M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Saul Saves Jabesh Gilead
11 Nahash[a] the Ammonite went and set up camp against Jabesh Gilead. So all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.” 2 Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make a treaty with you: I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you in order to dishonor all Israel.”
3 The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days, so that we can send messengers throughout all the borders of Israel. Then, if there is no one to rescue us, we will come out to you.” 4 When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and spoke these words in the hearing of the people, all the people cried out and wept loudly.
5 Just then Saul came in from the field, following the oxen. Saul asked, “What has upset the people? Why are they weeping?” So they told him about the words of the men of Jabesh.
6 When Saul heard those words, the Spirit of God rushed upon him with power, and his anger burned intensely. 7 He took a yoke of oxen and cut them to pieces and sent the pieces throughout all the borders of Israel in the hands of messengers who said, “This is what will be done to the oxen of anyone who does not turn out to follow Saul and Samuel.” The dread of the Lord fell on the people, and they turned out as one man. 8 Saul counted them in Bezek. The men of Israel totaled three hundred thousand and the men of Judah thirty thousand.
9 They said to the messengers who had come, “Tell the men of Jabesh Gilead, ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will be rescued.’”
The messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, and they were very happy. 10 So the men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you can do with us whatever seems good to you.”
11 On the next day, Saul split the army into three divisions. They broke into the middle of the Ammonite camp during the last watch before morning and struck them down until the heat of the day. Those who survived were so scattered that no two of them were left together.
12 Then the people said to Samuel, “Who was it who said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Hand those men over to us, so we can put them to death!”
13 But Saul said, “No one shall be put to death today, because today the Lord has rescued Israel.”
14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come! Let’s go to Gilgal and confirm the kingship there.” 15 So all the people went to Gilgal, and they made Saul king in the presence of the Lord there at Gilgal. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings before the Lord, and Saul and all the men of Israel held a great celebration there.
The Blessings of the True Israel
9 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying—my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit 2 that I have great sorrow and continuous pain in my heart. 3 For I almost wish that I myself could be cursed and separated from Christ in place of my brothers, my relatives according to the flesh, 4 those who are Israelites. Theirs are the adoption as sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, came the Christ, who is God over all, eternally blessed. Amen.
6 This does not mean that God’s word has failed, because not all who are descended from Israel are really Israel, 7 and not all who are descended from Abraham are really his children. On the contrary, “Your line of descent will be traced through Isaac.”[a] 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are counted as his descendants. 9 For this is what the promise said: “I will arrive at this set time, and Sarah will have a son.”[b]
God’s Choice Is Based on His Mercy
10 Not only that, but Rebekah also had children by one man, our forefather, Isaac. 11 Even before the twins were born or did anything good or bad, in order that God’s purpose in election might continue— 12 not by works but because of him who calls us—it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.”[c] 13 Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”[d]
14 What will we say then? Does this mean that God is unjust? Absolutely not! 15 For God says to Moses:
I will show mercy to whom I show mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.[e]
16 So then, it does not depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.
17 Indeed, the Scripture says in regard to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I caused you to stand, that I may demonstrate my power in how I deal with you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.”[f] 18 So then, God shows mercy to whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires.
19 Then you will say to me, “Why does God still find fault? For who has ever succeeded in resisting his will?” 20 But who are you, a mere human being, to talk back to God? Shall the thing that is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?” No. 21 Doesn’t the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay one pot for special use and another for ordinary use?
22 What if God, although he wanted to demonstrate his wrath and make his power known, endured with great patience the objects of wrath—ripe for destruction?[g] 23 And what if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of mercy whom he prepared in advance for glory, 24 including us, whom he called—not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles.
God Shows Mercy to Gentiles and the Remnant of Israel
25 This is also what God says in Hosea:
Those who were not my people, I will call my people,
and she who was not loved, I will call my loved one.[h]
26 And, it will be that in the place where they were told,
“You are not my people,”
there they will be called “sons of the living God.”[i]
27 And Isaiah cries out about Israel:
Although the number of the sons of Israel is as great as the sand
of the sea,
only the remnant will be saved.
28 For the Lord, who carries out what he says without delay,[j]
will do what he said completely and decisively on the earth.[k]
29 Just as Isaiah said earlier:
If the Lord of Armies[l] had not left us some descendants,
we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been
like Gomorrah.[m]
The Majority of Jews Rejected Justification by Faith
30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who were not pursuing righteousness, have obtained righteousness, a righteousness that is by faith. 31 But Israel, while pursuing the law as a way of righteousness, did not reach it. 32 Why? Because they kept pursuing it not by faith, but as if it comes by works.[n] They stumbled over the stumbling stone. 33 Just as it is written:
A Prophecy Against Moab
48 This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says.
Woe to Nebo! It will be destroyed.
Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured.
The stronghold will be disgraced and broken down.
2 There will no longer be any praise for Moab.
They have plotted evil against her in Heshbon:
“Come, let us destroy that nation!”
You will be silenced, O Madmen.[a]
The sword will pursue you.
3 The sound of a cry from Horonaim,
desolation and great destruction!
4 Moab is destroyed.
Her little ones will cry out.
5 Now they go up the ascent to Luhith,
weeping continually.
And on the descent of Horonaim
they have heard the cry of distress
caused by the destruction.
6 Flee! Save your lives!
Be like a juniper bush[b] in the wilderness.
7 Because you trusted in your works and treasures,
you too will be taken.
Chemosh will go into exile,
together with his priests and officials.
8 The destroyer will come against every city,
and no city will escape.
The valley will also perish,
and the tableland will be destroyed, as the Lord has spoken.
9 Give Moab a blossom, but it will blow away completely.[c]
Her cities will become desolate
with no one to live in them.
10 Cursed is the one who is negligent in doing the Lord’s work.
Cursed is the one who holds back his sword from bloodshed.
11 Moab has been at peace since its youth,
undisturbed, like wine on its dregs,
never poured from one vessel to another.
It has never gone into captivity.
That is why it tastes the same as it always did,
and its aroma is unchanged.
12 Therefore, know this: the days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will send to Moab people who pour,
and they will pour it out.
They will drain its containers
and smash its jars.
13 Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh,
as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, in which they trusted.
14 How can you say, “We are mighty warriors,
courageous soldiers?”
15 Moab is laid waste,
and they have gone up into its cities.
Its finest young men have gone down to be slaughtered.
The declaration of the King,
whose name is the Lord of Armies:
16 The destruction of Moab is approaching,
and its disaster hurries swiftly.
17 Mourn for it, all you surrounding nations.
All you who know its name say,
“How the mighty scepter is broken,
the glorious staff!”
18 Come down from your glory,
and sit on the parched ground,
you[d] who dwell in Dibon.
Moab’s destroyer has come up against you.
He has destroyed your strongholds.
19 Stand beside the road and watch,
you[e] who dwell in Aroer.
Ask him who flees, ask her who escapes,
“What has happened?”
20 Moab is withered,
for it is broken down.
Wail and cry!
Tell it by the Arnon, that Moab has been destroyed.
21 Judgment has come upon the tableland, on Holon, on Jahzah, on Mepha’ath, 22 on Dibon, on Nebo, on Beth Diblathaim, 23 on Kiriathaim, on Beth Gamul, on Beth Meon, 24 on Kerioth, on Bozrah, and on all the towns of the land of Moab, far and near.
25 The horn of Moab is cut off,
and his arm is broken, declares the Lord.
26 Make him drunk,
because he exalted himself against the Lord.
Moab will wallow in his vomit,
and he will be ridiculed.
27 Was not Israel ridiculed by you?
Was Israel caught among thieves,
so that whenever you speak of him,
you shake your head?
28 You who live in Moab, abandon the cities and dwell in the rocks.
Be like a dove that makes her nest over the mouth of a chasm.
29 We have heard about the pride of Moab.
He is very arrogant.
He is smug, he is conceited,
he is proud, and his heart is haughty.
30 I know his insolence, says the Lord.
It is empty, and so are his deeds.
31 Therefore I will wail for Moab.
I will cry out for all of Moab.
I will mourn for the men of Kir Hareseth.
32 I will weep for you, vine of Sibmah,
more than Jazer.
Your branches passed over the sea.
They reached to the Sea of[f] Jazer.
The destroyer has fallen on your summer fruit
and on your grapes.
33 Gladness and joy have been taken from the fertile field
and from the land of Moab.
I have stopped the flow of wine from the winepresses.
No one will tread them with shouts of joy.
The shouting is not shouting for joy.
34 There is an outcry from Heshbon to Elealeh.
They raise their voices as far as Jahaz,
from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah,
and even the waters of Nimrim have dried up.
35 In Moab, declares the Lord,
I will stop the one who presents offerings on the high places
and burns incense to his gods.
36 Therefore, my heart wails like a flute for Moab,
and for the men of Kir Hareseth my heart wails like a flute.
Even the wealth they have acquired is gone.
37 Every head is shaved, and every beard is clipped.
Every hand is cut, and there is sackcloth around their waists.
38 On all the rooftops of Moab
and in its streets there is wailing,
because I have broken Moab like an unwanted jar,
declares the Lord.
39 How broken she is!
How they wail!
How Moab turns her back in shame!
So Moab will be ridiculed
and be a horror to all around.
40 For the Lord says:
Watch, he will fly like an eagle,
and he will spread his wings against Moab.
41 Kerioth is taken,
and the strongholds are seized.
On that day the hearts of Moab’s strong warriors
will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
42 Moab will be destroyed as a nation
because he has defied the Lord.
43 Panic, pit, and peril[g] are before you,
you who live in Moab, declares the Lord.
44 Whoever flees from the panic will fall into the pit.
Whoever gets out of the pit will be trapped in the snare,
for I will bring on Moab the year of their punishment,
says the Lord.
45 Those who fled stand helpless under the shadow of Heshbon,
because a fire has gone out from Heshbon,
and a flame from the midst of Sihon.
It has burned the foreheads of Moab,
and the tops of the heads of those who boast.[h]
46 Woe to you, O Moab!
The people of Chemosh are destroyed,
for your sons are taken away captive,
and your daughters go into exile.
47 Nevertheless, I will reverse the captivity of Moab in days to come,
declares the Lord.
This is the conclusion of the judgment against Moab.
Psalm 25
Teach Me Your Ways
Heading
By David.
A Prayer for Protection
1 To you, O Lord, I will lift up my soul.
2 In you I have trusted, O my God.
Do not let me be put to shame.
Do not let my enemies triumph over me.
3 All who hope in you will never be put to shame,
but those who are treacherous for no reason will be put to shame.
A Prayer for Forgiveness
4 Make known to me your ways, O Lord.
Teach me your paths.
5 Make me walk in your truth and teach me,
because you are the God who saves me.
In you I hope all day long.
6 Remember, O Lord, your compassion and your mercy,
for they are from eternity.[a]
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways.
According to your mercy remember me,
because of your goodness, O Lord.
8 Good and upright is the Lord.
Therefore, he instructs sinners in the right way.
9 He directs the humble to what is just,
and he teaches the humble his way.
10 All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth
for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
11 For the sake of your name, O Lord,
you forgive my guilt, although it is great.
A Prayer for a Godly Life
12 Who, then, is the man who fears the Lord?
The Lord will instruct him in the way he chooses.
13 That man will enjoy a good life,
and his descendants will possess the land.
14 The guidance[b] of the Lord is with those who fear him.
His covenant will give them knowledge.
A Second Prayer for Protection
15 My eyes are always on the Lord,
because he frees my feet from the net.
16 Turn toward me and be gracious to me,
because I am lonely and afflicted.
17 The distress of my heart increases.[c]
Bring me out of my anguish.
18 See my affliction and my trouble,
and take away all my sins.
19 See my enemies—
how they have increased,
and how violently they hate me!
20 Guard my life and rescue me.
Do not let me be put to shame,
for I have taken refuge in you.
21 May integrity and uprightness protect me,
because I wait for you.
22 Redeem Israel, O God, from all its distress!
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.