M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Solomon’s Many Wives
11 But King Solomon loved many women who were not from Israel. He loved the daughter of the king of Egypt. He also loved women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 The Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not marry people of other nations. If you do, they will cause you to follow their gods.” But Solomon fell in love with these women. 3 He had 700 wives who were from royal families. He also had 300 slave women who gave birth to his children. His wives caused him to turn away from God. 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives caused him to follow other gods. He did not follow the Lord completely as his father David had done. 5 Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the people of Sidon. And he worshiped Molech, the hated god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did what the Lord said was wrong. He did not follow the Lord completely as his father David had done.
7 On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built two places for worship. He built a place to worship Chemosh, the hated god of the Moabites. And he built a place to worship Molech, the hated god of the Ammonites. 8 Solomon did the same thing for all of his foreign wives. So they burned incense and gave sacrifices to their gods.
9 The Lord had appeared to Solomon twice. But Solomon turned away from following the Lord, the God of Israel. So the Lord was angry with him. 10 The Lord had commanded Solomon not to follow other gods. But Solomon did not obey the Lord’s command. 11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “You have chosen to break your agreement with me. You have not obeyed my commands. So I promise I will tear your kingdom away from you. I will give it to one of your officers. 12 But I will not take it away while you are alive. This is because of my love for your father David. I will tear it away from your son when he becomes king. 13 But I will not tear away all the kingdom from him. I will leave him one tribe to rule. I will do this because of David, my servant. And I will do it because of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen.”
Solomon’s Enemies
14 Now Hadad was a member of the family of the king of Edom. And the Lord caused Hadad the Edomite to become Solomon’s enemy. 15 Earlier, David had defeated Edom. Joab, the commander of David’s army, went into Edom to bury the dead. While he was there, he killed all the males. 16 Joab and all the Israelites stayed in Edom for six months. During that time they killed every male in Edom. 17 But at that time Hadad was only a young boy. So he ran away to Egypt with some of his father’s officers. 18 They left Midian and went to Paran. In Paran other men joined them. Then they all went to Egypt to see the king. He gave Hadad a house, some land and food to eat.
19 The king liked Hadad so much he gave Hadad a wife. She was the sister of Tahpenes, the king’s wife. 20 They had a son named Genubath. Queen Tahpenes allowed him to grow up in the royal palace. So he grew up with the king’s own children.
21 While he was in Egypt, Hadad heard that David had died. He also heard that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead. So Hadad said to the king, “Let me go home. Let me return to my own country.”
22 But the king said, “Why do you want to go back to your own country? What haven’t I given you here?”
Hadad answered, “Nothing. But please, let me go.”
23 God also caused another man to be an enemy to Solomon. This man was Rezon son of Eliada. Rezon had run away from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah. 24 After David defeated the army of Zobah, Rezon gathered some men. He became the leader of a small army. They went to Damascus and settled there. And Rezon became king of Damascus. 25 Rezon ruled Aram, and he hated Israel. So he was an enemy of Israel all the time Solomon was alive. Rezon and Hadad caused some trouble for Israel.
26 Jeroboam son of Nebat was one of Solomon’s officers. Jeroboam was one of the Ephraimite people. He was from the town of Zeredah. His mother was a widow named Zeruah. He turned against the king.
27 This is the story of how Jeroboam turned against the king. Solomon was filling in the land on the east side of Jerusalem. He was also repairing the wall of Jerusalem. It was the city of David, his ancestor. 28 Jeroboam was a capable man. Solomon saw that this young man was a good worker. So Solomon put him over all the workers from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.
29 One day Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem. Ahijah, the prophet from Shiloh, met him on the road. Ahijah was wearing a new coat. The two men were alone out in the country. 30 Ahijah took his new coat and tore it into 12 pieces. 31 Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take 10 pieces of this coat for yourself. The Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will tear the kingdom away from Solomon. Then I will give you 10 tribes. 32 But I will allow the family of David to control 1 tribe. I will do this for my servant David and for Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the city I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel. 33 I will do this because Solomon has stopped following me. He worships the Sidonian god Ashtoreth and the Moabite god Chemosh. He also worships Molech, the Ammonite god. Solomon has not obeyed me. He has not done what I said is right. He has not obeyed my laws and commands. He is not living the way his father David lived.
34 “‘But I will not take all the kingdom away from Solomon. I will let him rule all his life. I will do this because of my servant David. I chose David, and he obeyed all my commands and laws. 35 But I will take the kingdom away from his son. Jeroboam, I will allow you to rule over the 10 tribes. 36 I will allow Solomon’s son to continue to rule over 1 tribe. I will do this so that David, my servant, will always have a king before me in Jerusalem. It is the city where I chose to be worshiped. 37 But I will make you rule over everything you want. You will rule over all of Israel. 38 I will always be with you if you do what I say is right. You must obey all my commands. If you obey my laws and commands as David did, I will be with you. I will make your family a family of kings, as I did for David. I will give Israel to you. 39 I will punish David’s children because of this. But I will not punish them forever.’”
Solomon’s Death
40 Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam ran away to Egypt. He went to Shishak king of Egypt. And Jeroboam stayed there until Solomon died.
41 Everything else Solomon did is written down. He showed much wisdom. It is written in the book of the history of Solomon. 42 Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for 40 years. 43 Then he died and was buried in Jerusalem, the city of David, his father. And his son Rehoboam became king after him.
2 Does your life in Christ give you strength? Does his love comfort you? Do we share together in the Spirit? Do you have mercy and kindness? 2 If so, make me very happy by having the same thoughts, sharing the same love, and having one mind and purpose. 3 When you do things, do not let selfishness or pride be your guide. Be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves. 4 Do not be interested only in your own life, but be interested in the lives of others.
Be Unselfish Like Christ
5 In your lives you must think and act like Christ Jesus.
6 Christ himself was like God in everything.
He was equal with God.
But he did not think that being equal with God was something to be held on to.
7 He gave up his place with God and made himself nothing.
He was born as a man
and became like a servant.
8 And when he was living as a man,
he humbled himself and was fully obedient to God.
He obeyed even when that caused his death—death on a cross.
9 So God raised Christ to the highest place.
God made the name of Christ greater than every other name.
10 God wants every knee to bow to Jesus—
everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.
11 Everyone will say, “Jesus Christ is Lord”
and bring glory to God the Father.
Be the People God Wants You to Be
12 My dear friends, you have always obeyed. You obeyed God when I was with you. It is even more important that you obey now while I am not with you. Keep on working to complete your salvation, and do it with fear and trembling. 13 Yes, God is working in you to help you want to do what pleases him. Then he gives you the power to do it.
14 Do everything without complaining or arguing. 15 Then you will be innocent and without anything wrong in you. You will be God’s children without fault. But you are living with crooked and mean people all around you. Among them you shine like stars in the dark world. 16 You offer to them the teaching that gives life. So when Christ comes again, I can be happy because my work was not wasted. I ran in the race and won.
17 Your faith makes you offer your lives as a sacrifice in serving God. Perhaps I will have to offer my own blood with your sacrifice. But if that happens, I will be happy and full of joy with all of you. 18 You also should be happy and full of joy with me.
Timothy and Epaphroditus
19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon. I will be happy to learn how you are. 20 I have no other person like Timothy. He truly cares for you. 21 Other people are interested only in their own lives. They are not interested in the work of Christ Jesus. 22 You know the kind of person Timothy is. You know that he has served with me in telling the Good News, as a son serves his father. 23 I plan to send him to you quickly when I know what will happen to me. 24 I am sure that the Lord will help me to come to you soon.
25 Epaphroditus is my brother in Christ. He works and serves with me in the army of Christ. When I needed help, you sent him to me. I think now that I must send him back to you 26 because he wants very much to see all of you. He is worried because you heard that he was sick. 27 Yes, he was sick, and nearly died. But God helped him and me too, so that I would not have more sadness. 28 So I want very much to send him to you. When you see him, you can be happy. And I can stop worrying about you. 29 Welcome him in the Lord with much joy. Give honor to people like Epaphroditus. 30 He should be honored because he almost died for the work of Christ. He put his life in danger so that he could help me. This was help that you could not give me.
The Holy Place of the Temple
41 The man brought me to the Holy Place. He measured its walls. They were 10½ feet wide on each side. 2 The entrance was 17½ feet wide. The walls alongside the entrance were about 9 feet wide on each side. The man measured the Holy Place. It was 70 feet long and 35 feet wide.
3 Then the man went inside. And he measured the walls of the doorway. Each was 3½ feet wide. The doorway was 10½ feet wide. The walls next to it were more than 12 feet thick. 4 Then the man measured the room at the end of the Holy Place. It was 35 feet long and 35 feet wide. The man said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.”
5 Then the man measured the wall of the Temple. It was 10½ feet wide. The side rooms were 7 feet wide all around the Temple. 6 The side rooms were on three different stories, each above the other. There were 30 rooms on each story. The side rooms had ledges on the wall all around. The rooms rested on the ledges but were not attached to the walls. 7 The side rooms around the Temple were wider on each higher story. So rooms were wider on the top story. A stairway went up from the lowest story to the highest through the middle story.
8 I also saw that the Temple had a raised base all around. It was the foundation for the side rooms and was 10½ feet thick. 9 The outer wall of the side rooms was about 9 feet thick. There was an open area between the side rooms of the Temple 10 and the priests’ rooms. It was 35 feet wide and went all around the Temple. 11 The doors of the side rooms led to a paved base around the outside of the Temple. One door faced north. And the other door faced south. The paved base was about 9 feet wide all around.
12 There was a building facing the Temple courtyard at the west side. It was 122½ feet wide. The wall of the building was about 9 feet thick all around. It was 157½ feet long.
13 Then the man measured the Temple. The Temple was 175 feet long. This included the courtyard with the building and its walls. It was all 175 feet long. 14 Also the eastern front of the Temple and its courtyard was 175 feet wide.
15 The man measured the length of the building facing the courtyard on the west side, including its side rooms. Its walls from one side to the other were 175 feet.
The Holy Place, the Most Holy Place and the porch of the courtyard 16 had wood panels on the walls. By the doorway, the Temple had wood panels on the walls. The wood covered all the walls from the floor up to the windows. The windows were covered with crossed strips of wood.
17 In the space above the entrance to the Most Holy Place there were carvings. And on the outside and all the walls around the Most Holy Place and the Holy Place were carvings. 18 The carvings were of creatures with wings and palm trees. A palm tree was between each carved creature. Every creature had two faces. 19 One was a man’s face looking toward the palm tree on one side. The other was a lion’s face looking toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved all around the Temple wall. 20 This was from the floor to above the door. Palm trees and creatures with wings were carved on all the walls of the Holy Place. 21 The walls of the Holy Place were square. In front of the Most Holy Place was something that looked like 22 an altar of wood. It was more than 5 feet high and 3 feet wide. Its corners, base and sides were wood. The man said to me, “This is the table that is in the presence of the Lord.” 23 Both the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place had double doors. 24 Each of the doors had two pieces that would swing open. 25 Palm trees and creatures with wings were also carved on the doors of the Holy Place. They were like those carved on the walls. And there was a wood roof on the front Temple porch. 26 There were windows and palm trees on both side walls of the porch. The side rooms of the Temple were also covered by a roof.
Thanksgiving for God’s Goodness
A song for the Sabbath day.
92 It is good to praise the Lord,
to sing praises to God Most High.
2 It is good to tell of your love in the morning
and of your loyalty at night.
3 It is good to praise you with the ten-stringed lyre
and with the soft-sounding harp.
4 Lord, you have made me happy by what you have done.
I will sing for joy about what your hands have done.
5 Lord, you have done such great things!
How deep are your thoughts!
6 Stupid people don’t know these things.
Fools don’t understand.
7 Wicked people grow like the grass.
Evil people seem to do well.
But they will be destroyed forever.
8 But, Lord, you will be honored forever.
9 Lord, surely your enemies,
surely your enemies will be destroyed.
All who do evil will be scattered.
10 But you have made me as strong as a wild ox.
You have poured fine oils on me.
11 When I looked, I saw my enemies.
I heard the cries of those who are against me.
12 But good people will grow like palm trees.
They will be tall like the cedar trees of Lebanon.
13 They will be like trees planted in the courtyards of the Lord.
They will grow strong in the courtyards of our God.
14 When they are old, they will still produce fruit.
They will be healthy and fresh.
15 They will say that the Lord is good.
He is my Rock, and there is no wrong in him.
The Majesty of God
93 The Lord is king. He is clothed with majesty.
The Lord is clothed in majesty
and armed with strength.
The world is set,
and it cannot be moved.
2 Lord, your kingdom was set up long ago.
You are everlasting.
3 Lord, the seas rise up.
The seas raise their voice.
The seas lift up their pounding waves.
4 The sound of the water is loud.
The ocean waves are powerful.
But the Lord above is much greater.
5 Lord, your laws will stand forever.
Your Temple will be holy forevermore.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.