M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Temple Built in Seven Years(A)
6 Solomon began to build Yahweh’s temple 480 years after Israel left Egypt. He began building in the month of Ziv (the second month) of the fourth year of his reign over Israel. 2 The temple that King Solomon built for Yahweh was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 3 The entrance hall in front of the main room of the temple was the same length as the shorter side of the temple. It extended 15 feet in front of the temple. 4 He also made latticed windows for the temple.
5 He built an annex containing side rooms all around the temple. This annex was next to the walls of the main building and the inner sanctuary. 6 The interior of the lowest story of the annex was 7½ feet wide, the second story was 9 feet wide, and the third story was 10½ feet wide. Solomon made ledges all around the temple so that this annex would not be fastened to the walls of the temple.
7 The temple was built with stone blocks that were finished at the quarry. No hammer, chisel, or any other iron tool made a sound at the temple construction site.
8 The entrance to the first story[a] was on the south side of the temple. A staircase went up to the middle story and then to the third story.
9 When he had finished building the walls, he roofed the temple with rows of cedar beams and planks.[b] 10 He built each story of the annex 7½ feet high alongside the entire temple. Its cedar beams were attached to the temple.
11 Yahweh spoke to Solomon, saying, 12 “This concerns the temple you are building: If you live by my laws, follow my rules, and keep my commands, I will fulfill the promise I made about you to your father David. 13 I will live among the Israelites and never abandon my people.”
14 When Solomon had finished building the temple’s frame, 15 he began to line the inside walls of the temple with cedar boards. He paneled the inside of the temple with wood from floor to ceiling. He covered the floor of the temple with cypress planks.
16 He sectioned off a 30-foot-long room at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from the floor to the rafters. He built it to serve as an inner room, the most holy place. 17 The 60-foot-long room at the front of the temple served as the main hall. 18 Gourds and flowers were carved into the cedar paneling inside the temple. Everything was covered with cedar. No stone could be seen.
19 He prepared the inner room of the temple in order to put the ark of Yahweh’s promise there. 20 The inner room was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. Solomon covered it and the cedar altar with pure gold. 21 He covered the inside of the temple with pure gold. He put golden chains across the front of the inner room which was covered with gold. 22 He covered the entire inside of the temple with gold. He also covered the entire altar in the inner room with gold.
23 In the inner room he made two 15-foot-tall angels[c] out of olive wood. 24 Each wing of the angels was 7½ feet long. The distance from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other was 15 feet. 25 Both angels had a 15-foot wingspan. Both had the same measurements and the same shape. 26 Each was 15 feet high. 27 Solomon put the angels in the inner room of the temple. The wings of the angels extended so that the wing of one of the angels touched the one wall, and the wing of the other touched the other wall. Their remaining wings touched each other in the center of the room. 28 He covered the angels with gold.
29 He carved angels, palm trees, and flowers into the walls all around the inner and outer rooms of the temple. 30 He covered the floor of the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold.
31 He made doors for the entrance to the inner room out of olive wood. The doorposts had five sides. 32 The two doors were made out of olive wood. He carved angels, palm trees, and flowers into them and covered them with gold. The gold was hammered onto the angels and the palm trees.
33 In the same way he made square doorposts out of olive wood for the temple’s entrance. 34 He made two doors from cypress. Each of the doors had two folding panels. 35 On them he carved angels, palm trees, and flowers. He evenly covered them with gold.
36 He built the inner courtyard with three courses of finished stones and a course of finished cedar beams.
37 In the month of Ziv of the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, the foundation of Yahweh’s temple was laid. 38 In the month of Bul (the eighth month) of the eleventh year of his reign, the temple was finished according to all its plans and specifications. He spent seven years building it.
Paul’s Work of Spreading the Good News
3 This is the reason I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Yeshua[a] for those of you who are not Jewish.
2 Certainly, you have heard how God gave me the responsibility of bringing his kindness[b] to you. 3 You have heard that he let me know this mystery through a revelation. I’ve already written to you about this briefly. 4 When you read this, you’ll see that I understand the mystery about Christ. 5 In the past, this mystery was not known by people as it is now. The Spirit has now revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is the Good News that people who are not Jewish have the same inheritance as Jewish people do. They belong to the same body and share the same promise that God made in Christ Yeshua. 7 I became a servant of this Good News through God’s kindness freely given to me when his power worked in me.
8 I am the least of all God’s people. Yet, God showed me his kindness by allowing me to spread the Good News of the immeasurable wealth of Christ to people who are not Jewish. 9 He allowed me to explain the way this mystery works. God, who created all things, kept it hidden in the past. 10 He did this so that now, through the church, he could let the rulers and authorities in heaven know his infinite wisdom. 11 This was God’s plan for all of history which he carried out through Christ Yeshua our Lord. 12 We can go to God with bold confidence through faith in Christ. 13 So then, I ask you not to become discouraged by the troubles I suffer for you. In fact, my troubles bring you glory.
Paul Prays That God Would Strengthen Christians
14 This is the reason I kneel in the presence of the Father 15 from whom all the family in heaven and on earth receives its name. 16 I’m asking God to give you a gift from the wealth of his glory. I pray that he would give you inner strength and power through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will live in you through faith. I also pray that love may be the ground into which you sink your roots and on which you have your foundation. 18 This way, with all of God’s people you will be able to understand how wide, long, high, and deep his love is. 19 You will know Christ’s love, which goes far beyond any knowledge. I am praying this so that you may be completely filled with God.
20 Glory belongs to God, whose power is at work in us. By this power he can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. 21 Glory belongs to God in the church and in Christ Yeshua for all time and eternity! Amen.
Blessings for the Mountains of Israel
36 The Lord said, “Son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel. Tell them, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of Yahweh. 2 This is what Adonay Yahweh says: Your enemies said this about you, “Aha! The ancient worship sites now belong to us.” ’
3 “So prophesy. Say, ‘This is what Adonay Yahweh says: Your enemies turned you into ruins and crushed you from every side. You became the possession of the rest of the nations, and people began to talk and gossip about you.
4 “‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of Adonay Yahweh. This is what Adonay Yahweh says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, and to the empty ruins and abandoned cities that have become prey and are mocked by the rest of the surrounding nations: 5 In my fiery anger I have spoken against the rest of the nations and against all of Edom. The Edomites have taken possession of my land with wholehearted joy and with complete scorn. They forced out the people and took their land.’
6 “So prophesy about Israel. Tell the mountains and hills and the ravines and valleys, ‘This is what Adonay Yahweh says: I am speaking in my anger and fury because you have been insulted by the nations. 7 So this is what Adonay Yahweh says: I raise my hand and swear that the nations which surround you will be insulted.
8 “‘But you, mountains of Israel, will grow branches and bear fruit for my people Israel. My people will come home soon. 9 I am for you. I will turn to you, and you will be plowed and planted. 10 I will increase the number of people who live on you. All the people of Israel, all of them, will live on you. The cities will be inhabited, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 11 I will increase the number of people and animals that live on you. They will grow and become many. I will let people live on you as in the past, and I will make you better off than ever before. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. 12 I will bring people, my people Israel, to you. They will take possession of you, and you will be their inheritance. You will no longer take their children away from them.
13 “‘This is what Adonay Yahweh says: People say that you devour your people and take the children away from your nation. 14 So you will no longer devour your people or take the children away from your nation, declares Adonay Yahweh. 15 I will no longer let you hear the insults from the nations. You will no longer suffer the disgrace of the people. You will never again take the children away from your own nation, declares Adonay Yahweh.’”
16 Yahweh spoke his word to me. He said, 17 “Son of man, when the people of Israel lived in their land, they dishonored it by the way they lived and by everything they did. Their ways were as unclean[a] as a woman’s menstrual period. 18 So I poured out my fury on them because they poured out blood on the land and they dishonored the land with their idols. 19 I forced them into other nations, and they became scattered among the nations. I judged them based on the way that they lived and based on everything that they had done. 20 But wherever they went among the nations, they dishonored my holy name. People said about them, ‘These are Yahweh’s people, yet they had to leave his land.’ 21 I became concerned about my holy name because my people dishonored it among the nations wherever they went.
22 “So tell the people of Israel, ‘This is what Adonay Yahweh says: I am about to do something, people of Israel. I will not do this for your sake but for the sake of my holy name, which you have dishonored among the nations wherever you have gone. 23 I will reveal the holiness of my great name, which has been dishonored by the nations, the name that you have dishonored among them. Then the nations will know that I am Yahweh, because I will reveal my holiness among you as they watch, declares Adonay Yahweh.
24 “‘I will take you from the nations and gather you from every country. I will bring you back to your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you and make you clean[b] instead of unclean. Then I will cleanse you from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove your stubborn hearts and give you obedient hearts. 27 I will put my Ruach in you. I will enable you to live by my laws, and you will obey my rules. 28 Then you will live in the land that I gave your ancestors. You will be my people, and I will be your Elohim. 29 I will rescue you from all your uncleanness. I will make the grain grow so that you will never again have famines. 30 I will make fruit grow on the trees and crops grow in the fields so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famines. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and the bad things that you did, and you will hate yourselves for all these wicked and disgusting things. 32 I want you to know that I’m not doing this for your sake, declares Adonay Yahweh. Be ashamed and disgraced because of your ways, people of Israel.
33 “‘This is what Adonay Yahweh says: On the day that I cleanse you from all your wickedness, I will cause your cities to be lived in again, and your ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The wasteland will be plowed. It will no longer remain empty for everyone passing by to see. 35 People will say, “This wasteland has become like the garden of Eden. The cities were destroyed. They were empty and ruined, but now they are fortified and have people living in them.” 36 The surrounding nations that are left will know that I, Yahweh, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted crops in the land that was empty. I, Yahweh, have spoken, and I will do it.’
37 “This is what Adonay Yahweh says: I will also let the people of Israel ask me to make them as numerous as sheep. 38 They will be like the sheep for sacrifices, like the sheep in Jerusalem during the appointed festivals. Their ruined cities will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.”
Psalm 86
A prayer by David.
1 Turn your ear toward me, O Yahweh.
Answer me, because I am oppressed and needy.
2 Protect me, because I am faithful to you.
Save your servant who trusts you. You are my Elohim.
3 Have pity on me, O Adonay,
because I call out to you all day long.
4 Give me joy, O Adonay,
because I lift my soul to you.
5 You, O Adonay, are good and forgiving,
full of mercy toward everyone who calls out to you.
6 Open your ears to my prayer, O Yahweh.
Pay attention when I plead for mercy.
7 When I am in trouble, I call out to you
because you answer me.
8 No god is like you, O Adonay.
No one can do what you do.
9 All the nations that you have made
will bow in your presence, O Adonay.
They will honor you.
10 Indeed, you are great, a worker of miracles.
You alone are Elohim.
11 Teach me your way, O Yahweh,
so that I may live in your truth.
Focus my heart on fearing you.
12 I will give thanks to you with all my heart, O Adonay my Elohim.
I will honor you forever
13 because your mercy toward me is great.
You have rescued me from the depths of hell.
14 O Elohim, arrogant people attack me,
and a mob of ruthless people seeks my life.
They think nothing of you.
15 But you, O Adonay, are a compassionate and merciful God.
You are patient, always faithful and ready to forgive.
16 Turn toward me, and have pity on me.
Give me your strength because I am your servant.
Save me because I am the son of your female servant.
17 Grant me some proof of your goodness
so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame.
You, O Yahweh, have helped me and comforted me.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.