15 Minute Daily Reading Plan

The Comeback Part 2

Building Better Devotions

Our God Who Pursues: Guiding Us Back to Him

Someone Else's World

Chasing God, Not Approval

Intentional

How Sweet the Sound

Mark | Reading Plan + Study Questions

The Take Off: Launching Into God’s Purpose

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2CH">
 <div class="chapter ch4" data-usfm="2CH.4">
 <div class="label">4</div><div class="s1">The Temple&#8217;s Furnishings</div><div class="p"> 1He made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high.#4:1 That is, about 30 feet long and wide and 15 feet high or about 9 meters long and wide and 4.5 meters high 2He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits#4:2 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters high. It took a line of thirty cubits#4:2 That is, about 45 feet or about 14 meters to measure around it. 3Below the rim, figures of bulls encircled it&#8212;ten to a cubit.#4:3 That is, about 18 inches or about 45 centimeters The bulls were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.</div><div class="p"> 4The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. 5It was a handbreadth#4:5 That is, about 3 inches or about 7.5 centimeters in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held three thousand baths.#4:5 That is, about 18,000 gallons or about 66,000 liters</div><div class="p"> 6He then made ten basins for washing and placed five on the south side and five on the north. In them the things to be used for the burnt offerings were rinsed, but the Sea was to be used by the priests for washing.</div><div class="p"> 7He made ten gold lampstands according to the specifications for them and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north.</div><div class="p"> 8He made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He also made a hundred gold sprinkling bowls.</div><div class="p"> 9He made the courtyard of the priests, and the large court and the doors for the court, and overlaid the doors with bronze. 10He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner.</div><div class="p"> 11And Huram also made the pots and shovels and sprinkling bowls.</div><div class="p">So Huram finished the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of God:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="li1"> 12the two pillars;</div><div class="li1">the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;</div><div class="li1">the two sets of network decorating the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;</div><div class="li1"> 13the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network, decorating the bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars);</div><div class="li1"> 14the stands with their basins;</div><div class="li1"> 15the Sea and the twelve bulls under it;</div><div class="li1"> 16the pots, shovels, meat forks and all related articles.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p">All the objects that Huram-Abi made for King Solomon for the temple of the Lord were of polished bronze. 17The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Sukkoth and Zarethan.#4:17 Hebrew Zeredatha, a variant of Zarethan 18All these things that Solomon made amounted to so much that the weight of the bronze could not be calculated.</div><div class="p"> 19Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in God&#8217;s temple:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="li1">the golden altar;</div><div class="li1">the tables on which was the bread of the Presence;</div><div class="li1"> 20the lampstands of pure gold with their lamps, to burn in front of the inner sanctuary as prescribed;</div><div class="li1"> 21the gold floral work and lamps and tongs (they were solid gold);</div><div class="li1"> 22the pure gold wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and censers; and the gold doors of the temple: the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and the doors of the main hall.</div><div class="b"></div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2CH">
 <div class="chapter ch5" data-usfm="2CH.5">
 <div class="label">5</div><div class="p"> 1When all the work Solomon had done for the temple of the Lord was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated&#8212;the silver and gold and all the furnishings&#8212;and he placed them in the treasuries of God&#8217;s temple.</div><div class="s1">The Ark Brought to the Temple</div><div class="p"> 2Then Solomon summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the Lord&#8217;s covenant from Zion, the City of David. 3And all the Israelites came together to the king at the time of the festival in the seventh month.</div><div class="p"> 4When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the Levites took up the ark, 5and they brought up the ark and the tent of meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The Levitical priests carried them up; 6and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.</div><div class="p"> 7The priests then brought the ark of the Lord&#8217;s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. 8The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and covered the ark and its carrying poles. 9These poles were so long that their ends, extending from the ark, could be seen from in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today. 10There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.</div><div class="p"> 11The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions. 12All the Levites who were musicians&#8212;Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives&#8212;stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. 13The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;He is good;</div><div class="q2">his love endures forever.&#8221;</div><div class="p">Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud, 14and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2CH">
 <div class="chapter ch6" data-usfm="2CH.6">
 <div class="label">6</div><div class="p"> 1Then Solomon said, &#8220;The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; 2I have built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king turned around and blessed them. 4Then he said:</div><div class="pm">&#8220;Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hands has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to my father David. For he said, 5&#8216;Since the day I brought my people out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built so that my Name might be there, nor have I chosen anyone to be ruler over my people Israel. 6But now I have chosen Jerusalem for my Name to be there, and I have chosen David to rule my people Israel.&#8217;</div><div class="pm"> 7&#8220;My father David had it in his heart to build a temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 8But the Lord said to my father David, &#8216;You did well to have it in your heart to build a temple for my Name. 9Nevertheless, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your own flesh and blood&#8212;he is the one who will build the temple for my Name.&#8217;</div><div class="pm"> 10&#8220;The Lord has kept the promise he made. I have succeeded David my father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and I have built the temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 11There I have placed the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with the people of Israel.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Solomon&#8217;s Prayer of Dedication</div><div class="p"> 12Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. 13Now he had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high,#6:13 That is, about 7 1/2 feet long and wide and 4 1/2 feet high or about 2.3 meters long and wide and 1.4 meters high and had placed it in the center of the outer court. He stood on the platform and then knelt down before the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven. 14He said:</div><div class="pm">&#8220;Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth&#8212;you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 15You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it&#8212;as it is today.</div><div class="pm"> 16&#8220;Now, Lord, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, &#8216;You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me according to my law, as you have done.&#8217; 17And now, Lord, the God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David come true.</div><div class="pm"> 18&#8220;But will God really dwell on earth with humans? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 19Yet, Lord my God, give attention to your servant&#8217;s prayer and his plea for mercy. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence. 20May your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, this place of which you said you would put your Name there. May you hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. 21Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.</div><div class="pm"> 22&#8220;When anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath before your altar in this temple, 23then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty and bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence.</div><div class="pm"> 24&#8220;When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you and when they turn back and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication before you in this temple, 25then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.</div><div class="pm"> 26&#8220;When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 27then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.</div><div class="pm"> 28&#8220;When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when enemies besiege them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, 29and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel&#8212;being aware of their afflictions and pains, and spreading out their hands toward this temple&#8212; 30then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive, and deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know the human heart), 31so that they will fear you and walk in obedience to you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.</div><div class="pm"> 32&#8220;As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm&#8212;when they come and pray toward this temple, 33then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.</div><div class="pm"> 34&#8220;When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to you toward this city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, 35then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.</div><div class="pm"> 36&#8220;When they sin against you&#8212;for there is no one who does not sin&#8212;and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to a land far away or near; 37and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity and say, &#8216;We have sinned, we have done wrong and acted wickedly&#8217;; 38and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity where they were taken, and pray toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and toward the temple I have built for your Name; 39then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you.</div><div class="pm"> 40&#8220;Now, my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.</div><div class="qm1"> 41&#8220;Now arise, Lord God, and come to your resting place,</div><div class="qm2">you and the ark of your might.</div><div class="qm1">May your priests, Lord God, be clothed with salvation,</div><div class="qm2">may your faithful people rejoice in your goodness.</div><div class="qm1"> 42 Lord God, do not reject your anointed one.</div><div class="qm2">Remember the great love promised to David your servant.&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2CO">
 <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="2CO.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="p"> 1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p">To the church of God in Corinth, together with all his holy people throughout Achaia:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.</div><div class="s1">Praise to the God of All Comfort</div><div class="p"> 3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.</div><div class="p"> 8We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,#1:8 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God&#8217;s family; also in 8:1; 13:11. about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.</div><div class="s1">Paul&#8217;s Change of Plans</div><div class="p"> 12Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity#1:12 Many manuscripts holiness and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God&#8217;s grace. 13For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, 14as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.</div><div class="p"> 15Because I was confident of this, I wanted to visit you first so that you might benefit twice. 16I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send me on my way to Judea. 17Was I fickle when I intended to do this? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say both &#8220;Yes, yes&#8221; and &#8220;No, no&#8221;?</div><div class="p"> 18But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not &#8220;Yes&#8221; and &#8220;No.&#8221; 19For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us&#8212;by me and Silas#1:19 Greek Silvanus, a variant of Silas and Timothy&#8212;was not &#8220;Yes&#8221; and &#8220;No,&#8221; but in him it has always been &#8220;Yes.&#8221; 20For no matter how many promises God has made, they are &#8220;Yes&#8221; in Christ. And so through him the &#8220;Amen&#8221; is spoken by us to the glory of God. 21Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.</div><div class="p"> 23I call God as my witness&#8212;and I stake my life on it&#8212;that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth. 24Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.</div>
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