M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Gifts for Building the Temple

29 King David spoke to all the Israelites who were gathered. He said, “God chose my son Solomon. Solomon is young and hasn’t yet learned what he needs to know. But the work is important. This palace is not for people. It is for the Lord God. ² I have done my best to prepare for building the Temple of God. I have given gold for the things made of gold. I have given silver for the things made of silver. I have given bronze for the things made of bronze. I have given iron for the things made of iron. I have given wood for the things made of wood. I have given onyx for the settings and turquoise. I have given gems of many different colors. I have given valuable stones and white marble. I have given much of all these things. ³ I have already given this for the Temple. But now I am also giving my own treasures of gold and silver. I am doing this because I really want the Temple of my God to be built. ⁴ I have given about 220,000 pounds of pure gold from Ophir. And I have given about 520,000 pounds of pure silver. They will be used to cover the walls of the buildings. ⁵ They will also be used for all the gold and silver work. Skilled men may use the gold and silver to make things for the Temple. Now, who is ready to give himself to the service of the Lord today?”

⁶ The family leaders and the leaders of the tribes of Israel gave their valuable things. The commanders of 1,000 men and of 100 men gave their valuable things. And the leaders responsible for the king’s work gave their valuable things. ⁷ These are the things they gave for the Temple of God: about 380,000 pounds of gold, about 750,000 pounds of silver, about 1,350,000 pounds of bronze and about 7,500,000 pounds of iron. ⁸ People who had valuable gems gave them to the treasury of the Temple of the Lord. Jehiel, from the Gershon family, took care of the valuable gems. ⁹ The leaders gave freely and completely to the Lord. The people were happy to see their leaders give so gladly. King David was also very happy.

David’s Prayer

¹⁰ David praised the Lord in front of all of the people who were gathered. He said:

²⁰ Then David said to all the people who were gathered, “Praise the Lord your God.” So they all praised the Lord, the God their ancestors worshiped. They bowed to the ground to give honor to the Lord and the king.

Solomon Becomes King

²¹ The next day the people made sacrifices to the Lord. They offered burnt offerings to him. They offered 1,000 bulls, 1,000 male sheep and 1,000 male lambs. They also brought drink offerings. Many sacrifices were made for all the people of Israel. ²² That day the people ate and drank with much joy. And the Lord was with them.

And they made David’s son Solomon king for the second time. They poured olive oil on Solomon to appoint him king. And they poured oil on Zadok to appoint him as priest. They did this in the presence of the Lord. ²³ Then Solomon sat on the Lord’s throne as king. He took his father David’s place. Solomon was very successful. And all the people of Israel obeyed him. ²⁴ All the leaders and soldiers and King David’s sons accepted Solomon as king. They promised to obey him. ²⁵ The Lord made Solomon great before all the Israelites. The Lord gave Solomon much honor. No king of Israel before Solomon had such honor.

David’s Death

²⁶ David son of Jesse was king over all Israel. ²⁷ He was king for 40 years. He ruled in the city of Hebron for 7 years. And he ruled in Jerusalem for 33 years. ²⁸ David died when he was old. He had lived a good, long life. He had received many riches and honors. And David’s son Solomon became king after him.

²⁹ Everything King David did as king, from beginning to end, is recorded. Those things are written in the records of Samuel the seer. And they are in the records of Nathan the prophet and the records of Gad the seer. ³⁰ Those writings tell what David did as king of Israel. They tell about his power and all that happened to him. And they tell what happened to Israel and all the kingdoms around them.

Jesus Will Come Again

3 My friends, this is the second letter I have written to you. I wrote both letters to you to help your honest minds remember something. ² I want you to remember the words that the holy prophets spoke in the past. And remember the command that our Lord and Savior gave us through your apostles. ³ It is important for you to understand what will happen in the last days. People will laugh at you. They will live doing the evil things they want to do. ⁴ They will say, “Jesus promised to come again. Where is he? Our fathers have died. But the world continues the way it has been since it was made.” ⁵ But they do not want to remember what happened long ago. God spoke and made heaven and earth. He made the earth from water and with water. ⁶ Then the world was flooded and destroyed with water. ⁷ And that same word of God is keeping heaven and earth that we have now. They are being kept to be destroyed by fire. They are being kept for the Judgment Day and the destruction of all who are against God.

⁸ But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: To the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow in doing what he promised—the way some people understand slowness. But God is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to be lost. He wants everyone to change his heart and life.

¹⁰ But the day the Lord comes again will be a surprise, like a thief. The skies will disappear with a loud noise. Everything in the skies will be destroyed by fire. And the earth and everything in it will be exposed.^{[a] 11} In that way everything will be destroyed. So what kind of people should you be? You should live holy lives and serve God. ¹² You should wait for the day of God and look forward to its coming. When that day comes, the skies will be destroyed with fire, and everything in the skies will melt with heat. ¹³ But God made a promise to us. And we are waiting for what he promised—a new heaven and a new earth where goodness lives.

¹⁴ Dear friends, we are waiting for this to happen. So try as hard as you can to be without sin and without fault. Try to be at peace with God. ¹⁵ Remember that we are saved because our Lord is patient. Our dear brother Paul told you the same thing when he wrote to you with the wisdom that God gave him. ¹⁶ Paul writes about this in all his letters. Sometimes there are things in Paul’s letters that are hard to understand. And some people explain these things falsely. They are ignorant and weak in faith. They also falsely explain the other Scriptures. But they are destroying themselves by doing that.

¹⁷ Dear friends, you already know about this. So be careful. Do not let those evil people lead you away by the wrong they do. Be careful so that you will not fall from your own strong faith. ¹⁸ But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Glory be to him now and forever! Amen.

The Lord’s Complaint

6 Now hear what the Lord says:

A Lost Sheep and a Lost Coin

15 Many tax collectors and “sinners” came to listen to Jesus. ² The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to complain: “Look! This man welcomes sinners and even eats with them!”

³ Then Jesus told them this story: ⁴ “Suppose one of you has 100 sheep, but he loses 1 of them. Then he will leave the other 99 sheep alone and go out and look for the lost sheep. The man will keep on searching for the lost sheep until he finds it. ⁵ And when he finds it, the man is very happy. He puts it on his shoulders ⁶ and goes home. He calls to his friends and neighbors and says, ‘Be happy with me because I found my lost sheep!’ ⁷ In the same way, I tell you there is much joy in heaven when 1 sinner changes his heart. There is more joy for that 1 sinner than there is for 99 good people who don’t need to change.

⁸ “Suppose a woman has ten silver coins,^[a] but she loses one of them. She will light a lamp and clean the house. She will look carefully for the coin until she finds it. ⁹ And when she finds it, she will call her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Be happy with me because I have found the coin that I lost!’ ¹⁰ In the same way, there is joy before the angels of God when 1 sinner changes his heart.”

The Son Who Left Home

¹¹ Then Jesus said, “A man had two sons. ¹² The younger son said to his father, ‘Give me my share of the property.’ So the father divided the property between his two sons. ¹³ Then the younger son gathered up all that was his and left. He traveled far away to another country. There he wasted his money in foolish living. ¹⁴ He spent everything that he had. Soon after that, the land became very dry, and there was no rain. There was not enough food to eat anywhere in the country. The son was hungry and needed money. ¹⁵ So he got a job with one of the citizens there. The man sent the son into the fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ The son was so hungry that he was willing to eat the food the pigs were eating. But no one gave him anything. ¹⁷ The son realized that he had been very foolish. He thought, ‘All of my father’s servants have plenty of food. But I am here, almost dying with hunger. ¹⁸ I will leave and return to my father. I’ll say to him: Father, I have sinned against God and against you. ¹⁹ I am not good enough to be called your son. But let me be like one of your servants.’ ²⁰ So the son left and went to his father.

“While the son was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. He felt sorry for his son. So the father ran to him, and hugged and kissed him. ²¹ The son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against God and against you. I am not good enough to be called your son.’^{[b] 22} But the father said to his servants, ‘Hurry! Bring the best clothes and put them on him. Also, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ And get our fat calf and kill it. Then we can have a feast and celebrate! ²⁴ My son was dead, but now he is alive again! He was lost, but now he is found!’ So they began to celebrate.

²⁵ “The older son was in the field. As he came closer to the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called to one of the servants and asked, ‘What does all this mean?’ ²⁷ The servant said, ‘Your brother has come back. Your father killed the fat calf to eat because your brother came home safely!’ ²⁸ The older son was angry and would not go in to the feast. So his father went out and begged him to come in. ²⁹ The son said to his father, ‘I have served you like a slave for many years! I have always obeyed your commands. But you never even killed a young goat for me to have a feast with my friends. ³⁰ But your other son has wasted all your money on prostitutes. Then he comes home, and you kill the fat calf for him!’ ³¹ The father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me. All that I have is yours. ³² We had to celebrate and be happy because your brother was dead, but now he is alive. He was lost, but now he is found.’”