M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon

10 Now the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s fame. So she came to test him with hard questions. ² She traveled to Jerusalem with a very large group of servants. There were many camels carrying spices, jewels and much gold. She came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had in mind. ³ 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 She saw his many officers and the food on his table. She saw the palace servants and their good clothes. She was shown the servants who served him at feasts. And she was shown the whole burnt offerings he made in the Temple of the Lord. All these things amazed her.

⁶ So she said to King Solomon, “I heard in my own country about your achievements and wisdom. And all of it 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! In always serving you, they are able to hear your wisdom! ⁹ Praise the Lord your God! He 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 the queen of Sheba gave the king about 9,000 pounds of gold. She also gave him many spices and jewels. No one since that time has brought more spices into Israel than the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

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

¹³ King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba many gifts. He gave her gifts that a king would give to another ruler. Then he gave her whatever else she wanted and asked for. After this, she and her servants went back to her own country.

Solomon’s Wealth

¹⁴ Every year King Solomon received about 50,000 pounds of gold. ¹⁵ Besides that he also received gold from the traders and merchants. And he received gold from the kings of Arabia and governors of the land.

¹⁶ King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold. Each shield contained about seven and one-half pounds of gold. ¹⁷ He also made 300 smaller shields of hammered gold. They each contained about three and three-fourths pounds of gold. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.

¹⁸ Then King Solomon built a large throne of ivory. And he covered it with pure gold. ¹⁹ There were six steps leading up to the throne. The back of the throne was round at the top. There were armrests on both sides of the chair. And beside each armrest was a statue of a lion. ²⁰ Twelve lions stood on the six steps. There was 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 were made of gold. All of the dishes in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made from silver. In Solomon’s time people did not think silver was valuable.

²² King Solomon also had many trading ships at sea, along with Hiram’s ships. Every three years the ships returned. They brought 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. They wanted to hear the wisdom God had given him. ²⁵ Every year everyone who came brought a gift. They brought things made of gold and silver, along with clothes, weapons, spices, horses and mules.

²⁶ So Solomon had many chariots and horses. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 chariot soldiers. He kept some in special cities for the chariots. And he kept some with him in Jerusalem. ²⁷ In Jerusalem silver was as common as stones while Solomon was king. Cedar trees were as common as the fig trees growing on the mountain slopes. ²⁸ Solomon brought in horses from Egypt and Kue. His traders bought them in Kue and brought them to Israel. ²⁹ A chariot from Egypt cost about 15 pounds of silver. And a horse cost about 3¾ pounds of silver. The traders also sold horses and chariots to the kings of the Hittites and the Arameans.

Serve Others with Joy

1 From Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ.

To all of God’s holy people in Christ Jesus who live in Philippi. And to 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 God every time I remember you. ⁴ And I always pray for all of you with joy. ⁵ I thank God for the help you gave me while I preached the Good News. You helped from the first day you believed until now. ⁶ God began doing a good work in you. And he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again. I am sure of that.

⁷ And I know that I am right to think like this about all of you. I am sure because I have you in my heart. All of you share in God’s grace with me. You share in God’s grace with me while I am in prison, while I am defending the Good News, and while I am proving the truth of the Good News. ⁸ God knows that I want to see you very much. 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 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 Brothers, I want you to know that what has happened to me has helped to spread the Good News. ¹³ I am in prison because I am a believer in Christ. All the palace guards and everyone else knows this. ¹⁴ I am still in prison, but most of the believers feel better about it now. And so they are much braver about telling the Good News about Christ.

¹⁵ It is true that some preach about Christ because they are jealous and bitter. 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 others preach about Christ because they are selfish. Their reason for preaching is wrong. They want to make trouble for me in prison.

¹⁸ But I do not care if they make trouble for me. The important thing is that they are preaching about Christ. They should do it for the right reasons. But I am happy even if they do it for wrong reasons. And I will continue to be happy. ¹⁹ You are praying for me, and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me. So I know that this trouble will bring my freedom. ²⁰ The thing I want and hope for is that I will not fail Christ in anything. I hope that I will have the courage now, as always, to show the greatness of Christ in my life here on earth. I want to do that if I die or if I live. ²¹ To me the only important thing about living is Christ. And even death would be profit for me. ²² If I continue living in the body, I will be able to work for the Lord. But what should I choose—living or dying? I do not know. ²³ It is hard to choose between the two. I want to leave this life and be with Christ. That is much better. ²⁴ But you need me here in my body. ²⁵ I know that you need me, and so I know that I will stay with you. I will 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 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 good things about you. I will hear that you continue strong with one purpose and that you work together as a team for the faith of the Good News. ²⁸ And you will not be afraid of those who are against you. All of these things are proof from God that you will be saved and that your enemies will be lost. ²⁹ God gave you the honor both of believing in Christ and suffering for Christ. Both these things 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. It was at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month. It was in the fourteenth year after Jerusalem was defeated. On that same day I felt the power of the Lord. He brought me to Jerusalem. ² In the visions of God he brought me into the land of Israel. He put me on a very high mountain. On the south of the mountain there were some buildings that looked like a city. ³ The Lord took me closer to the buildings. I saw a man who looked as if he were made of bronze. He was 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 being, look with your eyes and hear with your ears. And pay attention to all that I will show you. That’s why you have been brought here. Tell the people of Israel all that you see.”

The East Gate

⁵ I saw a wall that surrounded the Temple. The measuring stick in the man’s hand was 10½ feet long. So the man measured the wall. It was 10½ feet thick and 10½ feet high.

⁶ Then the man went to the east gate. He went up its steps and measured the opening of the gate. It was more than 10½ feet wide. ⁷ There were rooms for the guards. They were 10½ feet long and 10½ feet wide. The walls that came out between the guards’ rooms were about 9 feet thick. And there was a gate next to the porch that faced the Temple. The opening of this gate was 10½ feet wide.

⁸ Then the man measured the porch of the gate. ⁹ It was about 14 feet deep. And its doors were 3½ feet thick. The porch of the gate faced the Temple.

¹⁰ There were three little rooms on each side of the last gate. These three rooms 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. It was 17½ feet wide. The length of the gate was about 23 feet. ¹² And there was a low wall about 21 inches high in front of each room. The rooms were 10½ 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 44 feet from one door to the opposite door. ¹⁴ The man also measured the porch. It was about 35 feet wide. The courtyard was around the porch. ¹⁵ From the front of the outer side of the gate to the front of the porch of the inner side of the gate was 87½ feet. ¹⁶ The rooms and porch had small windows on all sides. The windows were narrower on the side facing the gateway. Carvings of palm trees were on each inner wall of the rooms.

The Outer Courtyard

¹⁷ Then the man brought me into the outer courtyard. I saw rooms and a pavement of stones. Thirty rooms were along the edge of the paved walkway. ¹⁸ The pavement ran alongside the gates. It was as long 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 175 feet on the east and on the north.

The North Gate

²⁰ The man measured the length and width of the gate leading to the outer courtyard. It faced north. ²¹ It had three rooms on each side. Its inner walls and its porch measured the same as the first gate. It was 87½ feet long. And it was 44 feet wide. ²² Its windows, porch and carvings of palm trees measured the same as the east gate. Seven steps went up to the gate. And the gate’s porch was opposite them. ²³ The inner courtyard had a gate across from the northern gate like the one on the east. The man measured it and found it was 175 feet from inner gate to outer gate.

The South Gate

²⁴ Then the man led me south. I saw a gate facing south. He measured its inner walls and its porch. They measured the same as the other gates. ²⁵ The gate and its porch had windows all around like the other gates. It was 87½ feet long and 44 feet wide. ²⁶ Seven steps went up to this gate. Its porch was in front of them. It had carvings of palm trees on its inner walls. ²⁷ A gate was on the south side of the inner courtyard. The man measured from gate to gate on the south side. It was 175 feet.

The Inner Courtyard

²⁸ Then the man brought me through the south gate to the inner courtyard. The inner south gate measured the same as the gates in the outer wall. ²⁹ The inner south gate’s rooms, inner walls and porch measured the same as the gates in the outer wall. There were windows all around the gate and its porch. The gate was 87½ feet long and 44 feet wide. ³⁰ Each porch of each inner gate was about 44 feet long and about 9 feet wide. ³¹ The inner south gate’s porch faced the outer courtyard. Carvings of palm trees were on its inside walls. Its stairway had eight steps.

³² The man brought me into the inner courtyard on the east side. He measured the inner east gate. It measured the same as the other gates. ³³ The inner east gate’s rooms, inside walls and porch measured the same as the other gates. Windows were all around the gate and its porch. The inner east gate was 87½ feet long and 44 feet wide. ³⁴ Its porch faced the outer courtyard. Carvings of palm trees were on its inner walls on each side. Its stairway had eight steps.

³⁵ Then the man brought me to the inner north gate. He measured it. It measured the same as the other gates. ³⁶ Its rooms, inner walls and porch measured the same as the other gates. Windows were all around the gate. It was 87½ feet long and 44 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 gate. In this room the priests washed animals for the burnt offerings. ³⁹ There were two tables on each side of the room. Animals for burnt offerings, sin offerings and penalty offerings were killed on these tables. ⁴⁰ On each side of the porch, outside the door to the room, were two tables. ⁴¹ So four tables were on one side of the gate. And four tables were on the other side of the gate. In all there were eight tables on which the priests killed animals for sacrifices. ⁴² There were four tables of cut stone for the burnt offering. These tables were about 3 feet long and 3 feet wide. And they were about 2 feet high. On these tables the priests put their tools. They used the tools to kill animals for burnt offerings and the other sacrifices. ⁴³ Double hooks 3 inches long 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 gate. It faced south. The other room was beside the south gate. It faced north. ⁴⁵ The man said to me, “The room which faces the south is for the priests. They serve in the Temple. ⁴⁶ And the room that faces north is for the priests who serve at the altar. These priests are descendants of Zadok. They are the only descendants of Levi who can come near the Lord to serve him.”

⁴⁷ The man measured the Temple courtyard. It was a perfect square. It was 175 feet long and 175 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 he measured each wall of the porch. It was about 9 feet on each side. The gate was 24½ feet wide. The walls of the gate were about 5 feet on each side. ⁴⁹ The porch was 35 feet long and 21 feet wide. Ten steps went up to the porch. Pillars were by the walls, one on each side of the entrance.

Safe in the Lord