M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
5 Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of the Lord was finished. Solomon brought in the things that his father David had dedicated and stored the silver, the gold, and all the vessels in the treasuries of the house of God.(A)
The Ark Brought into the Temple
2 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the ancestral houses of the people of Israel, in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.(B) 3 And all the Israelites assembled before the king at the festival that is in the seventh month. 4 And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites carried the ark.(C) 5 So they brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. 6 King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be numbered or counted. 7 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. 8 For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering above the ark and its poles. 9 The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place[a] in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside; they are there to this day.(D) 10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant[b] with the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt.(E)
11 Now when the priests came out of the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard to their divisions),(F) 12 all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, their sons and kindred, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with one hundred twenty priests who were trumpeters.(G) 13 It was the duty of the trumpeters and singers together to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord, and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord,
“For he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever,”
the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud,(H) 14 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.(I)
Dedication of the Temple
6 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would reside in thick darkness.(J) 2 I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell forever.”
3 Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. 4 And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to my father David, saying, 5 ‘Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any of the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, so that my name might be there, and I chose no one as ruler over my people Israel, 6 but I have chosen Jerusalem in order that my name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’(K) 7 My father David had it in mind to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.(L) 8 But the Lord said to my father David, ‘You did well to consider building a house for my name; 9 nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ 10 Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made, for I have succeeded my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 11 There I have set the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with the people of Israel.”(M)
Testing the Spirits
4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.(A) 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus[a] is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.(B) 4 Little children, you are from God and have conquered them, for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and whoever is not from God does not listen to us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.(C)
God Is Love
7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.(D) 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.(E) 10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.(F) 11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.(G) 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us.(H)
13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. 15 God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.(I) 16 So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.
God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world.(J) 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. 19 We love[b] because he first loved us. 20 Those who say, “I love God,” and hate a brother or sister are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.(K) 21 The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.
Ruin Imminent and Inevitable
3 Woe, city of bloodshed,
utterly deceitful, full of plunder—
no end to the prey!(A)
2 The crack of whip and rumble of wheel,
galloping horse and bounding chariot!(B)
3 Horsemen charging,
flashing sword and glittering spear,
piles of dead,
heaps of corpses,
dead bodies without end—
they stumble over the bodies!(C)
4 Because of the countless debaucheries of the prostitute,
gracefully alluring, mistress of sorcery,
who enslaves[a] nations through her debaucheries
and peoples through her sorcery,(D)
5 I am against you,
says the Lord of hosts,
and will lift up your skirts over your face,
and I will let nations look on your nakedness
and kingdoms on your shame.(E)
6 I will throw filth at you
and treat you with contempt
and make you a spectacle.(F)
7 Then all who see you will shrink from you and say,
“Nineveh is devastated; who will bemoan her?”
Where shall I seek comforters for you?(G)
8 Are you better than Thebes[b]
that sat by the Nile,
with water around her,
her rampart a sea,
water her wall?(H)
9 Cush was her strength,
Egypt, too, and that without limit;
Put and the Libyans were her[c] helpers.(I)
10 Yet she became an exile;
she went into captivity;
even her infants were dashed in pieces
at the head of every street;
lots were cast for her nobles;
all her dignitaries were bound in fetters.(J)
11 You also will be drunken;
you will go into hiding;[d]
you will seek
a refuge from the enemy.(K)
12 All your fortresses are like fig trees
with first-ripe figs—
if shaken they fall
into the mouth of the eater.(L)
13 Look at your troops:
they are women in your midst.
The gates of your land
are wide open to your foes;
fire has devoured the bars of your gates.(M)
14 Draw water for the siege;
strengthen your forts;
trample the clay;
tread the mortar;
take hold of the brick mold!
15 There the fire will devour you;
the sword will cut you off.
It will devour you like the locust.
Multiply yourselves like the locust;
multiply like the grasshopper!(N)
16 You increased your merchants
more than the stars of the heavens.
The locust sheds its skin and flies away.
17 Your guards are like grasshoppers,
your scribes like swarms[e] of locusts
settling on the fences
on a cold day—
when the sun rises, they fly away;
no one knows where they have gone.
18 Your shepherds are asleep,
O king of Assyria;
your nobles slumber.
Your people are scattered on the mountains
with no one to gather them.(O)
19 There is no assuaging your hurt;
your wound is mortal.
All who hear the news about you
clap their hands over you.
For who has ever escaped
your endless cruelty?(P)
Jesus and Zacchaeus
19 He entered Jericho and was passing through it.(A) 2 A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way.(B) 5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7 All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.”(C) 8 Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”(D) 9 Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.(E) 10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”
The Parable of the Ten Pounds
11 As they were listening to this, he went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.(F) 12 So he said, “A nobleman went to a distant region to receive royal power for himself and then return.(G) 13 He summoned ten of his slaves and gave them ten pounds and said to them, ‘Do business with these until I come back.’ 14 But the citizens of his country hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to rule over us.’ 15 When he returned, having received royal power, he ordered these slaves to whom he had given the money to be summoned so that he might find out what they had gained by doing business. 16 The first came forward and said, ‘Lord, your pound has made ten more pounds.’ 17 He said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because you have been trustworthy in a very small thing, take charge of ten cities.’(H) 18 Then the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your pound has made five pounds.’ 19 He said to him, ‘And you, rule over five cities.’ 20 Then the other came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your pound. I wrapped it up in a piece of cloth, 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are a harsh man; you take what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.’(I) 22 He said to him, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked slave! You knew, did you, that I was a harsh man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow?(J) 23 Why, then, did you not put my money into the bank? Then when I returned, I could have collected it with interest.’ 24 He said to the bystanders, ‘Take the pound from him and give it to the one who has ten pounds.’ 25 (And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten pounds!’) 26 ‘I tell you, to all those who have, more will be given, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.(K) 27 But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to rule over them—bring them here and slaughter them in my presence.’ ”
Jesus’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
28 After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.(L)
29 When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ” 32 So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them.(M) 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35 Then they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road.(N) 37 Now as he was approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38 saying,
“Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
and glory in the highest heaven!”(O)
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.”(P) 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”(Q)
Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem
41 As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it,(R) 42 saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 Indeed, the days will come upon you when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you and hem you in on every side.(S) 44 They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”[a](T)
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
45 Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things[b] there, 46 and he said, “It is written,
‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’
but you have made it a den of robbers.”(U)
47 Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him,(V) 48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.