M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Solomon builds more towns
8 Solomon was building the Lord's temple and the king's palace for 20 years. 2 After that, he built again the towns that King Hiram had given to him. He sent Israelites to live in them.
3 Then Solomon went to Hamath-Zobah and he took it for Israel. 4 He made the buildings in Tadmor strong again. That was a town in the wilderness. He did the same thing for the towns that he had built in Hamath region to store things. 5 He built again Higher Beth-Horon and Lower Beth-Horon. He made those cities strong. He built walls around them with strong gates. 6 He also made Baalath strong, and all his cities where he stored things, as well as all the cities where he kept his chariots and horses. He built everything that he wanted to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and everywhere in his kingdom.
7 Solomon only made people who were not Israelites do the hard work for him. They were Canaanite people who still lived in the land after the Israelites took it for themselves. They were Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 8 The Israelites had not been able to destroy all of these people, so their descendants remained in the land. So Solomon made them do hard work as his slaves. They are still slaves of the Israelites today. 9 But Solomon did not cause any Israelites to do the hard work as slaves. Instead, they became his soldiers and army officers. Some of the soldiers drove chariots and some were leaders of the chariot drivers. 10 King Solomon had 250 Israelite officers who had authority over the workers.
Solomon gives a house to Pharaoh's daughter
11 Solomon had built a palace for his wife, Pharaoh's daughter. When the palace was ready, he brought her up there from the City of David. He said, ‘My wife must not live in the palace of David, king of Israel. The Lord's Covenant Box has been there, so it is a holy place.’
The work of the priests and Levites
12 Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar that he had built. The altar was outside the entrance of the temple. 13 He offered the sacrifices every day that Moses had told them to do. There were rules about sacrifices on Sabbath days, on festivals for each new moon and on the three special festivals each year. Those were the Festival of Flat Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Huts.[a] 14 Solomon gave jobs to each group of priests as his father David had commanded. He also gave the Levites their jobs to do each day. They led the music to worship God and they helped the priests with their work. He gave each group of guards a job to watch the gates of the temple. He told them all to do this in the way that God's servant David had commanded. 15 All the priests and the Levites were careful to do exactly what the king had commanded. That included the rooms where they stored valuable things.
16 Solomon's workers did all the jobs that he told them to do. They started on the day when they built the foundation of the Lord's temple. They continued to work until they had finished everything. In that way, work on the Lord's temple was complete.
17 Then Solomon went to Ezion-Geber and to Elath. They were towns on the coast of the sea, in the land of Edom. 18 King Hiram had sailors who knew how to sail ships on the sea. He sent some of these men to work with Solomon's sailors. They sailed to Ophir and they brought back about 15 tons of gold. They gave it to King Solomon.
John says ‘Hello’ to Gaius
1 This letter comes from me, the leader of the believers. I am writing to you, my friend Gaius. I love you because we believe God's true message. 2 My friend, I pray that God will help you to live well. I know that you are well in your spirit. I pray that your body will also be well. 3 I was very happy when I heard news about you. Some Christian friends came here to tell me about you. They said that you are living in a good way. That is the way that God's true message tells us to live. 4 I am happy when I hear that my children are living like that. When they obey God's true message, it makes me very happy.
Continue to help people
5 My friend, you do many things to help other believers. You help them even when they are strangers to you. This shows that you are serving God well. 6 These men have spoken to the group of believers here about your love. Please continue to help them when they visit you. Give them the things that they need to continue on their journey. That will make God happy. 7 They are travelling to different places to tell people about Jesus Christ. They do not accept any gifts from those people who are not Christians. 8 Because of that, we Christians must help them with the things that they need. In this way we will be working together with them as they tell people the true message about Christ.
Diotrephes is causing problems
9 I have already written something to the group of believers. But Diotrephes refuses to accept our authority. He really wants to be the only leader among them. 10 So, when I arrive there myself, I will speak to the believers about this. I will tell them clearly about the bad things that Diotrephes is doing. He tells other people bad things about us that are not true. Even that is not enough for him. He himself refuses to welcome the believers who are visiting. He also stops anyone else who wants to welcome those visitors.[a] Instead, he sends them away from the group of believers.
Copy what good people do
11 My friend, do not copy what bad people do. Instead, you should copy the good things that people do. The person who does good things shows that he belongs to God. But anyone who does bad things does not know God.
12 All the believers say that Demetrius is a good person. He obeys God's true message. That also shows clearly that he is a good person. We also say the same thing about him. You know very well that what we say about him is true.
John finishes his letter
13 I would like to tell you many more things. But I do not want to write them in a letter. 14 Instead, I hope to come and visit you soon. Then I can see you and we can talk together.
15 I pray that God will give you peace. All your Christian friends here say ‘hello’ to you. Say ‘hello’ for me to each of my friends there, one by one.
Habakkuk prays
3 These are the words that the prophet Habakkuk prayed. He used special music to sing it.
2 Lord, I have heard the report about you.
I see the things that you have done, Lord,
and I respect your power.
Please do great things like that again.
Do them again now for us to see.
When you are angry with us,
please still remember to be kind!
3 God is coming from Teman!
The Holy God is coming from Paran mountain.[a]
Selah.
His beautiful power covers the whole sky!
People praise him all over the earth!
4 He is as bright as the sunrise.
His hands throw bright lightning!
That is where he hides his power.
5 As he marches to war,
bad disease marches with him.
6 God stands ready to fight,
and he causes the earth to shake.
He looks at the nations
and they shake with fear.
The very old mountains break into pieces.
The old hills fall down flat.
He travels on roads that have been there for ever.
7 I see the tents where Cushan's people live,
and the people are afraid.
The people in Midian are shaking with fear.
8 Was it the rivers that made you angry, Lord?
Did the sea make you so angry?
You rode on your chariots as horses pulled them!
You rode into battle to win against your enemies.
9 You have prepared your bow.
You are ready to shoot your arrows.
Selah.
You send rivers of water to cut the earth into pieces.
10 The mountains see you and they shake.
Rain pours down from the sky and it causes floods.
The deep sea roars
and it lifts its waves up high.
11 You shoot your bright arrows
so that the sun and the moon stand still in the sky.
Your bright spear flies like lightning,
and the sun and the moon do not move!
12 You angrily march across the earth.
You knock down the armies of the nations,
because you are so angry.
13 You have marched out to rescue your people,
and to save your special servant.[b]
You have knocked down the leader of the wicked nation.
You have removed all his clothes,
from head to foot.
Selah.
14 You threw his own spear into his head,
and you destroyed his army.
When his soldiers rushed out to attack us,
they were laughing.
They thought that they would easily win against us,
as if we were poor, weak people.
15 But you, Lord, marched across the sea with your horses.
You made the waters of the sea shake.
16 I listened to this
and I was very afraid.
My lips shook with fear
when I heard the sound.
My bones became weak.
My legs would not let me walk.
But I will be patient.
I will wait for the day of trouble that will come.
Yes, punishment will come to the people who are attacking us.
17 Whatever happens, I will continue to thank the Lord.
If there are no flowers on the fig trees,
if there are no grapes on the vines,
if there are no olives on the olive trees,
if there are no crops in the fields,
if the sheep are dying in the hills,
if there are no cows on the farms,
18 I will still sing to thank the Lord!
I will be happy because God is the one who makes me safe.[c]
19 The Lord God causes me to be strong.
He makes my feet run safely over the rocks and hills,
like a deer's feet.
This prayer is for the music leader. He must use stringed instruments.
Judas agrees to catch Jesus
22 The Passover festival when the Jews eat flat bread was coming soon.[a]
2 The leaders of the priests and the teachers of God's Law wanted to kill Jesus. They were talking together about how they could do this. It was difficult because they were afraid of the people.
3 Then Satan began to live inside Judas Iscariot. Judas was one of Jesus' 12 apostles. 4 He went to the leaders of the priests and he talked with them. The police that worked at the temple were also there. Judas told them how he could give Jesus to them secretly. 5 They were very happy and they promised to give him some money to do this. 6 So Judas said that he would do it. Then he waited for the right moment to help them to take hold of Jesus. He wanted to do it when the crowd was not there with Jesus.
Jesus eats his last meal with his apostles
7 The day came for Jewish people to eat the meal of flat bread which has no yeast in it. They had to kill a young sheep for the Passover meal on that day. 8 So Jesus said to Peter and John, ‘Go and prepare the Passover meal for us to eat. Then we can all come and eat it.’ 9 They asked him, ‘Where do you want us to prepare the meal?’
10 Jesus replied, ‘Listen. When you go into the city, a man will meet you. He will be carrying a jar of water. Follow him until he goes into a house. 11 You must then say to the master of that house, “Our Teacher sends this message to you: ‘Where is the room for visitors? I will eat the Passover meal there with my disciples.’ ” 12 The man will then show you a large room upstairs. It will have all that you need in it. Prepare the Passover meal there for us all.’
13 So Peter and John went into the city. They found everything that Jesus had told them about. So they prepared the Passover meal.
14 When it was time to eat the meal, Jesus arrived. He sat down with his apostles to eat it. 15 He said to them, ‘I have wanted very much to eat this Passover meal with you. It has to happen before I die. 16 I tell you this: I will not eat another Passover meal in this world. Now it is a picture. But when God begins to rule in his kingdom, then this meal will become real. I will eat it again then.’
17 Then Jesus took a cup and he thanked God for the wine. ‘Take this cup,’ he said to them. ‘Each of you drink some wine from it. 18 I tell you this. I will not drink wine again until God begins to rule in his kingdom.’
19 Then he took a loaf of bread and he thanked God for it. He broke the bread into pieces and he gave some of it to each of them. He said, ‘This is my body. I am giving it to save you. When you eat this meal from now on, remember me.’[b]
20 After supper, Jesus took a cup of wine and did the same thing. He said to the disciples, ‘This cup shows the new promise that God makes because of my death. When I die, my blood will pour out of my body. I will do that for you. 21 But look! The person who will give me to the rulers is sitting at the table with me. He is eating the same food as I am. 22 The Son of Man must die in the way that God says. But it will be very bad for the man who gives me to my enemies.’
23 The 12 apostles asked each other, ‘Who is the man that would do this thing?’
Jesus tells who is most important
24 Then the apostles began to argue among themselves. They were arguing about which of them seemed to be the most important. 25 Jesus said to them, ‘Kings of other countries use great authority over their people. Leaders of those countries want people to say good things about them. 26 You must not be like that. The most important person among you must become like the least important person. The person who is your leader must become like your servant. 27 Tell me, which person is the more important one? Is it the person who sits at the table to eat? Or is it the servant that puts out the meal for him? Yes, it is the person who sits at the table. But I am here to be your servant.
28 You have never left me. You have been by my side when trouble came to me. 29 So now I tell you that you will rule with me. My Father has said that I will rule with him in his kingdom. I also say to you that you will rule with me. 30 In my kingdom you will sit at my table. You will eat and drink with me. You will sit like kings on thrones. You will judge the people of the 12 tribes of Israel.’
Jesus tells Peter what will happen
31 Jesus then said, ‘Simon, Simon, be careful to listen to me! Satan has asked to have authority over you all. He will shake you as a farmer shakes seeds.[c] 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that you will continue to believe in me. And this is what you must do: When you have turned back to me, you must help your brothers to be strong again.’
33 But Simon replied, ‘Master, I am ready to go to prison with you. I am even ready to die with you!’ 34 Jesus said to him, ‘I tell you this, Peter. Very soon, you will say that you do not know me. You will say that three times before the cockerel sings early tomorrow morning.’
35 Jesus then asked the disciples, ‘When I sent you out without a purse, a bag or shoes, did you need anything?’ ‘No,’ they replied, ‘nothing.’
36 ‘Now it is different,’ he said. ‘If you have a purse or bag, you should take it with you. If you do not have a sword, sell your coat. Use the money to buy one. 37 I tell you this: Long ago people wrote in the Bible what must happen to me. It says, “People will think that he is a wicked person.” And this must happen to me soon, so that it becomes true.’
38 The disciples said, ‘Look, Master, we have two swords here.’ Jesus replied, ‘That is enough.’[d]
Jesus prays on the Mount of Olives
39 Jesus left the city. He went to the Mount of Olives. This is what he usually did. His disciples went with him. 40 When they arrived there he said to them, ‘Ask God to help you, so that you do not want to do wrong things.’
41 Then he went away from them about as far as you can throw a stone. He went down on his knees and he prayed, 42 ‘Father, if you want, you can save me from this time of great pain. But I do not ask you to do what I want. Do what you want to do.’
43 Then an angel came to him from heaven. The angel made him stronger. 44 Jesus began to have troubles in his mind. He prayed again even more strongly. His sweat became like blood and it fell to the ground.[e]
45 Then Jesus finished praying and he stood up again. He returned to the disciples. He saw that they were sleeping. They were very weak and tired because they were so sad. 46 ‘You should not be sleeping,’ he said. ‘Get up and pray! Ask God to help you, so that you do not want to do wrong things.’
The soldiers catch Jesus
47 While Jesus was still speaking, a crowd of people came towards him. Judas led the crowd to that place. He was one of the 12 apostles. He came near to Jesus to kiss him. 48 Jesus said to him, ‘Judas, why do you want to kiss me, the Son of Man? You are helping my enemies to take hold of me!’
49 The people near to Jesus saw what was happening. They asked him, ‘Lord, should we use our swords to fight?’ 50 One of them hit the servant of the leader of the priests. He cut off the servant's right ear. 51 ‘That is enough!’ Jesus said. He then touched the man's ear and made him well again.
52 Then Jesus spoke to the people that had come to take hold of him. They were the leaders of the priests, and the leaders of the police in the temple. Other important Jews were also there. He said to them, ‘You have come here with swords and heavy sticks. Do you really think that I am leading people to fight against our country's rulers? 53 No! But I was with you every day in the yard of the temple. You did not try to take hold of me then. But now really is the time and the place for you to work. Now it is a bad dark time, when the Devil has authority.’
Peter says that he does not know Jesus
54 Then they took hold of Jesus. They took him away and they brought him to the house of the leader of the priests. Peter was following them, but he did not go near Jesus. 55 People lit a fire in the yard of the house and they sat round it. Peter went and he sat with them. 56 A girl who worked there then saw Peter in the light from the fire. She looked carefully at him and she said, ‘This man also was a friend of Jesus.’ 57 Peter replied, ‘Woman, that is not true! I do not even know him.’
58 After a short time, someone else looked at him. ‘You also are one of their group,’ he said. Peter replied, ‘Man, I am not one of them.’
59 After about an hour, another man said, ‘I am sure that this man was a friend of Jesus. He also is from Galilee.’ 60 Peter replied, ‘Man, I do not know what you are talking about.’ While Peter was still speaking, a cockerel sang loudly. 61 Then the Lord Jesus turned round and he looked at Peter. Peter remembered what Jesus had said to him: ‘You will say tonight that you do not know me. You will say it three times before the cockerel sings in the morning.’
62 Then Peter went out of the yard and he wept a lot.
The soldiers laugh at Jesus and they hit him
63 The men that were holding Jesus were laughing at him. They hit him many times. 64 They covered his eyes with a cloth and they said to him, ‘Show us that you are a prophet. Tell us who hit you!’ 65 And they said many other bad things against him.
The Jewish leaders ask Jesus questions
66 When it became day, the Jewish leaders met together. The leaders of the priests and the teachers of God's Law were at the meeting. Then other men brought Jesus to stand in front of them. 67 They asked him, ‘Are you the Messiah? If you are, tell us.’ Jesus replied, ‘If I do tell you, you will not believe me. 68 I could also ask you a question. But if I do that, you will not answer me. 69 But from now on, the Son of Man will be sitting in the most important place. He will be sitting at the right side of the Most Powerful God.’
70 ‘So, are you the Son of God?’ they all said. Jesus replied, ‘You say that I am.’
71 Then they said, ‘We do not need anyone else to speak against this man. We ourselves have heard what he has said about himself.’
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.