M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

David Is Made King over Judah

2 After this, David asked the Lord, “Should I go up to one of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up.” So David said, “Where should I go?” And He said, “To Hebron.” ² So David went up there with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail who had been the wife of Nabal of Carmel. ³ David brought up his men who were with him, each one with those of his family. They lived in the cities of Hebron. ⁴ Then the men of Judah came and there they chose David to be king over the family of Judah.

They told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.” ⁵ So David sent men with news to the men of Jabesh-gilead, saying, “May the Lord bring good to you. Because you have shown kindness to your king Saul, and have buried him. ⁶ Now may the Lord show loving-kindness and truth to you. And I will do good to you, because you have done this. ⁷ So now let your hands be strong. Have strength of heart. For your king Saul is dead. And those of the family of Judah have chosen me to be their king.”

Ish-bosheth Is Made King over Israel

⁸ But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul’s army, had taken Saul’s son Ish-bosheth to Mahanaim. ⁹ He made him king of Gilead, the Ashurites, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and all Israel. ¹⁰ Saul’s son Ish-bosheth was forty years old when he became king of Israel. He was king for two years. But the family of Judah followed David. ¹¹ David was king in Hebron over the family of Judah for seven years and six months.

War between Israel and Judah

¹² Now Abner the son of Ner went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon with the servants of Saul’s son Ish-bosheth. ¹³ And Zeruiah’s son Joab and the servants of David went out and met them by the pool of Gibeon. One group sat down on one side of the pool, and the other group on the other side. ¹⁴ Then Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men get up and have a test of strength in front of us.” And Joab said, “Let them get up.” ¹⁵ So they stood up and went over by number. There were twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. ¹⁶ Each one of them took hold of the head of the one fighting against him, and put his sword into the other’s side. So they fell down together. That is why that place was called field of swords, which is in Gibeon. ¹⁷ The battle was very bad that day. Abner and the men of Israel were beaten by the servants of David. ¹⁸ Now the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab and Abishai and Asahel. Asahel was as fast as a wild deer. ¹⁹ And Asahel ran after Abner. He did not turn to the right or the left from following him. ²⁰ Then Abner looked behind him and said, “Is that you, Asahel?” And he answered, “It is I.” ²¹ So Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right or left. Take hold of one of the young men, and take for yourself what belongs to him.” But Asahel was not willing to turn aside from following him. ²² Abner said again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me. Why should I make you fall? How then could I lift up my face to your brother Joab?” ²³ But he would not turn aside. So Abner hit him in the stomach with the end of his spear, so that the spear came out at his back. He fell there and died where he fell. And all who came to the place where Asahel fell and died, stood still.

²⁴ But Joab and Abishai went after Abner. When the sun was going down, they came to the hill of Ammah, which is before Giah by the way of the desert of Gibeon. ²⁵ The sons of Benjamin gathered together behind Abner and became one army. They stood on the top of a hill. ²⁶ Abner called to Joab and said, “Should the sword destroy forever? Do you not know that it will be bad in the end? How long will you keep from telling the people to stop following their brothers?” ²⁷ Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, for sure the people would have stopped going after their brothers in the morning.” ²⁸ So Joab sounded the horn, and all the people stopped and went after Israel no longer. And they did not fight any more. ²⁹ Abner and his men went all night through the Arabah. They crossed the Jordan, walked all morning, and came to Mahanaim.

³⁰ Joab returned from following Abner, and gathered all the people together. Added to Asahel, nineteen of David’s servants were missing. ³¹ But the servants of David had killed many of Benjamin and Abner’s men, so that 360 men died. ³² They picked up Asahel and buried him in his father’s grave in Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men walked all night and came to Hebron early the next morning.

Love—the Greatest of All

13 I may be able to speak the languages of men and even of angels, but if I do not have love, it will sound like noisy brass. ² If I have the gift of speaking God’s Word and if I understand all secrets, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I know all things and if I have the gift of faith so I can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give everything I have to feed poor people and if I give my body to be burned, but do not have love, it will not help me.

⁴ Love does not give up. Love is kind. Love is not jealous. Love does not put itself up as being important. Love has no pride. ⁵ Love does not do the wrong thing. Love never thinks of itself. Love does not get angry. Love does not remember the suffering that comes from being hurt by someone. ⁶ Love is not happy with sin. Love is happy with the truth. ⁷ Love takes everything that comes without giving up. Love believes all things. Love hopes for all things. Love keeps on in all things.

⁸ Love never comes to an end. The gift of speaking God’s Word will come to an end. The gift of speaking in special sounds will be stopped. The gift of understanding will come to an end. ⁹ For we only know a part now, and we speak only a part. ¹⁰ When everything is perfect, then we will not need these gifts that are not perfect.

¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke like a child. I thought like a child. I understood like a child. Now I am a man. I do not act like a child anymore. ¹² Now that which we see is as if we were looking in a broken mirror. But then we will see everything. Now I know only a part. But then I will know everything in a perfect way. That is how God knows me right now. ¹³ And now we have these three: faith and hope and love, but the greatest of these is love.

Israel’s Leaders Are Judged

11 The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord’s house which faces eastward. There I saw twenty-five men at the door of the gate. Among them I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. ² Then He said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who make sinful plans and tell others in this city to do what is wrong. ³ They say, ‘Will it not soon be time to build houses? This city is the pot and we are the meat.’ ⁴ So tell what will happen against them, son of man. Speak the Word of God!”

⁵ Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon me, and He said to me, “Tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says: “This is what you thought, O people of Israel. For I know the things that come into your mind. ⁶ You have made many more of your people die in this city. You have filled its streets with them.” ⁷ So the Lord God says, “Your dead whom you have laid in the city are the meat, and this city is the pot. But I will bring you out of it. ⁸ You have been afraid of the sword, so I will bring a sword upon you,” the Lord God says. ⁹ “And I will bring you out of the city, and give you over to strangers and punish you. ¹⁰ You will be killed by the sword all the way to the land of Israel, so you will know that I am the Lord. ¹¹ This city will not be a pot for you, and you will not be the meat inside it. But I will punish you all the way to the land of Israel. ¹² And you will know that I am the Lord. For you have not walked in my Laws or obeyed them, but have followed the ways of the nations around you.”’”

¹³ While I was saying what was going to happen, Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried out with a loud voice, “It is bad, Lord God! Will You bring a complete end to those of Israel who are left?”

God Will Bring Israel Back

¹⁴ Then the Word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁵ “Son of man, your brothers, your family, those who were driven out of the land, and all the people of Israel are those of whom the people of Jerusalem have said, ‘They have gone far away from the Lord. This land has been given to us for our own.’ ¹⁶ So tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “I sent them far away among the nations. I divided them among the countries. But still I was a holy place for them a little while in the countries where they had gone.”’ ¹⁷ So tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “I will gather you from the nations. I will gather you together out of the countries where you have been divided. And I will give you the land of Israel.”’ ¹⁸ When they return to it, they will take away all its hated and sinful things. ¹⁹ I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh. ²⁰ Then they will walk in My Laws and keep them, and obey them. They will be My people, and I will be their God. ²¹ But as for those whose hearts go after their hated and sinful things, I will bring their actions upon their own heads,” says the Lord God.

²² Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them. And the shining-greatness of the God of Israel was over them. ²³ The shining-greatness of the Lord went up from the city and stood over the mountain east of it. ²⁴ The Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a special dream by the Spirit of God to the Jews who had been taken to Babylon. Then the special dream that I had seen left me. ²⁵ And I told the Jews in Babylon all the things that the Lord had shown me.

God Decides Right from Wrong

50 The Powerful One, God, the Lord, has spoken. And He calls the earth from where the sun rises to where the sun goes down. ² God shines from Zion, perfect in beauty. ³ May our God come and not keep quiet. A fire burns before Him, and around Him is a powerful storm. ⁴ He calls the heavens above, and the earth, that He may judge His people: ⁵ “Gather My holy ones to Me, those who have made an agreement with Me by their gifts given on an altar.” ⁶ And the heavens will tell how right and good He is, for God Himself is judge.

⁷ “Listen, O My people, and I will speak. O Israel, I will speak against you. I am God, your God. ⁸ I do not speak sharp words to you for your gifts given on an altar. And your burnt gifts are always before Me. ⁹ I will not take a young bull out of your house, or male goats out of your fields. ¹⁰ For every animal among the trees is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. ¹¹ I know every bird of the mountains. And all things that move in the field are Mine. ¹² If I were hungry, I would not tell you. For the world is Mine, and all that is in it. ¹³ Should I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of male goats? ¹⁴ Give a gift of thanks on the altar to God. And pay your promises to the Most High. ¹⁵ Call on Me in the day of trouble. I will take you out of trouble, and you will honor Me.”

¹⁶ But to the sinful, God says: “What right do you have to tell of My Laws, and take My agreement in your mouth? ¹⁷ For you hate to be told what to do, and you throw My words behind you. ¹⁸ When you see a robber, you are pleased with him. And you join those who do sex sins. ¹⁹ You say bad things with your mouth, and you lie with your tongue. ²⁰ You sit and speak against your brother. You talk against your own mother’s son. ²¹ You have done these things, and I have kept quiet. You thought that I was just like you. But I will speak sharp words to you, and tell you who is guilty to your face.

²² “Now think about this, you who forget God, or I will tear you in pieces and there will be no one to save you. ²³ He who gives a gift of thanks honors Me. And to him who makes his way right, I will show him the saving power of God.”