M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
16 So they brought the ark of God and set it in the midst of the tent which David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.
2 And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord.
3 And he distributed to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to everyone a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins.
4 He appointed Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord and to celebrate [by calling to mind], thanking and praising the Lord, the God of Israel:
5 Asaph was the chief, next to him Zechariah, Jeiel (Jaaziel), Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, and Benaiah, Obed-edom and Jeiel, who were to play harps and lyres; Asaph was to sound the cymbals;
6 Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.
7 Then on that day David first entrusted to Asaph and his brethren the singing of thanks to the Lord [as their chief task]:
8 O give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known His doings among the peoples!
9 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; meditate on and talk of all His wondrous works and devoutly praise them!
10 Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!
11 Seek the Lord and His strength; yearn for and seek His face and to be in His presence continually!
12 [Earnestly] remember the marvelous deeds which He has done, His miracles, and the judgments He uttered [as in Egypt],
13 O you offspring of [Abraham and] of Israel His servants, you children of Jacob, His chosen ones!
14 He is the Lord our God; His judgments are in all the earth.
15 Be mindful of His covenant forever, the promise which He commanded and established to a thousand generations,
16 The covenant which He made with Abraham, and His sworn promise to Isaac.
17 He confirmed it as a statute to Jacob, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant,(A)
18 Saying, To you I will give the land of Canaan, the measured portion of your possession and inheritance.
19 When they were but few, even a very few, and only temporary residents and strangers in it,
20 When they went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people,
21 He allowed no man to do them wrong; yes, He reproved kings for their sakes,(B)
22 Saying, Touch not My anointed, and do My prophets no harm.(C)
23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth; show forth from day to day His salvation.
24 Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all peoples.
25 For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; He also is to be [reverently] feared above all so-called gods.
26 For all the gods of the people are [lifeless] idols, but the Lord made the heavens.
27 Honor and majesty are [found] in His presence; strength and joy are [found] in His sanctuary.
28 Ascribe to the Lord, you families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength,
29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name. Bring an offering and come before Him; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness and in holy array.
30 Tremble and reverently fear before Him, all the earth’s peoples; the world also shall be established, so it cannot be moved.
31 Let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice; and let men say among the nations, The Lord reigns!
32 Let the sea roar, and all the things that fill it; let the fields rejoice, and all that is in them.
33 Then shall the trees of the wood sing out for joy before the Lord, for He comes to judge and govern the earth.
34 O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!
35 And say, Save us, O God of our salvation; gather us together and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to Your holy name and glory in Your praise.
36 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, forever and ever! And all the people said Amen! and praised the Lord.
37 So David left Asaph and his brethren before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister before the ark continually, as each day’s work required,
38 And Obed-edom with [his] sixty-eight kinsmen. Also Obed-edom son of Jeduthun, and Hosah, were to be gatekeepers.
39 And David left Zadok the priest and his brethren the priests before the tabernacle of the Lord in the high place that was at Gibeon
40 To offer burnt offerings to the Lord upon the altar of burnt offering continually, morning and evening, and to do all that is written in the Law of the Lord which He commanded Israel.
41 With them were Heman and Jeduthun and the rest who were chosen and expressly named to give thanks to the Lord, for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever.
42 With them were Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those who should sound aloud, and instruments for accompanying the songs of God. And the sons of Jeduthun were to be at the gate.
43 Then all the people departed, each man to his house, and David returned home to bless his household.
3 Not many [of you] should become teachers ([a]self-constituted censors and reprovers of others), my brethren, for you know that we [teachers] will be judged by a higher standard and with greater severity [than other people; thus we assume the greater accountability and the more condemnation].
2 For we all often stumble and fall and offend in many things. And if anyone does not offend in speech [never says the wrong things], he is a fully developed character and a perfect man, able to control his whole body and to curb his entire nature.
3 If we set bits in the horses’ mouths to make them obey us, we can turn their whole bodies about.
4 Likewise, look at the ships: though they are so great and are driven by rough winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the impulse of the helmsman determines.
5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and it can boast of great things. See how much wood or how great a forest a tiny spark can set ablaze!
6 And the tongue is a fire. [The tongue is a] world of wickedness set among our members, contaminating and depraving the whole body and setting on fire the wheel of birth (the cycle of man’s nature), being itself ignited by hell (Gehenna).
7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea animal, can be tamed and has been tamed by human genius (nature).
8 But the human tongue can be tamed by no man. It is a restless (undisciplined, irreconcilable) evil, full of deadly poison.
9 With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who were made in God’s likeness!
10 Out of the same mouth come forth blessing and cursing. These things, my brethren, ought not to be so.
11 Does a fountain send forth [simultaneously] from the same opening fresh water and bitter?
12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine figs? Neither can a salt spring furnish fresh water.
13 Who is there among you who is wise and intelligent? Then let him by his noble living show forth his [good] works with the [unobtrusive] humility [which is the proper attribute] of true wisdom.
14 But if you have bitter jealousy (envy) and contention (rivalry, selfish ambition) in your hearts, do not pride yourselves on it and thus be in defiance of and false to the Truth.
15 This [superficial] wisdom is not such as comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual (animal), even devilish (demoniacal).
16 For wherever there is jealousy (envy) and contention (rivalry and selfish ambition), there will also be confusion (unrest, disharmony, rebellion) and all sorts of evil and vile practices.
17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure (undefiled); then it is peace-loving, courteous (considerate, gentle). [It is willing to] yield to reason, full of compassion and good fruits; it is wholehearted and straightforward, impartial and unfeigned (free from doubts, wavering, and insincerity).
18 And the harvest of righteousness (of conformity to God’s will in thought and deed) is [the fruit of the seed] sown in peace by those who work for and make peace [in themselves and in others, that peace which means concord, agreement, and harmony between individuals, with undisturbedness, in a peaceful mind free from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts].
1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord God concerning [a]Edom: We have heard tidings from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent forth among the nations [saying], Arise, and let us rise up against [Edom] for battle!(A)
2 Behold, I will make you small among the nations [Edom]; you shall be despised exceedingly.(B)
3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you dweller in the refuges of the rock [Petra, Edom’s capital], whose habitation is high, who says in his heart, Who can bring me down to the ground?
4 Though you mount on high as the eagle and though you set your nest among the stars, I will bring you down from there, says the Lord.
5 If thieves came to you, if robbers by night—how you are brought to nothing!—would they not steal only enough for themselves? If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some grapes for gleaning? [But this ravaging was done by God, not men.](C)
6 How are the things of Esau [Edom] searched out! How are his hidden treasures sought out!
7 All the men of your confederacy (your allies) have brought you on your way, even to the border; the men who were at peace with you have deceived you and prevailed against you; they who eat your bread have laid a snare under you. There is no understanding [in Edom, or] of it.
8 Will not I in that day, says the Lord, destroy the wise men out of Edom and [men of] understanding out of Mount Esau [Idumea, a mountainous region]?
9 And your mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that everyone from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter.
10 For the violence you did against your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever.
11 On the day that you stood aloof [from your brother Jacob]—on the day that strangers took captive his forces and carried off his wealth, and foreigners entered into his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem—you were even as one of them.(D)
12 But you should not have gloated over your brother’s day, the day when his misfortune came and he was made a stranger; you should not have rejoiced over the sons of Judah in the day of their ruin; you should not have spoken arrogantly in the day of their distress.
13 You should not have entered the gate of My people in the day of their calamity and ruin; yes, you should not have looked [with delight] on their misery in the day of their calamity and ruin, and not have reached after their army and their possessions in the day of their calamity and ruin.
14 And you should not have stood at the crossway to cut off those of Judah who escaped, neither should you have delivered up those [of Judah] who remained in the day of distress.
15 For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your dealings will return upon your own head.(E)
16 For as you [Edom] have drunk upon the mountain of My holiness [desecrating it in the wild revelry of the destroyers], so shall all the nations drink continually [in turn, of My wrath]; yes, they shall drink, talk foolishly, and swallow down [the full measure of punishment] and they shall be [destroyed] as though they had not been.(F)
17 But on Mount Zion [in Jerusalem] there shall be deliverance [for those who escape], and it shall be holy; and the house of Jacob shall possess its [own former] possessions.(G)
18 The house of Jacob shall be a fire and the house of Joseph a flame, but the house of Esau shall be stubble; they shall kindle and burn them and consume them, and there shall be no survivor of the house of Esau, for the Lord has spoken it.(H)
19 They of the South (the Negeb) shall possess Mount Esau, and they of the lowland the land of the Philistines; they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the fields of Samaria, and Benjamin shall possess Gilead [across the Jordan River].(I)
20 And the exiles of this host of the children of Israel who are among the Canaanites shall possess [Phoenicia] as far as Zarephath, and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad shall possess the cities of the South (the Negeb).
21 And deliverers shall go up on Mount Zion to rule and judge Mount Esau, and the kingdom and the kingship shall be the Lord’s.(J)
5 Now it occurred that while the people pressed upon Jesus to hear the message of God, He was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret (Sea of Galilee).
2 And He saw two boats drawn up by the lake, but the fishermen had gone down from them and were washing their nets.
3 And getting into one of the boats, [the one] that belonged to Simon (Peter), He requested him to draw away a little from the shore. Then He sat down and continued to teach the crowd [of people] from the boat.
4 When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon (Peter), Put out into the deep [water], and lower your nets for a haul.
5 And Simon (Peter) answered, Master, we toiled all night [[a]exhaustingly] and caught nothing [in our nets]. But [b]on the ground of Your word, I will lower the nets [again].
6 And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish; and as their nets were [[c]at the point of] breaking,
7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and take hold with them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.
8 But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
9 For he was gripped with bewildering amazement [allied to terror], and all who were with him, at the haul of fish which they had made;
10 And so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon (Peter). And Jesus said to Simon, Have no fear; from now on you will be catching men!
11 And after they had run their boats on shore, they left everything and [d] joined Him as His disciples and sided with His party and accompanied Him.
12 While He was in one of the towns, there came a man full of (covered with) leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, Lord, if You are willing, You are able to cure me and make me clean.
13 And [Jesus] reached out His hand and touched him, saying, I am willing; be cleansed! And immediately the leprosy left him.
14 And [Jesus] charged him to tell no one [[e]that he might chance to meet], [f]until [He said] you go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your purification, as Moses commanded, for a testimony and proof to the people, that they may have evidence [of your healing].(A)
15 But so much the more the news spread abroad concerning Him, and great crowds kept coming together to hear [Him] and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.
16 But He Himself withdrew [in retirement] to the wilderness (desert) and prayed.
17 One of those days, as He was teaching, there were Pharisees and teachers of the Law sitting by, who had come from every village and town of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was [present] with Him to heal [g]them.
18 And behold, some men were bringing on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed, and they tried to carry him in and lay him before [Jesus].
19 But finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him with his stretcher through the tiles into the midst, in front of Jesus.
20 And when He saw [their confidence in Him, springing from] their faith, He said, Man, your sins are forgiven you!
21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason and question and argue, saying, Who is this [Man] Who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?
22 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts and questionings, answered them, Why do you question in your hearts?
23 Which is easier: to say, Your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Arise and walk [about]?
24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has the [[h]power of] authority and right on earth to forgive sins, He said to the paralyzed man, I say to you, arise, pick up your litter (stretcher), and go to your own house!
25 And instantly [the man] stood up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went away to his house, [i]recognizing and praising and thanking God.
26 And overwhelming astonishment and ecstasy seized them all, and they [j]recognized and praised and thanked God; and they were filled with and controlled by reverential fear and kept saying, We have seen wonderful and strange and incredible and unthinkable things today!
27 And after this, Jesus went out and looked [attentively] at a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office; and He said to him, [k]Join Me as a disciple and side with My party and accompany Me.
28 And he forsook everything and got up and followed Him [becoming His disciple and siding with His party].
29 And Levi (Matthew) made a great banquet for Him in his own house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others who were reclining [at the table] with them.
30 Now the Pharisees and their scribes were grumbling against Jesus’ disciples, saying, Why are you eating and drinking with tax collectors and [preeminently] sinful people?
31 And Jesus replied to them, It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.
32 I have not come to arouse and invite and call the righteous, but [l]the erring ones ([m]those not free from sin) to repentance [[n]to change their minds for the better and heartily to amend their ways, with abhorrence of their past sins].
33 Then they said to Him, The disciples of John practice fasting often and offer up prayers of [special] petition, and so do [the disciples] of the Pharisees also, but Yours eat and drink.
34 And Jesus said to them, Can you make the wedding guests fast as long as the bridegroom is with them?
35 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; and then they will fast in those days.
36 He told them a [o]proverb also: No one puts a patch from a new garment on an old garment; if he does, he will both tear the new one, and the patch from the new [one] will not match the old [garment].
37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the fresh wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled and the skins will be ruined (destroyed).
38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.
39 And no one after drinking old wine immediately desires new wine, for he says, The old is good or [p]better.
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