M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Solomon Asks God for Wisdom
1 Solomon was the son of David. Solomon made his position secure over his kingdom. The Lord his God was with him. He made Solomon very great.
2 Solomon spoke to the whole community of Israel. He spoke to the commanders of thousands of men and commanders of hundreds. He spoke to the judges and all the leaders in Israel. He spoke to the leaders of Israel’s families. 3 Solomon and the whole community went to the high place at Gibeon. That’s because God’s tent of meeting was there. The Lord’s servant Moses had made the tent in the desert. 4 David had carried up the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim. He had it brought to the place he had prepared for it. He had set up a tent for it in Jerusalem. 5 But the bronze altar that Bezalel had made was in Gibeon. Bezalel was the son of Uri. Uri was the son of Hur. The altar was in front of the Lord’s holy tent. So Solomon and the whole community asked the Lord for advice in Gibeon. 6 Solomon went up to the bronze altar in front of the Lord at the tent of meeting. Solomon sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings on the altar.
7 That night God appeared to Solomon. He said to him, “Ask for anything you want me to give you.”
8 Solomon answered God, “You were very kind to my father David. Now you have made me king in his place. 9 Lord God, let the promise you gave to my father David come true. You have made me king. My people are as many as the dust of the earth. They can’t be counted. 10 Give me wisdom and knowledge. Then I’ll be able to lead these people. Without your help, who would be able to rule this great nation of yours?”
11 God said to Solomon, “I am glad that those are the things you really want. You have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor. You have not even asked to have your enemies killed. You have not asked to live for a long time. Instead, you have asked for wisdom and knowledge. You want to be able to rule my people wisely. I have made you king over them. 12 So wisdom and knowledge will be given to you. I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor. You will have more than any king before you ever had. And no king after you will have as much.”
13 Then Solomon left the high place at Gibeon. He went from the tent of meeting there to Jerusalem. And he ruled over Israel.
14 Solomon had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He kept some of them in the chariot cities. He kept others with him in Jerusalem. 15 The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones. He made cedar wood as common there as sycamore-fig trees in the western hills. 16 Solomon got horses from Egypt and Kue. The king’s buyers purchased them from Kue at the current price. 17 They could get a chariot from Egypt for 15 pounds of silver. They could get a horse for less than four pounds of silver. They sold horses and chariots to all the Hittite and Aramean kings.
The Word of Life Became a Human Being
1 Here is what we announce to everyone about the Word of life. The Word was already here from the beginning. We have heard him. We have seen him with our eyes. We have looked at him. Our hands have touched him. 2 This life has appeared. We have seen him. We are witnesses about him. And we announce to you this same eternal life. He was already with the Father. He has appeared to us. 3 We announce to you what we have seen and heard. We do it so you can share life together with us. And we share life with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing this to make our joy complete.
Walking in the Light
5 Here is the message we have heard from him and announce to you. God is light. There is no darkness in him at all. 6 Suppose we say that we share life with God but still walk in the darkness. Then we are lying. We are not living out the truth. 7 But suppose we walk in the light, just as he is in the light. Then we share life with one another. And the blood of Jesus, his Son, makes us pure from all sin.
8 Suppose we claim we are without sin. Then we are fooling ourselves. The truth is not in us. 9 But God is faithful and fair. If we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins. He will forgive every wrong thing we have done. He will make us pure. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar. His word is not in us.
Israel’s Sin Brings Suffering
7 I’m suffering very much!
I’m like someone who gathers summer fruit in a vineyard
after the good fruit has already been picked.
No grapes are left to eat.
None of the early figs I long for remain.
2 Faithful people have disappeared from the land.
Those who are honest are gone.
Everyone hides and waits
to spill the blood of others.
They use nets to try and trap one another.
3 They are very good at doing what is evil.
Rulers require gifts.
Judges accept money from people
who want special favors.
Those who are powerful
always get what they want.
All of them make evil plans together.
4 The best of these people are as harmful as thorns.
The most honest of them are even worse.
God has come to punish you.
The time your prophets warned you about has come.
Panic has taken hold of you.
5 Don’t trust your neighbors.
Don’t put your faith in your friends.
Be careful what you say
even to your own wife.
6 Sons don’t honor their fathers.
Daughters refuse to obey their mothers.
Daughters-in-law are against their mothers-in-law.
A man’s enemies are the members of his own family.
7 But I will look to the Lord.
I’ll put my trust in God my Savior.
He will hear me.
Jerusalem Will Be Rebuilt
8 The people of Jerusalem say,
“Don’t laugh when we suffer,
you enemies of ours!
We have fallen.
But we’ll get up.
Even though we sit in the dark,
the Lord will give us light.
9 We’ve sinned against the Lord.
So he is angry with us.
His anger will continue until he takes up our case.
Then he’ll do what is right for us.
He’ll bring us out into the light.
Then we’ll see him save us.
10 Our enemies will see it too.
And they will be put to shame.
After all, they said to us,
‘Where is the Lord your God?’
But we will see them destroyed.
Soon they will be stomped on
like mud in the streets.”
11 People of Jerusalem, the time will come
when your walls will be rebuilt.
Land will be added to your territory.
12 At that time your people will come back to you.
They’ll return from Assyria
and the cities of Egypt.
They’ll come from the countries
between Egypt and the Euphrates River.
They’ll return from the lands
between the seas.
They’ll come back from the countries
between the mountains.
13 But the rest of the earth will be deserted.
The people who live in it
have done many evil things.
Prayer and Praise
14 Lord, be like a shepherd to your people.
Take good care of them.
They are your flock.
They live by themselves
in the safety of a forest.
Rich grasslands are all around them.
Let them eat grass in Bashan and Gilead
just as they did long ago.
15 The Lord says to his people,
“I showed you my wonders
when you came out of Egypt long ago.
In the same way, I will show them to you again.”
16 When the nations see those wonders,
they will be put to shame.
All their power will be taken away from them.
They will be so amazed
that they won’t be able to speak or hear.
17 They’ll be forced to eat dust like a snake.
They’ll be like creatures
that have to crawl on the ground.
They’ll come out of their dens
trembling with fear.
They’ll show respect for the Lord our God.
They will also have respect for his people.
18 Lord, who is a God like you?
You forgive sin.
You forgive your people
when they do what is wrong.
You don’t stay angry forever.
Instead, you take delight in showing
your faithful love to them.
19 Once again you will show loving concern for us.
You will completely wipe out
the evil things we’ve done.
You will throw all our sins
into the bottom of the sea.
20 You will be faithful to Jacob’s people.
You will show your love
to Abraham’s children.
You will do what you promised to do for our people.
You made that promise long ago.
The Story of the Clever Manager
16 Jesus told his disciples another story. He said, “There was a rich man who had a manager. Some said that the manager was wasting what the rich man owned. 2 So the rich man told him to come in. He asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Tell me exactly how you have handled what I own. You can’t be my manager any longer.’
3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What will I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig. And I’m too ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I’m going to do. I’ll do something so that when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’
5 “So he called in each person who owed his master something. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 “ ‘I owe 900 gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.
“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill. Sit down quickly and change it to 450 gallons.’
7 “Then he asked the second one, ‘And how much do you owe?’
“ ‘I owe 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ he replied.
“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill and change it to 800 bushels.’
8 “The manager had not been honest. But the master praised him for being clever. The people of this world are clever in dealing with those who are like themselves. They are more clever than God’s people. 9 I tell you, use the riches of this world to help others. In that way, you will make friends for yourselves. Then when your riches are gone, you will be welcomed into your eternal home in heaven.
10 “Suppose you can be trusted with something very little. Then you can also be trusted with something very large. But suppose you are not honest with something very little. Then you will also not be honest with something very large. 11 Suppose you have not been worthy of trust in handling worldly wealth. Then who will trust you with true riches? 12 Suppose you have not been worthy of trust in handling someone else’s property. Then who will give you property of your own?
13 “No one can serve two masters at the same time. Either you will hate one of them and love the other. Or you will be faithful to one and dislike the other. You can’t serve God and money at the same time.”
14 The Pharisees loved money. They heard all that Jesus said and made fun of him. 15 Jesus said to them, “You try to make yourselves look good in the eyes of other people. But God knows your hearts. What people think is worth a lot is hated by God.
More Teachings
16 “The teachings of the Law and the Prophets were preached until John the Baptist came. Since then, the good news of God’s kingdom is being preached. And everyone is trying very hard to enter it. 17 It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the smallest part of a letter to drop out of the Law.
18 “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery. Also, the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “Once there was a rich man. He was dressed in purple cloth and fine linen. He lived an easy life every day. 20 A man named Lazarus was placed at his gate. Lazarus was a beggar. His body was covered with sores. 21 Even dogs came and licked his sores. All he wanted was to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.
22 “The time came when the beggar died. The angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In the place of the dead, the rich man was suffering terribly. He looked up and saw Abraham far away. Lazarus was by his side. 24 So the rich man called out, ‘Father Abraham! Have pity on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water. Then he can cool my tongue with it. I am in terrible pain in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember what happened in your lifetime. You received your good things. Lazarus received bad things. Now he is comforted here, and you are in terrible pain. 26 Besides, a wide space has been placed between us and you. So those who want to go from here to you can’t go. And no one can cross over from there to us.’
27 “The rich man answered, ‘Then I beg you, father Abraham. Send Lazarus to my family. 28 I have five brothers. Let Lazarus warn them. Then they will not come to this place of terrible suffering.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have the teachings of Moses and the Prophets. Let your brothers listen to them.’
30 “ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said. ‘But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will turn away from their sins.’
31 “Abraham said to him, ‘They do not listen to Moses and the Prophets. So they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”
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