M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

David Wins the Victory Over the Ammonites

10 The king of Ammon died. His son Hanun became the next king after him. ² David thought, “I’m going to be kind to Hanun. His father Nahash was kind to me.” So David sent messengers to Hanun. He wanted them to tell Hanun how sad he was that Hanun’s father had died.

David’s messengers went to the land of Ammon. ³ The Ammonite commanders spoke to their master Hanun. They said, “David has sent messengers to tell you he is sad. They say he wants to honor your father. But the real reason they’ve come is to look the city over. They want to destroy it.” ⁴ So Hanun grabbed David’s messengers. He shaved off half of each man’s beard. He cut their clothes off just below the waist and left them half naked. Then he sent them away.

⁵ David was told about it. So he sent messengers to his men because they were filled with shame. King David said to them, “Stay at Jericho until your beards grow out again. Then come back here.”

⁶ The Ammonites realized that what they had done had made David very angry with them. So they hired 20,000 Aramean soldiers who were on foot. The soldiers came from Beth Rehob and Zobah. The Ammonites also hired the king of Maakah and 1,000 men. And they hired 12,000 men from Tob.

⁷ David heard about it. So he sent Joab out with the entire army of Israel’s fighting men. ⁸ The Ammonites marched out. They took up their battle positions at the entrance of their city gate. The Arameans of Zobah and Rehob gathered their troops together in the open country. So did the men of Tob and Maakah.

⁹ Joab saw that there were lines of soldiers in front of him and behind him. So he chose some of the best troops in Israel. He sent them to march out against the Arameans. ¹⁰ He put the rest of the men under the command of his brother Abishai. Joab sent them to march out against the Ammonites. ¹¹ He said, “Suppose the Arameans are too strong for me. Then you must come and help me. But suppose the Ammonites are too strong for you. Then I’ll come and help you. ¹² Be strong. Let’s be brave as we fight for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what he thinks is best.”

¹³ Then Joab and the troops with him marched out to attack the Arameans. They ran away from him. ¹⁴ The Ammonites realized that the Arameans were running away. So they ran away from Abishai. They went inside the city. After Joab had fought against the Ammonites, he went back to Jerusalem.

¹⁵ The Arameans saw that they had been driven away by Israel. So they brought their troops together. ¹⁶ Hadadezer had some Arameans brought from east of the Euphrates River. They went to Helam under the command of Shobak. He was the commander of Hadadezer’s army.

¹⁷ David was told about it. So he gathered the whole army of Israel together. They went across the Jordan River to Helam. The Arameans lined up their soldiers to go to war against David. They began to fight against him. ¹⁸ But then they ran away from Israel. David killed 700 of their chariot riders. He killed 40,000 of their soldiers who were on foot. He also struck down Shobak, the commander of their army. Shobak died there. ¹⁹ All the kings who were under the rule of Hadadezer saw that Israel had won the battle over them. So they made a peace treaty with the Israelites. They were brought under Israel’s rule.

After that, the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.

3 Are we beginning to praise ourselves again? Some people need letters that speak well of them. Do we need those kinds of letters, either to you or from you? ² You yourselves are our letter. You are written on our hearts. Everyone knows you and reads you. ³ You make it clear that you are a letter from Christ. You are the result of our work for God. You are a letter written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God. You are a letter written not on tablets made out of stone but on human hearts.

⁴ Through Christ, we can be sure of this before God. ⁵ In ourselves we are not able to claim anything for ourselves. The power to do what we do comes from God. ⁶ He has given us the power to serve under a new covenant. The covenant is not based on the written Law of Moses. It comes from the Holy Spirit. The written Law kills, but the Spirit gives life.

The Greater Glory of the New Covenant

⁷ The Law was written in letters on stone. Even though it was a way of serving God, it led to death. But even that way of serving God came with glory. The glory lasted for only a short time. Even so, the people of Israel couldn’t look at Moses’ face very long. ⁸ Since all this is true, won’t the work of the Holy Spirit be even more glorious? ⁹ The law that condemns people to death had glory. How much more glory does the work of the Spirit have! His work makes people right with God. ¹⁰ The glory of the old covenant is nothing compared with the far greater glory of the new. ¹¹ The glory of the old lasts for only a short time. How much greater is the glory of the new! It will last forever.

¹² Since we have that kind of hope, we are very bold. ¹³ We are not like Moses. He used to cover his face with a veil. That was to keep the people of Israel from seeing the end of what was passing away. ¹⁴ But their minds were made stubborn. To this day, the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. The veil has not been removed. Only faith in Christ can take it away. ¹⁵ To this day, when the Law of Moses is read, a veil covers the minds of those who hear it. ¹⁶ But when anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Holy Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, freedom is also there. ¹⁸ None of our faces are covered with a veil. All of us can see the Lord’s glory and think deeply about it. So we are being changed to become more like him so that we have more and more glory. And this glory comes from the Lord, who is the Holy Spirit.

Two Eagles and a Vine

17 A message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, ² “Son of man, tell the people of Israel a story about their kings. Let them know what will happen to them. ³ Tell them, ‘The Lord and King says, “A great eagle came to the city of ‘Lebanon.’ It had powerful wings and a lot of long feathers. The feathers were colorful and beautiful. The eagle landed in the top of a cedar tree. ⁴ It broke off the highest twig. The eagle carried it away to the land of Babylon. There are many traders in that land. The eagle planted the twig in the city of Babylon.

⁵ “ ‘ “Then it took from the land a seed that had just sprouted. It put it in rich soil near plenty of water. It planted the seed like a willow tree. ⁶ The seed grew into a low, spreading vine. Its branches turned toward the eagle. And its roots remained under the eagle. So the seed became a vine. It produced branches and put out leaves.

⁷ “ ‘ “But there was another great eagle. It also had powerful wings and a lot of feathers. The vine now sent out its roots toward that eagle. It sent them out from the place where it was planted. And it reached out its branches to the eagle for water. ⁸ The seed had been planted in good soil near plenty of water. Then it could produce branches and bear fruit. It could become a beautiful vine.” ’

⁹ “Ezekiel, tell the Israelites, ‘The Lord and King asks, “Will the vine grow? Won’t it be pulled up by its roots? Won’t all its fruit be stripped off? Won’t it dry up? All its new growth will dry up. It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it up. ¹⁰ It has been planted, but will it grow? No. It will dry up completely when the east wind strikes it. It will dry up in the place where it grew.” ’ ”

¹¹ A message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, ¹² “These people refuse to obey me. Ask them, ‘Don’t you know what these things mean?’ Tell them, ‘Nebuchadnezzar went to Jerusalem. He was the king of Babylon. He carried off King Jehoiachin and the nobles. He brought them back with him to the city of Babylon. ¹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar made a peace treaty with Zedekiah. He was a member of Jerusalem’s royal family. Nebuchadnezzar made him promise he would keep the treaty. He also took away the leading men of the land as prisoners. ¹⁴ He did it to bring down their kingdom. It would not rise again. In fact, it would be able to last only by keeping his treaty. ¹⁵ But Zedekiah turned against him. He sent messengers to Egypt. They went there to get horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he who does things like that escape? Can he break the peace treaty and still escape?

¹⁶ “ ‘Zedekiah will die in Babylon,’ announces the Lord and King. ‘And that is just as sure as I am alive. He will die in the land of King Nebuchadnezzar, who put him on the throne. Zedekiah didn’t keep his promise to Nebuchadnezzar and broke his treaty. ¹⁷ So Nebuchadnezzar will build ramps against the walls of Jerusalem. He will set up war machines to destroy many lives. Pharaoh will not be able to help Zedekiah during the war. The huge and mighty army of Egypt will not be of any help. ¹⁸ Zedekiah didn’t keep his promise to Nebuchadnezzar and broke his treaty. Zedekiah had made a firm promise to keep it. But he broke it anyway. So he will not escape.

¹⁹ “ ‘The Lord and King says, “Zedekiah didn’t keep the promise he made in my name. He broke the treaty. So I will pay him back. And that is just as sure as I am alive. ²⁰ I will spread out my net to catch him. He will be caught in my trap. I will bring him to Babylon. I will judge him there because he was not faithful to me. ²¹ All Zedekiah’s best troops will be killed by swords. Those who are left alive will be scattered to the winds. Then you will know that I have spoken. I am the Lord.”

²² “ ‘The Lord and King says, “I myself will get a twig from the very top of a cedar tree and plant it. I will break off the highest twig. I will plant it on a very high mountain. ²³ I will plant it on the high mountains of Israel. It will produce branches and bear fruit. It will become a beautiful cedar tree. All kinds of birds will make their nests in it. They will live in the shade of its branches. ²⁴ All the trees in the forest will know that I bring down tall trees. I make short trees grow tall. I dry up green trees. And I make dry trees green.”

“ ‘I have spoken. I will do this. I am the Lord.’ ”

For the director of music. For teaching. A miktam of David when he fought against Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah. That was when Joab returned and struck down 12,000 people from Edom in the Valley of Salt. To the tune of “The Lily of the Covenant.”

For the director of music. A psalm of David to be played on stringed instruments.