M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
20 There happened to be there a base and contemptible fellow named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjamite. He blew a trumpet and said, We have no portion in David and no inheritance in the son of Jesse! Every man to his tents, O Israel!
2 So all the men of Israel withdrew from David and followed Sheba son of Bichri; but the men of Judah stayed faithfully with their king, from the Jordan to Jerusalem.
3 So David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the ten women, his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them away under guard and provided for them, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood.
4 Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble the men of Judah to me within three days, and you be present here.
5 So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah, but he tarried longer than the set time which had been appointed him.
6 And David said to Abishai, Now will Sheba son of Bichri do us more harm than Absalom did. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, lest he get for himself fenced cities and snatch away our very eyes.
7 And there went after him Joab’s men and [David’s bodyguards] the Cherethites and Pelethites and all the mighty men; they went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba son of Bichri.
8 When they were at the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Joab was wearing a soldier’s garment, and over it was a sheathed sword fastened around his hips; and as he went forward, it fell out.
9 Joab said to Amasa, Are you well, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand [as if] to kiss him.
10 But Amasa did not notice the sword in Joab’s hand. So [Joab] struck him [who was to have been his successor] with it in the body, shedding his bowels to the ground without another blow; and [soon] he died. So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba son of Bichri.
11 And one of Joab’s men stood by him and said, Whoever favors Joab and is for David, follow Joab!
12 And Amasa wallowed in his blood in the highway. And when the man saw that all the people who came by stood still, he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field and spread a cloth over him.
13 When Amasa was removed from the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bichri.
14 Joab went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth-maacah, and all the Berites assembled and also went after [Sheba] ardently.
15 And they came and besieged Sheba in Abel of Beth-maacah, and they cast up a siege mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart; and all the men with Joab battered and undermined the wall to make it fall.
16 Then a wise woman of the city cried, Hear, hear! Say to Joab, Come here so I can speak to you.
17 And when he came near her, the woman said, Are you Joab? He answered, I am. Then she said to him, Hear the words of your handmaid. He answered, I am listening.
18 Then she said, People used to say, Let them but ask counsel at Abel, and so they settled the matter.
19 I am one of the peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city which is a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up the inheritance of the Lord?
20 Joab answered, Far be it, far be it from me that I should swallow up or destroy!
21 That is not true. But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba son of Bichri, has lifted up his hand against King David. Deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said, Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.
22 Then the woman in her wisdom went to all the people. And they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri and cast it down to Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and they retired from the city, every man to his own home. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.(A)
23 Joab was over the host of Israel; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over [the king’s bodyguards] the Cherethites and Pelethites;
24 Adoram was over the tribute; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder;
25 Sheva was scribe; and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests;
26 Also Ira the Jairite was chief minister to David.
13 This is the third time that I am coming to you. By the testimony of two or three witnesses must any charge and every accusing statement be sustained and confirmed.(A)
2 I have already warned those who sinned formerly and all the rest also, and I warn them now again while I am absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that if I come back, I will not spare [them],
3 Since you desire and seek [perceptible] proof of the Christ Who speaks in and through me. [For He] is not weak and feeble in dealing with you, but is a mighty power within you;
4 For though He was crucified in weakness, yet He goes on living by the power of God. And though we too are weak in Him [as He was humanly weak], yet in dealing with you [we shall show ourselves] alive and strong in [fellowship with] Him by the power of God.
5 Examine and test and evaluate your own selves to see whether you are holding to your faith and showing the proper fruits of it. Test and prove yourselves [[a]not Christ]. Do you not yourselves realize and know [thoroughly by an ever-increasing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you—unless you are [counterfeits] disapproved on trial and rejected?
6 But I hope you will recognize and know that we are not disapproved on trial and rejected.
7 But I pray to God that you may do nothing wrong, not in order that we [[b]our teaching] may appear to be approved, but that you may continue doing right, [though] we may seem to have failed and be unapproved.
8 For we can do nothing against the Truth [[c]not serve any party or personal interest], but only for the Truth [[d]which is the Gospel].
9 For we are glad when we are weak ([e]unapproved) and you are really strong. And this we also pray for: your all-round strengthening and perfecting of soul.
10 So I write these things while I am absent from you, that when I come to you, I may not have to deal sharply in my use of the authority which the Lord has given me [to be employed, however] for building [you] up and not for tearing [you] down.
11 Finally, brethren, farewell (rejoice)! Be strengthened (perfected, completed, made what you ought to be); be encouraged and consoled and comforted; be of the same [agreeable] mind one with another; live in peace, and [then] the God of love [Who is the Source of affection, goodwill, love, and benevolence toward men] and the Author and Promoter of peace will be with you.
12 Greet one another with a consecrated kiss.
13 All the saints (the people of God here) salute you.
14 The grace (favor and spiritual blessing) of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the presence and fellowship (the communion and sharing together, and participation) in the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen (so be it).
27 The word of the Lord came again to me, saying,
2 Now you, son of man, take up a lamentation over Tyre,
3 And say to Tyre, O you who dwell at the entrance to the sea, who are merchant of the peoples of many islands and coastlands, thus says the Lord God: O Tyre, you have thought and said, I am perfect in beauty.
4 Your borders are in the heart of the seas; your builders have perfected your beauty.
5 They have made all your planks and boards of fir trees from Senir [a peak of Mount Hermon]; they have taken a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.
6 Of the oaks of Bashan they have made your oars; they have made your deck and benches of boxwood from the coasts of Cyprus, inlaid with ivory.
7 Of fine linen with embroidered work from Egypt was your sail, that it might be an ensign for you; blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah [of Asia Minor] was the [ship’s] awning which covered you.
8 The inhabitants of Sidon and [the island] of Arvad were your oarsmen; your skilled and wise men, O Tyre, were in you; they were your pilots.
9 The old men of Gebal [a city north of Sidon] and its skilled and wise men in you were your calkers; all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you to deal in your merchandise and trading.
10 Persia and Lud and Put were in your army as your men of war; they hung the shield and helmet in you; they gave you beauty and splendor.
11 The men of Arvad with your army were upon your walls round about and valorous men [of Gamad] were in your towers; they hung their shields upon your walls round about; they have perfected your beauty and splendor.
12 Tarshish [in Spain] carried on traffic with you because of the abundance of your riches of all kinds; with silver, iron, tin, and lead they traded for your wares.
13 Javan (Greece), Tubal, and Meshech [in the mountainous region between the Black and Caspian Seas] traded with you. They exchanged the lives of men [taken as slaves] and vessels of bronze for your merchandise.
14 They of the house of Togarmah (Armenia) traded for your wares with [chariot] horses, cavalry horses, and mules.
15 The men of Dedan [in Arabia] traded with you; many islands and coastlands were your own markets; they brought you in payment or as presents ivory tusks and ebony.
16 Aram (Syria or Mesopotamia) and Edom traded with you because of the multitude of the wares of your making. They exchanged for your merchandise emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and agate or rubies.
17 Judah and the land of Israel, they were your traders; they exchanged in your market wheat of Minnith [in Ammon], olives or early figs, honey, oil, and balm.
18 Damascus traded with you because of the abundance of supplies of your handiworks and the immense wealth of every kind, with wine of Helbon [Aleppo] and white wool [of Sachar in Syria].
19 Vedan also and [Arabic] Javan traded with yarn from Uzal [in Arabia] for your wares; wrought iron, cassia, and calamus were exchanged for your merchandise.
20 Dedan supplied you with precious [saddle] cloths for riding.
21 Arabia and all the princes of Kedar, they were the merchants in lambs, rams, and goats favored by you; in these they traded with you.
22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah [in Arabia] traded with you; they exchanged for your wares the choicest of all kinds of spices and all precious stones and gold.
23 Haran and Canneh and Eden [in Mesopotamia], the merchants of Sheba [on the Euphrates], Asshur, and Chilmad [near Bagdad] were your traders.
24 These traded with you in choice fabrics, in bales of garments of blue and embroidered work, and in treasures of many colored rich damask and carpets bound with cords and made firm; in these they traded with you.
25 The ships of Tarshish were your caravans for your merchandise, and you were replenished [Tyre] and were heavily loaded and made an imposing fleet [in your location] in the heart of the seas.
26 Your rowers have brought you out into great and deep waters; the east wind has broken and wrecked you in the heart of the seas.
27 Your riches, your wares, your merchandise, your oarsmen and your pilots, your caulkers, your dealers in merchandise, and all your men of war who are in you, with all your company which is in your midst, sink in the heart of the seas on the day of your ruin!
28 The waves and the countryside shake at the [piercing] sound of the [hopeless, wailing] cry of your pilots.
29 And down from their ships come all who handle the oar. The mariners and all the pilots of the sea stand upon the shore
30 And are heard wailing loudly over you, and they cry bitterly. They cast up dust on their heads; they wallow in ashes,
31 And they make themselves [utterly] bald for you and gird themselves with sackcloth, and they weep over you in bitterness of heart and with bitter mourning and wailing.
32 And in their wailing they take up a lamentation for you and lament over you, saying, Who was ever like Tyre, the destroyed (the annihilated), [who has become so still] in the heart of the sea?
33 When your wares came forth from the seas, you met the desire, the demand, and the necessities of many people; you enriched the kings of the earth with your abundant wealth and merchandise.
34 Now you are shattered by the seas in the depths of the waters; your merchandise and all your crew have gone down with you.
35 All the inhabitants of the isles and coastlands are astonished and appalled at you, and their kings are horribly frightened and shudder greatly; their faces quiver.
36 The merchants among the people hiss over you [with malicious joy]; you have become a horror and a source of terrors. You shall be [a]no more [forever].
Psalm 75
To the Chief Musician; [set to the tune of] “Do Not Destroy.” A Psalm of Asaph. A song.
1 We give praise and thanks to You, O God, we praise and give thanks; Your wondrous works declare that Your [a]Name is near and they who invoke Your Name rehearse Your wonders.
2 When the proper time has come [for executing My judgments], I will judge uprightly [says the Lord].
3 When the earth totters, and all the inhabitants of it, it is I Who will poise and keep steady its pillars. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
4 I said to the arrogant and boastful, Deal not arrogantly [do not boast]; and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn [of personal aggrandizement].
5 Lift not up your [aggressive] horn on high, speak not with a stiff neck and insolent arrogance.
6 For not from the east nor from the west nor from the south come promotion and lifting up.(A)
7 But God is the Judge! He puts down one and lifts up another.
8 For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup [of His wrath], and the wine foams and is red, well mixed; and He pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth must drain it and drink its dregs.(B)
9 But I will declare and rejoice forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10 All the horns of the ungodly also will I cut off [says the Lord], but the horns of the [uncompromisingly] righteous shall be exalted.
Psalm 76
To the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A song.
1 In Judah God is known and renowned; His name is highly praised and is great in Israel.
2 In [Jeru]Salem also is His tabernacle, and His dwelling place is in Zion.
3 There He broke the bow’s flashing arrows, the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
4 Glorious and excellent are You from the mountains of prey [splendid and majestic, more than the everlasting mountains].
5 The stouthearted are stripped of their spoil, they have slept the sleep [of death]; and none of the men of might could raise their hands.
6 At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both chariot [rider] and horse are cast into a dead sleep [of death].(C)
7 You, even You, are to be feared [with awe and reverence]! Who may stand in Your presence when once Your anger is roused?
8 You caused sentence to be heard from heaven; the earth feared and was still—
9 When God arose to [establish] judgment, to save all the meek and oppressed of the earth. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise You; the remainder of wrath shall You restrain and gird and arm Yourself with it.
11 Vow and pay to the Lord your God; let all who are round about Him bring presents to Him Who ought to be [reverently] feared.
12 He will cut off the spirit [of pride and fury] of princes; He is terrible to the [ungodly] kings of the earth.
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