M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Solomon’s Prayer
12-13 Solomon had made a bronze platform and placed it in the middle of the outer courtyard. The platform was 5 cubits[a] long, 5 cubits wide, and 3 cubits[b] tall. Solomon stood on the platform and faced the Lord’s altar. In front of all the Israelites who were gathered together, Solomon kneeled, spread his hands out toward heaven, 14 and said,
“Lord, God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth. You keep the agreement that you made with your people. You are kind and loyal to those who follow you with all their heart. 15 You made a promise to your servant, my father David, and you kept that promise. You made that promise with your own mouth, and with your own hands you made it come true today. 16 Now, Lord, God of Israel, keep the other promises you made to your servant David, my father. You said, ‘David, if your sons carefully obey me as you did, you will always have someone from your family ruling the people of Israel.’ 17 Again, Lord, God of Israel, I ask you to keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David.
18 “But, God, will you really live here with us on the earth? The whole sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you. Certainly this house that I built cannot contain you either. 19 But please listen to my prayer and my request. I am your servant, and you are the Lord my God. Hear this prayer that I am praying to you today. 20 In the past you said, ‘I will be honored there.’ So please watch over this Temple, night and day. And listen to my prayer as I turn toward this Temple and pray to you. 21 And please listen to our prayers in the future when I and your people Israel turn to this place and pray to you. We know that you live in heaven. We ask you to hear our prayer there and forgive us.
22 “Whoever does wrong to someone will be brought to this altar. If they are not guilty, they will make an oath and promise that they are innocent. 23 Please listen from heaven and judge them. If they are guilty, please show us that they are guilty. And if they are innocent, please show us that they are not guilty.
24 “Sometimes your people Israel will sin against you, and their enemies will defeat them. Then the people will come back to you and praise you. They will pray to you in this Temple. 25 In heaven, please listen to the prayers of your people Israel. Forgive them for their sins and let them have their land again. You gave this land to their ancestors.
26 “Sometimes they will sin against you, and you will stop the rain from falling on their land. Then they will pray toward this place and praise your name. You will make them suffer, and they will be sorry for their sins. 27 So please listen in heaven to their prayer. Then forgive us for our sins. Teach the people to live right. Then, please send rain to the land you gave them.
28 “The land might become very dry so that no food will grow on it. Or maybe a great sickness will spread among the people. Maybe all the food that is growing will be destroyed by insects. Or your people might be attacked in some of their cities by their enemies. Or many of your people might get sick. 29 When any of these things happen, people feel the need to spread their hands in prayer toward this Temple. 30 Please listen to their prayer while you are in your home in heaven and forgive them and help them. Only you know what people are really thinking, so only you can judge them fairly. 31 Do this so that your people will fear and respect you all the time that they live in this land you gave to our ancestors.
32 “People from other places will hear about your greatness and your power. They will come from far away to pray at this Temple. 33 From your home in heaven, please listen to their prayers. Please do everything those from other places ask you. Then they will fear and respect you the same as your people in Israel. Then all people everywhere will know that I built this Temple to honor you.
34 “Sometimes you will command your people to go and fight against their enemies. Then your people will turn toward this city that you have chosen and the Temple that I built in your honor, and they will pray to you. 35 Listen to their prayers from your home in heaven, and help them.
36 “Your people will sin against you. I know this because everyone sins. And you will be angry with your people. You will let their enemies defeat them. Their enemies will make them prisoners and carry them to some faraway land. 37 In that faraway land, your people will think about what happened. They will be sorry for their sins, and they will pray to you. They will say, ‘We have sinned and done wrong.’ 38 They will be in that faraway land of their enemies, but they will turn back to you. They will feel sorry for their sins with their whole heart and soul. They will turn toward the land you gave their ancestors. They will look toward the city you chose and toward the Temple I built, and they will pray to you. 39 Please listen from your home in heaven. Accept their prayers when they beg for help, and help them. Forgive your people who have sinned against you. 40 Now, my God, I ask you, open your eyes and your ears. Listen and pay attention to the prayers we are praying in this place.
41 “Now, Lord God, get up and come to your special place,
the Box of the Agreement that shows your strength.
Lord God, may your priests be dressed with salvation,
and may your true followers be happy about these good things.
42 Lord God, accept your anointed king.
Remember your loyal servant David.”
God’s Children Win Against the World
5 The people who believe that Jesus is the Messiah are God’s children. Anyone who loves the Father also loves the Father’s children. 2 How do we know that we love God’s children? We know because we love God and we obey his commands. 3 Loving God means obeying his commands. And God’s commands are not too hard for us, 4 because everyone who is a child of God has the power to win against the world. 5 It is our faith that has won the victory against the world. So who wins against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
God Told Us About His Son
6 Jesus Christ is the one who came. He came with water and with blood.[a] He did not come by water only. No, Jesus came by both water and blood. And the Spirit tells us that this is true. The Spirit is the truth. 7 So there are three witnesses that tell us about Jesus: 8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood. These three witnesses agree.
9 We believe people when they say something is true. But what God says is more important. And this is what God told us: He told us the truth about his own Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the truth that God told us. But people who do not believe God make God a liar, because they do not believe what God told us about his Son. 11 This is what God told us: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life, but whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
We Have Eternal Life Now
13 I write this letter to you who believe in the Son of God. I write so that you will know that you have eternal life now. 14 We can come to God with no doubts. This means that when we ask God for things (and those things agree with what God wants for us), God cares about what we say. 15 He listens to us every time we ask him. So we know that he gives us whatever we ask from him.
16 Suppose you see your fellow believer sinning (sin that does not lead to eternal death). You should pray for them. Then God will give them life. I am talking about people whose sin does not lead to eternal death. There is sin that leads to death. I don’t mean that you should pray about that kind of sin. 17 Doing wrong is always sin. But there is sin that does not lead to eternal death.
18 We know that those who have been made God’s children do not continue to sin. The Son of God keeps them safe.[b] The Evil One cannot hurt them. 19 We know that we belong to God, but the Evil One controls the whole world. 20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding. So now we can know the one who is true, and we live in that true God. We are in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God, and he is eternal life. 21 So, dear children, keep yourselves away from false gods.
Habakkuk Complains to God
1 This is the message that was given to Habakkuk the prophet.
2 Lord, I continue to ask for help. When will you listen to me? I cried to you about the violence, but you did nothing! 3 People are stealing things and hurting others. They are arguing and fighting. Why do you make me look at these terrible things? 4 The law is weak and not fair to people. Evil people win their fights against good people. So the law is no longer fair, and justice does not win anymore.
The Lord Answers Habakkuk
5 “Look at the other nations! Watch them, and you will be amazed. I will do something in your lifetime that will amaze you. You would not believe it even if you were told about it. 6 I will make the Babylonians[a] a strong nation. They are cruel and powerful fighters. They will march across the earth. They will take houses and cities that don’t belong to them. 7 The Babylonians will scare the other people. They will do what they want to do and go where they want to go. 8 Their horses will be faster than leopards and more dangerous than wolves at sunset. Their horse soldiers will come from faraway places. They will attack their enemies quickly, like a hungry eagle swooping down from the sky. 9 The one thing they all want to do is fight. Their armies will march fast like the wind in the desert. And the Babylonian soldiers will take many prisoners—as many as the grains of sand.
10 “The Babylonian soldiers will laugh at the kings of other nations. Foreign rulers will be like jokes to them. The Babylonian soldiers will laugh at the cities with tall, strong walls. They will simply build dirt roads up to the top of the walls and easily defeat the cities. 11 Then they will leave like the wind and go on to fight against other places. The only thing the Babylonians worship is their own strength.”
Habakkuk’s Second Complaint
12 Lord, you are the one who lives forever!
You are my holy God who never dies![b]
Lord, you created the Babylonians to do what must be done.
Our Rock, you created them to punish people.
13 Your eyes are too good to look at evil.
You cannot stand to see people doing wrong.
So why do you permit such evil?
How can you watch while the wicked destroy people who are so much better?
14 You made people like fish in the sea.
They are like little sea animals without a leader.
15 The enemy catches all of them with hooks and nets.
The enemy catches them in his net and drags them in,
and the enemy is very happy with what he caught.
16 His net helps him live like the rich
and enjoy the best food.
So the enemy worships his net.
He makes sacrifices and burns incense to honor his net.
17 Will he continue to take riches with his net?
Will he continue destroying people without showing mercy?
Jewish Leaders Doubt Jesus’ Authority(A)
20 One day Jesus was in the Temple area teaching the people. He was telling them the Good News. The leading priests, teachers of the law, and older Jewish leaders came to talk to Jesus. 2 They said, “Tell us what authority you have to do these things. Who gave you this authority?”
3 Jesus answered, “I will ask you a question too. Tell me: 4 When John baptized people, did his authority come from God or was it only from other people?”
5 The priests, the teachers of the law, and the Jewish leaders all talked about this. They said to each other, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ then he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe John?’ 6 But if we say that John’s baptism was from someone else, the people will stone us to death. They all believe that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered, “We don’t know the answer.”
8 So Jesus said to them, “Then I will not tell you who gave me the authority to do these things.”
God Sends His Son(B)
9 Then Jesus told the people this story: “A man planted a vineyard. He leased the land to some farmers. Then he went away for a long time. 10 Later, it was time for the grapes to be picked. So the man sent a servant to those farmers so that they would give him his share of the grapes. But they beat the servant and sent him away with nothing. 11 So the man sent another servant. They beat this servant too and showed no respect for him. They sent the servant away with nothing. 12 So the man sent a third servant to the farmers. They hurt this servant badly and threw him out.
13 “The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What will I do now? I will send my son. I love my son very much. Maybe the farmers will respect my son.’ 14 When the farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the owner’s son. This vineyard will be his. If we kill him, it will be ours.’ 15 So the farmers threw the son out of the vineyard and killed him.
“What will the owner of the vineyard do? 16 He will come and kill those farmers. Then he will lease the land to some other farmers.”
When the people heard this story, they said, “This should never happen!” 17 But Jesus looked into their eyes and said, “Then what does this verse mean:
‘The stone that the builders refused to accept
became the cornerstone’? (C)
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken. If that stone falls on you, it will crush you!”
19 When the teachers of the law and the leading priests heard this story, they knew it was about them. So they wanted to arrest Jesus right then, but they were afraid of what the people would do.
The Jewish Leaders Try to Trick Jesus(D)
20 So the Jewish leaders waited for the right time to get Jesus. They sent some men to him, who pretended to be sincere. They wanted to find something wrong with what Jesus said. (If they found something wrong, then they could hand him over to the governor, who had the authority to arrest him.) 21 So the men said to Jesus, “Teacher, we know that what you say and teach is true. It doesn’t matter who is listening—you teach the same to all people. You always teach the truth about God’s way. 22 Tell us, is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
23 But Jesus knew that these men were trying to trick him. He said to them, 24 “Show me a silver coin. Whose name and picture are on it?”
They said, “Caesar’s.”
25 He said to them, “Then give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”
26 The men were amazed at his wise answer. They could say nothing. They were not able to trick Jesus there in front of the people. He said nothing they could use against him.
Some Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus(E)
27 Some Sadducees came to Jesus. (Sadducees believe that people will not rise from death.) They asked him, 28 “Teacher, Moses wrote that if a married man dies and had no children, his brother must marry his widow. Then they will have children for the dead brother.[a] 29 One time there were seven brothers. The first brother married a woman but died. He had no children. 30 Then the second brother married the woman, and he died. 31 And the third brother married the woman, and he died. The same thing happened with all the other brothers. They all died and had no children. 32 The woman was the last to die. 33 But all seven brothers married her. So when people rise from death, whose wife will this woman be?”
34 Jesus said to the Sadducees, “On earth, people marry each other. 35 Some people will be worthy to be raised from death and live again after this life. In that life they will not marry. 36 In that life people are like angels and cannot die. They are children of God, because they have been raised from death. 37 Moses clearly showed that people are raised from death. When Moses wrote about the burning bush,[b] he said that the Lord is ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’[c] 38 So they were not still dead, because he is the God only of living people. Yes, to God they are all still living.”
39 Some of the teachers of the law said, “Teacher, your answer was very good.” 40 No one was brave enough to ask him another question.
Is the Messiah David’s Son or David’s Lord?(F)
41 Then Jesus said, “Why do people say that the Messiah is the Son of David? 42 In the book of Psalms, David himself says,
‘The Lord God said to my Lord:
Sit by me at my right side,
43 and I will put your enemies under your power.[d]’ (G)
44 David calls the Messiah ‘Lord.’ So how can the Messiah also be David’s son?”
Warning Against the Teachers of the Law(H)
45 While all the people were listening to Jesus, he said to his followers, 46 “Be careful of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around wearing clothes that look important. And they love for people to show respect to them in the marketplaces. They love to have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 47 But they cheat widows and take their homes. Then they try to make themselves look good by saying long prayers. God will punish them very much.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International