M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
8 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chiefs of the fathers’ houses of the Israelites, before the king in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Zion, the City of David.
2 All the men of Israel assembled themselves before King Solomon at the feast in the seventh month, Ethanim.
3 All the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.
4 And they brought up the ark of the Lord, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up.
5 King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who had assembled before him were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, so many that they could not be reported or counted.
6 And the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place in the Holy of Holies of the house, under the wings of the cherubim.
7 For the cherubim spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its poles.
8 The poles were so long that the ends of them were seen from the Holy Place before the Holy of Holies, but they were not seen outside; they are there to this day.
9 There was nothing in the ark except the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt.(A)
10 When the priests had come out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the Lord’s house,
11 So the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house.
12 Then Solomon said, The Lord said that He would dwell in the thick darkness.
13 I have surely built You a house of habitation, a settled place for You to dwell in forever.
14 And the king turned his face about and blessed all the assembly of Israel, and all the assembly of Israel stood.
15 He said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, Who spoke with His mouth to David my father and has with His hand fulfilled it, saying,
16 Since the day that I brought forth My people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house that My Name [and My Presence] might be in it, but I chose David to be over My people Israel.
17 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the Name [the Presence] of the Lord, the God of Israel.
18 And the Lord said to David my father, Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for My Name, you did well that it was in your heart.
19 Yet you shall not build the house, but your son, who shall be born to you, shall build it to My Name [and My actively present Person].
20 And the Lord has fulfilled His promise which He made: I have risen up in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built a house for the Name (renown) of the Lord, the God of Israel.
21 And I have made there a place for the ark [the token of [a]His presence], in which is the covenant [the Ten Commandments] of the Lord which He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.(B)
22 Then Solomon stood [in the court] before the Lord’s burnt offering altar in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven
23 And he said, O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing mercy and loving-kindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart.
24 You have kept what You promised Your servant David my father. You also spoke with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.
25 Therefore now, O Lord, the God of Israel, keep with Your servant David my father what You promised him when You said, There shall not fail you a man before Me to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, that they walk before Me as you have done.
26 Now, O God of Israel, let Your word which You spoke to Your servant David my father be confirmed [by experience].
27 But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, the heavens and heaven of heavens [in its most extended compass] cannot contain You; how much less this house that I have built?
28 Yet graciously consider the prayer and supplication of Your servant, O Lord my God, to hearken to the [loud] cry and prayer which he prays before You today,
29 That Your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, My Name [and the token of My presence] shall be there, that You may hearken to the prayer which Your servant shall make in [or facing toward] this place.
30 Hearken to the prayer of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray in or toward this place. Hear in heaven, Your dwelling place, and when You hear, forgive.
31 Whenever a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears the oath before Your altar in this house,
32 Then hear in heaven and do and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing his guilt upon his own head and justifying the [uncompromisingly] righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness (his uprightness, right standing with God).
33 When Your people Israel are struck down before the enemy because they have sinned against You, and they turn again to You, confess Your [b]name (Your revelation of Yourself), and pray, beseeching You in this house,
34 Then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel and return them to the land You gave to their fathers.
35 When heaven is shut up and no rain falls because they have sinned against You, if they pray in [or toward] this place and confess Your name (Your revelation of Yourself) and turn from their sin when You afflict them,
36 Then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, when You teach them the good way in which they should walk. And give rain upon Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.
37 If there is famine in the land or pestilence, blight, mildew, locust, or caterpillar, if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,
38 Whatever prayer or supplication is made by any or all of Your people Israel—each man knowing the affliction of his own heart, and spreading forth his hands toward this house [and its pledge of Your presence]—
39 Then hear in heaven, Your dwelling place, and forgive and act and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart You know, for You and You only know the hearts of all the children of men,
40 That they may fear and revere You all the days that they live in the land which You gave to our fathers.
41 Moreover, concerning a stranger who is not of Your people Israel but comes from a far country for the sake of Your name [and Your active Presence]—
42 For they will hear of Your great name (Your revelation of Yourself), Your strong hand, and outstretched arm—when he shall pray in [or toward] this house,
43 Hear in heaven, Your dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger asks of You, so that all peoples of the earth may know Your name [and [c]Your revelation of Your presence] and fear and revere You, as do Your people Israel, and may know and comprehend that this house which I have built is called by Your Name [and contains the token of Your presence].
44 If Your people go out to battle against their enemy, wherever You shall send them, and shall pray to the Lord toward the city which You have chosen and the house that I have built for Your Name [and Your revelation of Yourself],
45 Then hear in heaven their prayer and supplication, and defend their cause and maintain their right.
46 If they sin against You—for there is no man who does not sin—and You are angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the enemy’s land, far or near;
47 Yet if they think and consider in the land where they were carried captive, and repent and make supplication to You there, saying, We have sinned and have done perversely and wickedly;
48 If they repent and turn to You with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to You toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your Name;
49 Then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven, Your dwelling place, and defend their cause and maintain their right.
50 And forgive Your people, who have sinned against You, and all their transgressions against You, and grant them compassion before those who took them captive, that they may have pity and be merciful to them;
51 For they are Your people and Your heritage, which You brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace.
52 Let Your eyes be open to the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, to hearken to them in all for which they call to You.
53 For You separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be Your heritage, as You declared through Moses Your servant when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.
54 When Solomon finished offering all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, he arose from before the Lord’s altar, where he had knelt with hands stretched toward heaven.
55 And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
56 Blessed be the Lord, Who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. Not one word has failed of all His good promise which He promised through Moses His servant.
57 May the Lord our God be with us as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us or forsake us,
58 That He may incline our hearts to Him, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His precepts which He commanded our fathers.
59 Let these my words, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that He may maintain the cause and right of His servant and of His people Israel as each day requires,
60 That all the earth’s people may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other.
61 Let your hearts therefore be blameless and wholly true to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as today.
62 And the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifice before the Lord.
63 Solomon offered as peace offerings to the Lord: 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the house of the Lord.
64 On that same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the Lord’s house; there he offered burnt offerings, cereal offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive [all] the offerings.
65 So at that time Solomon held the feast, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, for seven days [for the dedication] and seven days [for the Feast of Tabernacles], fourteen days in all.
66 On the eighth day he sent the people away; they blessed the king and went to their tents with greatest joy and gratitude for all the goodness the Lord had shown to David His servant and Israel His people.
5 Therefore be imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father].
2 And walk in love, [esteeming and delighting in one another] as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a [a]slain offering and sacrifice to God [for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance.(A)
3 But immorality (sexual vice) and all impurity [[b]of lustful, rich, wasteful living] or greediness must not even be named among you, as is fitting and proper among saints (God’s consecrated people).
4 Let there be no filthiness (obscenity, indecency) nor foolish and sinful (silly and corrupt) talk, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting or becoming; but instead voice your thankfulness [to God].
5 For be sure of this: that no person practicing sexual vice or impurity in thought or in life, or one who is covetous [who has lustful desire for the property of others and is greedy for gain]—for he [in effect] is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6 Let no one delude and deceive you with empty excuses and groundless arguments [for these sins], for through these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of rebellion and disobedience.
7 So do not associate or be sharers with them.
8 For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of Light [lead the lives of those native-born to the Light].
9 For the fruit (the effect, the product) of the Light or [c]the Spirit [consists] in every form of kindly goodness, uprightness of heart, and trueness of life.
10 And try to learn [in your experience] what is pleasing to the Lord [let your lives be constant proofs of what is most acceptable to Him].
11 Take no part in and have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds and enterprises of darkness, but instead [let your lives be so in contrast as to] [d]expose and reprove and convict them.
12 For it is a shame even to speak of or mention the things that [such people] practice in secret.
13 But when anything is exposed and reproved by the light, it is made visible and clear; and where everything is visible and clear there is light.
14 Therefore He says, Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine (make day dawn) upon you and give you light.(B)
15 Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people),
16 Making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is.
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but ever be filled and stimulated with the [Holy] Spirit.(C)
19 Speak out to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, offering praise with voices [[e]and instruments] and making melody with all your heart to the Lord,
20 At all times and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.
21 Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
22 Wives, be subject (be submissive and adapt yourselves) to your own husbands as [a service] to the Lord.
23 For the husband is head of the wife as Christ is the Head of the church, Himself the Savior of [His] body.
24 As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
26 So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word,
27 That He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such things [that she might be holy and faultless].
28 Even so husbands should love their wives as [being in a sense] their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself.
29 For no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and carefully protects and cherishes it, as Christ does the church,
30 Because we are members (parts) of His body.
31 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.(D)
32 This mystery is very great, but I speak concerning [the relation of] Christ and the church.
33 However, let each man of you [without exception] love his wife as [being in a sense] his very own self; and let the wife see that she respects and reverences her husband [[f]that she notices him, regards him, honors him, prefers him, venerates, and esteems him; and [g]that she defers to him, praises him, and loves and admires him exceedingly].(E)
38 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2 Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of [a]Magog, the prince of Rosh, of Meshech, and of Tubal, and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince (ruler) of Rosh, of Meshech, and of Tubal.
4 And I will turn you back and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you forth and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords—
5 Persia, Cush, and Put or Libya with them, all of them with shield and helmet,
6 Gomer and all his hordes, the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north and all his hordes—many people are with you.
7 You [Gog] be prepared; yes, prepare yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled about you, and you be a guard and a commander for them.
8 After many days you shall be visited and mustered [for service]; in the latter years you shall go against the land that is restored from the ravages of the sword, where people are gathered out of many nations upon the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste; but its [people] are brought forth out of the nations and they shall dwell securely, all of them.(A)
9 You shall ascend and come like a storm; you shall be like a cloud to cover the land, you and all your hosts and many people with you.
10 Thus says the Lord God: At the same time thoughts shall come into your mind, and you will devise an evil plan.
11 And you will say, I will go up against an open country [the land of unwalled villages]; I will fall upon those who are at rest, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take spoil and prey, to turn your hand upon the desolate places now inhabited and assail the people gathered out of the nations, who have obtained livestock and goods, who dwell at the center of the earth [Palestine].
13 Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish, with all their lionlike cubs [or satellite areas], shall say to you, Have you come to take spoil? Have you gathered your hosts to take the prey? To carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take a great spoil?
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, Thus says the Lord God: In that day when My people Israel dwell securely, will you not know it and be aroused?
15 And you will come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great host, a mighty army.
16 And you shall come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. In the latter days I will bring you against My land, that the nations may know, understand, and realize Me when My holiness shall be vindicated through you [vindicated and honored in your overwhelming destruction], O Gog, before their eyes.
17 Thus says the Lord God: Are you he of whom I have spoken in olden times by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for years that I would bring you [Gog] against them?
18 But in that day when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, says the Lord God, My wrath shall come up into My nostrils.
19 For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath have I said, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking or cosmic catastrophe in the land of Israel,
20 So that the fishes of the sea and the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall tremble and shake at My presence; and the mountains shall be thrown down and the steep places shall fall and every wall [natural or artificial] shall fall to the ground.
21 And I will call for a sword against [Gog] throughout all My mountains, says the Lord God, every man’s sword shall be against his brother [over the dividing of booty].
22 And with pestilence and with bloodshed will I enter into judgment with [Gog], and I will rain upon him and upon his hordes and upon the many peoples that are with him torrents of rain and great hailstones, fire and brimstone.(B)
23 Thus will I demonstrate My greatness and My holiness, and I will be recognized, understood, and known in the eyes of many nations; yes, they shall know that I am the Lord [the Sovereign Ruler, Who calls forth loyalty and obedient service].
Psalm 89
A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of Ethan the Ezrahite.
1 I will sing of the mercy and loving-kindness of the Lord forever; with my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness from generation to generation.
2 For I have said, Mercy and loving-kindness shall be built up forever; Your faithfulness will You establish in the very heavens [unchangeable and perpetual].
3 [You have said] I have made a [a]covenant with My chosen one, I have sworn to David My servant,
4 Your Seed I will establish forever, and I will build up your throne for all generations. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!(A)
5 Let heaven (the angels) praise Your wonders, O Lord, Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones (the holy angels).
6 For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord? Who among the mighty [heavenly beings] can be likened to the Lord,
7 A God greatly feared and revered in the council of the holy (angelic) ones, and to be feared and worshipfully revered above all those who are round about Him?
8 O Lord God of hosts, who is a mighty one like unto You, O Lord? And Your faithfulness is round about You [an essential part of You at all times].
9 You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves arise, You still them.
10 You have broken Rahab (Egypt) in pieces; with Your mighty arm You have scattered Your enemies.
11 The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; the world and all that is in it, You have founded them.
12 The north and the south, You have created them; Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon joyously praise Your name.
13 You have a mighty arm; strong is Your hand, Your right hand is soaring high.
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and loving-kindness and truth go before Your face.
15 Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are the people who know the joyful sound [who understand and appreciate the spiritual blessings symbolized by the feasts]; they walk, O Lord, in the light and favor of Your countenance!
16 In Your name they rejoice all the day, and in Your righteousness they are exalted.
17 For You are the glory of their strength [their proud adornment], and by Your favor our horn is exalted and we walk with uplifted faces!
18 For our shield belongs to the Lord, and our king to the Holy One of Israel.
19 Once You spoke in a vision to Your devoted ones and said, I have endowed one who is mighty [a hero, giving him the power to help—to be a champion for Israel]; I have exalted one chosen from among the people.
20 I have found David My servant; with My holy oil have I anointed him,(B)
21 With whom My hand shall be established and ever abide; My arm also shall strengthen him.
22 The enemy shall not exact from him or do him violence or outwit him, nor shall the wicked afflict and humble him.
23 I will beat down his foes before his face and smite those who hate him.
24 My faithfulness and My mercy and loving-kindness shall be with him, and in My name shall his horn be exalted [great power and prosperity shall be conferred upon him].
25 I will set his hand in control also on the [Mediterranean] Sea, and his right hand on the rivers [Euphrates with its tributaries].
26 He shall cry to Me, You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation!
27 Also I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.(C)
28 My mercy and loving-kindness will I keep for him forevermore, and My covenant shall stand fast and be faithful with him.
29 His [b]Offspring also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven.(D)
30 If his children forsake My law and walk not in My ordinances,
31 If they break or profane My statutes and keep not My commandments,
32 Then will I punish their transgression with the rod [of chastisement], and their iniquity with stripes.(E)
33 Nevertheless, My loving-kindness will I not break off from him, nor allow My faithfulness to fail [to lie and be false to him].
34 My covenant will I not break or profane, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips.
35 Once [for all] have I sworn by My holiness, which cannot be violated; I will not lie to David:
36 His Offspring shall endure forever, and his throne [shall continue] as the sun before Me.(F)
37 It shall be established forever as the moon, the faithful witness in the heavens. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!(G)
38 But [in apparent contradiction to all this] You [even You the faithful Lord] have cast off and rejected; You have been full of wrath against Your anointed.
39 You have despised and loathed and renounced the covenant with Your servant; You have profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.
40 You have broken down all his hedges and his walls; You have brought his strongholds to ruin.
41 All who pass along the road spoil and rob him; he has become the scorn and reproach of his neighbors.
42 You have exalted the right hand of his foes; You have made all his enemies rejoice.
43 Moreover, You have turned back the edge of his sword and have not made him to stand in battle.
44 You have made his glory and splendor to cease and have hurled to the ground his throne.
45 The days of his youth have You shortened; You have covered him with shame. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
46 How long, O Lord? Will You hide Yourself forever? How long shall Your wrath burn like fire?
47 O [earnestly] remember how short my time is and what a mere fleeting life mine is. For what emptiness, falsity, futility, and frailty You have created all men!
48 What man can live and shall not see death, or can deliver himself from the [powerful] hand of Sheol (the place of the dead)? Selah [pause, and calmly consider that]!
49 Lord, where are Your former loving-kindnesses [shown in the reigns of David and Solomon], which You swore to David in Your faithfulness?
50 Remember, Lord, and earnestly imprint [on Your heart] the reproach of Your servants, scorned and insulted, how I bear in my bosom the reproach of all the many and mighty peoples,
51 With which Your enemies have taunted, O Lord, with which they have mocked the footsteps of Your anointed.
52 Blessed be the Lord forevermore! Amen and Amen.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation