M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Solomon builds his palace
7 Solomon was also building a palace for himself. After 13 years, he finished it.[a] 2 He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.[b] It was 46 metres long, 23 metres wide and 14 metres high. It had four rows of pillars. On top of them were beams. They used cedar wood to make the pillars and the beams. 3 They also used cedar wood to make the roof. They put the roof on top of the pillars and the beams. There were 45 beams, with 15 beams in each row. 4 There were three rows of windows on each side of the room. They were opposite each other, in groups of three windows. 5 All the doors had square corners and four sides. There were three doors in each group.
6 Solomon also built a Hall of Pillars. It was 23 metres long and 14 metres wide. There was an entrance room at the front of the hall. The entrance room also had pillars and a roof.
7 Solomon also built a Throne Room. He covered the walls with cedar boards, from the floor to the ceiling. He called it the Hall of Justice. He judged people's arguments in that room.
8 Solomon also built a house for himself to live in. It was in a yard behind the Hall of Justice. It was like the other buildings. He also built a house like it for his wife who was the king of Egypt's daughter.
9 Solomon's workers used valuable, large stones to make all the buildings, from the front to the great yard that was behind. They cut the stones to the right size and shape with special saws. They used these stones for the foundations and all the way up to the roof.
10 They made the foundations with very large, valuable stones. The stones were 3.5 metres or 4.5 metres long. 11 On top of the foundation they used the best stones that they cut to the right size. They also used beams of cedar wood. 12 There was a wall around the great yard. This had three rows of special stones, then a row of cedar beams, and so on. It was like the wall around the yard of the Lord's temple and the entrance room.
More work on the temple
13 King Solomon sent men to Tyre to fetch a man called Hiram. 14 Hiram was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali.[c] His father was a worker who knew how to use bronze to make things. He lived in Tyre. Hiram also had special skills. He knew how to use bronze to make many kinds of things. So he came to work for King Solomon. He did all the work that Solomon asked him to do.
15 Hiram made two bronze pillars. Each pillar was 8.2 metres high and 5.5 metres around the outside. The metal itself was about 7 centimetres thick. 16 He also used bronze to make a top for each pillar. Each piece was 2.3 metres high. 17 Each piece had pictures like rows of chains that joined together. There were seven pictures like this on the top of each pillar. 18 Hiram also made pictures of two rows of pomegranates around the chains. They covered the tops of the pillars. 19 The tops of the two pillars were in the shape of flowers called lilies. Each one was 1.8 metres high. 20 There were pictures of 200 pomegranates in two rows all around the top of each pillar. They were next to the chains above the round shape at the top of the pillar.
21 Hiram put these two pillars at the entrance room of the temple, in front of the big hall, the hall of pillars in the temple. He called the pillar on the south side ‘Jakin’. He called the pillar on the north side ‘Boaz’. 22 The tops of the pillars were in the shape of flowers called lilies. Hiram finished the work on the two bronze pillars.
23 Hiram also used bronze to make a big bath which they called ‘the Sea’.[d] It was in the shape of a circle 4.5 metres across. It was 2.3 metres deep. It was 14 metres around the outside. 24 All around its edge, below the top, there were two rows of round shapes. They were pictures of fruits called gourds. They were all part of the same piece of bronze as ‘the Sea’. There were 20 gourds for every metre around the edge. 25 Hiram fixed ‘the Sea’ on top of 12 bronze bulls. Three pointed north, three pointed west, three pointed south and three pointed east. Their backs were towards the middle of ‘the Sea’. 26 The walls of ‘the Sea’ were 7½ centimetres thick. Its top edge was like a cup in the shape of a lily flower. ‘The Sea’ contained about 40,000 litres of water.
27 Hiram also made ten bronze carts to carry water.[e] Each one was 1.8 metres long, 1.8 metres wide and 1.3 metres deep. 28 This is how he made the water carts: He made them with bronze sides, which he fixed to bronze bars at the edges. 29 There were pictures of lions, bulls and cherubs on the bars and on the edges. There were shapes like leaves above and below the lions and the bulls. 30 Each cart had four bronze wheels fixed to bronze axles.[f] The axles were fixed under each cart at four places. These places had shapes like leaves on each side. 31 On the top of the cart there was a round piece which held a bowl. This piece was 50 centimetres deep and 75 centimetres across. Hiram cut pictures into the metal all around it. The bronze sides of the carts were square. They were not round.
32 There were four wheels under each cart. They were fixed to axles. The axles and the cart joined together in one piece. Each wheel was 70 centimetres high. 33 The wheels were like the wheels of a chariot. Hiram used bronze to make the axles and all the parts of the wheels.[g] 34 Each cart had four handles. There was one handle on each side, joined to the cart as one piece. 35 There was a piece of metal round the top of each cart. It was 23 centimetres deep. It was fixed at each corner of the cart with pieces of bronze. These pieces and the sides of each cart were all joined together. 36 Hiram cut pictures of cherubs, lions and palm trees on the sides of each cart and on the handles. He cut pictures where there was a space for them. There were also shapes of leaves all around. 37 Hiram used bronze to make the ten carts so that they all had the same size and shape.
38 And Hiram also made ten bronze buckets. Each bucket contained about 800 litres. Each bucket was 1.8 metres across. There was one bucket for each of the ten carts. 39 Hiram put five of the carts on the south side of the temple. He put the other five carts on the north side of the temple. He put ‘the Sea’ on the south side of the temple, at the south-east corner.
40 Hiram also made dishes to carry ashes, small tools and bowls.
So Hiram finished all the work in the Lord's temple that King Solomon had asked him to do. He made these things:
41 Two pillars.
Two pieces for the top of each pillar, with the shape of big bowls.
Rows of chains on the tops of the pillars.
42 400 images of pomegranates for the two groups of chains. (There were two rows of these images around the piece at the top of each pillar, which had the shape of a bowl.)
43 Ten carts with the ten buckets that were on them.
44 The big bath called ‘the Sea’ and the 12 bulls under it.
45 The dishes, small tools and bowls.
King Solomon asked Hiram to make all these things for the Lord's temple. Hiram used bright bronze to make all these things. 46 The king told his workers to pour the hot bronze into shapes in the ground. They did that at a special place in the region of the Jordan Valley, between Succoth and Zarethan. 47 Solomon did not weigh any of these things, because there were so many of them. No one ever knew the weight of the bronze.
48 Solomon also made all these things for the Lord's temple:
The gold altar.
The gold table which had the special bread on it.
49 The pure gold lampstands. There were five lampstands on one side of the door to the Most Holy Place and five on the other side.
The gold images of flowers.
The lamps.
The small tools that held things for the altar.
50 The pure gold bowls.
The small tools that they used for the lamps.
The bowls for water.
The dishes for ashes.
The baskets that carried hot coals.
The gold pieces that held the doors of the Most Holy Place.
The gold pieces that held the doors of the temple's big hall.
51 King Solomon finished all the work for the Lord's temple. Then he brought into it all the holy things that belonged to his father, David. He stored all the valuable things in a safe place in the Lord's temple. They included silver things and gold things.
God's people are like one body
4 Because I serve the Lord, I am here in prison. I really want you to live as God's own people should live. God has called you to come to him. He has chosen you to be his own people. 2 Do not think that you are better than other people. Always be kind and patient with each other. Love one another, so that you do not quickly become angry with each other. 3 Do your best to let God's Spirit keep you united. You belong together so live in peace with each other. 4 As God's people, you are like one body. There is one Spirit that gives you life. God has chosen you to be his own people. So you all expect to receive the same great things from God. 5 There is one Lord. There is one true message that we must believe. There is one baptism.[a] 6 There is one God, who is the Father of all of us. He has authority over all of us. He works through all of us. He is in all of us.
7 But God has been kind to all of us. Each of us has received a special gift, just as Christ has decided to give us. 8 This is what it says about him:
‘When he went up to the highest place,
he led many prisoners with him.
Then he gave gifts to his people.’[b]
9 It says: ‘He went up.’ That must mean that Christ had also come down. He came down to a lower place, the earth. 10 So the man who came down is also the man who went up, high above all the heavens. He did that so that he would fill everything everywhere.
11 It was Christ who chose to give different gifts to his people. He chose some to be apostles. He chose some to speak messages from God. He chose some to tell God's good news to many people. He chose some to take care of his people, and to teach them. 12 He gave all these gifts to help God's people to serve him in different ways. As a result, the church, which is like Christ's body, would become strong. 13 In that way, all of us will become united, like one person. We will all believe in Jesus as the Son of God. We will all know him. We will become like a man who has grown up well. We will be completely as God wants us to be, just like Christ himself.
14 So then we will not be like children any more. Our minds will not become confused by strange ideas. We will not change what we believe, from one thing to another. Some people teach things that are not true. They do clever things to deceive people. But we will not agree with their false message. 15 Instead, we will love each other and we will speak God's true message. As a result, we will become more and more like Christ in every way. He is the head of his body, which is the church. 16 As its head, he helps the whole body to grow well. Each part joins with the other parts so that the whole body becomes strong. As each separate part does its proper work, we love each other more and more.
Live in a way that pleases God
17 So I say this to you. I am sure that I have the Lord's authority to say it. You must not live any longer like the Gentile people who do not know God. They do whatever their silly ideas teach them to do. 18 They cannot understand God's true message because their minds are in the dark. They have not accepted the life that God gives. They have decided that they do not want to know about God. They do not even try to understand. 19 They do not feel ashamed when they do all kinds of disgusting things. They do more and more bad things just to please themselves.
20 But when you learned about Christ, you did not learn to do things like that! 21 I am sure that you have heard about him properly. People taught you the true message that comes from Jesus. 22 They taught you to change the way that you live. You must put away the nature that you had before. That old nature deceived you. As a result, you wanted to do things that would destroy you. 23 Instead, let God's Spirit make you think in a new way. 24 Take up the new nature that God has prepared for you. That nature is like God's own nature. Then you will live in a truly good way that pleases God.
25 So you must stop telling lies. Each of you must say only true things to one another. Remember that all of us belong to one another, like parts of the same body. 26 When you are angry, do not do anything bad as a result. Once the day comes to an end, do not continue to be angry. 27 Do not give the Devil a chance to hurt you like that.
28 Any of you who robbed people before must now stop taking things. Instead, you should work hard with your own hands. Then you will be able to share what you have with people who are poor.
29 Do not say bad things that hurt or insult people. Instead, say only good things that will help people. Your words should help people to become strong when they hear them.
30 Do not do anything that will make God's Holy Spirit sad. God gave his Holy Spirit to you to show that you belong to him. As a result you know that God will make you completely free one day.
31 Do not be jealous of other people. Do not become angry or shout at them. Do not quarrel with other people or insult them. Do not do anything or say anything that will hurt other people. 32 Instead, help one another and be kind to each other. Forgive one another. Remember that God has forgiven you because of what Christ has done.
The valley of dry bones[a]
37 The Lord took hold of me with great power. In a vision, the Lord's Spirit took me to the middle of a valley. Bones covered all the ground there. 2 The Lord made me walk up and down among the bones. I could see many bones there, on the ground in the valley. They were completely dry.
3 He asked me, ‘Son of man, can these bones become alive again?’
I said, ‘Almighty Lord, only you know the answer.’
4 Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones. Say to them, “Dry bones, listen to the Lord's message! 5 This is what the Almighty Lord says to you bones: Listen! I will put breath into you and you will become alive. 6 I will join you together and I will put meat on you. I will cover you with skin. I will put breath into you and you will become alive. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” ’[b]
7 So I prophesied, as the Lord had commanded me to do. While I was still speaking, there was a noise. It was the sound of the bones as they knocked against each other when they joined together. 8 While I watched, I saw meat come and join to the bones. Then skin covered them. But there was no breath in them yet.
9 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Prophesy to the wind, son of man. Speak my message to the wind. Say, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: Blow from all directions and put breath into these dead bodies! Cause them to become alive again.” ’
10 So I spoke the message that the Lord had commanded me to speak. Breath went into those dead bodies and they became alive. They stood up on their feet. They were as many as a great army.
11 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Son of man, these bones are a picture of all Israel's people. The Israelites are saying, “Our bones are dead and dry. There are no good things that we can hope for. We have come to an end.” 12 So prophesy and say to them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: Listen, my people! I will soon open up your graves. I will bring you out of your graves. I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 When that happens to you, my people, you will know that I am the Lord. 14 I will put the breath of my Spirit in you, and you will become alive. I will let you live safely in your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken. You will know that I have done what I said I would do. That is what the Lordsays.” ’[c]
15 The Lord gave this message to me: 16 ‘Son of man, take a stick and write on it, “This stick belongs to Judah and the Israelite tribes that are with him.” Then take another stick and write on it, “This stick belongs to Joseph's son Ephraim and the Israelite tribes that are with him.”[d] 17 Make the two sticks join together to become one stick in your hand. 18 Your people will ask you, “Please tell us what this means.” 19 When they ask that, say to them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: I will take Joseph's stick that belongs to Ephraim and the Israelite tribes that are with him. I will cause it to join together with Judah's stick. I will make them become one stick in my hand.”
20 Hold the two sticks that you have written words on. Hold them in your hand for the people to see. 21 Say to the people, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: I will take Israel's people out from among the nations where they have gone. I will bring them back together from all those foreign countries. I will bring them to their own land. 22 In that land, I will make them become one nation. They will live on Israel's mountains. They will have one king to rule over them all. They will never again become two nations or two separate kingdoms. 23 They will no longer worship their disgusting idols and make themselves unclean. They will not refuse to obey me. They have turned away from me and done bad things. But I will save them from all their sins. I will make them clean. They will be my people and I will be their God.
24 My servant David will be their king. There will be one shepherd who takes care of them all. They will carefully obey my rules and my laws. 25 They will live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob. It is the land where your ancestors lived. My people, their children and their grandchildren will live there. They will live there for ever. My servant David will rule over them for ever.[e]
26 I will make a covenant with them to give them peace. It is a promise to my people that will continue for ever. I will cause them to live safely in their land. I will cause them to grow in number. I will put my temple among them, to be with them for ever. 27 I will make my home with them. I will be their God and they will be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I, the Lord, have chosen the Israelites as my own people. The nations will see that I have put my temple among my people for ever.” ’
This psalm is a song that the sons of Korah wrote.
God's holy city[a]
87 The Lord built his city on the holy mountain.
2 The Lord loves Zion city,
more than any other place where Jacob's family lives.[b]
3 People say great things about you!
You are God's own city!
Selah.
4 I will speak about the nations that serve God.
Rahab and Babylon are now among them,
also Philistia, Tyre and Ethiopia.[c]
They say about themselves,
‘This man was born in Zion.’
5 They say this about Zion:
‘Each one of these people was born there.’
It is the Most High God who makes that city strong.
6 The Lord will write a list of all their names.
For the people from different nations,
he will say, ‘This person was born in Zion.’
Selah.
7 The singers and the musicians will say,
‘All our blessings come from you, Zion.’
This psalm is a song that the sons of Korah wrote for the music leader. Use special music. It is a special song by Heman the Ezrahite.
A sad cry[d]
88 Lord, you are the God who rescues me.
I call out to you in the day,
and I pray for help at night.
2 Please listen to my prayer!
I am calling to you for help!
3 There is a lot of trouble in my life.
I feel that I am near to death.
4 People see me as if I am already in my grave.
I feel completely helpless.
5 I am the same as people who have died.
Their bodies already lie in their graves.
You do not remember them any more
You cannot use your power to help them.
6 You have put me in the deep hole of death,
far down in a very dark place.
7 Your anger is very heavy on me.
It is like the waves of the sea that knock me down.
8 You have caused my best friends
to keep away from me.
They do not even want to look at me.
A trap has caught me
and I cannot escape.
9 My eyes have become weak
because I am so sad.
Lord, every day I call to you for help.
I lift my hands up to you as I pray.
10 Your great miracles do not help dead people!
Dead people cannot get up and praise you!
Selah.
11 People in their graves
cannot talk about your faithful love!
In the world of death,
they cannot say how faithful you are.
12 In those dark places,
they do not see your miracles.
In that place where people forget everything,
they cannot know about the good things that you do.
13 But as for me, Lord,
I call to you for help.
Every morning I pray to you.
14 Lord, why do you throw me out?
Why do you turn away from me?
15 Since I was young, I have been in pain.
I have always been near to death.
You have caused bad troubles to frighten me,
so that I feel helpless.
16 Your anger is too much for me!
You are attacking me and destroying me!
17 The troubles that you send are all round me,
like a flood of deep water.
They come very near to me,
on every side.
18 You cause my friends and my neighbours
to stay away from me.
All that I have near to me is darkness.
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