M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Ark of the Covenant Is Brought into the Temple
8 Then King Solomon called for all the leaders of Israel to come to him in Jerusalem. He called for the elders, the heads of the tribes and the leaders of the families. He wanted them to bring the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord from the older part of the city. 2 So all the men of Israel came together with King Solomon. This was during a festival in the month of Ethanim. That is the seventh month.
3 All of the elders of Israel arrived. Then the priests took up the Ark of the Covenant. 4 They carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, the Meeting Tent and the holy things in it. The Levites helped the priests carry these things. 5 King Solomon and all the people of Israel gathered before the Ark of the Covenant. They sacrificed so many sheep and cattle no one could count them all. 6 Then the priests put the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord in its right place. This was inside the Most Holy Place in the Temple. The Ark of the Covenant was put under the wings of the golden creatures. 7 The wings of the creatures were spread out over the place of the Ark of the Covenant. So they covered it and its carrying poles. 8 The carrying poles were very long. Anyone standing in the Holy Place in front of the Most Holy Place could see the ends of the poles. But no one could see them from outside the Holy Place. The poles are still there today. 9 The only things inside the Ark of the Covenant were two stone tablets.[a] Moses had put them in the Ark of the Covenant at Mount Sinai. That was where the Lord made his agreement with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.
10 When the priests left the Holy Place, the cloud filled the Temple of the Lord. 11 The priests could not continue their work. This was because the Temple was filled with the glory of the Lord.
Solomon Speaks to the People
12 Then Solomon said, “The Lord said he would live in a dark cloud. 13 Lord, I have truly built a wonderful Temple for you. It is a place for you to live forever.”
14 While all the people of Israel were standing there, King Solomon turned to them and blessed them.
15 Then he prayed: “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel. He himself has done what he promised to my father David. The Lord told my father, 16 ‘I brought my people Israel out of Egypt. But I have not yet chosen a city in any tribe of Israel where a temple will be built for worshiping me. But I have chosen David to rule over my people Israel.’
17 “My father David wanted to build a temple for worshiping the Lord, the God of Israel. 18 But the Lord said to my father David, ‘I know you want to build a temple for worshiping me. And this is good. 19 But you are not the one to build the temple. It will be your son, who comes from your own body. He is the one who will build my temple.’
20 “So the Lord has kept the promise that he gave. I am the king now in place of David my father. Now I rule Israel as the Lord promised. And I have built the Temple for worshiping the Lord, the God of Israel. 21 I have made a place in the Temple for the Ark of the Covenant. Inside that Ark is the agreement the Lord made with our ancestors. He made that agreement when he brought them out of Egypt.”
Solomon’s Prayer
22 Then Solomon stood facing the Lord’s altar. All of the people of Israel were standing behind him. He spread out his hands and looked toward the sky. 23 He said:
“Lord, God of Israel, there is no god like you. There is no god like you in heaven above or on the earth below. You make agreements with your people because you love them. And you keep your agreements with those who truly follow you. 24 You have kept the promise you made to your servant David, my father. You made that promise with your own mouth. And with your great power you have made it come true today. 25 Now Lord, God of Israel, keep the other promises you made to your servant David, my father. You said, ‘Your sons must be careful to obey me as you have obeyed me. If they do this, there will always be someone from your family ruling Israel.’ 26 Again, Lord, God of Israel, I ask you. Please continue to keep that promise you made to my father.
27 “But, God, can you really live here on the earth? Even the sky and the highest place in heaven cannot contain you. Certainly this house which I have built cannot contain you either. 28 But please listen to my prayer and my request. I am your servant, and you are the Lord my God. Hear this prayer I am praying to you today. 29 In the past you said, ‘I will be worshiped there.’ So please watch over this Temple night and day. Hear the prayer I pray to you here. 30 Hear my prayers and the prayers of your people Israel. Please hear us when we pray facing this place. Hear us from your home in heaven. And when you hear us, forgive us.
31 “If a person does something wrong against someone else, he will be brought to the altar in this Temple. If he swears an oath that he is not guilty, 32 then hear in heaven. Judge the man. Punish the guilty person for what he has done. And declare that the innocent person is not guilty.
33 “Sometimes your people of Israel will sin against you. Because of this their enemies will defeat them. Then the people will come back to you and praise you. They will pray to you in this Temple. 34 Please hear them in heaven. Forgive the sins of your people Israel. Allow them to have their land again. This is the land you gave to their ancestors.
35 “Sometimes when they sin against you, you will stop the rain from falling on their land. Then they will pray, facing this place. They will praise you. They will stop sinning when you make them suffer. 36 When this happens, please hear their prayer in heaven. Then forgive the sins of your servant. And forgive the sins of the people of Israel. Teach them to do what is right. Then please send rain to this land you gave them.
37 “At times the land will become so dry that no food will grow. Or, a great sickness will spread among the people. Sometimes all the crops will be destroyed by locusts or grasshoppers. Your people will be attacked in their cities by their enemies. Your people will become sick. 38 When any of these things happen, the people will become truly sorry. If anyone of your people Israel spreads his hands in prayer toward this Temple, 39 please hear his prayer. Hear it from your home in heaven. Then forgive the people and help them. Only you know what people are really thinking. So judge each person, and do to him what is right. 40 Do this so your people will respect you all the time they live in this land. This is the land you gave to our ancestors.
41-42 “People who are not Israelites, who come from other lands, will hear about your greatness and power. They will come from far away to pray at this Temple. 43 Please hear their prayers from your home in heaven. Please do whatever they ask you. Then people everywhere will know you and respect you, as your people in Israel do. Then everyone will know I built this Temple for worship to you.
44 “Sometimes you will command your people to go and fight against their enemies. Then your people will pray to you facing this city which you have chosen. They will pray facing the Temple I have built for your worship. 45 When they pray, hear their prayers from your home in heaven. Then help them.
46 “Everyone sins. So your people will also sin against you. And you will become angry with your people. You will let their enemies defeat them. Their enemies will make them prisoners and carry them away to their own countries. 47 Your people might be sorry for their sins when they are held as prisoners in another country. Perhaps they will be sorry and pray to you in the land where they are held as prisoners. They might say, ‘We have sinned and done wrong.’ 48 They may truly turn back to you in the land of their enemies. Perhaps they will pray to you, facing this land you gave their fathers. They may pray to you, facing this city you have chosen. They may face this Temple I have built for your worship. 49 If they do, then please hear them from your home in heaven. Hear their prayers and do what is right. 50 Forgive your people of all their sins. And forgive them for turning against you. Make those who have taken them as prisoners show them mercy. 51 Remember that they are your people. Remember that you brought them out of Egypt. It was as if you pulled them out of a blazing furnace!
52 “Please give your attention to my prayers. And please give your attention to the prayers of your people Israel. Listen to their prayers anytime they ask you for help. 53 You chose them from all the nations on earth to be your very own people. This is what you promised through Moses your servant. You promised it when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, Lord God.”
54 Solomon prayed this prayer to the Lord. He had been kneeling in front of the altar. And his arms had been raised toward heaven. When Solomon finished praying, he stood up. 55 Then, in a loud voice, he blessed all the people of Israel. Solomon said: 56 “Praise the Lord! He promised he would give rest to his people Israel. And he has given us rest! The Lord has kept all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. 57 I ask that the Lord our God be with us. May he be with us as he was with our ancestors. May he never leave us. 58 May he cause us to turn to him and follow him. May we obey all the laws and commands he gave our ancestors. 59 I ask that the Lord our God always remember this prayer. I pray that he will help his servant and his people Israel. I pray he will help us every day as we need it. 60 Then all the people of the world will know the Lord is the only true God. 61 So you must fully obey the Lord our God. You must follow all his laws and commands. You must continue to obey in the future as you do now.”
Sacrifices Are Offered
62 Then King Solomon and all Israel with him offered sacrifices to the Lord. 63 Solomon killed 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. These were fellowship offerings. In this way the king and the Israelites showed they had given the Temple to the Lord.
64 Also that day King Solomon made the courtyard before the Temple holy. He offered whole burnt sacrifices and grain offerings. He also offered the fat from the fellowship offerings. He had to make these offerings in the courtyard. This was because the bronze altar before the Lord was too small. It could not hold all the offerings.
65 So King Solomon and all the people of Israel also celebrated the other festival that came at that time. People came from as far away as Lebo Hamath in the north. And they came from as far as the brook of Egypt in the south. A great many people were there. They ate, drank and rejoiced before the Lord for a total of 14 days. 66 On the following day Solomon sent the people home. So they blessed the king and went home. They were happy because of all the good things the Lord had done for his servant David and for his people, Israel.
Living in the Light
5 You are God’s children whom he loves. So try to be like God. 2 Live a life of love. Love other people just as Christ loved us. Christ gave himself for us—he was a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But there must be no sexual immorality among you. There must not be any kind of evil or greed. Those things are not right for God’s holy people. 4 Also, there must be no evil talk among you. You must not speak foolishly or tell evil jokes. These things are not right for you. But you should be giving thanks to God. 5 You can be sure of this: No one will have a place in the kingdom of Christ and of God who engages in sexual sin, or does evil things, or is greedy. Anyone who is greedy is serving a false god.
6 Do not let anyone fool you by telling you things that are not true. These things will bring God’s anger on those who do not obey him. 7 So have no part with them. 8 In the past you were full of darkness, but now you are full of light in the Lord. So live like children who belong to the light. 9 Light brings every kind of goodness, right living, and truth. 10 Try to learn what pleases the Lord. 11 Do not do the things that people in darkness do. That brings nothing good. But do good things to show that the things done in darkness are wrong. 12 It is shameful even to talk about what those people do in secret. 13 But the light makes all things easy to see. 14 And everything that is made easy to see can become light. This is why it is said:
“Wake up, sleeper!
Rise from death,
and Christ will shine on you.”
15 So be very careful how you live. Do not live like those who are not wise. Live wisely. 16 I mean that you should use every chance you have for doing good, because these are evil times. 17 So do not be foolish with your lives. But learn what the Lord wants you to do. 18 Do not be drunk with wine. That will ruin you spiritually. But be filled with the Spirit. 19 Speak to each other with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord. 20 Always give thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Wives and Husbands
21 Be willing to obey each other. Do this because you respect Christ.
22 Wives, be under the authority of your husbands, as of the Lord. 23 The husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. The church is Christ’s body—Christ is the Savior of the body. 24 The church is under the authority of Christ. So it is the same with you wives. You should be under the authority of your husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church. Christ died for the church 26 to make it belong to God. Christ used the word to make the church clean by washing it with water. 27 Christ died so that he could give the church to himself like a bride in all her beauty. He died so that the church could be pure and without fault, with no evil or sin or any other wrong thing in it. 28 And husbands should love their wives in the same way. They should love their wives as they love their own bodies. The man who loves his wife loves himself. 29 No person ever hates his own body, but feeds and takes care of it. And that is what Christ does for the church, 30 because we are parts of his body. 31 The Scripture says, “So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife. And the two people will become one body.”[a] 32 That secret truth is very important—I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 But each one of you must love his wife as he loves himself. And a wife must respect her husband.
Prophecy Against Gog
38 The Lord spoke his word to me. He said: 2 “Human being, turn toward Gog of the land of Magog. He is the chief ruler of the nations of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him. 3 Say, ‘The Lord God says this: I am against you, Gog, chief ruler of Meshech and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around. I will put hooks in your jaws. And I will bring you out with all your army, horses and horsemen. All of them will be finely dressed. They will be a large army with large and small shields. All of them will have swords. 5 Persia, Cush and Put will be with them. All of them will have shields and helmets. 6 There will also be Gomer with all its troops. And there will be the nation of Togarmah from the far north. It will have all its troops. There will be many other nations with you.
7 “‘Be prepared. Be prepared, you and all the armies that have come together to make you their commander. 8 After many days you will be called for service. After many years you will come into a land that has been rebuilt from war. The people in the land will be gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel. Those mountains were empty for a long time. These people were brought out from the nations. They will all be living in safety. 9 And you will go up like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the land. It will be you, all your troops and many nations with you.
10 “‘This is what the Lord God says: At that time ideas will come into your mind. You will think up an evil plan. 11 You will say, “I will march against a land of towns without walls. I will attack those who are at rest and live in safety. All of them live without city walls. They have no gate bars or gates. 12 I will capture valuable things and take good things. I will turn my power against the rebuilt ruins that now have people living in them. I will go against these people who have been gathered from the nations. They have become rich with farm animals and property. They live at the center of the world.” 13 Sheba, Dedan and the traders of Tarshish, with all its villages, will say this to you: “Did you come to capture valuable things? Did you bring your troops together to take things? Did you bring them to carry away silver and gold? Did you bring them to take away farm animals and property?”’
14 “So prophesy, human being, and say to Gog: ‘This is what the Lord God says: Now that my people Israel are living in safety, you will know about it. 15 You will come from your place in the far north. And many people will be with you. All of them will ride on horses. You will be a large group with a mighty army. 16 You will come against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. This will happen in the days to come. I will bring you against my land. Gog, then the nations will know me. They will see me show my greatness by what I do through you.
17 “‘This is what the Lord God says: You are the one about whom I spoke in past days. I spoke through my servants the prophets of Israel. These prophets of Israel prophesied for many years. They said that I would bring you against them. 18 This is what will happen: On the day Gog comes against the land of Israel, my anger will become very great, says the Lord God. 19 With jealousy and great anger I tell you this. At that time there will surely be a great earthquake in Israel. 20 The fish of the sea and the birds of the sky will shake with fear before me. The wild animals and everything that crawls on the ground will shake with fear. And all the people on the earth will shake with fear before me. Also the mountains will be thrown down. And the cliffs will fall. Every wall will fall to the ground. 21 And I will call for a war against Gog on all my mountains, says the Lord God. Every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 I will punish Gog with disease and death. I will send a heavy rain, with hailstones and burning sulfur on Gog. I will send it on his army and on the many nations with him. 23 Then I will show how great I am. I will show my holiness. And I will make myself known to the many nations that watch. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’
A Song About God’s Loyalty
A maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.
89 I will always sing about the Lord’s love.
I will tell of his loyalty from now on.
2 I will say, “Your love continues forever.
Your loyalty goes on and on like the sky.”
3 You said, “I made an agreement with the man of my choice.
I made a promise to my servant David.
4 I told him, ‘I will make your family continue forever.
Your kingdom will continue from now on.’” Selah
5 Lord, the heavens praise you for your miracles
and for your loyalty in the meeting of your holy ones.
6 Who in heaven is equal to the Lord?
None of the angels is like the Lord.
7 When the holy ones meet, it is God they fear.
He is more frightening than all who surround him.
8 Lord God of heaven’s armies, who is like you?
Lord, you are powerful and completely to be trusted.
9 You rule the mighty sea.
You calm the stormy waves.
10 You crushed the sea monster Rahab.
By your power you scattered your enemies.
11 The skies and the earth belong to you.
You made the world and everything in it.
12 You created the north and the south.
Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon sing for joy at your name.
13 Your arm has great power.
Your hand is strong. Your right hand is lifted up.
14 Your kingdom is built on what is right and fair.
Love and truth are in all you do.
15 Happy are the people who know how to praise you.
Lord, let them live in the light of your presence.
16 In your name they rejoice all the time.
They praise your goodness.
17 You are their glorious strength.
In your kindness you honor our king.
18 Our king, our shield, belongs to the Lord.
Our king belongs to the Holy One of Israel.
19 Once, in a vision, you spoke
to those who worship you.
You said, “I have given strength to a warrior.
I have selected a young man from my people.
20 I have found my servant David.
I appointed him by pouring holy oil on him.
21 I will steady him with my hand.
I will strengthen him with my arm.
22 No enemy will make him give forced payments.
Wicked people will not defeat him.
23 I will crush his enemies in front of him.
I will defeat those who hate him.
24 My loyalty and love will be with him.
Through me he will be strong.
25 I will give him power over the sea
and control over the rivers.
26 He will say to me, ‘You are my father,
my God, the Rock, the one who saves me.’
27 I will make him my firstborn son.
He will be the greatest king on earth.
28 My love will watch over him forever.
My agreement with him will never end.
29 I will make his family continue.
His kingdom will last as long as the skies.
30 “But his descendants might reject my teachings
and not follow my rules.
31 They might break my laws
and disobey my commands.
32 Then I will punish their sins with a rod
and their wrongs with a whip.
33 But I will not hold back my love from David.
I will not stop being loyal.
34 I will not break my agreement.
I will not change what I have said.
35 It is certain that I am a holy God.
So it is certain I will not lie to David.
36 His family will continue forever.
His kingdom will continue before me like the sun.
37 It will last forever, like the moon,
like a lasting witness in the sky.” Selah
38 But now, you have rejected your appointed king.
You have been angry with him.
39 You have broken the agreement with your servant.
You threw his crown to the ground.
40 You have torn down all the city walls.
You have turned his strong, walled cities into ruins.
41 Everyone who passes by steals from him.
His neighbors insult him.
42 You have given strength to his enemies.
You have made them all happy.
43 You have made his sword useless.
You did not help him stand in battle.
44 You have kept him from winning.
You threw his throne to the ground.
45 You have cut his life short.
You have covered him with shame. Selah
46 Lord, how long will this go on?
Will you ignore us forever?
How long will your anger burn like a fire?
47 Remember how short my life is.
Why did you create us anyway?
48 What man alive will not die?
Can he escape the grave? Selah
49 Lord, where is your love from times past?
With loyalty you promised it to David.
50 Lord, remember how they insulted your servant.
Remember how I have suffered the insults of the nations.
51 Lord, remember how your enemies insulted you.
Remember how they insulted your appointed king wherever he went.
52 Praise the Lord forever!
Amen and amen.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.