M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Palace Built in 13 Years

7 Solomon took 13 years to finish building his palace. ² He built a hall named the Forest of Lebanon. It was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. It had four rows of cedar pillars supporting cedar beams. ³ The hall was covered with cedar above the side rooms, which were supported by 45 pillars (15 per row).^{[a] 4} The windows were in three rows facing each other on opposite sides of the palace. ⁵ All the doors and doorframes were square. There were three doors facing each other on opposite sides of the palace.

⁶ Solomon made the Hall of Pillars 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. In front of the hall was an entrance hall with pillars.

⁷ He made the Hall of Justice, where he sat on his throne and served as judge. The hall was covered with cedar from floor to ceiling.^[b]

⁸ His own private quarters were in a different location than the Hall of Justice, but they were similar in design. Solomon also built private quarters like this for his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter.

⁹ From the foundation to the roof, all these buildings, including the large courtyard, were built with high-grade stone blocks. The stone blocks were cut to size and trimmed with saws on their inner and outer faces. ¹⁰ The foundation was made with large, high-grade stones (some 12 feet long, others 15 feet long). ¹¹ Above the foundation were cedar beams and high-grade stone blocks, which had been cut to size. ¹² The large courtyard had three layers of cut stone blocks and a layer of cedar beams, like the inner courtyard of Yahweh’s temple and the entrance hall.

The Temple Furnishings^(A)

¹³ King Solomon had Hiram brought from Tyre. ¹⁴ Hiram was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali. His father, a native of Tyre, was a skilled bronze craftsman. Hiram was highly skilled, resourceful, and knowledgeable about all kinds of bronze craftsmanship. He came to King Solomon and did all his bronze work.

¹⁵ He made two bronze pillars. Each was 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference. ¹⁶ He made two capitals of cast bronze to put on top of the pillars. Each capital was 7½ feet high. ¹⁷ He also made seven rows of filigree and chains for each capital. ¹⁸ After he made the pillars, he made two rows of decorations around the filigree to cover the capitals which were above the pillars.^[c] He made the capitals identical to each other. ¹⁹ The capitals on top of the pillars in the entrance hall were lily-shaped. Each was six feet high. ²⁰ Two hundred pomegranates in rows were directly above the bowl-shaped parts around the filigree on the capitals on both pillars.

²¹ Hiram set up the pillars in the temple’s entrance hall. He set up the pillar on the right and named it Jachin [He Establishes]. Then he set up the pillar on the left and named it Boaz [In Him Is Strength]. ²² There were lily-shaped capitals at the top of the pillars. He finished the work on the pillars.

²³ Hiram made a pool from cast metal. It was 15 feet in diameter. It was round, 7½ feet high, and had a circumference of 45 feet. ²⁴ Under the rim were two rows of gourds all around the 45-foot circumference of the pool. They were cast in metal when the pool was cast. ²⁵ The pool was set on 12 metal bulls. Three bulls faced north, three faced west, three faced south, and three faced east. The pool was set on them, and their hindquarters were toward the center of the pool. ²⁶ The pool was three inches thick. Its rim was like the rim of a cup, shaped like a lily’s bud. It held 12,000 gallons.

²⁷ He made ten bronze stands. Each stand was 6 feet square and 4½ feet high. ²⁸ The stands were made this way: They had side panels set in frames. ²⁹ On the panels set in frames were lions, oxen, and angels.^[d] These were also on the frames. Above and below the lions and the cattle were engraved designs. ³⁰ Each stand had four bronze wheels on bronze axles and four supports beneath the basin. The supports were made of cast metal with designs on the sides. ³¹ Each had a 1½-foot-deep opening in the center to the circular frame on top. The opening was round, formed like a pedestal, and was two feet wide. Around the opening there were engravings. But the panels were square, not round. ³² The four wheels were under the panels, and the axles were attached to the stand. Each wheel was two feet high. ³³ The wheels were made like chariot wheels. The axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all cast metal. ³⁴ The four supports at the four corners of each stand were part of the stand. ³⁵ The top of each stand had a round, nine-inch-high band. Above the stand were supports which were part of the panels. ³⁶ Hiram engraved angels, lions, palm trees, and designs in every available space on the supports and panels. ³⁷ This is the way he made the ten stands. All of them were cast in the same mold, identical in size and shape.

³⁸ Hiram also made ten bronze basins. Each basin held 240 gallons. Every basin was six feet wide. There was one basin on each of the ten stands. ³⁹ He put five stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north side of the temple. He set the pool on the south side of the temple in the southeast corner. ⁴⁰ Hiram also made pots, shovels, and bowls.

So Hiram finished all the work for King Solomon on Yahweh’s temple: ⁴¹ 2 pillars, the bowl-shaped capitals on top of the 2 pillars, and 2 sets of filigree to cover the 2 bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars, ⁴² 400 pomegranates for the 2 sets of filigree (2 rows of pomegranates for each filigree to cover the 2 bowl-shaped capitals on the pillars), ⁴³ 10 stands and 10 basins on the stands, ⁴⁴ 1 pool, 12 bulls under the pool, ⁴⁵ pots, shovels, and bowls. Hiram made all these utensils out of polished bronze for Yahweh’s temple at King Solomon’s request. ⁴⁶ The king cast them in foundries in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zarethan. ⁴⁷ Solomon left all the products unweighed because so much bronze was used. No one tried to determine how much the bronze weighed.

⁴⁸ Solomon made all the furnishings for Yahweh’s temple: the gold altar, the gold table on which the bread of the presence was placed, ⁴⁹ lamp stands of pure gold (five on the south side and five on the north in front of the inner room), flowers, lamps, gold tongs, ⁵⁰ dishes, snuffers, bowls, saucers, incense burners of pure gold, the gold sockets for the doors of the inner room (the most holy place), and the doors of the temple.

⁵¹ All the work King Solomon did on Yahweh’s temple was finished. He brought the holy things that had belonged to his father David—the silver, gold, and utensils—and put them in the storerooms of Yahweh’s temple.

Christ’s Gifts to the Church

4 I, a prisoner in the Lord, encourage you to live the kind of life which proves that God has called you. ² Be humble and gentle in every way. Be patient with each other and lovingly accept each other. ³ Through the peace that ties you together, do your best to maintain the unity that the Spirit gives. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit. In the same way you were called to share one hope. ⁵ There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over everything, through everything, and in everything.

⁷ God’s favor^[a] has been given to each of us. It was measured out to us by Christ who gave it. ⁸ That’s why the Scriptures say:

⁹ Now what does it mean that he went up except that he also had gone down to the lowest parts of the earth? ¹⁰ The one who had gone down also went up above all the heavens so that he fills everything.

¹¹ He also gave apostles, prophets, missionaries, as well as pastors and teachers as gifts to his church. ¹² Their purpose is to prepare God’s people to serve and to build up the body of Christ. ¹³ This is to continue until all of us are united in our faith and in our knowledge about God’s Son, until we become mature, until we measure up to Christ, who is the standard. ¹⁴ Then we will no longer be little children, tossed and carried about by all kinds of teachings that change like the wind. We will no longer be influenced by people who use cunning and clever strategies to lead us astray. ¹⁵ Instead, as we lovingly speak the truth, we will grow up completely in our relationship to Christ, who is the head. ¹⁶ He makes the whole body fit together and unites it through the support of every joint. As each and every part does its job, he makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Live as God’s People

¹⁷ So I tell you and encourage you in the Lord’s name not to live any longer like other people in the world. Their minds are set on worthless things. ¹⁸ They can’t understand because they are in the dark. They are excluded from the life that God approves of because of their ignorance and stubbornness. ¹⁹ Since they no longer have any sense of shame, they have become promiscuous. They practice every kind of sexual perversion with a constant desire for more.

²⁰ But that is not what you learned from Christ’s teachings. ²¹ You have certainly heard his message and have been taught his ways. The truth is in Yeshua. ²² You were taught to change the way you were living. The person you used to be will ruin you through desires that deceive you. ²³ However, you were taught to have a new attitude. ²⁴ You were also taught to become a new person created to be like God, truly righteous and holy.

²⁵ So then, get rid of lies. Speak the truth to each other, because we are all members of the same body.

²⁶ Be angry without sinning. Don’t go to bed angry. ²⁷ Don’t give the devil any opportunity to work.

²⁸ Thieves must quit stealing and, instead, they must work hard. They should do something good with their hands so that they’ll have something to share with those in need.

²⁹ Don’t say anything that would hurt another person. Instead, speak only what is good so that you can give help wherever it is needed. That way, what you say will help those who hear you. ³⁰ Don’t give God’s Holy Spirit any reason to be upset with you. He has put his seal on you for the day you will be set free from the world of sin.

³¹ Get rid of your bitterness, hot tempers, anger, loud quarreling, cursing, and hatred. ³² Be kind to each other, sympathetic, forgiving each other as God has forgiven you through Christ.

The Valley of Dry Bones

37 The power of Yahweh came over me. Yahweh brought me out by his Ruach and put me down in the middle of a valley. The valley was filled with bones. ² He led me all around them. I saw that there were very many bones at the bottom of the valley, and they were very dry.

³ Then he asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I answered, “Only you know, Adonay Yahweh.”

⁴ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones. Tell them, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of Yahweh. ⁵ This is what Adonay Yahweh says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will live. ⁶ I will put ligaments on you, place muscles on you, and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you, and you will live. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.’”

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded. While I was prophesying, suddenly there was a rattling noise, and the bones came together, one bone attaching itself to another. ⁸ As I looked, I saw that ligaments were on them, muscles were on them, and skin covered them. Yet, there was no breath in them.

⁹ Then Yahweh said to me, “Prophesy to the breath!^[a] Prophesy, son of man. Tell the breath, ‘This is what Adonay Yahweh says: Come from the four winds, Breath, and breathe on these people who were killed so that they will live.’”

¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath entered them. Then they came to life and stood on their feet. There were enough of them to form a very large army.

¹¹ Yahweh also said to me, “Son of man, all the people of Israel are like these bones. The people say, ‘Our bones are dry, and our hope has vanished. We are completely destroyed.’ ¹² So prophesy. Tell them, ‘This is what Adonay Yahweh says: My people, I will open your graves and take you out of them. I will bring you to Israel. ¹³ Then, my people, you will know that I am Yahweh, because I will open your graves and bring you out of your graves. ¹⁴ I will put my Ruach in you, and you will live. I will place you in your own land. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken, and I have done it, declares Yahweh.’”

¹⁵ Yahweh spoke his word to me again. He said, ¹⁶ “Son of man, take a stick and write on it: ‘For Judah and for the Israelites who are associated with it.’ Then take another stick and write on it, ‘The stick of Ephraim, for Joseph and for all the people of Israel associated with it.’ ¹⁷ Then join both sticks together so that they will be one in your hand. Your people will say to you, ¹⁸ ‘Tell us what you mean by this.’ ¹⁹ Then say to them, ‘This is what Adonay Yahweh says: I will take Joseph’s stick, which is in Ephraim’s hand, and the tribes of Israel associated with it, and I will put them with Judah’s stick. I will make them into one stick. They will be one in my hand.’ ²⁰ When you hold the sticks in your hand, let the people see them.

²¹ “Then tell them, ‘This is what Adonay Yahweh says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they’ve gone. I will gather them from everywhere and bring them to their own land. ²² I will form them into one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel. One king will rule all of them. They will no longer be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. ²³ They will no longer dishonor themselves with their idols, with their detestable things, or with their rebellious acts. I will forgive them for all the times they turned away from me and sinned. I will cleanse them so that they will be my people, and I will be their Elohim.

²⁴ “‘My servant David will be their king, and all of them will have one shepherd. They will live by my rules, and they will obey my laws. ²⁵ They will live in the land that I gave my servant Jacob, the land where their ancestors lived. They, their children, and their grandchildren will live in it permanently. My servant David will always be their prince. ²⁶ I will promise them peace. This promise^[b] will last forever. I will establish them, make them increase in number, and put my holy place among them permanently. ²⁷ My dwelling place will be with them. I will be their Elohim, and they will be my people. ²⁸ Then the nations will know that I, Yahweh, have set Israel apart as holy, because my holy place will be among them permanently.’”

Psalm 87

By Korah’s descendants; a psalm; a song.

Psalm 88

A song; a psalm by Korah’s descendants; for the choir director; according to mahalath leannoth;^[a] a maskil by Heman the Ezrahite.