M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Samuel’s Last Words to Israel

12 Then Samuel said to all Israel, “See, I have listened to all you have said to me. I have chosen a king to rule over you. ² Now see, the king walks in front of you. But I am old. My hair is growing white. See, my sons are with you. I have walked in front of you since I was young, until this day. ³ Here I am. Speak against me to the Lord and Saul His chosen one. Whose bull have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? To whom have I not been honest? For whom have I made it hard? From whose hand have I taken pay for closing my eyes to the truth? I will return it to you.” ⁴ They said, “You have always been honest with us. You have not made it hard for us, or taken anything from any man’s hand.” ⁵ Samuel said to them, “The Lord has heard you. And His chosen one has heard this day that you have found nothing in my hand.” And they said, “The Lord has heard.” ⁶ Samuel said to the people, “The Lord is the One Who chose Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt. ⁷ Now stand where you are, that I may argue with you before the Lord about all His saving acts which He did for you and your fathers. ⁸ When Jacob went into Egypt and the Egyptians made it hard for them, your fathers cried to the Lord. And the Lord sent Moses and Aaron. They brought your fathers out of Egypt, and had them live in this place. ⁹ But they forgot the Lord their God. So He sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. ¹⁰ Then they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned because we have turned away from the Lord. We have worshiped the false gods, the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now save us from the power of those who hate us, and we will worship You.’ ¹¹ The Lord sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah and Samuel, and saved you from the power of those all around who hated you. So you were safe. ¹² But then you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you. So you said to me, ‘No! A king must rule over us,’ when the Lord your God was your King. ¹³ Now see the king you have chosen, the king you have asked for. See, the Lord has given you a king. ¹⁴ Fear the Lord and worship Him. Listen to His voice and do not go against the Word of the Lord. If both you and the king who rules over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. ¹⁵ But if you will not listen to the voice of the Lord, and go against the Lord’s Word, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, as it was against your fathers. ¹⁶ Now stand still and see this great thing which the Lord will do in front of your eyes. ¹⁷ Is it not the time to gather grain today? I will call to the Lord, and He will send thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that you have done a bad sin in the eyes of the Lord by asking for a king.” ¹⁸ So Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day. And all the people were very much afraid of the Lord and Samuel.

¹⁹ Then all the people said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for your servants, so we will not die. For we have added to all our sins this bad thing, to ask for a king.” ²⁰ Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid. You have done all these sins. But do not turn aside from following the Lord. Worship the Lord with all your heart. ²¹ Do not turn aside after things that have no worth and cannot save you, for they are nothing. ²² The Lord will not leave His people alone, because of His great name. The Lord has been pleased to make you His people. ²³ And as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by not praying for you. But I will teach you the good and the right way. ²⁴ Only fear the Lord and be faithful to worship Him with all your heart. Think of the great things He has done for you. ²⁵ But if you still sin, both you and your king will be destroyed.”

10 Christian brothers, the desire of my heart and my prayer to God is that the Jews might be saved from the punishment of sin. ² I know about them. They have a strong desire for God, but they do not know what they should about Him. ³ They have not known how God makes men right with Himself. Instead, they have tried to make their own way. They have not become right with God because they have not done what God said to do. ⁴ For Christ has put an end to the Law, so everyone who has put his trust in Christ is made right with God.

⁵ Moses writes that the man who obeys the Law has to live by it. ⁶ But when a man puts his trust in Christ, he is made right with God. You do not need to ask yourself, “Who will go up to heaven to bring Christ down?” ⁷ And you do not need to ask, “Who will go below and bring Christ up from the dead?” ⁸ This is what it says, “The Good News is near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart.” ^(A) This Good News tells about putting your trust in Christ. This is what we preach to you. ⁹ If you say with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved from the punishment of sin. ¹⁰ When we believe in our hearts, we are made right with God. We tell with our mouth how we were saved from the punishment of sin. ¹¹ The Holy Writings say, “No one who puts his trust in Christ will ever be put to shame.” ^{(B) 12} There is no difference between the Jews and the people who are not Jews. They are all the same to the Lord. And He is Lord over all of them. He gives of His greatness to all who call on Him for help. ¹³ For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved from the punishment of sin.

¹⁴ But how can they call on Him if they have not put their trust in Him? And how can they put their trust in Him if they have not heard of Him? And how can they hear of Him unless someone tells them? ¹⁵ And how can someone tell them if he is not sent? The Holy Writings say, “The feet of those who bring the Good News are beautiful.” ^(C)

¹⁶ But they have not all listened to the Good News. Isaiah says, “Lord, who believed what we told them?” ^{(D) 17} So then, faith comes to us by hearing the Good News. And the Good News comes by someone preaching it. ¹⁸ And so I ask, “Did they not hear?” For sure they did. The Holy Writings say, “Their voice was heard over all the earth. The Good News was told to the ends of the earth.” ^{(E) 19} Again I ask, “Did the Jews not understand?” First of all, Moses says, “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation. I will make you angry with a foolish nation of people who do not understand.” ^{(F) 20} Isaiah says even stronger words, “I have been found by men who did not look for Me. I have shown Myself to those who were not asking for Me.” ^{(G) 21} This is what God says about the Jews, “All day long I held out my hand to a people who would not obey Me and who worked against Me.” ^(H)

God Speaks through Jeremiah about Ammon

49 About the sons of Ammon, the Lord says, “Does Israel have no sons? Does she have no one to receive what she leaves? Why then has Malcam taken Gad as his own? Why do his people live in its cities? ² But the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will blow a horn giving the sound of war against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon. And it will become a waste. Its towns will be set on fire. Then Israel will take the land from those who had taken it from her,” says the Lord.

³ “Cry out, O Heshbon, for Ai has been destroyed! Cry out, O people of Rabbah. Put on clothes made from hair and cry in sorrow. And run this way and that way inside the walls. For Malcam will go to a strange land, together with his religious leaders and his important men. ⁴ How you speak in pride about the valleys! Your valley is flowing away, O daughter without faith who trusts in her riches, saying, ‘Who will come against me?’ ⁵ I will bring much trouble upon you,” says the Lord God of All. “It will come from all around you, and each of you will be driven away. There will be no one to gather together those who run for their lives. ⁶ But after this I will return the sons of Ammon to their land,” says the Lord.

God Speaks through Jeremiah about Edom

⁷ About Edom, the Lord of All says, “Is there no longer any wisdom in Teman? Have wise words been lost from the wise? Is their wisdom all gone? ⁸ Run away! Turn back and live in the deep places, O people of Dedan. For I will bring the trouble of Esau upon him when I punish him. ⁹ If those who gather grapes came to you, would they not leave some grapes behind? If robbers came during the night, would they not take only what was enough for them? ¹⁰ But I have taken all that Esau has. I have taken the covering from his hiding places so that he will not be able to hide himself. His children, his brothers, and his neighbors are destroyed. And he is no more. ¹¹ Leave your children behind, who have lost their parents, and I will keep them alive. And let your women whose husbands have died trust in Me.” ¹² For the Lord says, “If those who were not to drink the cup must drink it, will you go without being punished? You will not go without being punished, but you must drink it. ¹³ For I have promised by Myself,” says the Lord, “that Bozrah will become an object of trouble, a shame, a waste, and a curse. All its cities will be destroyed forever.”

¹⁴ I have heard word from the Lord. A man with news is sent among the nations, saying, “Gather together and come against her! Rise up for battle! ¹⁵ For I have made you small among the nations, hated among men. ¹⁶ As for the fear you have caused, the pride of your heart has fooled you, O you who live in the holes of rocks, who live on the top of the hill. Even if you make your nest as high as an eagle’s, I will bring you down from there,” says the Lord. ¹⁷ ‘Edom will become an object of trouble. Everyone who passes by will be surprised and will make fun of all its suffering. ¹⁸ As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors were destroyed, no one will live there,” says the Lord. “No man will live there. ¹⁹ One will come up like a lion from the trees by the Jordan to rich grass fields. All at once I will make him run away from Edom. And I will make whoever I choose rule over it. For who is like Me? Who will call Me into court? What shepherd can stand against Me?”

²⁰ So hear the plan the Lord has made against Edom. Listen to His plans which He has made against the people of Teman. Even the little ones of the flock will be pulled away. For sure He will make their fields an empty waste because of them. ²¹ The earth will shake at the sound of their fall. The sound of their cry will be heard at the Red Sea. ²² See, one will come and fly down in a hurry like an eagle. He will spread out his wings against Bozrah. In that day the hearts of the strong men of Edom will be like the heart of a woman giving birth.

God Speaks through Jeremiah about Damascus

²³ About Damascus, He says, “Hamath and Arpad are troubled, for they have heard bad news. Their hearts have become weak. They are troubled like the sea which cannot be quiet. ²⁴ Damascus has become weak. She has turned to run away. Fear has taken hold of her. Pain and sorrows have taken hold of her like a woman giving birth. ²⁵ Why does the city of praise, the town of My joy, still have people in it? ²⁶ For sure her young men will fall in her streets. And all the men of war will be destroyed in that day,” says the Lord of All. ²⁷ “I will set fire to the wall of Damascus. And it will burn up the strong towers of Ben-hadad.”

God Speaks through Jeremiah about Kedar and Hazor

²⁸ About Kedar and the nations of Hazor, which were beaten in battle by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Lord says, “Get up and go to Kedar, and destroy the men of the east. ²⁹ Their tents and their flocks will be taken. Their tent curtains, and all their good things, and their camels will be carried away for themselves. And men will call out to them, ‘Trouble is on every side!’ ³⁰ Run! Run far away! Live in the deep places, O people of Hazor,” says the Lord. “For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has made a plan against you. He has thought of a way to hurt you. ³¹ Get up and go to fight against a nation which is at rest and lives without fear,” says the Lord. “It has no gates with pieces of iron. And its people live alone. ³² Their camels and their many cattle will become a prize of war. I will send everywhere to the winds those who are in the farthest places. I will bring trouble to them from every side,” says the Lord. ³³ “Hazor will become a place where wild dogs live, a waste place forever. No man will live there, and no man will stay there.”

God Speaks through Jeremiah about Elam

³⁴ This is the Word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the man of God about Elam, at the beginning of the rule of King Zedekiah of Judah, saying, ³⁵ “The Lord of All says, ‘I will break the bow of Elam, the best of their strength. ³⁶ I will bring the four winds to Elam from the four ends of heaven. And I will have these winds send them everywhere. There will not be a nation to which the people sent out of Elam will not go. ³⁷ I will fill Elam with fear in front of those who hate them and want to kill them. I will bring much trouble upon them, even My burning anger,’ says the Lord. ‘I will send the sword after them until I have destroyed them. ³⁸ Then I will set My throne in Elam, and will destroy their kings and leaders,’ says the Lord. ³⁹ ‘But in the last days I will return the people of Elam to their land,’” says the Lord.

Prayer of a Good Man

26 O Lord, stand by me for I have lived my life without blame. I have trusted in the Lord without changing. ² Test me and try me, O Lord. Test my mind and my heart. ³ For Your loving-kindness is always in front of my eyes. And I have walked in Your truth. ⁴ I do not sit with men who lie about the truth. I would not be seen with those who pretend to be someone they are not. ⁵ I hate the meeting of sinners, and will not sit with the sinful. ⁶ I will wash my hands of any guilt. And I will go around Your altar, O Lord. ⁷ I will speak with the voice of thanks, and tell of all Your great works.

⁸ O Lord, I love the house where You live, the place where Your shining-greatness lives. ⁹ Do not take my soul away with sinners, or my life with men who kill other people. ¹⁰ Sinful plans are in their hands. And their right hand is full of pay for hurting others. ¹¹ But as for me, I will live a life without blame. Make me free, and show me loving-kindness. ¹² My foot stands on a good place. I will give honor to the Lord, in the meeting of worship.

Prayer of Trust in God

27 The Lord is my light and the One Who saves me. Whom should I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom should I be afraid? ² When sinful men, and all who hated me, came against me to destroy my flesh, they tripped and fell. ³ Even if an army gathers against me, my heart will not be afraid. Even if war rises against me, I will be sure of You.

⁴ One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I will look for: that I may live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to look upon the beauty of the Lord, and to worship in His holy house. ⁵ For in the day of trouble He will keep me safe in His holy tent. In the secret place of His tent He will hide me. He will set me high upon a rock. ⁶ Then my head will be lifted up above all those around me who hate me. I will give gifts in His holy tent with a loud voice of joy. I will sing. Yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

⁷ O Lord, listen to my cry. Show loving-kindness to me and answer me. ⁸ You have said, “Look for My face.” My heart said to You, “O Lord, Your face will I look for.” ⁹ Do not hide Your face from me. Do not turn Your servant away in anger. You have been my Helper. Do not turn away from me or leave me alone, O God Who saves me! ¹⁰ For my father and my mother have left me. But the Lord will take care of me.

¹¹ Teach me Your way, O Lord. Lead me in a straight path, because of those who fight against me. ¹² Do not give me over to the desire of those who hate me. For people who tell lies about me rise against me, and breathe a desire to hurt me. ¹³ I would have been without hope if I had not believed that I would see the loving-kindness of the Lord in the land of the living. ¹⁴ Wait for the Lord. Be strong. Let your heart be strong. Yes, wait for the Lord.