M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon

10 When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, she came to test him with hard questions. ² She traveled to Jerusalem with a large group of servants and camels carrying spices, jewels, and much gold. When she came to Solomon, she talked with him about all she had in mind, ³ and Solomon answered all her questions. Nothing was too hard for him to explain to her. ⁴ The queen of Sheba learned that Solomon was very wise. She saw the palace he had built, ⁵ the food on his table, his many officers, the palace servants, and their good clothes. She saw the servants who served him at feasts and the whole burnt offerings he made in the Temple of the Lord. All these things amazed her.

⁶ So she said to King Solomon, “What I heard in my own country about your achievements and wisdom is true. ⁷ I could not believe it then, but now I have come and seen it with my own eyes. I was not told even half of it! Your wisdom and wealth are much greater than I had heard. ⁸ Your men and officers are very lucky, because in always serving you, they are able to hear your wisdom. ⁹ Praise the Lord your God, who was pleased to make you king of Israel. The Lord has constant love for Israel, so he made you king to keep justice and to rule fairly.”

¹⁰ Then she gave the king about nine thousand pounds of gold and many spices and jewels. No one since that time has brought more spices than the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹¹ (Hiram’s ships brought gold from Ophir, as well as much juniper wood and jewels. ¹² Solomon used the juniper wood to build supports for the Temple of the Lord and the palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. Such fine juniper wood has not been brought in or been seen since that time.)

¹³ King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she wanted and asked for, in addition to what he had already given her of his wealth. Then she and her servants returned to her own country.

Solomon’s Wealth

¹⁴ Every year King Solomon received about fifty thousand pounds of gold. ¹⁵ Besides that, he also received gold from the traders and merchants, as well as from the kings of Arabia and governors of the land.

¹⁶ King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold, each of which contained about seven and one-half pounds of gold. ¹⁷ He also made three hundred smaller shields of hammered gold, each of which contained about four pounds of gold. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.

¹⁸ The king built a large throne of ivory and covered it with fine gold. ¹⁹ The throne had six steps on it, and its back was round at the top. There were armrests on both sides of the chair, and each armrest had a lion beside it. ²⁰ Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one lion at each end of each step. Nothing like this had ever been made for any other kingdom. ²¹ All of Solomon’s drinking cups, as well as the dishes in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon, were made of pure gold. Nothing was made from silver, because silver was not valuable in Solomon’s time.

²² King Solomon also had many trading ships at sea, along with Hiram’s ships. Every three years the ships returned, bringing back gold, silver, ivory, apes, and baboons.

²³ So Solomon had more riches and wisdom than all the other kings on earth. ²⁴ People everywhere wanted to see King Solomon and listen to the wisdom God had given him. ²⁵ Every year those who came brought gifts of silver and gold, clothes, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.

²⁶ Solomon had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses. He kept some in special cities for the chariots, and others he kept with him in Jerusalem. ²⁷ In Jerusalem Solomon made silver as common as stones and cedar trees as common as the fig trees on the western hills. ²⁸ He imported horses from Egypt and Kue. His traders bought them in Kue. ²⁹ A chariot from Egypt cost about fifteen pounds of silver, and a horse cost nearly four pounds of silver. Solomon’s traders also sold horses and chariots to all the kings of the Hittites and the Arameans.

1 From Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus.

To all of God’s holy people in Christ Jesus who live in Philippi, including your overseers and deacons:

² Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul’s Prayer

³ I thank my God every time I remember you, ⁴ always praying with joy for all of you. ⁵ I thank God for the help you gave me while I preached the Good News—help you gave from the first day you believed until now. ⁶ God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again.

⁷ And I know that I am right to think like this about all of you, because I have you in my heart. All of you share in God’s grace with me while I am in prison and while I am defending and proving the truth of the Good News. ⁸ God knows that I want to see you very much, because I love all of you with the love of Christ Jesus.

⁹ This is my prayer for you: that your love will grow more and more; that you will have knowledge and understanding with your love; ¹⁰ that you will see the difference between good and bad and will choose the good; that you will be pure and without wrong for the coming of Christ; ¹¹ that you will be filled with the good things produced in your life by Christ to bring glory and praise to God.

Paul’s Troubles Help the Work

¹² I want you brothers and sisters to know that what has happened to me has helped to spread the Good News. ¹³ All the palace guards and everyone else knows that I am in prison because I am a believer in Christ. ¹⁴ Because I am in prison, most of the believers have become more bold in Christ and are not afraid to speak the word of God.

¹⁵ It is true that some preach about Christ because they are jealous and ambitious, but others preach about Christ because they want to help. ¹⁶ They preach because they have love, and they know that God gave me the work of defending the Good News. ¹⁷ But the others preach about Christ for selfish and wrong reasons, wanting to make trouble for me in prison.

¹⁸ But it doesn’t matter. The important thing is that in every way, whether for right or wrong reasons, they are preaching about Christ. So I am happy, and I will continue to be happy. ¹⁹ Because you are praying for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ is helping me, I know this trouble will bring my freedom. ²⁰ I expect and hope that I will not fail Christ in anything but that I will have the courage now, as always, to show the greatness of Christ in my life here on earth, whether I live or die. ²¹ To me the only important thing about living is Christ, and dying would be profit for me. ²² If I continue living in my body, I will be able to work for the Lord. I do not know what to choose—living or dying. ²³ It is hard to choose between the two. I want to leave this life and be with Christ, which is much better, ²⁴ but you need me here in my body. ²⁵ Since I am sure of this, I know I will stay with you to help you grow and have joy in your faith. ²⁶ You will be very happy in Christ Jesus when I am with you again.

²⁷ Only one thing concerns me: Be sure that you live in a way that brings honor to the Good News of Christ. Then whether I come and visit you or am away from you, I will hear that you are standing strong with one purpose, that you work together as one for the faith of the Good News, ²⁸ and that you are not afraid of those who are against you. All of this is proof that your enemies will be destroyed but that you will be saved by God. ²⁹ God gave you the honor not only of believing in Christ but also of suffering for him, both of which bring glory to Christ. ³⁰ When I was with you, you saw the struggles I had, and you hear about the struggles I am having now. You yourselves are having the same kind of struggles.

The New Temple

40 It was the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month. It was in the fourteenth year after Jerusalem was captured. On that same day I felt the power of the Lord, and he brought me to Jerusalem. ² In the visions of God he brought me to the land of Israel and put me down on a very high mountain. On the south of the mountain there were some buildings that looked like a city. ³ He took me closer to the buildings, and I saw a man who looked as if he were made of bronze, standing in the gateway. He had a cord made of linen and a stick in his hand, both for measuring. ⁴ The man said to me, “Human, look with your eyes and hear with your ears. Pay attention to all that I will show you, because that’s why you have been brought here. Tell the people of Israel all that you see.”

The East Gateway

⁵ I saw a wall that surrounded the Temple area. The measuring stick in the man’s hand was ten and one-half feet long. So the man measured the wall, which was ten and one-half feet thick and ten and one-half feet high.

⁶ Then the man went to the east gateway. He went up its steps and measured the opening of the gateway. It was ten and one-half feet deep. ⁷ The rooms for the guards were ten and one-half feet long and ten and one-half feet wide. The walls that came out between the guards’ rooms were about nine feet thick. The opening of the gateway next to the porch that faced the Temple was ten and one-half feet deep.

⁸ Then the man measured the porch of the gateway. ⁹ It was about fourteen feet deep, and its side walls were three and one-half feet thick. The porch of the gateway faced the Temple.

¹⁰ On each side of the east gateway were three rooms, which measured the same on each side. The walls between each room were the same thickness. ¹¹ The man measured the width of the entrance to the gateway, which was seventeen and one-half feet wide. The width of the gate was about twenty-three feet. ¹² And there was a low wall about twenty-one inches high in front of each room. The rooms were ten and one-half feet on each side. ¹³ The man measured the gateway from the roof of one room to the roof of the opposite room. It was about forty-four feet from one door to the opposite door. ¹⁴ The man also measured the porch, which was about thirty-five feet wide. The courtyard was around the porch. ¹⁵ From the front of the outer side of the gateway to the front of the porch of the inner side of the gateway was eighty-seven and one-half feet. ¹⁶ The rooms and porch had small windows on both sides. The windows were narrower on the side facing the gateway. Carvings of palm trees were on each side wall of the rooms.

The Outer Courtyard

¹⁷ Then the man brought me into the outer courtyard where I saw rooms and a pavement of stones all around the court. Thirty rooms were along the edge of the paved walkway. ¹⁸ The pavement ran alongside the gates and was as deep as the gates were wide. This was the lower pavement. ¹⁹ Then the man measured from the outer wall to the inner wall. The outer court between these two walls was one hundred seventy-five feet on the east and on the north.

The North Gateway

²⁰ The man measured the length and width of the north gateway leading to the outer courtyard. ²¹ Its three rooms on each side, its inner walls, and its porch measured the same as the first gateway. It was eighty-seven and one-half feet long and forty-four feet wide. ²² Its windows, porch, and carvings of palm trees measured the same as the east gateway. Seven steps went up to the gateway, and the gateway’s porch was at the inner end. ²³ The inner courtyard had a gateway across from the northern gateway like the one on the east. The man measured it and found it was one hundred seventy-five feet from inner gateway to outer gateway.

The South Gateway

²⁴ Then the man led me south where I saw a gateway facing south. He measured its inner walls and its porch, and they measured the same as the other gateways. ²⁵ The gateway and its porch had windows all around like the other gateways. It was eighty-seven and one-half feet long and forty-four feet wide. ²⁶ Seven steps went up to this gateway. Its porch was at the inner end, and it had carvings of palm trees on its inner walls. ²⁷ The inner courtyard had a gateway on its south side. The man measured from gate to gate on the south side, which was one hundred seventy-five feet.

The Inner Courtyard

²⁸ Then the man brought me through the south gateway into the inner courtyard. The inner south gateway measured the same as the gateways in the outer wall. ²⁹ The inner south gateway’s rooms, inner walls, and porch measured the same as the gateways in the outer wall. There were windows all around the gateway and its porch. The gateway was eighty-seven and one-half feet long and forty-four feet wide. ³⁰ Each porch of each inner gateway was about forty-four feet long and about nine feet wide. ³¹ The inner south gateway’s porch faced the outer courtyard. Carvings of palm trees were on its side walls, and its stairway had eight steps.

³² The man brought me into the inner courtyard on the east side. He measured the inner east gateway, and it was the same as the other gateways. ³³ The inner east gateway’s rooms, inside walls, and porch measured the same as the other gateways. Windows were all around the gateway and its porch. The inner east gateway was eighty-seven and one-half feet long and forty-four feet wide. ³⁴ Its porch faced the outer courtyard. Carvings of palm trees were on its inner walls on each side, and its stairway had eight steps.

³⁵ Then the man brought me to the inner north gateway. He measured it, and it was the same as the other gateways. ³⁶ Its rooms, inner walls, and porch measured the same as the other gateways. There were windows all around the gateway, which was eighty-seven and one-half feet long and forty-four feet wide. ³⁷ Its porch faced the outer courtyard. Carvings of palm trees were on its inner walls on each side, and its stairway had eight steps.

Rooms for Preparing Sacrifices

³⁸ There was a room with a door that opened onto the porch of the inner north gateway. In this room the priests washed animals for the burnt offerings. ³⁹ There were two tables on each side of the porch, on which animals for burnt offerings, sin offerings, and penalty offerings were killed. ⁴⁰ Outside, by each side wall of the porch, at the entrance to the north gateway, were two more tables. ⁴¹ So there were four tables inside the gateway, and four tables outside. In all there were eight tables on which the priests killed animals for sacrifices. ⁴² There were four tables made of cut stone for the burnt offering. These tables were about three feet long, three feet wide, and about two feet high. On these tables the priests put their tools which they used to kill animals for burnt offerings and the other sacrifices. ⁴³ Double shelves three inches wide were put up on all the walls. The flesh for the offering was put on the tables.

The Priests’ Rooms

⁴⁴ There were two rooms in the inner courtyard. One was beside the north gateway and faced south. The other room was beside the south gateway and faced north. ⁴⁵ The man said to me, “The room which faces south is for the priests who serve in the Temple area, ⁴⁶ while the room that faces north is for the priests who serve at the altar. This second group of priests are descendants of Zadok, the only descendants of Levi who can come near the Lord to serve him.”

⁴⁷ The man measured the inner courtyard. It was a square—one hundred seventy-five feet long and one hundred seventy-five feet wide. The altar was in front of the Temple.

The Temple Porch

⁴⁸ The man brought me to the porch of the Temple and measured each side wall of the porch. Each was about nine feet thick. The doorway was twenty-four and one-half feet wide. The side walls of the doorway were each about five feet wide. ⁴⁹ The porch was thirty-five feet long and twenty-one feet wide, with ten steps leading up to it. Pillars were by the side walls, one on each side of the entrance.

Safe in the Lord