M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Solomon Asks for Wisdom

3 Solomon made an agreement with the king of Egypt by marrying his daughter. Solomon brought her to Jerusalem. At this time Solomon was still building his palace and the Temple of the Lord. He was also building a wall around Jerusalem. ² The Temple had not yet been finished. So people were still offering animal sacrifices at altars in many places of worship. ³ Solomon showed that he loved the Lord. He did this by following the commands his father David had given him. But Solomon still used the many places of worship to offer sacrifices and to burn incense.

⁴ King Solomon went to Gibeon to offer a sacrifice. He went there because it was the most important place of worship. He offered 1,000 burnt offerings on that altar. ⁵ While he was at Gibeon, the Lord came to him in a dream during the night. God said, “Ask for anything you want. I will give it to you.”

⁶ Solomon answered, “You were very kind to your servant, my father David. He obeyed you. He was honest and lived right. And you showed great kindness to him when you allowed his son to be king after him. ⁷ Lord my God, you have allowed me to be king in my father’s place. But I am like a little child. I do not have the wisdom I need to do what I must do. ⁸ I, your servant, am here among your chosen people. There are too many of them to count. ⁹ So I ask that you give me wisdom. Then I can rule the people in the right way. Then I will know the difference between right and wrong. Without wisdom, it is impossible to rule this great people of yours.”

¹⁰ The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked him for this. ¹¹ So God said to him, “You did not ask for a long life. And you did not ask for riches for yourself. You did not ask for the death of your enemies. Since you asked for wisdom to make the right decisions, ¹² I will give you what you asked. I will give you wisdom and understanding. Your wisdom will be greater than anyone has had in the past. And there will never be anyone in the future like you. ¹³ Also, I will give you what you did not ask for. You will have riches and honor. During your life no other king will be as great as you. ¹⁴ I ask you to follow me and obey my laws and commands. Do this as your father David did. If you do, I will also give you a long life.”

¹⁵ Then Solomon woke up. He knew that God had talked to him in the dream. Then he went to Jerusalem and stood before the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord. There he gave burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord. After that, he gave a feast for all of his leaders and officers.

Solomon Makes a Wise Decision

¹⁶ One day two women who were prostitutes came to Solomon. They stood before him. ¹⁷ One of the women said, “My master, this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby while she was there with me. ¹⁸ Three days later this woman also gave birth to a baby. No one else was in the house with us. There were only the two of us. ¹⁹ One night this woman rolled over on her baby, and it died. ²⁰ So during the night she took my son from my bed while I was asleep. She carried him to her bed. Then she put the dead baby in my bed. ²¹ The next morning I got up to feed my baby. But I saw that he was dead! Then I looked at him more closely. I saw that he was not my son.”

²² But the other woman said, “No! The living baby is my son. The dead baby is yours!”

But the first woman said, “No! The dead baby is yours, and the living one is mine!” So the two women argued before the king.

²³ Then King Solomon said, “Each of you says the living baby is your own. And each of you says the dead baby belongs to the other woman.”

²⁴ Then King Solomon sent his servants to get a sword. When they brought it to him, ²⁵ he said, “Cut the living baby into two pieces. Give each woman half of the baby.”

²⁶ The real mother of the living child was full of love for her son. She said to the king, “Please, my master, don’t kill him! Give the baby to her!”

But the other woman said, “Neither of us will have him. Cut him into two pieces!”

²⁷ Then King Solomon said, “Give the baby to the first woman. Don’t kill him. She is the real mother.”

²⁸ When the people of Israel heard about King Solomon’s decision, they respected him very much. They saw he had wisdom from God to make the right decisions.

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am an apostle because that is what God wanted.

To God’s holy people living in Ephesus,^[a] believers in Christ Jesus.

² Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ, God has given us every spiritual blessing in heaven. ⁴ In Christ, he chose us before the world was made. In his love he chose us to be his holy people—people without blame before him. ⁵ And before the world was made, God decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ. That was what he wanted and what pleased him. ⁶ This brings praise to God because of his wonderful grace. God gave that grace to us freely, in Christ, the One he loves. ⁷ In Christ we are set free by the blood of his death. And so we have forgiveness of sins because of God’s rich grace. ⁸ God gave us that grace fully and freely. God, with full wisdom and understanding, ⁹ let us know his secret purpose. This was what God wanted, and he planned to do it through Christ. ¹⁰ His goal was to carry out his plan when the right time came. He planned that all things in heaven and on earth would be joined together in Christ as the head.

¹¹ In Christ we were chosen to be God’s people. God had already chosen us to be his people, because that is what he wanted. And God is the One who makes everything agree with what he decides and wants. ¹² We are the first people who hoped in Christ. And we were chosen so that we would bring praise to God’s glory. ¹³ So it is with you. You heard the true teaching—the Good News about your salvation. When you heard it, you believed in Christ. And in Christ, God put his special mark on you by giving you the Holy Spirit that he had promised. ¹⁴ That Holy Spirit is the guarantee that we will get what God promised for his people. This will bring full freedom to the people who belong to God, to bring praise to God’s glory.

Paul’s Prayer

^15-16 That is why I always remember you in my prayers and always thank God for you. I have always done this since the time I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people. ¹⁷ I always pray to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ—to the glorious Father. I pray that he will give you a spirit that will make you wise in the knowledge of God—the knowledge that he has shown you. ¹⁸ I pray that you will have greater understanding in your heart. Then you will know the hope that God has chosen to give us. I pray that you will know that the blessings God has promised his holy people are rich and glorious. ¹⁹ And you will know that God’s power is very great for us who believe. That power is the same as the great strength ²⁰ God used to raise Christ from death and put him at his right side in heaven. ²¹ God made Christ more important than all rulers, authorities, powers, and kings. Christ is more important than anything in this world or in the next world. ²² God put everything under his power. And God made him the head over everything for the church. ²³ The church is Christ’s body. The church is filled with Christ, and Christ fills everything in every way.

The Leaders Are Like Shepherds

34 The Lord spoke his word to me. He said: ² “Human being, prophesy against the leaders of Israel, who are like shepherds. Prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Lord God says: How terrible it will be for the shepherds of Israel who feed only themselves! Why don’t the shepherds feed the flock? ³ You eat the milk curds from the sheep. You clothe yourselves with the wool from the sheep. You kill the fat sheep. But you do not feed the flock. ⁴ You have not made the weak strong. You have not healed the sick. You have not put bandages on those that were hurt. You have not brought back those who strayed away. You have not searched for the lost. You ruled the sheep with cruel force. ⁵ The sheep were scattered because there was no shepherd. Then they became food for every wild animal. ⁶ My flock wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over all the face of the earth. And no one searched or looked for them.

⁷ “‘So, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord God says: ⁸ As surely as I live, my flock has been caught. It has become food for all the wild animals. This is because the flock has no shepherd. The shepherds did not search for my flock. No, they fed themselves instead of my flock. ⁹ So, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. ¹⁰ This is what the Lord God says: I am against the shepherds. I will blame them for what has happened to my sheep. I will not let them tend the flock anymore. Then the shepherds will stop feeding themselves. And I will take my flock from their mouths. My sheep will no longer be their food.

¹¹ “‘This is what the Lord God says: I, myself, will search for my sheep. I will take care of them. ¹² A shepherd will take care of his scattered flock when it is found. In the same way I will take care of my sheep. I will save them from all the places where they are scattered. I will do this on a cloudy and dark day. ¹³ I will bring them out from the nations. I will gather them from the countries. I will bring them to their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains and in the ravines of Israel. And I will feed them in all the places where people live in the land. ¹⁴ I will feed them in a good pasture. They will eat grass on the high mountains of Israel. They will lie down on good ground where they eat grass. They will eat in rich grassland on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I will feed my flock and lead them to rest, says the Lord God. ¹⁶ I will search for the lost. I will bring back those that were scattered. I will put bandages on those that were hurt. I will make the weak strong. I will destroy those sheep that are fat and strong. I will tend the sheep with fairness.

¹⁷ “‘This is what the Lord God says: And as for you, my flock, I will judge between one sheep and another. I will judge between the male sheep and the male goats. ¹⁸ Is it not enough for you to eat grass in the good land? Must you crush the rest of the grass with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you make the rest of the water muddy with your feet? ¹⁹ Must my flock eat what you crush? And must they drink what you make muddy with your feet?

²⁰ “‘So this is what the Lord God says to them: I, myself, will judge between the fat sheep and the thin sheep. ²¹ You push with your side and with your shoulder. You knock down all the weak sheep with your horns. You do this until you have forced them away. ²² So I will save my flock. They will not be hurt anymore. I will judge between one sheep and another. ²³ Then I will put one shepherd over them, my servant David. He will feed them. He will tend them and will be their shepherd. ²⁴ Then I, the Lord, will be their God. And my servant David will be a ruler among them. I, the Lord, have spoken.

²⁵ “‘And I will make an agreement of peace with my sheep. I will remove harmful animals from the land. Then the sheep will live safely in the desert. And they will sleep in the woods without danger. ²⁶ I will bless them and let them live around my hill. I will cause the rains to come when it is time for them. There will be showers to bless them. ²⁷ Also the trees of the field will give their fruit. The land will give its harvest. And the sheep will be safe on their land. Then they will know that I am the Lord. I will break the bars of their captivity. And I will save them from the power of those who made them slaves. ²⁸ They will not be led captive by the nations again. The wild animals will not eat them. But they will live safely. No one will make them afraid. ²⁹ I will give them a place famous for its good crops. Then they will no longer suffer from hunger in the land. They will not suffer the insults of other nations anymore. ³⁰ Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them. The nation of Israel will know that they are my people, says the Lord God. ³¹ And you, my sheep, are the sheep of my pasture. You are my people and I am your God, says the Lord God.’”

A Prayer Against the Enemies

A song of Asaph.

Wishing to Be in the Temple

For the director of music. By the gittith. A song of the sons of Korah.