M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
22 David said, “The Temple of the Lord God and the altar for Israel’s burnt offerings will be built here.”
David Makes Plans for the Temple
2 So David ordered all foreigners living in Israel to gather together. From that group David chose stonecutters to cut stones to be used in building the Temple of God. 3 David supplied a large amount of iron to be used for making nails and hinges for the gate doors. He also supplied more bronze than could be weighed, 4 and he supplied more cedar logs than could be counted. Much of the cedar had been brought to David by the people from Sidon and Tyre.
5 David said, “We should build a great Temple for the Lord, which will be famous everywhere for its greatness and beauty. But my son Solomon is young. He hasn’t yet learned what he needs to know, so I will prepare for the building of it.” So David got many of the materials ready before he died.
6 Then David called for his son Solomon and told him to build the Temple for the Lord, the God of Israel. 7 David said to him, “My son, I wanted to build a temple for worshiping the Lord my God. 8 But the Lord spoke his word to me, ‘David, you have killed many people. You have fought many wars. You cannot build a temple for worship to me, because you have killed many people. 9 But, you will have a son, a man of peace and rest. I will give him rest from all his enemies around him. His name will be Solomon,[a] and I will give Israel peace and quiet while he is king. 10 Solomon will build a temple for worship to me. He will be my son, and I will be his father. I will make his kingdom strong; someone from his family will rule Israel forever.’”
11 David said, “Now, my son, may the Lord be with you. May you build a temple for the Lord your God, as he said you would. 12 He will make you the king of Israel. May the Lord give you wisdom and understanding so you will be able to obey the teachings of the Lord your God. 13 Be careful to obey the rules and laws the Lord gave Moses for Israel. If you obey them, you will have success. Be strong and brave. Don’t be afraid or discouraged.
14 “Solomon, I have worked hard getting many of the materials for building the Temple of the Lord. I have supplied about seven and one-half million pounds of gold, about seventy-five million pounds of silver, so much bronze and iron it cannot be weighed, and wood and stone. You may add to them. 15 You have many workmen—stonecutters, bricklayers, carpenters, and people skilled in every kind of work. 16 They are skilled in working with gold, silver, bronze, and iron. You have more craftsmen than can be counted. Now begin the work, and may the Lord be with you.”
17 Then David ordered all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon. 18 David said to them, “The Lord your God is with you. He has given you rest from our enemies. He has handed over to me the people living around us. The Lord and his people are in control of this land. 19 Now give yourselves completely to obeying the Lord your God. Build the holy place of the Lord God; build the Temple for worship to the Lord. Then bring the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord and the holy items that belong to God into the Temple.”
Wives and Husbands
3 In the same way, you wives should yield to your husbands. Then, if some husbands do not obey God’s teaching, they will be persuaded to believe without anyone’s saying a word to them. They will be persuaded by the way their wives live. 2 Your husbands will see the pure lives you live with your respect for God. 3 It is not fancy hair, gold jewelry, or fine clothes that should make you beautiful. 4 No, your beauty should come from within you—the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit that will never be destroyed and is very precious to God. 5 In this same way the holy women who lived long ago and followed God made themselves beautiful, yielding to their own husbands. 6 Sarah obeyed Abraham, her husband, and called him her master. And you women are true children of Sarah if you always do what is right and are not afraid.
7 In the same way, you husbands should live with your wives in an understanding way, since they are weaker than you. But show them respect, because God gives them the same blessing he gives you—the grace that gives true life. Do this so that nothing will stop your prayers.
Suffering for Doing Right
8 Finally, all of you should be in agreement, understanding each other, loving each other as family, being kind and humble. 9 Do not do wrong to repay a wrong, and do not insult to repay an insult. But repay with a blessing, because you yourselves were called to do this so that you might receive a blessing. 10 The Scripture says,
“A person must do these things
to enjoy life and have many happy days.
He must not say evil things,
and he must not tell lies.
11 He must stop doing evil and do good.
He must look for peace and work for it.
12 The Lord sees the good people
and listens to their prayers.
But the Lord is against
those who do evil.” Psalm 34:12–16
13 If you are trying hard to do good, no one can really hurt you. 14 But even if you suffer for doing right, you are blessed.
“Don’t be afraid of what they fear;
do not dread those things.” Isaiah 8:12–13
15 But respect Christ as the holy Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to answer everyone who asks you to explain about the hope you have, 16 but answer in a gentle way and with respect. Keep a clear conscience so that those who speak evil of your good life in Christ will be made ashamed. 17 It is better to suffer for doing good than for doing wrong if that is what God wants. 18 Christ himself suffered for sins once. He was not guilty, but he suffered for those who are guilty to bring you to God. His body was killed, but he was made alive in the spirit. 19 And in the spirit he went and preached to the spirits in prison 20 who refused to obey God long ago in the time of Noah. God was waiting patiently for them while Noah was building the boat. Only a few people—eight in all—were saved by water. 21 And that water is like baptism that now saves you—not the washing of dirt from the body, but the promise made to God from a good conscience. And this is because Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. 22 Now Jesus has gone into heaven and is at God’s right side ruling over angels, authorities, and powers.
Samaria and Israel to Be Punished
1 During the time that Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, the word of the Lord came to Micah, who was from Moresheth. He saw these visions about Samaria and Jerusalem.
2 Hear this, all you nations;
listen, earth and all you who live on it.
The Lord God will be a witness against you,
the Lord from his Holy Temple.
3 See, the Lord is coming out of his place;
he is coming down to walk on the tops of the mountains.
4 The mountains will melt under him,
and the valleys will crack open,
like wax near a fire,
like water running down a hillside.
5 All this is because of Jacob’s sin,
because of the sins of the nation of Israel.
What is the place of Jacob’s sin?
Isn’t it Samaria?
What is Judah’s place of idol worship?
Isn’t it Jerusalem?
The Lord Speaks
6 “So I will make Samaria a pile of ruins in the open country,
a place for planting vineyards.
I will pour her stones down into the valley
and strip her down to her foundations.
7 All her idols will be broken into pieces;
all the gifts to her idols will be burned with fire.
I will destroy all her idols,
and because Samaria earned her money by being unfaithful to me,
this money will be carried off by others who are not faithful to me.”
Micah’s Great Sadness
8 I will moan and cry because of this evil,
going around barefoot and naked.
I will cry loudly like the wild dogs
and make sad sounds like the owls do,
9 because Samaria’s wound cannot be healed.
It will spread to Judah;
it will reach the city gate of my people,
all the way to Jerusalem.
10 Don’t tell it in Gath.[a]
Don’t cry in Acco.[b]
Roll in the dust
at Beth Ophrah.[c]
11 Pass on your way, naked and ashamed,
you who live in Shaphir.[d]
Those who live in Zaanan[e]
won’t come out.
The people in Beth Ezel[f] will cry,
but they will not give you any support.
12 Those who live in Maroth[g]
will be anxious for good news to come,
because trouble will come from the Lord,
all the way to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 You people living in Lachish,[h]
harness the fastest horse to the chariot.
Jerusalem’s sins started in you;
yes, Israel’s sins were found in you.
14 So you must give farewell gifts
to Moresheth[i] in Gath.
The houses in Aczib[j] will be false help
to the kings of Israel.
15 I will bring against you people who will take your land,
you who live in Mareshah.[k]
The glory of Israel
will go in to Adullam.
16 Cut off your hair to show you are sad
for the children you love.
Make yourself bald like the eagle,
because your children will be taken away to a foreign land.
Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two
10 After this, the Lord chose seventy-two[a] others and sent them out in pairs ahead of him into every town and place where he planned to go. 2 He said to them, “There are a great many people to harvest, but there are only a few workers. So pray to God, who owns the harvest, that he will send more workers to help gather his harvest. 3 Go now, but listen! I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. 4 Don’t carry a purse, a bag, or sandals, and don’t waste time talking with people on the road. 5 Before you go into a house, say, ‘Peace be with this house.’ 6 If peace-loving people live there, your blessing of peace will stay with them, but if not, then your blessing will come back to you. 7 Stay in the same house, eating and drinking what the people there give you. A worker should be given his pay. Don’t move from house to house. 8 If you go into a town and the people welcome you, eat what they give you. 9 Heal the sick who live there, and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’ 10 But if you go into a town, and the people don’t welcome you, then go into the streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dirt from your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you.[b] But remember that the kingdom of God is near.’ 12 I tell you, on the Judgment Day it will be better for the people of Sodom[c] than for the people of that town.
Jesus Warns Unbelievers
13 “How terrible for you, Korazin! How terrible for you, Bethsaida! If the miracles I did in you had happened in Tyre and Sidon,[d] those people would have changed their lives long ago. They would have worn rough cloth and put ashes on themselves to show they had changed. 14 But on the Judgment Day it will be better for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum,[e] will you be lifted up to heaven? No! You will be thrown down to the depths!
16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever refuses to accept you refuses to accept me. And whoever refuses to accept me refuses to accept the One who sent me.”
Satan Falls
17 When the seventy-two[f] came back, they were very happy and said, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we used your name!”
18 Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Listen, I have given you power to walk on snakes and scorpions, power that is greater than the enemy has. So nothing will hurt you. 20 But you should not be happy because the spirits obey you but because your names are written in heaven.”
Jesus Prays to the Father
21 Then Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the people who are wise and smart. But you have shown them to those who are like little children. Yes, Father, this is what you really wanted.
22 “My Father has given me all things. No one knows who the Son is, except the Father. And no one knows who the Father is, except the Son and those whom the Son chooses to tell.”
23 Then Jesus turned to his followers and said privately, “You are blessed to see what you now see. 24 I tell you, many prophets and kings wanted to see what you now see, but they did not, and they wanted to hear what you now hear, but they did not.”
The Good Samaritan
25 Then an expert on the law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to get life forever?”
26 Jesus said, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?”
27 The man answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.”[g] Also, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”[h]
28 Jesus said to him, “Your answer is right. Do this and you will live.”
29 But the man, wanting to show the importance of his question, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus answered, “As a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, some robbers attacked him. They tore off his clothes, beat him, and left him lying there, almost dead. 31 It happened that a priest was going down that road. When he saw the man, he walked by on the other side. 32 Next, a Levite[i] came there, and after he went over and looked at the man, he walked by on the other side of the road. 33 Then a Samaritan[j] traveling down the road came to where the hurt man was. When he saw the man, he felt very sorry for him. 34 The Samaritan went to him, poured olive oil and wine[k] on his wounds, and bandaged them. Then he put the hurt man on his own donkey and took him to an inn where he cared for him. 35 The next day, the Samaritan brought out two coins,[l] gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of this man. If you spend more money on him, I will pay it back to you when I come again.’”
36 Then Jesus said, “Which one of these three men do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by the robbers?”
37 The expert on the law answered, “The one who showed him mercy.”
Jesus said to him, “Then go and do what he did.”
Mary and Martha
38 While Jesus and his followers were traveling, Jesus went into a town. A woman named Martha let Jesus stay at her house. 39 Martha had a sister named Mary, who was sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to him teach. 40 But Martha was busy with all the work to be done. She went in and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me alone to do all the work? Tell her to help me.”
41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things. 42 Only one thing is important. Mary has chosen the better thing, and it will never be taken away from her.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.