M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
I. The Reign of Solomon
Chapter 1
Solomon at Gibeon. 1 Solomon, son of David, strengthened his hold on the kingdom, for the Lord, his God, was with him, making him ever greater. 2 Solomon summoned all Israel, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, the judges, the princes of all Israel, and the family heads; 3 (A)and, accompanied by the whole assembly, Solomon went to the high place at Gibeon, because the tent of meeting of God, made in the wilderness by Moses, the Lord’s servant, was there. 4 David had, however, brought up the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to Jerusalem, where he had provided a place and pitched a tent for it; 5 the bronze altar made by Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur, he put in front of the tabernacle of the Lord.[a] There Solomon and the assembly sought out the Lord,(B) 6 and Solomon offered sacrifice in the Lord’s presence on the bronze altar at the tent of meeting; he sacrificed a thousand burnt offerings upon it.
7 That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him: Whatever you ask, I will give you. 8 Solomon answered God: “You have shown great favor to David my father, and you have made me king to succeed him. 9 Now, Lord God, may your word to David my father be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.(C) 10 Give me, therefore, wisdom and knowledge to govern this people, for otherwise who could rule this vast people of yours?” 11 God then replied to Solomon: Because this has been your wish—you did not ask for riches, treasures, and glory, or the life of those who hate you, or even for a long life for yourself, but you have asked for wisdom and knowledge in order to rule my people over whom I have made you king— 12 wisdom and knowledge are given you. I will also give you riches, treasures, and glory, such as kings before you never had, nor will those who come after you.
Solomon’s Wealth. 13 Solomon returned to Jerusalem from the high place at Gibeon, from before the tent of meeting, and became king over Israel. 14 Solomon amassed chariots and horses: he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses; these he allocated among the chariot cities and to the king’s service in Jerusalem.(D) 15 The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars as numerous as the sycamores of the Shephelah.(E) 16 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and Cilicia,[b] where the king’s agents purchased them at the prevailing price.(F) 17 A chariot imported from Egypt cost six hundred shekels of silver, a horse one hundred and fifty shekels; so they were exported to all the Hittite and Aramean kings.(G)
Preparations for the Temple. 18 Solomon gave orders for the building of a house for the name of the Lord and also a king’s house for himself.
I. Prologue
Chapter 1
The Word of Life[a]
1 What was from the beginning,
what we have heard,
what we have seen with our eyes,
what we looked upon
and touched with our hands
concerns the Word of life—(A)
2 for the life was made visible;
we have seen it and testify to it
and proclaim to you the eternal life
that was with the Father and was made visible to us—(B)
3 what we have seen and heard
we proclaim now to you,
so that you too may have fellowship with us;
for our fellowship is with the Father
and with his Son, Jesus Christ.(C)
4 We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.(D)
II. God As Light
God Is Light. 5 Now this is the message that we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light,[b] and in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” while we continue to walk in darkness, we lie and do not act in truth.(E) 7 But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.(F) 8 If we say, “We are without sin,” we deceive ourselves,[c] and the truth is not in us.(G) 9 If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.(H) 10 If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.(I)
Chapter 7
1 Woe is me! I am like the one who gathers summer fruit,
when the vines have been gleaned;
There is no cluster to eat,
no early fig that I crave.
2 The faithful have vanished from the earth,
no mortal is just!
They all lie in wait to shed blood,
each one ensnares the other.(A)
3 Their hands succeed at evil;
the prince makes demands,
The judge is bought for a price,
the powerful speak as they please.(B)
4 The best of them is like a brier,
the most honest like a thorn hedge.
The day announced by your sentinels!
Your punishment has come;
now is the time of your confusion.
5 Put no faith in a friend,
do not trust a companion;
With her who lies in your embrace
watch what you say.(C)
6 For the son belittles his father,
the daughter rises up against her mother,
The daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law,
and your enemies are members of your household.(D)
IV. Confidence in God’s Future
7 But as for me, I will look to the Lord,
I will wait for God my savior;
my God will hear me!(E)
8 [a]Do not rejoice over me, my enemy![b]
though I have fallen, I will arise;
though I sit in darkness, the Lord is my light.
9 I will endure the wrath of the Lord
because I have sinned against him,
Until he pleads my case,
and establishes my right.
He will bring me forth to the light;
I will see his righteousness.
10 When my enemy sees this,
shame shall cover her:
She who said to me,
“Where is the Lord, your God?”
My eyes shall see her downfall;
now she will be trampled[c] underfoot,
like mud in the streets.
11 [d]It is the day for building your walls;
on that day your boundaries shall be enlarged.
12 It is the day when those from Assyria to Egypt
shall come to you,
And from Tyre even to the River,
from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain;(F)
13 And the earth shall be a waste
because of its inhabitants,
as a result of their deeds.
14 [e]Shepherd your people with your staff,
the flock of your heritage,
That lives apart(G) in a woodland,
in the midst of an orchard.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,
as in the days of old;
15 As in the days when you came from the land of Egypt,
show us wonderful signs.
16 The nations will see and will be put to shame,
in spite of all their strength;
They will put their hands over their mouths;
their ears will become deaf.
17 They will lick the dust like a snake,
like crawling things on the ground;
They will come quaking from their strongholds;
they will tremble in fear of you, the Lord, our God.
18 [f]Who is a God like you, who removes guilt
and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance;
Who does not persist in anger forever,
but instead delights in mercy,(H)
19 And will again have compassion on us,
treading underfoot our iniquities?
You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins;
20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob,
and loyalty to Abraham,
As you have sworn to our ancestors
from days of old.(I)
Chapter 16
The Parable of the Dishonest Steward.[a] 1 Then he also said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. 2 He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’ 3 The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.’ 5 He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 [b]He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’ 7 Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred kors[c] of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’ 8 And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.
Application of the Parable.[d] “For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.[e](A) 9 I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth,[f] so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.(B) 10 [g]The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones.(C) 11 If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? 12 If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? 13 No servant can serve two masters.[h] He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”(D)
A Saying Against the Pharisees. 14 [i]The Pharisees, who loved money,[j] heard all these things and sneered at him. 15 And he said to them, “You justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts; for what is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God.(E)
Sayings About the Law. 16 “The law and the prophets lasted until John;[k] but from then on the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone who enters does so with violence.(F) 17 It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for the smallest part of a letter of the law to become invalid.(G)
Sayings About Divorce. 18 “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and the one who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.(H)
The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.[l] 19 “There was a rich man[m] who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. 20 And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,(I) 21 who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. 22 When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and from the netherworld,[n] where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.’ 25 Abraham replied, ‘My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.(J) 26 Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.’ 27 He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ 30 [o]He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 Then Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.’”(K)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.