M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Philistines and the Special Box

5 The Philistines took the special box of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. ² They took the special box of God into the house of Dagon, and set it beside Dagon. ³ When the Ashdodites got up early the next morning, they saw that Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the special box of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set him in his place again. ⁴ But when they got up early the next morning, they saw that Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground in front of the special box of the Lord. And Dagon’s head and both his hands were cut off and lying in the doorway. Only the body of Dagon was left. ⁵ So the religious leaders of Dagon and all who go into Dagon’s house do not step on the bottom part of the doorway in Ashdod to this day.

⁶ The hand of the Lord was heavy on the Ashdodites. He filled them with fear and punished them with pain and sores, both Ashdod and its lands. ⁷ When the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, “The special box of the God of Israel must not stay with us. For His hand is hard on us and on our god Dagon.” ⁸ So they called together all the leaders of the Philistines and said, “What should we do with the special box of the God of Israel?” And they said, “Let the special box of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath.” So they brought the box of the God of Israel there. ⁹ But after they had brought it there, the hand of the Lord was against the city, causing much fear. He punished both the young and old men of the city, so that sores broke out upon them. ¹⁰ So they sent the special box of God to Ekron. When the box of God came to Ekron, the people there cried out, “They have brought the special box of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people.” ¹¹ So they called together all the leaders of the Philistines and said, “Send away the special box of the God of Israel. Let it return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our people.” For the people of the city were afraid. The hand of God was very heavy there. ¹² The men who did not die were punished with sores, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

The Special Box Returned to Israel

6 The special box of the Lord had been in the country of the Philistines seven months. ² The Philistines called for the religious leaders and those who were wise in secret ways, saying, “What should we do with the special box of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it to its place.” ³ And they said, “If you send away the special box of the God of Israel, do not send it empty. But be sure to return to Him a sin gift. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why His hand does not turn away from you.” ⁴ Then they said, “What should we return to Him for a sin gift?” And they said, “Five sores made of gold and five gold mice, as many as there are Philistine leaders. For the same trouble was upon all of you and on your leaders. ⁵ So make objects to look like your sores and your mice that destroyed the land, and you will give honor to the God of Israel. It may be that He will be easier on you, your gods, and your land. ⁶ Why do you make your hearts hard as the Egyptians and Pharaoh made their hearts hard? Do not forget how the God of Israel made it hard for them. And did they not let the people go? ⁷ So now take and make ready a new wagon and two milk cows that have never pulled a load. Tie the cows to the wagon and take their calves away from them. ⁸ Take the special box of the Lord and put it on the wagon. Put the objects of gold which you return to Him as a sin gift in a box by its side. Then send it away, and let it be gone. ⁹ And watch. If it goes on the way to its own land, to Bethshemesh, then He has done this very bad thing to us. But if not, then we will know that it was not His hand that destroyed us. It will have just happened for no reason.”

¹⁰ The men did so. They took two milk cows and tied them to the wagon, and shut up their calves at home. ¹¹ They put the special box of the Lord on the wagon, and the box with the gold mice and the objects made to look like their sores. ¹² And the cows went straight toward Bethshemesh. They went along the straight road, making a sound as they went. They did not turn aside to the right or to the left. And the leaders of the Philistines followed them to the outside of Bethshemesh. ¹³ Now the people of Bethshemesh were gathering their grain in the valley. They looked up and saw the special box of the Lord, and were glad to see it. ¹⁴ The wagon came into the field of Joshua the Bethshemite and stopped there by a big stone. They cut the wood of the wagon into pieces and gave the cows as a burnt gift to the Lord. ¹⁵ The Levites took down the special box of the Lord and the box that was with it that had the objects of gold, and put them on the big stone. The men of Bethshemesh gave burnt gifts in worship that day to the Lord. ¹⁶ When the five leaders of the Philistines saw it, they returned that day to Ekron.

¹⁷ These are the sores made of gold which the Philistines returned for a sin gift to the Lord. There was one each for Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. ¹⁸ And the gold mice were as many as the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five leaders, both cities with walls and country towns. The big stone where they set the special box of the Lord is there in the field of Joshua the Bethshemite to this day.

¹⁹ The Lord killed some of the men of Bethshemesh because they had looked into the special box of the Lord. He killed 70 (50,070) men. And the people were filled with sorrow because the Lord had killed so many of them.

The Special Box at Kiriath-jearim

²⁰ The men of Bethshemesh said, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? To whom can we send Him?” ²¹ So they sent men to the people living in Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the special box of the Lord. Come down and get it.”

5 Now that we have been made right with God by putting our trust in Him, we have peace with Him. It is because of what our Lord Jesus Christ did for us. ² By putting our trust in God, He has given us His loving-favor and has received us. We are happy for the hope we have of sharing the shining-greatness of God. ³ We are glad for our troubles also. We know that troubles help us learn not to give up. ⁴ When we have learned not to give up, it shows we have stood the test. When we have stood the test, it gives us hope. ⁵ Hope never makes us ashamed because the love of God has come into our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who was given to us.

⁶ We were weak and could not help ourselves. Then Christ came at the right time and gave His life for all sinners. ⁷ No one is willing to die for another person, but for a good man someone might be willing to die. ⁸ But God showed His love to us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Now that we have been saved from the punishment of sin by the blood of Christ, He will save us from God’s anger also. ¹⁰ We hated God. But we were saved from the punishment of sin by the death of Christ. He has brought us back to God and we will be saved by His life. ¹¹ Not only that, we give thanks to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have been brought back to God.

¹² This is what happened: Sin came into the world by one man, Adam. Sin brought death with it. Death spread to all men because all have sinned. ¹³ Sin was in the world before the Law was given. But sin is not held against a person when there is no Law. ¹⁴ And yet death had power over men from the time of Adam until the time of Moses. Even the power of death was over those who had not sinned in the same way Adam sinned. Adam was like the One Who was to come.

¹⁵ God’s free gift is not like the sin of Adam. Many people died because of the sin of this one man, Adam. But the loving-favor of God came to many people also. This gift came also by one Man Jesus Christ, God’s Son. ¹⁶ The free gift of God is not like Adam’s sin. God told Adam he was guilty because of his sin and through this one came sin and guilt. But the free gift makes men right with God. Through One, Christ, men’s sins are forgiven. ¹⁷ The power of death was over all men because of the sin of one man, Adam. But many people will receive His loving-favor and the gift of being made right with God. They will have power in life by Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ Through Adam’s sin, death and hell came to all men. But another Man, Christ, by His right act makes men free and gives them life. ¹⁹ Adam did not obey God, and many people become sinners through him. Christ obeyed God and makes many people right with Himself.

²⁰ Sin spread when the Law was given. But where sin spread, God’s loving-favor spread all the more. ²¹ Sin had power that ended in death. Now, God’s loving-favor has power to make men right with Himself. It gives life that lasts forever. Our Lord Jesus Christ did this for us.

Jeremiah Is Taken to Egypt

43 Jeremiah, whom the Lord their God had sent, finished telling all the people all these words of the Lord their God. ² Then Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go into Egypt to live.’ ³ But Baruch the son of Neriah is leading you against us to give us over to the Babylonians, so they may kill us or take us away to Babylon.” ⁴ So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the armies, and all the people, did not obey the voice of the Lord to stay in the land of Judah. ⁵ Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the armies took all the people left of Judah, who had returned to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been driven. ⁶ They took the men, women, children, the king’s daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the prison soldiers had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan. They also took Jeremiah the man of God and Baruch the son of Neriah. ⁷ And they went into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the Lord. They went in as far as Tahpanhes.

⁸ Then the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, ⁹ “Take some large stones in your hands. And hide them among the stone blocks by the door of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes. Let some of the Jews see you do this. ¹⁰ Tell them, ‘The Lord of All, the God of Israel, says, “See, I will send for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant. And I will set his throne over these stones that I have hidden. He will spread his covering over them. ¹¹ He will come and fight against the land of Egypt. Those who are meant to die will die. Those who are to be taken away will be taken away. And those who are to be killed by the sword will be killed by the sword. ¹² I will set fire to the houses of worship where the gods of Egypt are worshiped. He will burn them and take them away. So he will dress himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd puts on his coat. And he will go away from there in peace. ¹³ He will break to pieces the objects of worship in the house of the Sun god in Egypt. And he will burn the houses of the gods of Egypt with fire.”’”

The Works and the Word of God

19 The heavens are telling of the greatness of God and the great open spaces above show the work of His hands. ² Day to day they speak. And night to night they show much learning. ³ There is no speaking and no words where their voice is not heard. ⁴ Their sound has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun. ⁵ It is as a man soon to be married coming out of his room and as a strong man who is happy to run his race. ⁶ Its rising is from one end of the heavens, and it makes its way to the other end. Nothing is hidden from its heat.

⁷ The Law of the Lord is perfect, giving new strength to the soul. The Law He has made known is sure, making the child-like wise. ⁸ The Laws of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The Word of the Lord is pure, giving light to the eyes. ⁹ The fear of the Lord is pure, lasting forever. The Lord is always true and right in how He judges. ¹⁰ The Word of the Lord is worth more than gold, even more than much fine gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey straight from the comb. ¹¹ And by them Your servant is told to be careful. In obeying them there is great reward.

¹² Who can see his own mistakes? Forgive my sins that I do not see. ¹³ And keep Your servant from sinning by going my own way. Do not let these sins rule over me. Then I will be without blame. And I will not be found guilty of big sins. ¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing in Your eyes, O Lord, my Rock and the One Who saves me.