I live or whether I must die. 21 For to me, living means opportunities for Christ, and dying—well, that’s better yet! 22 But if living will give me more opportunities to win people to Christ, then I really don’t know which is better, to live or die! 23 Sometimes I want to live, and at other times I don’t, for I long to go and be with Christ. How much happier for me than being here! 24 But the fact is that I can be of more help to you by staying!
25 Yes, I am still needed down here, and so I feel certain I will be staying on earth a little longer, to help you grow and become happy in your faith; 26 my staying will make you glad and give you reason to glorify Christ Jesus for keeping me safe when I return to visit you again.
27 But whatever happens to me, remember always to live as Christians should, so that whether I ever see you again or not, I will keep on hearing good reports that you are standing side by side with one strong purpose—to tell the Good News 28 fearlessly, no matter what your enemies may do. They will see this as a sign of their downfall, but for you it will be a clear sign from God that he is with you, and that he has given you eternal life with him. 29 For to you has been given the privilege not only of trusting him but also of suffering for him. 30 We are in this fight together. You have seen me suffer for him in the past; and I am still in the midst of a great and terrible struggle now, as you know so well.
40 Early in April of the twenty-fifth year of our exile—the fourteenth year after Jerusalem was captured—the hand of the Lord was upon me, 2 and in a vision he took me to the land of Israel and set me down on a high mountain where I saw what appeared to be a city opposite me. 3 Going nearer, I saw a man whose face shone like bronze, standing beside the Temple gate,[a] holding in his hand a measuring tape and a measuring stick.
4 He said to me: “Son of dust, watch and listen and take to heart everything I show you, for you have been brought here so I can show you many things; and then you are to return to the people of Israel to tell them all you have seen.” 5 The man began to measure the wall around the outside of the Temple area with his measuring stick, which was 10-1/2 feet long. He told me, “This wall is 10-1/2 feet high and 10-1/2 feet wide.” 6 Then he took me over to the passageway that goes through the eastern wall. We climbed the seven steps into the entrance, and he measured the entry hall of the passage; it was 10-1/2 feet wide.
7-12 Walking on through the passageway I saw that there were three guardrooms on each side; each of these rooms was 10-1/2 feet square, with a distance of 8-3/4 feet along the wall between them. In front of these rooms was a low barrier 18 inches high and 18 inches wide.[b] Beyond the guardrooms was a 10-1/2-foot doorway opening into a 14-foot hall with 3-1/2-foot columns. Beyond this hall, at the inner end of the passageway, was a vestibule 22-3/4 feet wide and 17-1/2 feet long.
13 Then he measured the entire outside width of the passageway, measuring across the roof from the outside doors of the guardrooms; this distance was 43-3/4 feet. 14 Then he estimated the pillars on each side of the porch to be about 100 feet high. 15 The full length of the entrance passage was 87-1/2 feet from one end to the other. 16 There were windows that narrowed inward through the walls along both sides of the passageway and along the guardroom walls. The windows were also in the exit and in the entrance halls. The pillars were decorated with palm tree decorations.
17 And so we passed through the passageway to the court inside. A stone pavement ran around the inside of the walls, and thirty rooms were built against the walls, opening onto this pavement. 18 This was called “the lower pavement.” It extended out from the walls into the court the same distance as the passageway did.
19 Then he measured across to the wall on the other side of this court (which was called “the outer court” of the Temple)[c] and found that the distance was 175 feet. 20 As I followed, he left the eastern passageway and went over to the passage through the northern wall and measured it. 21 Here, too, there were three guardrooms on each side, and all the measurements were the same as for the east passageway—87-1/2 feet long and 43-3/4 feet from side to side across the top of the guardrooms. 22 There were windows, an entry hall, and the palm tree decorations just the same as on the east side. And there were seven steps leading up to the doorway to the entry hall inside.
23 Here at the north entry, just as at the east, if one walked through the passageway into the court and straight across it, he came to an inner wall and a passageway through it to an inner court. The distance between the two passageways was 175 feet. 24 Then he took me around to the south gate and measured the various sections of its passageway and found they were just the same as in the others. 25 It had windows along the walls as the others did, and an entry hall. And like the others, it was 87-1/2 feet long and 43-3/4 feet wide. 26 It, too, had a stairway of seven steps leading up to it, and there were palm tree decorations along the walls. 27 And here again, if one walked through the passageway into the court and straight across it, he came to the inner wall and a passageway through it to the inner court. And the distance between the passageways was 175 feet.
28 Then he took me over to the inner wall and its south passageway. He measured this passageway and found that it had the same measurements as the passageways of the outer wall.[d] 29-30 Its guardrooms, pillars, and entrance and exit hall were identical to all the others, and so were the windows along its walls and entry. And, like the others, it was 87-1/2 feet long by 43-3/4 feet wide.[e] 31 The only difference was that it had eight steps leading up to it instead of seven. It had palm tree decorations on the pillars, just as the others.
32 Then he took me along the court to the eastern entrance of the inner wall, and measured it. It, too, had the same measurements as the others. 33 Its guardrooms, pillars, and entrance hall were the same size as those of the other passageways, and there were windows along the walls and in the entry hall; and it was 87-1/2 feet long by 43-3/4 feet wide. 34 Its entry hall faced the outer court, and there were palm tree decorations on its columns, but there were eight steps instead of seven going up to the entrance.
35 Then he took me around to the north gate of the inner wall, and the measurements there were just like the others: 36 The guardrooms, pillars, and entry hall of this passageway were the same as the others, with a length of 87-1/2 feet and a width of 43-3/4 feet. 37 Its entry hall faced toward the outer court; it had palm tree decorations on the walls of each side of the passageway, and there were eight steps leading up to the entrance.
38 But a door led from its entry hall into a side room where the flesh of the sacrifices was washed before being taken to the altar; 39 on each side of the entry hall of the passageway there were two tables where the animals for sacrifice were slaughtered for the burnt offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings to be presented in the Temple. 40 Outside the entry hall, on each side of the stairs going up to the north entrance, there were two more tables. 41 So, in all there were eight tables, four inside and four outside, where the sacrifices were cut up and prepared. 42 There were also four stone tables where the butchering knives and other implements were laid. These tables were about 2-5/8 feet square and 1-3/4 feet high. 43 There were hooks, 3 or 4 inches long, fastened along the walls of the entry hall, and on the tables the flesh of the offering was to be laid.
44 In the inner court there were two one-room buildings, one beside the northern entrance, facing south, and one beside the southern entrance, facing north.
45 And he said to me: “The building beside the inner northern gate is for the priests who supervise the maintenance. 46 The building beside the inner southern entrance is for the priests in charge of the altar—the descendants of Zadok—for they alone of all the Levites may come near to the Lord to minister to him.”
47 Then he measured the inner court in front of the Temple[f] and found it to be 175 feet square, and there was an altar in the court, standing in front of the Temple. 48-49 Then he brought me to the entrance hall of the Temple. Ten steps led up to it from the inner court. Its walls extended up on either side to form two pillars, each of them 8-3/4 feet thick. The entrance was 24-1/2 feet wide with 5-1/4-foot walls. Thus the entry hall was 35 feet wide and 19-1/4 feet long.
91 We live within the shadow of the Almighty, sheltered by the God who is above all gods.
2 This I declare, that he alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I am trusting him. 3 For he rescues you from every trap and protects you from the fatal plague. 4 He will shield you with his wings! They will shelter you. His faithful promises are your armor. 5 Now you don’t need to be afraid of the dark anymore, nor fear the dangers of the day; 6 nor dread the plagues of darkness, nor disasters in the morning.[a]
7 Though a thousand fall at my side, though ten thousand are dying around me, the evil will not touch me. 8 I will see how the wicked are punished, but I will not share it. 9 For Jehovah is my refuge! I choose the God above all gods to shelter me. 10 How then can evil overtake me or any plague come near? 11 For he orders his angels to protect you wherever you go. 12 They will steady you with their hands to keep you from stumbling against the rocks on the trail. 13 You can safely meet a lion or step on poisonous snakes, yes, even trample them beneath your feet!
14 For the Lord says, “Because he loves me, I will rescue him; I will make him great because he trusts in my name. 15 When he calls on me, I will answer; I will be with him in trouble and rescue him and honor him. 16 I will satisfy him with a full life[b] and give him my salvation.”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.