M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Uzza Dies from Touching the Ark

13 Then David took counsel with the commanders of the thousands and the hundreds, even with every leader. ² And David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if it is from Yahweh our God, let us send everywhere to our relatives who remain in all the lands of Israel, also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their cities with pasture lands, that they may gather with us; ³ and let us bring back the ark of our God to us, ^(A)for we did not seek it in the days of Saul.” ⁴ Then all the assembly said that they would do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.

^5 (B)So David assembled all Israel together, from the Shihor of Egypt even to ^[a]Lebo-hamath, ^(C)to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim. ^6 (D)And David and all Israel went up to ^(E)Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim, which belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, Yahweh, ^(F)who is enthroned above the cherubim, where His name is called. ⁷ And they drove the ark of God on a new cart from ^(G)the house of Abinadab, and Uzza and Ahio were leading the cart. ⁸ Now David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their strength, ^(H)even with songs and with lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals, and with trumpets.

⁹ Then they came to ^(I)the threshing floor of Chidon. And Uzza reached out with his hand to take hold of the ark, because the oxen nearly upset it. ¹⁰ And the anger of Yahweh burned against Uzza, and He struck him down ^(J)because he reached out with his hand to the ark; ^(K)and he died there before God. ¹¹ And David became angry because ^[b]of Yahweh’s breaking out against Uzza; and that place is called ^[c]Perez-uzza to this day. ¹² So David was afraid of God that day, saying, “How can I bring the ark of God back to me?” ¹³ And David did not move the ark with him to the city of David, but took it aside ^(L)to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. ¹⁴ Thus the ark of God remained with the household of Obed-edom in his house three months; and ^(M)Yahweh blessed the household of Obed-edom with all that he had.

David Takes More Wives

14 ^(N)Then Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David with cedar trees and craftsmen of walls and craftsmen of wood, to build a house for him. ² Thus David knew that Yahweh had established him as king over Israel, and that his kingdom was lifted up, for the sake of His people Israel.

³ Then David took more wives at Jerusalem, and David ^[d]became the father of more sons and daughters. ^4 (O)These are the names of the children ^[e]born to him in Jerusalem:

David Strikes Down the Philistines

⁸ Then the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, so all the Philistines went up to seek out David. And David heard of it and went out against them. ⁹ Now the Philistines had come and ^(P)made a raid in the valley of Rephaim. ¹⁰ Then David asked of God, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? And will You give them into my hand?” And Yahweh said to him, “Go up, for I will give them into your hand.” ¹¹ So they came up to ^[f]Baal-perazim, and there David struck them down; and David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like the breakthrough of waters.” Therefore they named that place ^[g]Baal-perazim. ¹² And they forsook their gods there; so David said the word, and they were burned with fire.

¹³ Then the Philistines ^(Q)yet again made a raid in the valley. ¹⁴ So David again asked of God, and God said to him, “You shall not go directly up after them; circle around from ^[h]behind them and come at them in front of the ^[i]balsam trees. ¹⁵ And it will be that when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the ^[j]balsam trees, then you shall go out to battle, for God will have gone out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.” ¹⁶ Then David did just as God had commanded him, and they struck down the camp of the Philistines from ^[k]Gibeon even as far as Gezer. ¹⁷ Then the name of David went out into all the lands; and ^(R)Yahweh brought the dread of him on all the nations.

Testing Your Faith

1 ^[a](A)James, a ^(B)slave of God and ^(C)of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To ^(D)the twelve tribes who are in the ^(E)Dispersion: ^(F)Greetings.

^2 (G)Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter ^(H)various ^[b]trials, ³ knowing that ^(I)the testing of your ^(J)faith brings about ^(K)perseverance. ⁴ And let ^(L)perseverance have its perfect work, so that you may be ^[c](M)perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

⁵ But if any of you ^(N)lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and ^[d]without reproach, and ^(O)it will be given to him. ⁶ But he must ^(P)ask in faith, ^(Q)doubting nothing, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, ^(R)driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, ⁸ being a ^[e](S)double-minded man, ^(T)unstable in all his ways.

^9 (U)But the ^[f]brother of humble circumstances is to boast in his high position; ¹⁰ and the rich man is to boast in his humiliation, because ^(V)like ^[g]flowering grass he will pass away. ¹¹ For the sun rises with ^[h](W)a scorching heat and ^(X)withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.

^12 (Y)Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has ^[i]been approved, he will receive ^(Z)the crown of life which the Lord ^(AA)has promised to those who ^(AB)love Him. ¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “^(AC)I am being tempted ^[j]by God”; for God cannot be tempted ^[k]by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. ¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. ¹⁵ Then ^(AD)when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when ^(AE)sin is fully matured, it brings forth death. ^16 (AF)Do not be ^[l]deceived, ^(AG)my beloved brothers. ¹⁷ Every good thing given and every perfect gift is ^(AH)from above, coming down from ^(AI)the Father of lights, ^(AJ)with whom there is no variation or ^[m]shifting shadow. ¹⁸ In the exercise of ^(AK)His will He ^(AL)brought us forth by ^(AM)the word of truth, so that we would be ^[n]a kind of ^(AN)first fruits ^[o]among His creatures.

Doers of the Word

^19 [p](AO)Know this, ^(AP)my beloved brothers. But everyone must be quick to hear, ^(AQ)slow to speak and ^(AR)slow to anger; ²⁰ for ^(AS)the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. ²¹ Therefore, ^(AT)laying aside all filthiness and all ^[q]that remains of wickedness, in gentleness receive ^(AU)the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. ^22 (AV)But become doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his ^[r]natural face ^(AW)in a mirror; ²⁴ for once he looked at himself and has gone away, ^[s]he immediately forgot what kind of person he was. ²⁵ But one who looks intently at the perfect law, ^(AX)the law of freedom, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man will be ^(AY)blessed in ^[t]what he does.

²⁶ If anyone thinks himself to be religious while not ^[u](AZ)bridling his tongue but deceiving his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. ²⁷ Pure and undefiled religion ^(BA)before our God and Father is this: to ^(BB)visit ^(BC)orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained ^[v]by ^(BD)the world.

A Famine for Hearing the Words of Yahweh

8 Thus Lord Yahweh showed me, and behold, there was a basket of summer fruit. ² And he said, “What do you see, Amos?” And ^(A)I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then Yahweh said to me, “The ^(B)end has come for My people Israel. I will ^(C)pass over them no longer. ³ And they will ^(D)wail with the ^(E)songs of the palace in that day,” declares Lord Yahweh. “Many will be the ^(F)corpses; in every place ^[a]they will cast them forth ^[b]in silence.”

⁴ Hear this, you who ^[c](G)trample the needy, even to cause the humble of the land to cease, ⁵ saying,

The Preaching of John the Baptist

3 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when ^(A)Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and ^(B)Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, ² during the high priesthood of ^(C)Annas and ^(D)Caiaphas, ^(E)the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. ³ And he came into all ^(F)the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; ⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

⁷ So he was saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “^(K)You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and ^(L)do not begin to say ^[d]to yourselves, ‘^(M)We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. ⁹ But indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, ^(N)every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “^(O)Then what should we do?” ¹¹ And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two ^[e]tunics is to ^(P)share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.” ¹² And ^(Q)tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?” ¹³ And he said to them, “^[f]Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” ¹⁴ And soldiers were also questioning him, saying, “What should we also do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or ^(R)extort anyone, and ^(S)be content with your wages.”

¹⁵ Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were reasoning in their hearts about John, ^(T)as to whether he was the ^[g]Christ, ^16 (U)John answered, saying to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water, but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the strap of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His ^(V)winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn, but He will burn up the chaff with ^(W)unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸ So with many other exhortations he proclaimed the gospel to the people. ¹⁹ But when ^(X)Herod the tetrarch was reproved by him because of ^(Y)Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the wicked things which ^(Z)Herod had done, ²⁰ Herod also added this to them all: ^(AA)he locked John up in prison.

The Baptism of Jesus

^21 (AB)Now it happened that when all the people were being baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was ^(AC)praying, heaven was opened, ²² and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “^(AD)You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

The Genealogy of Jesus

^23 (AE)When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, ^[h]as was supposed,