M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
5 Solomon finished all the work for the Lord’s temple. Then he brought in the things his father David had set apart for the Lord. They included the silver and gold and all the objects for God’s temple. Solomon placed them there with the other treasures.
The Ark Is Brought to the Temple
2 Then Solomon sent for the elders of Israel. He told them to come to Jerusalem. They included all the leaders of the tribes. They also included the chiefs of the families of Israel. Solomon wanted them to bring up the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Zion. Zion was the City of David. 3 All the Israelites came together to where the king was. It was at the time of the Feast of Booths. The feast was held in the seventh month.
4 All the elders of Israel arrived. Then the Levites picked up the ark and carried it. 5 They brought up the ark. They also brought up the tent of meeting and all the sacred things in the tent. The priests, who were Levites, carried up everything. 6 The entire community of Israel had gathered around King Solomon. All of them were in front of the ark. They sacrificed huge numbers of sheep and cattle. There were so many animals that they couldn’t be recorded. In fact, they couldn’t even be counted.
7 The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place in the Most Holy Room of the temple. They put it under the wings of the cherubim. 8 The cherubim’s wings were spread out over the place where the ark was. They covered the ark. They also covered the poles used to carry it. 9 The poles reached out from the ark. They were so long that their ends could be seen from in front of the Most Holy Room. But they couldn’t be seen from outside the Holy Room. They are still there to this day. 10 There wasn’t anything in the ark except the two tablets. Moses had placed them in it at Mount Horeb. That’s where the Lord had made a covenant with the Israelites. He made it after they came out of Egypt.
11 The priests left the Holy Room. All the priests who were there had set themselves apart to the Lord. It didn’t matter what group they were in. 12 All the Levites who played music stood near the east side of the altar. They included Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives. They were dressed in fine linen. They were playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were joined by 120 priests who were blowing trumpets. 13 The trumpet players and other musicians played their instruments together. They praised the Lord and gave thanks to him. The singers sang to the music of the trumpets, cymbals and other instruments. They sang in praise to the Lord,
“The Lord is good.
His faithful love continues forever.”
Then a cloud filled the temple of the Lord. 14 The priests couldn’t do their work. That’s because the cloud of the Lord’s glory filled God’s temple.
6 Then Solomon said, “Lord, you have said you would live in a dark cloud. 2 I’ve built a beautiful temple for you. You can live in it forever.”
3 The whole community of Israel was standing there. The king turned around and gave them his blessing. 4 Then he said,
“I praise the Lord. He is the God of Israel. With his mouth he made a promise to my father David. With his powerful hands he made it come true. He said, 5 ‘I brought my people out of Egypt. Since then, a temple for my Name has not been built. I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel for that purpose. And I have not chosen anyone to be ruler over my people Israel. 6 But now I have chosen Jerusalem. I will put my Name there. And I have chosen David to rule over my people Israel.’
7 “With all his heart my father David wanted to build a temple. He wanted to do it so the Name of the Lord could be there. The Lord is the God of Israel. 8 But the Lord spoke to my father David. He said, ‘With all your heart you wanted to build a temple for my Name. It is good that you wanted to do that. 9 But you will not build the temple. Instead, your son will build the temple for my Name. He is your own flesh and blood.’
10 “The Lord has kept the promise he made. I’ve become the next king after my father David. Now I’m sitting on the throne of Israel. That’s exactly what the Lord promised would happen. I’ve built the temple for the Name of the Lord. He is the God of Israel. 11 I’ve placed the ark there. The tablets of the Lord’s covenant are inside it. He made that covenant with the people of Israel.”
Jesus Came as a Human Being
4 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit. Test the spirits to see if they belong to God. Many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 Here is how you can recognize the Spirit of God. Every spirit agreeing that Jesus Christ came in a human body belongs to God. 3 But every spirit that doesn’t agree with this does not belong to God. You have heard that the spirit of the great enemy of Christ is coming. Even now it is already in the world.
4 Dear children, you belong to God. You have not accepted the teachings of the false prophets. That’s because the one who is in you is powerful. He is more powerful than the one who is in the world. 5 False prophets belong to the world. So they speak from the world’s point of view. And the world listens to them. 6 We belong to God. And those who know God listen to us. But those who don’t belong to God don’t listen to us. That’s how we can tell the difference between the Spirit of truth and the spirit of lies.
We Love Because God Loved Us
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has become a child of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 Here is how God showed his love among us. He sent his one and only Son into the world. He sent him so we could receive life through him. 10 Here is what love is. It is not that we loved God. It is that he loved us and sent his Son to give his life to pay for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God loved us this much, we should also love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love one another, God lives in us. His love is made complete in us.
13 Here’s how we know that we are joined to him and he to us. He has given us his Holy Spirit. 14 The Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. We have seen it and are witnesses to it. 15 God lives in anyone who agrees that Jesus is the Son of God. This kind of person remains joined to God. 16 So we know that God loves us. We depend on it.
God is love. Anyone who leads a life of love is joined to God. And God is joined to them. 17 Suppose love is fulfilled among us. Then we can be without fear on the day God judges the world. Love is fulfilled among us when in this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. Instead, perfect love drives away fear. That’s because fear has to do with being punished. The one who fears does not have perfect love.
19 We love because he loved us first. 20 Suppose someone claims to love God but hates a brother or sister. Then they are a liar. They don’t love their brother or sister, whom they have seen. So they can’t love God, whom they haven’t seen. 21 Here is the command God has given us. Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
The Lord Will Judge Nineveh
3 How terrible it will be for Nineveh!
It is a city of murderers!
It is full of liars!
It is filled with stolen goods!
The killing never stops!
2 Whips crack!
Wheels clack!
Horses charge!
Chariots rumble!
3 Horsemen attack!
Swords flash!
Spears gleam!
Many people die.
Dead bodies pile up.
They can’t even be counted.
People trip over them.
4 All of that was caused by the evil desires
of the prostitute Nineveh.
That woman who practiced evil magic
was very beautiful.
She used her sinful charms
to make slaves out of the nations.
She worshiped evil powers
in order to trap others.
5 “Nineveh, I am against you,”
announces the Lord who rules over all.
“I will pull your skirts up over your face.
I will show the nations your naked body.
Kingdoms will make fun of your shame.
6 I will throw garbage at you.
I will look down on you.
I will make an example out of you.
7 All those who see you will run away from you.
They will say, ‘Nineveh is destroyed.
Who will mourn over it?’
Where can I find someone
to comfort your people?”
8 Nineveh, are you better than Thebes
on the Nile River?
There was water all around that city.
The river helped to keep it safe.
The waters were like a wall around it.
9 Cush and Egypt gave it all the strength it needed.
Put and Libya also helped it.
10 But Thebes was captured anyway.
Its people were taken away as prisoners.
Its babies were smashed to pieces
at every street corner.
The Assyrian soldiers cast lots
for all its nobles.
They put them in chains
and made slaves out of them.
11 People of Nineveh, you too will get drunk.
You will try to hide from your enemies.
You will look for a place of safety.
12 All your forts are like fig trees
that have their first ripe fruit on them.
When the trees are shaken,
the figs fall into the mouths
of those who eat them.
13 Look at your troops.
All of them are weak.
The gates of your forts
are wide open to your enemies.
Fire has destroyed the bars that lock your gates.
14 Prepare for the attack by storing up water!
Make your walls as strong as you can!
Make some bricks out of clay!
Mix the mud to hold them together!
Use them to repair the walls!
15 In spite of all your hard work,
fire will burn you up inside your city.
Your enemies will cut you down with their swords.
They will destroy you
just as a swarm of locusts eats up crops.
Multiply like grasshoppers!
Increase your numbers like locusts!
16 You have more traders
than the number of stars in the sky.
But like locusts they strip the land.
Then they fly away.
17 Your guards are like grasshoppers.
Your officials are like swarms of locusts.
They settle in the walls on a cold day.
But when the sun appears, they fly away.
And no one knows where they go.
18 King of Assyria, your leaders are asleep.
Your nobles lie down to rest.
Your people are scattered on the mountains.
No one is left to gather them together.
19 Nothing can heal your wounds.
You will die of them.
All those who hear the news about you clap their hands.
That’s because you have fallen from power.
Is there anyone who has not suffered
because of how badly you treated them?
Zacchaeus the Tax Collector
19 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man named Zacchaeus lived there. He was a chief tax collector and was very rich. 3 Zacchaeus wanted to see who Jesus was. But he was a short man. He could not see Jesus because of the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree. He wanted to see Jesus, who was coming that way.
5 Jesus reached the spot where Zacchaeus was. He looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down at once. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So Zacchaeus came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this. They began to whisper among themselves. They said, “Jesus has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
8 But Zacchaeus stood up. He said, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of what I own to those who are poor. And if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay it back. I will pay back four times the amount I took.”
9 Jesus said to Zacchaeus, “Today salvation has come to your house. You are a member of Abraham’s family line. 10 The Son of Man came to look for the lost and save them.”
The Story of Three Slaves
11 While the people were listening to these things, Jesus told them a story. He was near Jerusalem. The people thought that God’s kingdom was going to appear right away. 12 Jesus said, “A man from an important family went to a country far away. He went there to be made king and then return home. 13 So he sent for ten of his slaves. He gave them each about three months’ pay. ‘Put this money to work until I come back,’ he said.
14 “But those he ruled over hated him. They sent some messengers after him. They were sent to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’
15 “But he was made king and returned home. Then he sent for the slaves he had given the money to. He wanted to find out what they had earned with it.
16 “The first one came to him. He said, ‘Sir, your money has earned ten times as much.’
17 “ ‘You have done well, my good slave!’ his master replied. ‘You have been faithful in a very small matter. So I will put you in charge of ten towns.’
18 “The second slave came to his master. He said, ‘Sir, your money has earned five times as much.’
19 “His master answered, ‘I will put you in charge of five towns.’
20 “Then another slave came. He said, ‘Sir, here is your money. I have kept it hidden in a piece of cloth. 21 I was afraid of you. You are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in. You harvest what you did not plant.’
22 “His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you evil slave! So you knew that I am a hard man? You knew that I take out what I did not put in? You knew that I harvest what I did not plant? 23 Then why didn’t you put my money in the bank? When I came back, I could have collected it with interest.’
24 “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his money away from him. Give it to the one who has ten times as much.’
25 “ ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten times as much!’
26 “He replied, ‘I tell you that everyone who has will be given more. But here is what will happen to anyone who has nothing. Even what they have will be taken away from them. 27 And what about my enemies who did not want me to be king over them? Bring them here! Kill them in front of me!’ ”
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead. He was going up to Jerusalem. 29 He approached Bethphage and Bethany. The hill there was called the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent out two of his disciples. He said to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you. As soon as you get there, you will find a donkey’s colt tied up. No one has ever ridden it. Untie it and bring it here. 31 Someone may ask you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ If so, say, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ”
32 Those who were sent ahead went and found the young donkey. It was there just as Jesus had told them. 33 They were untying the colt when its owners came. The owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.”
35 Then the disciples brought the colt to Jesus. They threw their coats on the young donkey and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their coats on the road.
37 Jesus came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives. There the whole crowd of disciples began to praise God with joy. In loud voices they praised him for all the miracles they had seen. They shouted,
38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Psalm 118:26)
“May there be peace and glory in the highest heaven!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd spoke to Jesus. “Teacher,” they said, “tell your disciples to stop!”
40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
41 He approached Jerusalem. When he saw the city, he began to weep. 42 He said, “I wish you had known today what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come when your enemies will arrive. They will build a wall of dirt up against your city. They will surround you and close you in on every side. 44 You didn’t recognize the time when God came to you. So your enemies will smash you to the ground. They will destroy you and all the people inside your walls. They will not leave one stone on top of another.”
Jesus Clears Out the Temple
45 Then Jesus entered the temple courtyard. He began to drive out those who were selling there. 46 He told them, “It is written that the Lord said, ‘My house will be a house where people can pray.’ (Isaiah 56:7) But you have made it a ‘den for robbers.’ ” (Jeremiah 7:11)
47 Every day Jesus was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests and the teachers of the law were trying to kill him. So were the leaders among the people. 48 But they couldn’t find any way to do it. All the people were paying close attention to his words.
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