M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

God’s Promise to David

7 The king moved into his palace. The Lord had given him peace and rest from all his enemies around him. ² Then the king spoke to Nathan the prophet. He said, “Here I am, living in a house that has beautiful cedar walls. But the ark of God remains in a tent.”

³ Nathan replied to the king, “Go ahead and do what you want to. The Lord is with you.”

⁴ But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan. The Lord said,

⁵ “Go and speak to my servant David. Tell him, ‘The Lord says, “Are you the one to build me a house to live in? ⁶ I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt. But I have not lived in a house from then until now. I have been moving from place to place. I have been living in a tent. ⁷ I have moved from place to place with all the Israelites. I commanded their rulers to be shepherds over them. I never asked any of those rulers, ‘Why haven’t you built me a house that has beautiful cedar walls?’ ” ’

⁸ “So tell my servant David, ‘The Lord who rules over all says, “I took you away from the grasslands. That’s where you were taking care of your father’s sheep and goats. I made you ruler over my people Israel. ⁹ I have been with you everywhere you have gone. I have destroyed all your enemies. Now I will make you famous. Your name will be just as respected as the names of the most important people on earth. ¹⁰ I will provide a place where my people Israel can live. I will plant them in the land. Then they will have a home of their own. They will not be bothered anymore. Evil people will no longer crush them, as they did at first. ¹¹ That is what your enemies have done ever since I appointed leaders over my people Israel. But I will give you peace and rest from all of them.

“ ‘ “I tell you that I, the Lord, will set up a royal house for you. ¹² Some day your life will come to an end. You will join the members of your family who have already died. Then I will make one of your own sons the next king after you. And I will make his kingdom secure. ¹³ He is the one who will build a house where I will put my Name. I will set up the throne of his kingdom. It will last forever. ¹⁴ I will be his father. And he will be my son. When he does what is wrong, I will use other men to beat him with rods and whips. ¹⁵ I took my love away from Saul. I removed him from being king. You were there when I did it. But I will never take my love away from your son. ¹⁶ Your royal house and your kingdom will last forever in my sight. Your throne will last forever.” ’ ”

¹⁷ Nathan reported to David all the words that the Lord had spoken to him.

David’s Prayer to the Lord

¹⁸ Then King David went into the holy tent. He sat down in front of the Lord. He said,

“Lord and King, who am I? My family isn’t important. So why have you brought me this far? ¹⁹ I would have thought that you had already done more than enough for me. But now, Lord and King, you have also said what will happen to my royal house in days to come. And, my Lord and King, this promise is for a mere human being!

²⁰ “What more can I say to you? Lord and King, you know all about me. ²¹ You have done a wonderful thing. You have made it known to me. You have done it because that’s what you said you would do. It’s exactly what you wanted to do for me.

²² “Lord and King, how great you are! There isn’t anyone like you. There isn’t any God but you. We have heard about it with our own ears. ²³ Who is like your people Israel? God, we are the one nation on earth you have saved. You have set us free for yourself. Your name has become famous. You have done great and wonderful things. You have driven out nations and their gods to make room for your people. You saved us when you set us free from Egypt. ²⁴ You made Israel your very own people forever. Lord, you have become our God.

²⁵ “And now, Lord God, keep forever the promise you have made to me and my royal house. Do exactly as you promised. ²⁶ Then your name will be honored forever. People will say, ‘The Lord rules over all. He is God over Israel.’ My royal house will be made secure in your sight.

²⁷ “Lord who rules over all, you are the God of Israel. Here’s what you have shown me. You told me, ‘I will build you a royal house.’ So I can boldly pray this prayer to you. ²⁸ Lord and King, you are God! Your covenant can be trusted. You have promised many good things to me. ²⁹ Now please bless my royal house. Then it will continue forever in your sight. Lord and King, you have spoken. Because you have given my royal house your blessing, it will be blessed forever.”

1 I, Paul, am writing this letter. I am an apostle of Christ Jesus just as God planned. Timothy our brother joins me in writing.

We are sending this letter to you, the members of God’s church in Corinth. It is also for all God’s holy people everywhere in Achaia.

² May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Praise to the God Who Gives Comfort

³ Give praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! He is the Father who gives tender love. All comfort comes from him. ⁴ He comforts us in all our troubles. Now we can comfort others when they are in trouble. We ourselves receive comfort from God. ⁵ We share very much in the sufferings of Christ. So we also share very much in his comfort. ⁶ If we are having trouble, it is so that you will be comforted and renewed. If we are comforted, it is so that you will be comforted. Then you will be able to put up with the same suffering we have gone through. ⁷ Our hope for you remains firm. We know that you suffer just as we do. In the same way, God comforts you just as he comforts us.

⁸ Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the hard times we had in Asia Minor. We were having a lot of trouble. It was far more than we could stand. We even thought we were going to die. ⁹ In fact, we felt as if we were under the sentence of death. But that happened so that we would not depend on ourselves but on God. He raises the dead to life. ¹⁰ God has saved us from deadly dangers. And he will continue to do it. We have put our hope in him. He will continue to save us. ¹¹ You must help us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because of what will happen to us. They will thank God for his kindness to us in answer to the prayers of many.

Paul Changes His Plans

¹² Here is what we take pride in. Our sense of what is right and wrong tells us how we have acted. We have lived with honor and godly honesty. We have depended on God’s grace and not on the world’s wisdom. We lived that way most of all when we were dealing with you. ¹³ We are writing only what you can read and understand. And here is what I hope. ¹⁴ Up to this point you have understood some of the things we have said. But now here is what I hope for when the Lord Jesus returns. I hope that your pride in us will be the same as our pride in you. When this happens, you will understand us completely.

¹⁵ Because I was sure of this, I wanted to visit you first. Here is how I thought you would be helped twice. ¹⁶ I planned to visit you on my way to Macedonia. I would have come back to you from there. Then you would have sent me on my way to Judea. ¹⁷ When I planned all this, was I ready to change my mind for no good reason? No. I don’t make my plans the way the world makes theirs. In the same breath the world says both, “Yes! Yes!” and “No! No!”

¹⁸ But just as sure as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” ¹⁹ Silas, Timothy and I preached to you about the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Our message did not say “Yes” and “No” at the same time. The message of Christ has always been “Yes.” ²⁰ God has made a great many promises. They are all “Yes” because of what Christ has done. So through Christ we say “Amen.” We want God to receive glory. ²¹ He makes both us and you remain strong in the faith because we belong to Christ. He anointed us. ²² He put his Spirit in our hearts and marked us as his own. We can now be sure that he will give us everything he promised us.

²³ I call God to be my witness. May he take my life if I’m lying. I wanted to spare you, so I didn’t return to Corinth. ²⁴ Your faith is not under our control. You remain strong in your own faith. But we work together with you for your joy.

Jerusalem Is Like a Useless Vine

15 A message from the Lord came to me. Here is what the Lord said. ² “Son of man, how is the wood of a vine different from the wood of any tree in the forest? ³ Can its wood ever be made into anything useful? Can pegs be made from it to hang things on? ⁴ Suppose it is thrown in the fire to be burned. And the fire burns both ends and blackens the middle. Then is the wood useful for anything? ⁵ It was not useful when it was whole. So how can it be made into something useful now? The fire has burned it and blackened it.”

⁶ Here is what the Lord and King says. “Instead of the wood of any tree in the forest, I have given the vine to burn in the fire. I will treat the people who live in Jerusalem the same way. ⁷ I will turn against them. They might have come out of the fire. But the fire will destroy them anyway. I will turn against them. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ⁸ I will make the land a dry and empty desert. My people have not been faithful to me,” announces the Lord and King.

For the director of music. A miktam of David after the Philistines had captured him in Gath. To the tune of “A Dove on Distant Oak Trees.”

For the director of music. A miktam of David when he had run away from Saul into the cave. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.”