M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Saul Is Chosen to Be the King

9 There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite. He was a powerful man of action. ² He had a son whose name was Saul, a good-looking young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel who was better looking than he. He was a head taller than any of the people. ³ Now the donkeys of Saul’s father Kish were lost. So Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants and go look for the donkeys.” ⁴ They passed through the hill country of Ephraim and the land of Shalishah, but they did not find them. They passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then they passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not find them.

⁵ When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, let us return. My father might stop worrying about the donkeys and start worrying about us.” ⁶ The servant said, “See, there is a man of God in this city, and people honor him. All that he says comes true. Let us go there. It may be that he can tell us where we should go.” ⁷ Then Saul said to his servant, “But if we go, what can we bring the man? The bread in our bags is gone. There is no gift to bring to the man of God. What do we have?” ⁸ The servant answered Saul and said, “See, I have a fourth of a piece of silver in my hand. I will give it to the man of God and he will tell us the way to go.” ⁹ (Before in Israel, when a man went to ask God a question, he would say, “Come, let us go to the man of God.” For he who is called a man who speaks for God now, was called a seer before.) ¹⁰ Saul said to his servant, “What you said is good. Come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.

¹¹ As they went up the hill to the city, they met young women going out to get water. They said to them, “Is the man of God here?” ¹² The women answered, “He is. Look, he is up in front of you. Hurry now, for he has come to the city today because the people are giving a gift in worship on the high place today. ¹³ You will find him as you go into the city, before he goes up to the high place to eat. The people will not eat until he comes to give thanks for the gift. Then those who are asked to come will eat. Now go up, for you will find him at once.” ¹⁴ So they went up to the city. As they came into the city, they saw Samuel coming out toward them to go up to the high place.

¹⁵ Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had told Samuel, ¹⁶ “I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin about this time tomorrow. Choose him to be the leader of My people Israel. And he will save My people from the Philistines. For I have seen the trouble of My people. I have heard their cry. ¹⁷ When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, “Here is the man I told you about. He is the one who will rule over My people.” ¹⁸ Then Saul came to Samuel in the gate, and said, “Tell me, where is the man of God’s house?” ¹⁹ Samuel answered Saul and said, “I am the man of God. Go up before me to the high place. For you will eat with me today, and tomorrow I will let you go. And I will tell you all that is on your mind. ²⁰ Do not worry about your donkeys which were lost three days ago, for they have been found. And for whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father’s house?” ²¹ Saul answered, “Am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest of the family groups of Israel? Is not my family the least important of all the families of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me this way?”

²² Then Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them into the meeting room. He gave them a place at the head of those who were asked to come, about thirty men. ²³ Samuel said to the one who was making the food ready, “Bring the part I gave you and told you to set aside.” ²⁴ So the man picked up the leg with what was on it and set it in front of Saul. And Samuel said, “Here is what has been saved for you. Eat. It has been kept for you until the right time, ever since I asked the people to come.” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

²⁵ When they came down from the high place into the city, Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof. ²⁶ They got up early the next day. Samuel called to Saul on the roof, saying, “Get up, that I may send you on your way.” So Saul got up, and both he and Samuel went out into the street.

Saul Is Made King

²⁷ As they were going out of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on before us, but you stand here. Then I will make the Word of God known to you.”

7 Christian brothers, I am sure you understand what I am going to say. You know all about the Law. The Law has power over a man as long as he lives. ² A married woman is joined by law to her husband as long as he lives. But if he dies, she is free from the law that joined her to him. ³ If she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is sinning by not being faithful in marriage. If her husband dies, she is free from the law that joined her to him. After that she can marry someone else. She does not sin if she marries another man.

⁴ My Christian brothers, that is the way it is with you. You were under the power of the Law. But now you are dead to it because you are joined to another. You are joined to Christ Who was raised from the dead. This is so we may be what God wants us to be. Our lives are to give fruit for Him. ⁵ When we lived to please our bodies, those sinful desires were pulling at us all the time. We always wanted to do what the Law said not to do. Living that kind of life brings death, ⁶ but now we are free from the Law. We are dead to sin that once held us in its power. No longer do we follow the Law which is the old way. We now follow the new way, the way of the Spirit.

⁷ Then what are we saying? Is the Law sinful? No, not at all! But it was the Law that showed me what sin is. I did not know it was sin to follow wrong desires, but the Law said, “You must not follow wrong desires.” ⁸ The Law made me know how much I was sinning. It showed me how I had a desire for all kinds of things. For without the Law, sin is dead. ⁹ I was once alive. That was when I did not know what the Law said I had to do. Then I found that I had broken the Law. I knew I was a sinner. Death was mine because of the Law. ¹⁰ The Law was supposed to give me new life. Instead, it gave me death. ¹¹ Sin found a way to trap me by working through the Law. Then sin killed me by using the Law.

¹² The Law is holy. Each one of the Laws is holy and right and good. ¹³ Then does it mean that the Law, which is good, brought death to me? No, not at all! It was sin that did it. Sin brought death to me by the Law that is good. In that way, sin was shown to be what it is. So because of the Law, sin becomes much more sinful.

¹⁴ We know that the Law is right and good, but I am a person who does what is wrong and bad. I am not my own boss. Sin is my boss. ¹⁵ I do not understand myself. I want to do what is right but I do not do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶ When I do the thing I do not want to do, it shows me that the Law is right and good. ¹⁷ So I am not doing it. Sin living in me is doing it. ¹⁸ I know there is nothing good in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do good but I do not. ¹⁹ I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I am always doing the sinful things I do not want to do. ²⁰ If I am always doing the very thing I do not want to do, it means I am no longer the one who does it. It is sin that lives in me. ²¹ This has become my way of life: When I want to do what is right, I always do what is wrong. ²² My mind and heart agree with the Law of God. ²³ But there is a different law at work deep inside of me that fights with my mind. This law of sin holds me in its power because sin is still in me. ²⁴ There is no happiness in me! Who can set me free from my sinful old self? ²⁵ God’s Law has power over my mind, but sin still has power over my sinful old self. I thank God I can be free through Jesus Christ our Lord!

God Speaks through Jeremiah about Egypt

46 This is the Word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the man of God about the nations. ² This is what He said about Egypt, and about the army of Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt, which was by the Euphrates River at Carchemish. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had won the battle against Pharaoh’s army in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah. ³ “Get your coverings ready and go out to the battle! ⁴ Get the horses ready and get on them! Take your places with your head-coverings on! Make your spears shine, and put on your heavy battle-clothes! ⁵ What do I see? They are filled with fear and are turning back. Their strong men are beaten and are running away without looking back. Much fear is on every side,” says the Lord. ⁶ Do not let the fast man run away. Do not let the strong man get away. In the north by the River Euphrates they have lost their step and fallen. ⁷ Who is this that rises like the Nile, like rivers of rising waters? ⁸ Egypt rises like the Nile, like the rivers of rising waters. He has said, “I will rise and cover that land. I will destroy the city and its people.” ⁹ Go up, you horses! Drive hard, you war-wagons! Let the men of war go up, Ethiopia and Put who use the battle-covering, and the Lydians who are able men with the bow. ¹⁰ That day is the day of the Lord God of All, a day of punishment, when He will punish those who hate Him. The sword will destroy until it is filled. It will drink its fill of their blood. For there will be many killed for the Lord, the God of All, in the land of the north by the River Euphrates. ¹¹ Go up to Gilead and get healing oil, O young daughter of Egypt! You have used many medicines for nothing. There is no healing for you. ¹² The nations have heard of your shame, and the earth is full of your cry. For one soldier has fallen over another. They have both fallen together.

Nebuchadnezzar and Egypt

¹³ This is the word which the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the man of God about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to punish the land of Egypt: ¹⁴ “Make it known in Egypt. Make it known in Migdol, in Memphis, and in Tahpanhes. Say, ‘Take your places and get ready, for the sword has destroyed those around you.’ ¹⁵ Why have your strong ones gone away? They did not stand because the Lord has thrown them down. ¹⁶ The Lord made many fall. They have fallen on each other. And they said, ‘Get up! Let us return to our own people and our own land, away from the sword of the one who makes it hard for us.’ ¹⁷ There they cried, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise. He has passed by the time he was to have!’ ¹⁸ “As I live,” says the King, Whose name is the Lord of All, “one will come who is like Tabor among the mountains, or like Carmel by the sea. ¹⁹ Get your things ready for when you are taken away, you who are living in Egypt. For Memphis will become a waste. It will be burned down and will have no people. ²⁰ Egypt is like a beautiful young cow. But a horsefly has come upon her from the north. ²¹ Her hired soldiers among her are like calves, ready to eat. For they also have turned back and have run away together. They did not stay in their places. For the day of their trouble has come upon them, the time of their punishment. ²² Egypt will sound like a snake moving away. For an army will come against her with axes, like those who cut down trees. ²³ They will cut down all her trees,” says the Lord, “even though there are so many. There are more trees than locusts, too many to number. ²⁴ The people of Egypt will be put to shame. She will be given over to the people of the north.” ²⁵ The Lord of All, the God of Israel, says, “I am going to punish Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt and her gods and her kings. I will punish Pharaoh and those who trust in him. ²⁶ I will give them over to those who want to kill them, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his captains. After that, Egypt will be filled with people as it was long ago,” says the Lord.

God Will Save Israel

²⁷ “But do not be afraid, O Jacob My servant. Do not be troubled, O Israel. For I am going to save you from far away. I will bring your children back from the land where they are held. Jacob will return and have quiet and rest. And no one will make him afraid. ²⁸ O Jacob My servant, do not be afraid,” says the Lord, “for I am with you. I will make a complete end of all the nations where I have driven you. But I will not make a complete end of you. I will punish you so you will go the right way. I will not leave you without punishment.”

A Cry of Fear and a Song of Praise

22 My God, my God, why have You left me alone? Why are You so far from helping me, and from the words I cry inside myself? ² O my God, I cry during the day, but You do not answer. I cry during the night, but I find no rest. ³ Yet You are holy. The praises Israel gives You are Your throne. ⁴ Our fathers trusted in You, and You saved them. ⁵ They cried to You and were set free. They trusted in You and were not ashamed.

⁶ But I am a worm and not a man. I am put to shame by men, and am hated by the people. ⁷ All who see me make fun of me. They open their mouths and shake their heads, and say, ⁸ “He trusts in the Lord. Let the Lord help him. Let the Lord take him out of trouble, because he is happy in Him.”

⁹ But You brought me out when I was born. You made me trust when I drank my mother’s milk. ¹⁰ I was in Your care from birth. Since my mother gave birth to me, You have been my God.

¹¹ Do not be far from me, for trouble is near. And there is no one to help. ¹² Many bulls have gathered all around me. Strong bulls of Bashan stand around me. ¹³ They open their mouths wide against me, like a loud, hungry lion. ¹⁴ I am poured out like water. And all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like a melted candle within me. ¹⁵ My strength is dried up like a piece of a broken clay pot. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. And You lay me in the dust of death. ¹⁶ For dogs have gathered around me. A group of sinful men stand around me. They have cut through my hands and feet. ¹⁷ I can tell how many bones I have. The people look at me with wide eyes. ¹⁸ They divide my clothes among them by drawing names to see who would get them.

¹⁹ But You, O Lord, be not far from me! O my Strength, hurry to help me! ²⁰ Take me away from the sword. Save my life from the power of the dog. ²¹ Save me from the lion’s mouth, and from the horns of the wild bulls You answer me.

²² I will make Your name known to my brothers. In the center of the meeting of worship I will praise You. ²³ You who fear the Lord, give Him praise. All you children of Jacob, honor Him. Fear Him, all you children of Israel. ²⁴ For He has not turned away from the suffering of the one in pain or trouble. He has not hidden His face from him. But He has heard his cry for help.

²⁵ My praise will be from You in the big meeting of worship. I will keep my promises to Him in front of those who fear Him. ²⁶ Those who suffer will eat and have enough. Those who look for the Lord will praise Him. May your heart live forever! ²⁷ All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord. All the families of the nations will worship before Him. ²⁸ For the holy nation is the Lord’s, and He rules over the nations. ²⁹ All the proud ones of the earth will eat and worship. All who go down to the dust will fall to their knees before Him, even he who cannot keep his soul alive. ³⁰ Future children will serve Him. They will tell of the Lord to their children. ³¹ They will come and tell about His saving power to a people yet to be born. For He has done it.