M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Queen of Sheba
9 When the queen of Sheba heard reports about Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with riddles. Accompanying her was a huge entourage, with camels carrying spices, large amounts of gold, and precious stones. After she arrived, she told Solomon everything that was on her mind. 2 Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too difficult for him to answer. 3 When the queen of Sheba saw how wise Solomon was, the palace he had built, 4 the food on his table, his servants’ quarters, the function and dress of his attendants, his cupbearers and their dress, and the entirely burned offerings he offered at the Lord’s temple,[a] it took her breath away.
5 “The report I heard about your deeds and wisdom when I was still at home is true,” she said to the king. 6 “I didn’t believe it until I came and saw it with my own eyes. In fact, the half of it wasn’t told to me! You have far more than I was told. 7 Your people and these servants who continually serve you and get to listen to your wisdom are truly happy! 8 Bless the Lord your God because he was pleased to put you on the throne as king for the Lord your God. Because your God loved Israel and wanted to establish them forever, he has made you their king to uphold justice and righteousness.”
9 Then she gave the king one hundred twenty kikkars of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again has such a quantity of spice come to Israel as when the queen of Sheba gave this gift to King Solomon.
10 In addition, Huram’s servants and the servants of Solomon, who had brought gold back from Ophir, also brought algum wood and precious stones. 11 The king made steps[b] for the Lord’s temple and for the royal palace with the algum wood, as well as lyres and harps for the musicians. Never before had anything like them been seen in the land of Judah. 12 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she wanted, even more than she had brought the king. Then she and her servants returned to her homeland.
Solomon’s wealth
13 Solomon received an annual income of six hundred sixty-six kikkars of gold, 14 not including income from the traders and merchants. All the Arabian kings and the governors of the land also brought Solomon gold and silver. 15 King Solomon made two hundred body-sized shields of hammered gold, using fifteen pounds[c] of hammered gold in each shield; 16 and three hundred small shields of hammered gold, using seven and a half pounds[d] of hammered gold in each shield. The king placed these in the Forest of Lebanon Palace.
17 The king also made a large ivory throne and covered it with pure gold. 18 Six steps led up to the throne, which had a gold footrest attached. Two lions stood beside the armrests on both sides of the throne. 19 Another twelve lions stood on both sides of the six steps. No other kingdom had anything like this.
20 All King Solomon’s drinking cups were made of gold, and all the items in the Forest of Lebanon Palace were made of pure gold, not silver, since even silver wasn’t considered good enough in Solomon’s time! 21 The royal fleet sailed to Tarshish with the servants of Huram, returning once every three years with gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.[e]
22 King Solomon far exceeded all the earth’s kings in wealth and wisdom, 23 and kings of every nation wanted an audience with Solomon in order to hear his God-given wisdom. 24 Year after year they came with tribute: objects of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.
25 Solomon also had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, together with twelve thousand horsemen that he kept in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 26 He ruled all the kings from the Euphrates[f] to the Philistines’ land and the border of Egypt. 27 In Jerusalem, the king made silver as common as stones and cedar as common as sycamore trees that grow in the foothills. 28 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and every land.
Solomon’s remaining days
29 The rest of Solomon’s deeds, from beginning to end, aren’t they written in the records of the prophet Nathan, the prophecies of Ahijah from Shiloh, and the visions of the seer Iddo concerning Jeroboam, Nebat’s son? 30 Solomon ruled over all Israel in Jerusalem for forty years. 31 Solomon lay down with his ancestors and was buried in David’s City with his father. His son Rehoboam succeeded him as king.
Greeting
1 Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and brother of James.
To those who are called, loved by God the Father and kept safe by Jesus Christ.
2 May you have more and more mercy, peace, and love.
Certain judgment of the false teachers
3 Dear friends, I wanted very much to write to you concerning the salvation we share. Instead, I must write to urge you to fight for the faith delivered once and for all to God’s holy people. 4 Godless people have slipped in among you. They turn the grace of our God into unrestrained immorality and deny our only master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Judgment was passed against them a long time ago.
5 I want to remind you of something you already know very well. The Lord, who once saved a people out of Egypt, later destroyed those who didn’t maintain their faith. 6 I remind you too of the angels who didn’t keep their position of authority but deserted their own home. The Lord has kept them in eternal chains in the underworld until the judgment of the great day. 7 In the same way, Sodom and Gomorrah and neighboring towns practiced immoral sexual relations and pursued other sexual urges. By undergoing the punishment of eternal fire, they serve as a warning.
8 Yet, even knowing this, these dreamers in the same way pollute themselves, reject authority, and slander the angels. 9 The archangel Michael, when he argued with the devil about Moses’ body, did not dare charge him with slander. Instead, he said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 But these people slander whatever they don’t understand. They are destroyed by what they know instinctively, as though they were irrational animals.
Prophecies about the false teachers
11 They are damned, for they follow in the footsteps of Cain. For profit they give themselves over to Balaam’s error. They are destroyed in the uprising of Korah. 12 These people are like jagged rocks just below the surface of the water waiting to snag you when they join your love feasts. They feast with you without reverence. They care only for themselves. They are waterless clouds carried along by the winds; fruitless autumn trees, twice dead, uprooted; 13 wild waves of the sea foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom the darkness of the underworld is reserved forever.
14 Enoch, who lived seven generations after Adam, prophesied about these people when he said, “See, the Lord comes with his countless holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on everyone and to convict everyone about every ungodly deed they have committed in their ungodliness as well as all the harsh things that sinful ungodly people have said against him.” 16 These are faultfinding grumblers, living according to their own desires. They speak arrogant words and they show partiality to people when they want a favor in return.
17 But you, dear friends, remember the words spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said to you, “In the end time scoffers will come living according to their own ungodly desires.” 19 These people create divisions. Since they don’t have the Spirit, they are worldly.
A strategy for the faithful
20 But you, dear friends: build each other up on the foundation of your most holy faith, pray in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep each other in the love of God, wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will give you eternal life. 22 Have mercy on those who doubt. 23 Save some by snatching them from the fire. Fearing God, have mercy on some, hating even the clothing contaminated by their sinful urges.
Blessing
24 To the one who is able to protect you from falling,
and to present you blameless and rejoicing before his glorious presence,
25 to the only God our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord,
belong glory, majesty, power, and authority,
before all time, now and forever. Amen.
1 The Lord’s word that came to Zephaniah, Cushi’s son, Gedaliah’s grandson, Amariah’s great-grandson, and Hezekiah’s great-great-grandson in the days of Judah’s King Josiah, Amon’s son.
Judgment on the world and Judah
2 I will wipe out everything from the earth, says the Lord.
3 I will destroy humanity and the beasts;
I will destroy the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea.
I will make the wicked into a heap of ruins;
I will eliminate humanity from the earth, says the Lord.
4 I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
I will eliminate what’s left of Baal from this place
and the names of the priests of foreign gods,[a]
5 those bowing down to the forces of heaven on the rooftops,
those swearing by the Lord along with those swearing by Milcom,
6 those turning away from the Lord,
those who don’t seek the Lord and don’t pursue him.
The day of the Lord
7 Hush before the Lord God,
for the day of the Lord is near!
The Lord has established a sacrifice;
he has made holy those he has summoned.
8 On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice,
I will punish the princes, the king’s sons,
and all those wearing foreign clothes.
9 I will punish the one leaping on the threshold on that day,
those filling the house of their master with violence and deceit.
10 On that day—says the Lord—
an outcry will resound from the Fish Gate,
wailing from the second quarter,
a loud crash from the hills.
11 The ones who grind the grain[b] will wail;
all the merchants will be silenced.
I will eliminate all those weighing out silver.
12 At that time, I will search Jerusalem with lamps;
I will punish the men growing fat on the sediment in their wine,
those saying to themselves, The Lord won’t do good or evil.
13 Their wealth will be looted and their houses destroyed.
They will rebuild houses, but not live in them;
they will plant vineyards, but not drink the wine.
14 The great day of the Lord is near;
it is near and coming very quickly.
The sound of the day of the Lord is bitter.
A warrior screams there.
15 That day is a day of fury,
a day of distress and anxiety,
a day of desolation and devastation,
a day of darkness and gloominess,
a day of clouds and deep darkness,
16 a day for blowing the trumpet and alarm against their invincible cities
and against their high towers.
17 I will make humanity suffer;
they will walk like the blind
because they sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
and their intestines like manure.
18 Moreover, their silver and their gold won’t be able to deliver them
on the day of the Lord’s fury.
His jealousy will devour the entire land with fire;
he will make an end,
a truly horrible one,
for all the inhabitants of the land.
Jesus before Pilate
23 The whole assembly got up and led Jesus to Pilate and 2 began to accuse him. They said, “We have found this man misleading our people, opposing the payment of taxes to Caesar, and claiming that he is the Christ, a king.”
3 Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
Jesus replied, “That’s what you say.”
4 Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no legal basis for action against this man.”
5 But they objected strenuously, saying, “He agitates the people with his teaching throughout Judea—starting from Galilee all the way here.”
Jesus before Herod
6 Hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. 7 When he learned that Jesus was from Herod’s district, Pilate sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time. 8 Herod was very glad to see Jesus, for he had heard about Jesus and had wanted to see him for quite some time. He was hoping to see Jesus perform some sign. 9 Herod questioned Jesus at length, but Jesus didn’t respond to him. 10 The chief priests and the legal experts were there, fiercely accusing Jesus. 11 Herod and his soldiers treated Jesus with contempt. Herod mocked him by dressing Jesus in elegant clothes and sent him back to Pilate. 12 Pilate and Herod became friends with each other that day. Before this, they had been enemies.
Jesus and Barabbas
13 Then Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people. 14 He said to them, “You brought this man before me as one who was misleading the people. I have questioned him in your presence and found nothing in this man’s conduct that provides a legal basis for the charges you have brought against him. 15 Neither did Herod, because Herod returned him to us. He’s done nothing that deserves death. 16 Therefore, I’ll have him whipped, then let him go.”[a]
18 But with one voice they shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us.” (19 Barabbas had been thrown into prison because of a riot that had occurred in the city, and for murder.)
20 Pilate addressed them again because he wanted to release Jesus.
21 They kept shouting out, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
22 For the third time, Pilate said to them, “Why? What wrong has he done? I’ve found no legal basis for the death penalty in his case. Therefore, I will have him whipped, then let him go.”
23 But they were adamant, shouting their demand that Jesus be crucified. Their voices won out. 24 Pilate issued his decision to grant their request. 25 He released the one they asked for, who had been thrown into prison because of a riot and murder. But he handed Jesus over to their will.
On the way to the cross
26 As they led Jesus away, they grabbed Simon, a man from Cyrene, who was coming in from the countryside. They put the cross on his back and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A huge crowd of people followed Jesus, including women, who were mourning and wailing for him. 28 Jesus turned to the women and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t cry for me. Rather, cry for yourselves and your children. 29 The time will come when they will say, ‘Happy are those who are unable to become pregnant, the wombs that never gave birth, and the breasts that never nursed a child.’ 30 Then they will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’[b] 31 If they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
Jesus on the cross
32 They also led two other criminals to be executed with Jesus. 33 When they arrived at the place called The Skull, they crucified him, along with the criminals, one on his right and the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.” They drew lots as a way of dividing up his clothing.
35 The people were standing around watching, but the leaders sneered at him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself if he really is the Christ sent from God, the chosen one.”
36 The soldiers also mocked him. They came up to him, offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you really are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” 38 Above his head was a notice of the formal charge against him. It read “This is the king of the Jews.”
39 One of the criminals hanging next to Jesus insulted him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
40 Responding, the other criminal spoke harshly to him, “Don’t you fear God, seeing that you’ve also been sentenced to die? 41 We are rightly condemned, for we are receiving the appropriate sentence for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
43 Jesus replied, “I assure you that today you will be with me in paradise.”
Jesus’ death
44 It was now about noon, and darkness covered the whole earth until about three o’clock, 45 while the sun stopped shining. Then the curtain in the sanctuary tore down the middle. 46 Crying out in a loud voice, Jesus said, “Father, into your hands I entrust my life.”[c] After he said this, he breathed for the last time.
47 When the centurion saw what happened, he praised God, saying, “It’s really true: this man was righteous.” 48 All the crowds who had come together to see this event returned to their homes beating their chests after seeing what had happened. 49 And everyone who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance observing these things.
Jesus’ burial
50 Now there was a man named Joseph who was a member of the council. He was a good and righteous man. 51 He hadn’t agreed with the plan and actions of the council. He was from the Jewish city of Arimathea and eagerly anticipated God’s kingdom. 52 This man went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 53 Taking it down, he wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid it in a tomb carved out of the rock, in which no one had ever been buried. 54 It was the Preparation Day for the Sabbath, and the Sabbath was quickly approaching. 55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph. They saw the tomb and how Jesus’ body was laid in it, 56 then they went away and prepared fragrant spices and perfumed oils. They rested on the Sabbath, in keeping with the commandment.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible