M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

King Saul Is Jealous of David

18 When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan became one with the soul of David. Jonathan loved him as himself. ² Saul took David that day, and would not let him return to his father’s house. ³ Then Jonathan made an agreement with David, because he loved him as himself. ⁴ Jonathan took off his long coat and gave it to David. He gave him his battle-clothes, his sword, his bow and his belt also. ⁵ David went everywhere that Saul sent him, and did well. Saul had him lead the men of war. And it was pleasing to all the people and to Saul’s servants.

⁶ When David returned from killing the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, playing songs of joy on timbrels. ⁷ The women sang as they played, and said, “Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” ⁸ Then Saul became very angry. This saying did not please him. He said, “They have given David honor for ten thousands, but for me only thousands. Now what more can he have but to be king?” ⁹ And Saul was jealous and did not trust David from that day on.

¹⁰ The next day a bad spirit sent from God came upon Saul with power. He acted like a crazy man in his house, while David was playing the harp. Saul had a spear in his hand, ¹¹ and he threw the spear, thinking, “I will nail David to the wall.” But David jumped out of his way twice. ¹² Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him but had left Saul. ¹³ So Saul made David go away from him, and had him lead a thousand men. And David went out to the people. ¹⁴ David did well in all that he did, because the Lord was with him. ¹⁵ When Saul saw how well he did, he was afraid of him. ¹⁶ But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them.

David Marries Saul’s Daughter

¹⁷ Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you as a wife, if you only work for me with strength of heart and fight the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, “I will not go against him. Let the Philistines go against him.” ¹⁸ David said to Saul, “Who am I? What is my life or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be the king’s son-in-law?” ¹⁹ But at the time when Saul’s daughter Merab should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite for a wife.

²⁰ Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David. When they told Saul, it pleased him. ²¹ Saul thought, “I will give her to David. I will use her to trap him, and the Philistines will go against him.” So Saul said to David a second time, “Now you may be my son-in-law.” ²² Then Saul told his servants, “Speak to David in secret. Tell him, ‘See, the king is happy with you, and all his servants love you. So now become the king’s son-in-law.’” ²³ So Saul’s servants said this to David. But David said, “Is it not important to you to become the king’s son-in-law? I am only a poor man and am not very respected.” ²⁴ Saul’s servants told Saul what David had said. ²⁵ Then Saul said, “Say to David, ‘The king wants no marriage gift except the pieces of skin from the sex parts of a hundred Philistines, to punish those who hate the king.’” Saul planned to have the Philistines kill David. ²⁶ When his servants told this to David, it pleased him to become the king’s son-in-law. Before the time was finished, ²⁷ David and his men went and killed 200 Philistine men. Then David brought their pieces of flesh and gave all of them to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. So Saul gave him his daughter Michal for a wife. ²⁸ When Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved him, ²⁹ Saul was even more afraid of David. So he hated David always.

³⁰ Then the Philistine leaders went out to battle. And when they did, David acted with more wisdom than all the servants of Saul. So his name became very important.

16 I want to let you know about our Christian sister Phoebe. She is a helper in the church in the city of Cenchrea. ² The Christians should receive her as a sister who belongs to the Lord. Help her any way you can. She has helped many people and has helped me also.

³ Greet Priscilla and Aquila. They worked with me for Christ. ⁴ They almost died for me. I am thankful for them. All the churches that were started among the people who are not Jews are thankful for them also. ⁵ Greet the church that worships in their house. Greet Epaenetus, my much-loved friend. He was the first Christian in the countries of Asia. ⁶ Greet Mary. She worked hard for you. ⁷ Greet Andronicus and Junias. They are from my family and were in prison with me. They put their trust in Christ before I did. They have been respected missionaries. ⁸ Greet Ampliatus. He is a much-loved Christian brother. ⁹ Greet Urbanus. He worked with us for Christ. Greet Stachys, my much-loved friend. ¹⁰ Greet Apelles. He proved he was faithful to Christ. Greet all the family of Aristobulus. ¹¹ Greet Herodian. He is one of my family. Greet the Christians in the family of Narcissus. ¹² Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa and Persis. They are all much-loved workmen for the Lord. ¹³ Greet Rufus and his mother. She was like a mother to me. Rufus is a good Christian. ¹⁴ Greet Asyncritus and Phlegon and Hermes and Patrobas and Hermas and all the Christians with them. ¹⁵ Greet Philologus and Julia and Nereus and his sister and Olympas and all the Christians with them.

¹⁶ Greet each other with a kiss of holy love. All the churches here greet you.

¹⁷ I ask you, Christian brothers, watch out for those who make trouble and start fights. Keep your eye on those who work against the teaching you received. Keep away from them. ¹⁸ Men like that are not working for our Lord Jesus Christ. They are chained to their own desires. With soft words they say things people want to hear. People are fooled by them. ¹⁹ Everyone knows you have obeyed the teaching you received. I am happy with you because of this. But I want you to be wise about good things and pure about sinful things. ²⁰ God, Who is our peace, will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the loving-favor of our Lord Jesus be yours. ²¹ Timothy, my helper, greets you. Lucius and Jason and Sosipater from my family say hello also. ²² I, Tertius, who am writing this letter for Paul, greet you as a Christian brother. ²³ Gaius is the man taking care of me. The church meets here in his house. He greets you. Erastus, the man who takes care of the money for the city, says hello and Quartus does also. He is a Christian brother. ²⁴ *May you have loving-favor from our Lord Jesus Christ. Let it be so.

²⁵ We give honor to God. He is able to make you strong as I preach from the Holy Writings about Jesus Christ. It was a secret hidden from the beginning of the world. ²⁶ But now it is for us to know. The early preachers wrote about it. God says it is to be preached to all the people of the world so men can put their trust in God and obey Him.

²⁷ May God, Who only is wise, be honored forever through our Lord Jesus Christ. Let it be so.

Jerusalem’s Hope

3 I am the man who has been suffering because of the power of God’s anger. ² He has led me and brought me into darkness and not into light. ³ For sure He has turned His hand against me again and again all day long. ⁴ He has made my flesh and my skin waste away. He has broken my bones. ⁵ He has shut me in with trouble and suffering. ⁶ He has made me live in dark places, like those who have been dead a long time. ⁷ He has put a wall around me so that I cannot go out. He has put heavy chains on me. ⁸ Even when I cry and call for help, he shuts out my prayer. ⁹ He has stopped me with blocks of stone. He has made my paths no longer straight. ¹⁰ He is like a bear lying in wait, like a lion hiding in secret places. ¹¹ He has turned me from the path and torn me to pieces. He has destroyed me. ¹² He used His bow, and set me as a mark for His arrow. ¹³ He has taken out His arrows and sent them into my heart. ¹⁴ All my people laugh at me. They sing songs that make fun of me all day long. ¹⁵ He has filled me with bitter feelings. He has made me drunk with wormwood. ¹⁶ He has broken my teeth with rocks, and has covered me with dust. ¹⁷ Peace has left my soul. I have forgotten what it is like to be happy. ¹⁸ So I say, “My strength is gone, and so has my hope from the Lord.”

¹⁹ Remember my trouble and my traveling from place to place, the wormwood and bitter feelings. ²⁰ I remember it always, and my soul bows down within me. ²¹ But this I remember, and so I have hope. ²² It is because of the Lord’s loving-kindness that we are not destroyed for His loving-pity never ends. ²³ It is new every morning. He is so very faithful. ²⁴ “The Lord is my share.” says my soul, “so I have hope in Him.” ²⁵ The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the one who looks for Him. ²⁶ It is good that one should be quiet and wait for the saving power of the Lord. ²⁷ It is good for a man to carry the load while he is young. ²⁸ Let him sit alone and be quiet when God has laid the load on him. ²⁹ Let him put his mouth in the dust. There may be hope yet. ³⁰ Let him give his face to the one who hits him, and be filled with shame. ³¹ For the Lord will not turn away from a man forever. ³² For if He causes sorrow, He will have loving-pity because of His great loving-kindness. ³³ He does not want to cause trouble or sorrow for the children of men. ³⁴ He is not pleased when all those on earth who are in prison are crushed under foot. ³⁵ The Most High is not pleased when the rights are kept away from a man who is before Him, ³⁶ and when wrong is done to him in his cause. The Lord is not pleased with these things. ³⁷ Who has said that something would happen and then it did happen, unless the Lord has said that it should be? ³⁸ Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and bad come?

³⁹ Why should any living man complain about the punishment of his sins? ⁴⁰ Let us test and look over our ways, and return to the Lord. ⁴¹ Let us lift up our heart and hands to God in heaven, saying, ⁴² “We have sinned and would not obey You, and You have not forgiven us. ⁴³ You have covered Yourself with anger and have followed us, killing without pity. ⁴⁴ You have covered Yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through. ⁴⁵ You have made us a waste and something that is not wanted among the nations. ⁴⁶ All those who hate us have spoken against us. ⁴⁷ Fear and a trap have come upon us. We are laid waste and destroyed. ⁴⁸ My eyes flow with rivers of tears because my people are destroyed. ⁴⁹ Tears flow from my eyes all the time without stopping, ⁵⁰ until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees. ⁵¹ My eyes bring me suffering because of what is happening to all the women of my city. ⁵² I have been hunted like a bird by those who hate me for no reason. ⁵³ They threw me alive into the deep hole and have put a stone on me. ⁵⁴ Water flowed over my head, and I said, “I am cut off!” ⁵⁵ I called on Your name, O Lord, out of the deep hole. ⁵⁶ You have heard my voice. Do not close Your ears to my cry for help. ⁵⁷ You came near when I called You, and You said, “Do not be afraid!” ⁵⁸ You have helped me in my cause, O Lord. You have saved my life. ⁵⁹ O Lord, You have seen the wrong done to me. Judge in my favor. ⁶⁰ You have seen how much they hate me and plan against me. ⁶¹ O Lord, You have heard how they put me to shame and how they work against me. ⁶² The lips and thoughts of those who hurt me are against me all day long. ⁶³ Watch their sitting down and standing up. I am their song as they make fun of me. ⁶⁴ O Lord, You will punish them for what they have done. ⁶⁵ You will give them hard hearts, and curse them. ⁶⁶ Go after them in anger and destroy them from under Your heavens, O Lord.

Those Who Trust in God Are Happy

34 I will honor the Lord at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth. ² My soul will be proud to tell about the Lord. Let those who suffer hear it and be filled with joy. ³ Give great honor to the Lord with me. Let us praise His name together.

⁴ I looked for the Lord, and He answered me. And He took away all my fears. ⁵ They looked to Him and their faces shined with joy. Their faces will never be ashamed. ⁶ This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him. And He saved him out of all his troubles. ⁷ The angel of the Lord stays close around those who fear Him, and He takes them out of trouble.

⁸ O taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the man who trusts in Him! ⁹ O fear the Lord, all you who belong to Him. For those who fear Him never want for anything. ¹⁰ The young lions suffer want and hunger. But they who look for the Lord will not be without any good thing. ¹¹ Come, you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. ¹² Who is the man who has a desire for life, and wants to live long so that he may see good things? ¹³ Keep your tongue from sin and your lips from speaking lies. ¹⁴ Turn away from what is sinful. Do what is good. Look for peace and follow it.

¹⁵ The eyes of the Lord are on those who do what is right and good. His ears are open to their cry. ¹⁶ The face of the Lord is against those who sin. He will keep the people of the earth from remembering them. ¹⁷ Those who are right with the Lord cry, and He hears them. And He takes them from all their troubles. ¹⁸ The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart. And He saves those who are broken in spirit.

¹⁹ A man who does what is right and good may have many troubles. But the Lord takes him out of them all. ²⁰ He keeps all his bones safe. Not one of them is broken. ²¹ Sin will kill the sinful. And those who hate God’s people will be held guilty and punished forever. ²² The Lord saves the soul of those who work for Him. None of those who trust in Him will be held guilty.