M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Temple Is Set Apart to the Lord
7 Solomon finished praying. Then fire came down from heaven. It burned up the burnt offering and the sacrifices. The glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2 The priests couldn’t enter the temple of the Lord because his glory filled it. 3 All the Israelites saw the fire coming down. They saw the glory of the Lord above the temple. So they got down on their knees in the courtyard with their faces toward the ground. They worshiped the Lord. They gave thanks to him and said,
“The Lord is good.
His faithful love continues forever.”
4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices to the Lord. 5 King Solomon sacrificed 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep and goats. So the king and all the people set the temple of God apart. 6 The priests and Levites took their positions. The Levites played the Lord’s musical instruments. King David had made them for praising the Lord. They were used when he gave thanks to the Lord. He said, “His faithful love continues forever.” Across from where the Levites were, the priests blew their trumpets. All the people of Israel were standing.
7 Solomon set the middle area of the courtyard apart to the Lord. It was in front of the Lord’s temple. There Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings. He also sacrificed the fat of the friendship offerings there. He did it there because the bronze altar he had made couldn’t hold it all. It couldn’t hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat parts.
8 At that time Solomon celebrated the Feast of Booths for seven days. The whole community of Israel was with him. It was a huge crowd. People came from as far away as Lebo Hamath and the Wadi of Egypt. 9 On the eighth day they held a special service. For seven days they had celebrated by setting the altar apart to honor God. The feast continued for seven more days. 10 Then Solomon sent the people home. It was the 23rd day of the seventh month. The people were glad. Their hearts were full of joy. That’s because the Lord had done good things for David and Solomon and his people Israel.
The Lord Appears to Solomon
11 Solomon finished the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. He had done everything he had planned to do in the Lord’s temple and his own palace. 12 The Lord appeared to him at night. The Lord said,
“I have heard your prayer. I have chosen this place for myself. It is a temple where sacrifices will be offered.
13 “Suppose I close up the sky and there isn’t any rain. Suppose I command locusts to eat up the crops. And I send a plague among my people. 14 But they make themselves humble in my sight. They pray and look to me. And they turn from their evil ways. Then I will listen to them from heaven. I will forgive their sin. And I will heal their land. After all, they are my people. 15 Now my eyes will see them. My ears will pay attention to the prayers they offer in this place. 16 I have chosen this temple. I have set it apart for myself. My Name will be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
17 “But you must walk faithfully with me, just as your father David did. Do everything I command you to do. Obey my rules and laws. 18 Then I will set up your royal throne. I made a covenant with your father David to do that. I said to him, ‘You will always have a son from your family line to rule over Israel.’
19 “But suppose all of you turn away from me. You refuse to obey the rules and commands I have given you. And you go off to serve other gods and worship them. 20 Then I will remove Israel from my land. It is the land I gave them. I will turn my back on this temple. I will do it even though I have set it apart for my Name to be there. I will make all the nations hate it. They will laugh and joke about it. 21 This temple will become a pile of stones. All those who pass by it will be shocked. They will say, ‘Why has the Lord done a thing like this to this land and temple?’ 22 People will answer, ‘Because they have deserted the Lord. He is the God of their people who lived long ago. He brought them out of Egypt. But they have been holding on to other gods. They’ve been worshiping them. They’ve been serving them. That’s why the Lord has brought all this horrible trouble on them.’ ”
1 I, the elder, am writing this letter.
I am sending it to the lady chosen by God and to her children. I love all of you because of the truth. I’m not the only one who loves you. So does everyone who knows the truth. 2 I love you because of the truth that is alive in us. This truth will be with us forever.
3 God the Father and Jesus Christ his Son will give you grace, mercy and peace. These blessings will be with us because we love the truth.
4 It has given me great joy to find some of your children living by the truth. That’s just what the Father commanded us to do. 5 Dear lady, I’m not writing you a new command. I’m writing a command we’ve had from the beginning. I’m asking that we love one another. 6 The way we show our love is to obey God’s commands. He commands you to lead a life of love. That’s what you have heard from the beginning.
7 I say this because many people have tried to fool others. These people have gone out into the world. They don’t agree that Jesus Christ came in a human body. People like this try to trick others. These people are like the great enemy of Christ. 8 Watch out that you don’t lose what we have worked for. Make sure that you get your full reward. 9 Suppose someone thinks they know more than we do. So they don’t follow Christ’s teaching. Then that person doesn’t belong to God. But whoever follows Christ’s teaching belongs to the Father and the Son. 10 Suppose someone comes to you and doesn’t teach these truths. Then don’t take them into your house or welcome them. 11 Anyone who welcomes them shares in their evil work.
12 I have a lot to write to you. But I don’t want to use paper and ink. I hope I can visit you instead. Then I can talk with you face to face. That will make our joy complete.
13 The children of your sister, who is chosen by God, send their greetings.
2 I will go up to the lookout tower.
I’ll station myself on the city wall.
I’ll wait to see how the Lord will reply to me.
Then I’ll try to figure out how his reply answers what I’ve complained about.
The Lord Replies to Habakkuk
2 The Lord replies,
“Write down the message I am giving you.
Write it clearly on the tablets you use.
Then a messenger can read it
and run to announce it.
3 The message I give you
waits for the time I have appointed.
It speaks about what is going to happen.
And all of it will come true.
It might take a while.
But wait for it.
You can be sure it will come.
It will happen when I want it to.
4 “The Babylonians are very proud.
What they want is not good.
“But the person who is godly
will live by his faithfulness.
5 “Wine makes the Babylonians do foolish things.
They are proud. They never rest.
Like the grave, they are always hungry for more.
Like death, they are never satisfied.
They gather all the nations to themselves.
They take all those people away as prisoners.
6 “Won’t those people laugh at the Babylonians? Won’t they make fun of them? They will say to them,
“ ‘How terrible it will be for you
who pile up stolen goods!
You get rich by cheating others.
How long will this go on?’
7 Those you owe money to will suddenly rise up.
They will wake up
and make you tremble with fear.
Then they will take away
everything you have.
8 You have robbed many nations.
So the nations that are left will rob you.
You have spilled human blood.
You have destroyed lands and cities
and everyone in them.
9 “How terrible it will be for the Babylonians!
They build their kingdom with money
that they gained by cheating others.
They have tried to make the kingdom
as secure as possible.
After all, they did not want to be destroyed.
10 They have planned to wipe out many nations.
But they have brought shame on their own kingdom.
So they must pay with their own lives.
11 The stones in the walls of their homes will cry out.
And the wooden beams will echo that cry.
12 “How terrible it will be for the Babylonians!
They build cities by spilling the blood of others.
They establish towns by doing what is wrong.
13 I am the Lord who rules over all.
Human effort is no better than wood that feeds a fire.
So the nations wear themselves out for nothing.
14 The oceans are full of water.
In the same way, the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of my glory.
15 “How terrible it will be for the Babylonians!
They give drinks to their neighbors.
They pour the drinks from wineskins
until their neighbors are drunk.
They want to look at their naked bodies.
16 But the Babylonians will be filled
with shame instead of glory.
So now it is their turn to drink
and be stripped of their clothes.
The cup of anger in my powerful right hand
is going to punish them.
They will be covered with shame instead of glory.
17 The harm they have done to Lebanon
will bring them down.
Because they have killed so many animals,
animals will terrify them.
They have spilled human blood.
They have destroyed lands and cities
and everyone in them.
18 “If someone carves a statue of a god, what is it worth?
What value is there in a god
that teaches lies?
The one who trusts in this kind of god
worships his own creation.
He makes statues of gods that can’t speak.
19 How terrible it will be for the Babylonians!
They say to a wooden god, ‘Come to life!’
They say to a stone god, ‘Wake up!’
Can those gods give advice?
They are covered with gold and silver.
They can’t even breathe.”
20 The Lord is in his holy temple.
Let the whole earth be silent in front of him.
The Widow’s Offering
21 As Jesus looked up, he saw rich people putting their gifts into the temple offering boxes. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 “What I’m about to tell you is true,” Jesus said. “That poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these other people gave a lot because they are rich. But even though she is poor, she put in everything. She had nothing left to live on.”
When the Temple Will Be Destroyed and the Signs of the End
5 Some of Jesus’ disciples were talking about the temple. They spoke about how it was decorated with beautiful stones and with gifts that honored God. But Jesus asked, 6 “Do you see all this? The time will come when not one stone will be left on top of another. Every stone will be thrown down.”
7 “Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”
8 Jesus replied, “Keep watch! Be careful that you are not fooled. Many will come in my name. They will claim, ‘I am he!’ And they will say, ‘The time is near!’ Do not follow them. 9 Do not be afraid when you hear about wars and about fighting against rulers. Those things must happen first. But the end will not come right away.”
10 Then Jesus said to them, “Nation will fight against nation. Kingdom will fight against kingdom. 11 In many places there will be powerful earthquakes. People will go hungry. There will be terrible sicknesses. Things will happen that will make people afraid. There will be great and miraculous signs from heaven.
12 “But before all this, people will arrest you and treat you badly. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison. You will be brought to kings and governors. All this will happen to you because of my name. 13 And so you will be witnesses about me. 14 But make up your mind not to worry ahead of time about how to stand up for yourselves. 15 I will give you words of wisdom. None of your enemies will be able to withstand them or prove them wrong. 16 Even your parents, brothers, sisters, relatives and friends will hand you over to the authorities. The authorities will put some of you to death. 17 Everyone will hate you because of me. 18 But not a hair on your head will be harmed. 19 Remain strong in the faith, and you will receive eternal life.
20 “A time is coming when you will see armies surround Jerusalem. Then you will know that it will soon be destroyed. 21 Those who are in Judea should then escape to the mountains. Those in the city should get out. Those in the country should not enter the city. 22 This is the time when God will punish Jerusalem. Everything will come true, just as it has been written. 23 How awful it will be in those days for pregnant women! How awful for nursing mothers! There will be terrible suffering in the land. There will be great anger against those people. 24 Some will be killed by the sword. Others will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be taken over by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles come to an end.
25 “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. The nations of the earth will be in terrible pain. They will be puzzled by the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26 Terror will make people faint. They will be worried about what is happening in the world. The sun, moon and stars will be shaken from their places. 27 At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud. He will come with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to take place, stand up. Hold your head up with joy and hope. The time when you will be set free will be very close.”
29 Jesus told them a story. “Look at the fig tree and all the trees,” he said. 30 “When you see leaves appear on the branches, you know that summer is near. 31 In the same way, when you see these things happening, you will know that God’s kingdom is near.
32 “What I’m about to tell you is true. The people living now will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away. But my words will never pass away.
34 “Be careful. If you aren’t, your hearts will be loaded down with wasteful living, drunkenness and the worries of life. Then the day the Son of Man returns will close on you like a trap. It will happen suddenly. 35 That day will come on every person who lives on the whole earth. 36 Always keep watching. Pray that you will be able to escape all that is about to happen. Also, pray that you will not be judged guilty when the Son of Man comes.”
37 Each day Jesus taught at the temple. And each evening he went to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives. 38 All the people came to the temple early in the morning. They wanted to hear Jesus speak.
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