M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
God Comes to Solomon Again
9 So Solomon finished building the Lord’s Temple and his own palace. Solomon built everything that he wanted to build. 2 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon again, just as he did at Gibeon. 3 The Lord said to him,
“I heard your prayer and what you asked me to do. You built this Temple, and I have made it a holy place. So I will be honored there forever. I will watch over it and think of it always. 4 You must serve me with a pure and honest heart, just as your father David did. You must obey my laws and do everything that I commanded you. 5 If you do, I will make sure that your family will always rule Israel, just as I promised your father David when I told him that Israel would always be ruled by one of his descendants.
6-7 “But if you or your children stop following me, and don’t obey the laws and commands that I have given you, and if you serve and worship other gods, I will force Israel to leave the land that I have given to them. Israel will be an example to other people. Other people will make jokes about Israel. I made the Temple holy. It is the place where people honor me. But I will tear it down. 8 This Temple will be destroyed. Everyone who sees it will be amazed. They will ask, ‘Why did the Lord do this terrible thing to this land and to this temple?’ 9 People will say, ‘This happened because they left the Lord their God. He brought their ancestors out of Egypt, but they decided to follow other gods. They worshiped and served those gods. That is why the Lord caused all these bad things to happen to them.’”
10 It took 20 years for King Solomon to build the Lord’s Temple and the king’s palace. 11 Hiram supplied Solomon with all the cedar, pine and gold that he wanted, so Solomon gave him 20 cities in Galilee. 12 So Hiram traveled from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him. But Hiram was not pleased when he saw them. 13 King Hiram said, “What are these towns that you have given me, my brother?” King Hiram named that land the Land of Cabul.[a] And that area is still called Cabul today. 14 Hiram had sent King Solomon about 9000 pounds[b] of gold to use in building the Temple.
15 King Solomon forced slaves to work for him to build the Temple and his palace. Then he used these slaves to build many other things. He built the Millo and the city wall around Jerusalem. Then he rebuilt the cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.
16 In the past the king of Egypt had fought against the city of Gezer and burned it. He killed the Canaanites who lived there. When Solomon married Pharaoh’s daughter, Pharaoh gave him that city as a wedding present. 17 Solomon rebuilt Gezer and the city of Lower Beth Horon. 18 He also built the cities of Baalath and Tamar in the Judean desert. 19 He also built cities where he could store grain, and he built places for his chariots and his horses. King Solomon also built whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and all the places he ruled.
20 There were people left in the land who were not Israelites. There were Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 21 The Israelites had not been able to destroy them, but Solomon forced them to work for him as slaves. They are still slaves today. 22 Solomon did not force any Israelites to be his slaves. The Israelites were soldiers, government officials, officers, captains, and chariot commanders and drivers. 23 There were 550 supervisors over Solomon’s projects. They supervised the men who did the work.
24 Pharaoh’s daughter moved from the City of David to the palace that Solomon had built for her. Then he built the Millo.
25 Three times each year Solomon offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar that he built for the Lord. King Solomon also burned incense before the Lord and supplied what was needed for the Temple.
26 King Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber. This town is near Elath on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. 27 King Hiram had some skilled sailors who knew the sea well. He sent them to serve in Solomon’s navy and work with Solomon’s men. 28 Solomon’s ships went to Ophir and brought back about 16 tons[c] of gold for him.
Children and Parents
6 Children, obey your parents the way the Lord wants, because this is the right thing to do. 2 The command says, “You must respect your father and mother.”[a] This is the first command that has a promise with it. 3 And this is the promise: “Then all will go well with you, and you will have a long life on the earth.”[b]
4 Fathers, don’t make your children angry, but raise them with the kind of teaching and training you learn from the Lord.
Slaves and Masters
5 Slaves, obey your masters here on earth with fear and respect. And do this with a heart that is true, just as you obey Christ. 6 You must do this not just to please your masters while they are watching, but all the time. Since you are really slaves of Christ, you must do with all your heart what God wants. 7 Do your work, and be happy to do it. Work as though it is the Lord you are serving, not just an earthly master. 8 Remember that the Lord will give everyone a reward for doing good. Everyone, slave or free, will get a reward for the good things they do.
9 Masters, in the same way, be good to your slaves. Don’t say things to scare them. You know that the one who is your Master and their Master is in heaven, and he treats everyone the same.
Wear the Full Armor of God
10 To end my letter I tell you, be strong in the Lord and in his great power. 11 Wear the full armor of God. Wear God’s armor so that you can fight against the devil’s clever tricks. 12 Our fight is not against people on earth. We are fighting against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world’s darkness. We are fighting against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly places. 13 That is why you need to get God’s full armor. Then on the day of evil, you will be able to stand strong. And when you have finished the whole fight, you will still be standing.
14 So stand strong with the belt of truth tied around your waist, and on your chest wear the protection of right living. 15 On your feet wear the Good News of peace to help you stand strong. 16 And also use the shield of faith with which you can stop all the burning arrows that come from the Evil One. 17 Accept God’s salvation as your helmet. And take the sword of the Spirit—that sword is the teaching of God. 18 Pray in the Spirit at all times. Pray with all kinds of prayers, and ask for everything you need. To do this you must always be ready. Never give up. Always pray for all of God’s people.
19 Also pray for me—that when I speak, God will give me words so that I can tell the secret truth about the Good News without fear. 20 I have the work of speaking for that Good News, and that is what I am doing now, here in prison. Pray that when I tell people the Good News, I will speak without fear as I should.
Final Greetings
21 I am sending you Tychicus, the brother we love. He is a faithful servant of the Lord’s work. He will tell you everything that is happening with me. Then you will know how I am and what I am doing. 22 That’s why I am sending him—to let you know how we are and to encourage you.
23 I pray that God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will give peace and love with faith to all the brothers and sisters there. 24 God’s grace to all of you who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love that never ends.
The Death of Gog and His Army
39 “Son of man,[a] speak against Gog for me. Tell him that this is what the Lord God says: ‘Gog, you are the most important leader of the countries Meshech and Tubal, but I am against you. 2 I will capture you and bring you back. I will bring you from the far north. I will bring you to fight against the mountains of Israel. 3 But I will knock your bow from your left hand and your arrows from your right hand. 4 You will be killed on the mountains of Israel. You, your groups of soldiers, and all the other nations with you will be killed in the battle. I will give you as food to every kind of bird that eats meat and to all the wild animals. 5 You will not enter the city. You will be killed out in the open fields. I have spoken!’” This is what the Lord God said.
6 “I will send fire against Magog and those people living along the coast. They think they are safe, but they will know that I am the Lord. 7 And I will make my holy name known among my people Israel. I will not let people ruin my holy name anymore. The nations will know that I am the Lord. They will know that I am the Holy One in Israel. 8 That time is coming! It will happen!” This is what the Lord God said. “That is the day I am talking about.
9 “At that time people living in the cities of Israel will go out to the fields. They will collect the enemy’s weapons and burn them. They will burn all the shields, bows and arrows, clubs and spears. They will use the weapons as firewood for seven years. 10 They will not have to gather wood from the fields or chop firewood from the forests because they will use the weapons as firewood. They will take the valuable things from the soldiers who wanted to steal from them. They will take the good things from the soldiers who took good things from them.” This is what the Lord God said.
11 “At that time I will choose a place in Israel to bury Gog. He will be buried in the Valley of the Travelers,[b] east of the Dead Sea. It will block the road for travelers, because Gog and all his army will be buried in that place. People will call it ‘The Valley of Gog’s Army.’ 12 It will take seven months for the family of Israel to bury them. They must do this to make the land pure. 13 The common people will bury the enemy soldiers, and the people will become famous on the day that I bring honor to myself.” The Lord God said those things.
14 “Workers will be given a full-time job burying the dead soldiers to make the land pure. The workers will work for seven months. They will go around looking for dead bodies. 15 They will go around looking, and if anyone sees a bone, a marker will be put up by it. The sign will stay there until the gravediggers come and bury the bone in the Valley of Gog’s Army. 16 The city of the dead will be named Hamonah.[c] In this way they will make the country pure.”
17 This is what the Lord God said: “Son of man, speak to all the birds and wild animals for me. Tell them, ‘Come here! Come here! Gather around. Come eat this sacrifice I am preparing for you. There will be a very big sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. Come, eat the meat and drink the blood. 18 You will eat the meat from the bodies of powerful soldiers and drink the blood from world leaders. They will be like rams, lambs, goats, and fat bulls from Bashan. 19 You can eat all the fat you want and drink blood until you are full. You will eat and drink from my sacrifice, which I will kill for you. 20 You will have plenty of meat to eat at my table. There will be horses and chariot drivers, powerful soldiers, and all the other fighting men.’” This is what the Lord God said.
21 “I will let the other nations see what I have done, and they will begin to respect me! They will see my power that I used against the enemy. 22 Then from that day on, the family of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God. 23 And the nations will know why the family of Israel was carried away as prisoners to other countries. They will learn that my people turned against me, so I turned away from them. I let their enemies defeat them, so my people were killed in battle. 24 They sinned and made themselves filthy, so I punished them for the things they did. I turned away from them and refused to help them.”
25 So this is what the Lord God says: “Now I will bring the family of Jacob back from captivity. I will have mercy on the whole family of Israel. I will show my strong feelings for my holy name. 26 The people will forget their shame and all the times they turned against me. They will live in safety on their own land. No one will make them afraid. 27 I will bring my people back from other countries. I will gather them from the lands of their enemies. Then many nations will see how holy I am. 28 They will know that I am the Lord their God. That is because I made them leave their homes and go as prisoners to other countries. But then I gathered them together again and brought them back to their own land. 29 I will pour out my Spirit on the family of Israel, and I will never turn away from my people again.” This is what the Lord God said.
Book 4
(Psalms 90-106)
The prayer of Moses, the man of God.
90 My Lord, you have been our home forever and ever.
2 You were God before the mountains were born,
before the earth and the world were made.
You have always been and will always be God!
3 You bring people into this world,
and you change them into dust again.
4 To you, a thousand years is like yesterday,
like a few hours in the night.
5 Our life is like a dream that ends when morning comes.
We are like grass
6 that grows and looks so fresh in the morning,
but in the evening it is dry and dying.
7 Your anger could destroy us.
Your anger frightens us!
8 You know about all our sins.
You see every one of our secret sins.
9 Your anger can end our life.
Our lives fade away like a whisper.
10 We live about 70 years
or, if we are strong, 80 years.
But most of them are filled with hard work and pain.
Then, suddenly, the years are gone, and we fly away.
11 No one really knows the full power of your anger,
but our fear and respect for you is as great as your anger.
12 Teach us how short our lives are
so that we can become wise.
13 Lord, come back to us.
Be kind to your servants.
14 Fill us with your love every morning.
Let us be happy and enjoy our lives.
15 For years you have made life hard for us and have given us many troubles.
Now make us happy for just as long.
16 Let your servants see the wonderful things you can do for them.
And let their children see your glory.
17 Lord, our God, be kind to us.
Make everything we do successful.
Yes, make it all successful.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International