M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Solomon’s Prayer

¹² Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, in front of all the people of Israel, and spread out his hands. ¹³ Solomon had made a special place to stand, out of brass. It was as long and as wide as three steps, and as high as a man’s chest. And he had put it in the center of the open space. He stood on it, then got down on his knees in front of all the people of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven. ¹⁴ He said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven or on earth. You keep Your promises and show loving-kindness to Your servants who walk with You with all their hearts. ¹⁵ You have kept Your promises to Your servant David my father. Yes, You have spoken with Your mouth, and have done all You said You would do, as it is today. ¹⁶ So now, O Lord, God of Israel, keep Your promise which You made to Your servant David my father, saying, ‘You will never be without a man to sit on the throne of Israel. But your sons must be careful to walk in My Law, as you have done.’ ¹⁷ So now, O Lord, God of Israel, let Your Word be made sure which You have spoken to Your servant David.

¹⁸ “But is it true that God will live with man on the earth? See, heaven and the highest heaven cannot hold You. How much less can this house hold You which I have built! ¹⁹ But respect the prayer of Your servant and what he asks of You, O Lord my God. Listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays to You. ²⁰ May Your eyes be open day and night toward this house, the place where You have promised to put Your name. Listen to the prayer which Your servant prays toward this place. ²¹ Listen to what Your servant and Your people Israel ask for when they pray toward this place. Hear from the place where You live, from heaven. Hear and forgive.

²² “If a man sins against his neighbor, and has to make a promise, and he comes and makes a promise before Your altar in this house, ²³ then hear from heaven, and act. Judge Your servants. Punish the sinful by bringing his actions on his own head. And make it known that the one who is right and good is not guilty. Bring good to him because he is right and good.

²⁴ “If Your people Israel lose a battle against those who hate them, because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and tell of Your name, and pray and ask of You in this house, ²⁵ then listen to them from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel. Bring them back to the land You have given to them and to their fathers.

²⁶ “When the heavens are shut up and give no rain because the people have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and tell of Your name, and turn from their sin when You bring trouble to them, ²⁷ then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel. Teach them the good way in which they should walk. And send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people.

²⁸ “If there is a time of no food in the land, and if there is a disease that kills the plants, or if there are locusts or grasshoppers, if those who hate Your people send armies to trap them in their cities, whatever trouble or sickness there is, ²⁹ hear the prayer made by any man or by all Your people Israel. Each one will know his own trouble and his own pain. And when he spreads his hands toward this house, ³⁰ then hear from heaven where You live, and forgive. Give to each man what he should have. For You, and only You, know the hearts of men. ³¹ May they fear You and walk in Your ways as long as they live in the land You have given to our fathers.

³² “If a stranger who is not from Your people Israel comes from a far country because of Your great name, Your powerful hand, and Your strong arm, when he comes and prays toward this house, ³³ hear from heaven where You live. Do all that the stranger asks of You. Then all the people of the earth may know Your name and honor You with fear, as Your people Israel do. And then they may know that this house I have built is called by Your name.

³⁴ “When Your people go out to battle against those who hate them, by whatever way You send them, and they pray to You toward this city which You have chosen and the house I have built for Your name, ³⁵ then hear their prayer from heaven and help them.

³⁶ “When they sin against You, (for there is no man who does not sin), and You are angry with them and give them to those who hate them, they will be carried away against their will to a land far away or near. ³⁷ If they think about it in the land where they have been taken, and are sorry for their sins and turn away from them and pray to You in the land where they have been taken, saying, ‘We have sinned. We have been bad and have done wrong.’ ³⁸ If they come back to You with all their heart and soul in the land where they have been taken and pray toward their land which You gave to their fathers and toward the city You have chosen and toward the house I have built for Your name, ³⁹ then hear from heaven where You live. Hear their prayer and what they ask for, and help them. Forgive Your people who have sinned against You.

⁴⁰ “Now, O my God, I ask You, let Your eyes be open and let Your ears listen to the prayer given in this place. ⁴¹ Now rise up, O Lord God. Go to Your resting place, You and the special box of Your power. O Lord God, let Your religious leaders be dressed in saving power. Let those who belong to You be filled with joy in what is good. ⁴² O Lord God, do not turn away the face of Your chosen one. Remember Your loving-kindness to Your servant David.”

5 The person who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God. The person who loves the Father loves His children also. ² This is the way we know we love God’s children. It is when we love God and obey His Word. ³ Loving God means to obey His Word, and His Word is not hard to obey. ⁴ Every child of God has power over the sins of the world. The way we have power over the sins of the world is by our faith. ⁵ Who could have power over the world except by believing that Jesus is the Son of God? ⁶ Jesus Christ came by water and blood. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. The Holy Spirit speaks about this and He is truth. ⁷ There are three Who speak of this in heaven: the Father and the Word and the Holy Spirit. These three are one. ⁸ There are three who speak of this on the earth: the Holy Spirit and the water and the blood. These three speak the same thing. ⁹ If we believe what men say, we can be sure what God says is more important. God has spoken as He has told us about His Son. ¹⁰ The person who puts his trust in God’s Son knows in his own heart that Jesus is the Son of God. The person who does not have his trust in God’s Son makes God a liar. It is because he has not believed the word God spoke about His Son. ¹¹ This is the word He spoke: God gave us life that lasts forever, and this life is in His Son. ¹² He that has the Son has life. He that does not have the Son of God does not have life.

¹³ I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God. Now you can know you have life that lasts forever. ¹⁴ We are sure that if we ask anything that He wants us to have, He will hear us. ¹⁵ If we are sure He hears us when we ask, we can be sure He will give us what we ask for. ¹⁶ You may see a Christian brother sinning in a way that does not lead to death. You should pray for him. God will give him life unless he has done that sin that leads to death. There is a sin that leads to death. There is no reason to pray for him if he has done that sin. ¹⁷ Every kind of wrong-doing is sin. But there is a sin that does not lead to death. ¹⁸ We know that no child of God keeps on sinning. The Son of God watches over him and the devil cannot get near him. ¹⁹ We know that we belong to God, but the whole world is under the power of the devil. ²⁰ We know God’s Son has come. He has given us the understanding to know Him Who is the true God. We are joined together with the true God through His Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and the life that lasts forever. ²¹ My children, keep yourselves from false gods.

Habakkuk’s Question

1 This is the special word which Habakkuk the man of God saw. ² O Lord, how long must I call for help before You will hear? I cry out to You, “We are being hurt!” But You do not save us. ³ Why do you make me see sins and wrong-doing? People are being destroyed in anger in front of me. There is arguing and fighting. ⁴ The Law is not followed. What is right is never done. For the sinful are all around those who are right and good, so what is right looks like sin.

The Lord’s Answer

⁵ “Look among the nations, and see! Be surprised and full of wonder! For I am doing something in your days that you would not believe if you were told. ⁶ I am bringing the Babylonians to power. They are people filled with anger who go across the whole earth to take homes that are not theirs. ⁷ They fill others with fear. They make their own law about what is fair and honored. ⁸ Their horses are faster than leopards, and show less pity than wolves in the evening. Their horsemen come on running horses from far away. They fly like an eagle coming down to get food. ⁹ They all come in anger. Their armies move like the desert wind. They gather prisoners like sand. ¹⁰ They make fun of kings and laugh at rulers. They laugh at every strong city and build a battle-wall to take it. ¹¹ Then they move through like the wind and keep going. They are guilty men, whose strength is their god.”

Habakkuk’s Second Question

¹² Have You not lived forever, O Lord, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. O Lord, You have chosen them to judge. You, O Rock, have chosen them to punish us. ¹³ Your eyes are too pure to look at sin. You cannot look on wrong. Why then do You look with favor on those who do wrong? Why are You quiet when the sinful destroy those who are more right and good than they? ¹⁴ Why have You made men like the fish of the sea, like things which move along the ground that have no ruler? ¹⁵ The Babylonians bring all of them up with a hook, and pull them away with their net. They gather them together in their fishing net, and so they have joy and are glad. ¹⁶ So they give gifts in worship to their net. They burn special perfume to their fishing net, because their net catches all the good things and good food they need. ¹⁷ Will they empty their net forever and keep on destroying nations without pity?

They Ask Jesus Who Gave Him the Power to Do These Things ^(A)

20 As He was teaching and preaching the Good News, the religious leaders and the teachers of the Law and the elders came. ² They said to Him, “Tell us, by what right and power are You doing these things? Who gave You the right and the power?” ³ Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question also. You answer Me. ⁴ Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?”

⁵ They said to themselves, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ then all the people will throw stones at us because they believe John was one who spoke for God.” ⁷ They said that they did not know where John’s baptism came from. ⁸ Jesus said to them, “And I will not tell you where I get the right and the power to do these things.”

The Picture-Story of the Grape-Field ^(B)

⁹ Jesus began to tell the people a picture-story, saying, “There was a man who planted a grape-field. He rented it to farmers. Then he went to a country far away for a long time. ¹⁰ At the time of gathering fruit he sent one of his servants to the farmers to get some of the fruit. But the farmers beat him and sent him away without fruit. ¹¹ He sent another servant. The farmers beat him also. They made it very hard for him and sent him away without fruit. ¹² He sent a third servant. They hurt him and threw him out of the grape-field.

¹³ “Then the owner of the grape-field said, ‘What should I do? I will send my much-loved son. They might respect him.’ ¹⁴ The farmers saw the son. They said to themselves, ‘This is the one who will get everything when the owner dies. Let us kill him, and we will get everything.’ ¹⁵ They put him out of the grape-field and killed him. Now what will the owner of the grape-field do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and kill those farmers. Then he will rent the grape-field to other farmers.”

When they heard this, they said, “May this never be done!” ¹⁷ Jesus looked at them and said, “What does this writing mean, ‘The Stone that was put aside by the workmen has become the most important Stone in the building’? ^{(C) 18} Whoever falls on this Stone will be broken. And on the one it falls, it will make him like dust.” ^(D)

They Try to Trap Jesus ^(E)

¹⁹ At this time the religious leaders and the teachers of the Law tried to take Jesus, but they were afraid of the people. These leaders knew Jesus had told this picture-story against them. ²⁰ They watched Jesus and they sent men who pretended to be good people to watch Him. They wanted to trap Him in something He said. Then they could give Him over to the leader of the people who had the right and the power to say what to do with Him.

²¹ These men who were sent asked Jesus, “Teacher, we know what You say and teach is right. We know You do not show more respect to one person than to another. We know You teach the truth about God. ²² Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” ²³ Jesus knew they were trying to trap Him. He said, ²⁴ “Show Me a piece of money. Whose picture is this? Whose name is on it?” And they said, “Caesar’s.” ²⁵ Jesus said to them, “Pay to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar. Pay to God the things that belong to God.” ²⁶ They could find nothing wrong with what He taught. They were surprised and wondered about what He told the people, so they said nothing more.

They Ask about Being Raised from the Dead ^(F)

²⁷ Some people from the religious group who believe no one will be raised from the dead came to Jesus. They asked Him, ²⁸ “Teacher, Moses wrote to us in the Law, ‘If a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, then his brother must marry her. He should have children for his brother who died.’ ^{(G) 29} There were seven brothers. The first had a wife but died without children. ³⁰ The second brother took her for his wife. He died without children. ³¹ The third brother took her for his wife. In the same way all seven took her for a wife. They all died without children. ³² Then the woman died also. ³³ When people are raised from the dead, whose wife will she be? All seven brothers had her for a wife.”

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “People of this earth marry and are given in marriage. ³⁵ But those who have the right to have that life and are raised from the dead do not marry and are not given in marriage. ³⁶ They cannot die anymore. They are as the angels and are sons of God. They are children who have been raised from the dead. ³⁷ As for the dead being raised, even Moses spoke of that when he told of the burning bush. There he calls the Lord, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. ³⁸ For He is not the God of the dead. He is the God of the living. All live for Him.”

³⁹ One of the teachers of the Law said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” ⁴⁰ After that they were afraid to ask Him anything.

Jesus Asks the Teachers of the Law about the Christ ^(H)

⁴¹ Jesus said to them, “How do they say that Christ is the Son of David? ⁴² For David himself said in the Book of Psalms, ‘The Lord said to My Lord, “Sit at my right side ⁴³ until I make those who hate You a place to rest Your feet.”’ ^{(I) 44} David calls Him, ‘Lord!’ Then how can He be his son?”

False Teachers ^(J)

⁴⁵ All the people were listening. He said to His followers, ⁴⁶ “Look out for the teachers of the Law. They like to walk around in long coats. They like to have people speak words of respect to them in the center of town where people gather. They like the important seats in the places of worship. They like the important places at big suppers. ⁴⁷ They take houses from poor women whose husbands have died. They cover up their actions by making long prayers. They will be punished all the more.”