M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Special Box Is Brought to Jerusalem

6 Again David gathered all the chosen men of Israel. There were 30,000. ² He got up and went with all the people who were with him to Baale-judah to bring from there the special box of God. It is called by the name of the Lord of All Who sits on His throne above the cherubim. ³ They carried the special box of God on a new wagon, and brought it out of the family of Abinadab which was on the hill. Abinadab’s sons Uzzah and Ahio were leading the new wagon. ⁴ They brought it with the special box of God from the family of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Ahio was walking in front of the special box. ⁵ And David and all those of the family of Israel sang and danced before the Lord with all their strength. They played songs with harps and timbrels.

⁶ But the cattle pulling the wagon almost made the special box of God fall when they came to the grain-floor of Nacon. So Uzzah put out his hand and took hold of the special box so it would not fall. ⁷ The anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah. God killed him there for his mistake. And he died there by the special box of God. ⁸ David became angry because the Lord had gone against Uzzah. So that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day. ⁹ David was afraid of the Lord that day, and he said, “How can the special box of the Lord come to me?” ¹⁰ So David was not willing to move the special box of the Lord into the city of David. But he took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. ¹¹ The special box of the Lord stayed in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months. And the Lord brought good to Obed-edom and all of his family.

¹² Now it was told to King David, “The Lord has brought good to the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the special box of God.” So David went and brought the special box of God from Obed-edom’s family into the city of David with joy. ¹³ When the men who carried the special box of the Lord had gone six steps, David killed and gave to the Lord a bull and a fat calf. ¹⁴ He was dancing before the Lord with all his strength. And he was wearing a linen vest. ¹⁵ So David and all those of the family of Israel were bringing the special box of the Lord with a loud voice and the sound of the horn. ¹⁶ As the special box of the Lord came into the city of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked out of the window. She saw King David jumping and dancing before the Lord, and she hated him in her heart. ¹⁷ They brought in the special box of the Lord and put it in its place inside the tent David had set up for it. And David gave burnt gifts and peace gifts to the Lord. ¹⁸ When he had finished giving the burnt gifts and peace gifts, David prayed that good would come to the people in the name of the Lord of All. ¹⁹ Then he gave a loaf of bread, a loaf of dates and a loaf of dried grapes to each man and woman of all the people of Israel. And all the people went home.

²⁰ David returned to pray that good would come to his family. But Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him, and said, “How the king of Israel honored himself today! He took his clothes off today so that his servants’ young women would see him. He acted like one of the foolish ones taking his clothes off without shame!” ²¹ So David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord. He chose me over your father and all his family, and made me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel. So I will act with joy before the Lord. ²² I will be honored less than this. I will be without pride in my own eyes. But the young women you have spoken about will honor me.” ²³ And Saul’s daughter Michal had no child to the day of her death.

Gifts for the Poor

16 I want to tell you what to do about the money you are gathering for the Christians. Do the same as I told the churches in the country of Galatia to do. ² On the first day of every week each of you should put aside some of your money. Give a certain part of what you have earned. Keep it there because I do not want money gathered when I come. ³ When I get there, I will give letters to the men you want to send. They will take your gift to Jerusalem. ⁴ If I can go, they can go with me.

Plans for a Visit

⁵ I want to visit you after I have gone through the country of Macedonia for I am going through there. ⁶ I may be staying with you and even spend the winter with you. Then you can send me on my way to the next place. ⁷ I do not want to stop now. I want to spend some time with you when I can stay longer, if that is what the Lord wants. ⁸ I will stay in the city of Ephesus until the special day to remember how the Holy Spirit came on the church. ⁹ A wide door has been opened to me here to preach the Good News. But there are many who work against me.

¹⁰ If Timothy comes, receive him and help him so he will not be afraid. He is working for the Lord as I am. ¹¹ Everyone should respect him. Send him on his way to me in peace. I expect to see him and some of the other Christians soon. ¹² I wanted brother Apollos to go with the other Christians to visit you. But he is not sure he should go now. He will come when he can.

¹³ Watch and keep awake! Stand true to the Lord. Keep on acting like men and be strong. ¹⁴ Everything you do should be done in love.

¹⁵ You know that the families of Stephanas were the first Christians in the country of Greece. They are working for the Lord in helping His people. ¹⁶ I ask you to listen to leaders like these and work with them as well as others like them. ¹⁷ I am happy that Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus came here. They have helped me and you would have also if you had been here. ¹⁸ They have made me happy. They would have made you happy also. Show them you are thankful for their help.

¹⁹ The churches in the countries of Asia say hello. Aquila and Priscilla and the Christians who meet in their house say hello with Christian love. ²⁰ All the Christians here greet you. Greet each other with a kiss of holy love. ²¹ I, Paul, am writing the last part of this letter with my own hand. ²² If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be kept from being with Christ. The Lord is coming soon! ²³ May you have the loving-favor of our Lord Jesus. ²⁴ I love you all through Christ Jesus. Let it be so.

Worshipers of False Gods

14 Then some leaders of Israel came and sat down in front of me. ² And the Word of the Lord came to me saying, ³ “Son of man, these men have taken false gods into their hearts. They have put in front of their faces the sin which is the cause of their fall. Should I let Myself be asked questions by them at all? ⁴ So speak to them and tell them, ‘The Lord God says, “Every man of Israel who has given his heart to false gods and lets them lead him into sin and then comes to the man of God, I the Lord will answer him, the answer that his many false gods should get, ⁵ that I may again have the hearts of the people of Israel who have left Me for their false gods.”’

⁶ “So tell the people of Israel, ‘The Lord God says, “Be sorry for your sins and turn away from your false gods. Turn your faces away from all your sinful ways. ⁷ If a man of Israel or a stranger living in Israel who turns away from Me and gives his heart to false gods, and worships them, and if he then comes to the man of God to get answers from Me, I the Lord will answer him Myself. ⁸ I will set My face against that man and make him something special to see and to speak against. I will cut him off from among My people. And you will know that I am the Lord. ⁹ But if the man who speaks in My name is given a false answer, it is I, the Lord, Who has caused him to speak. And I will put out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel. ¹⁰ They will suffer the punishment of their sin. The man who asks the question and the man who speaks to him in My name will both be punished in the same way. ¹¹ This is so that the people of Israel may no longer turn away from Me, and no longer make themselves sinful with all their wrong-doing. They will be My people and I will be their God,”’ says the Lord God.”

Those Not Faithful Are Judged

¹² Then the Word of the Lord came to me saying, ¹³ “Son of man, if a country sins against Me by not being faithful, I will put out My hand against it. I will destroy its store of bread, and send hunger against it, and take away both man and animal from it. ¹⁴ For even if these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job, were in this country, they would save only their own lives by being right and good,” says the Lord God. ¹⁵ “If I sent wild animals to pass through the land to kill its people and destroy it so that no one would go through it because of the wild animals, ¹⁶ even if these three men were in the land, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they could not save their sons or their daughters. They alone would be saved, but the country would be laid waste. ¹⁷ If I bring a sword against that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass through the country and cut off man and animal from it,’ ¹⁸ even if these three men were in the land, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they could not save their sons or their daughters. They alone would be saved. ¹⁹ Or if I send a disease against that country and show My anger by killing, to take away man and animal from it, ²⁰ even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in the land, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they could not save their son or daughter. They would save only themselves by being right and good.

²¹ “For the Lord God says, ‘How much worse will it be when I send my four worst punishments against Jerusalem! I will send the sword, hunger, wild animals, and disease, to take away man and animal from it! ²² Yet there will be some people and their children left alive in it who will be brought out. When they come to you, see how sinful they are. Then you will know that all the trouble I brought upon Jerusalem was right. ²³ It will help you when you see how they act. Then you will know that there was a good reason for everything I did,’ says the Lord God.”

Prayer of a Man Hurt by a Friend

55 Listen to my prayer, O God. Do not hide Yourself from what I ask. ² Hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I have no peace, ³ because of the voice of those who hate me and the power of the sinful. For they bring trouble upon me, and in anger they keep on having bad thoughts against me.

⁴ My heart is in pain within me. The fears of death have come upon me. ⁵ I have begun shaking with fear. Fear has power over me. ⁶ And I say, “If only I had wings like a dove, I would fly away and be at rest. ⁷ Yes, I would go far away. I would live in the desert. ⁸ I would hurry to my safe place, away from the wild wind and storm.”

⁹ Mix them up, O Lord. Divide their tongues. For I have seen fighting and trouble in the city. ¹⁰ They go around on its walls day and night. Sin and wrong-doing are within it. ¹¹ Destroying powers are in the city. Trouble and lies never leave its streets.

¹² I would be able to take it if one who hates me were putting me to shame. I could hide from him. It is not one who hates me who has put himself up against me. ¹³ But it is you, a man like myself, one who has gone with me, my close friend. ¹⁴ We shared together. And we walked with the people in the house of God. ¹⁵ Let death take them by surprise. Let them go down alive to the grave. For sin is with them where they live. ¹⁶ As for me, I will call on God and the Lord will save me. ¹⁷ I will cry out and complain in the evening and morning and noon, and He will hear my voice. ¹⁸ He will save my soul in peace from those who make war against me. For there are many who fight me. ¹⁹ God sits on His throne forever. And He will hear them and bring trouble upon them, because there has been no change in them. They do not fear God. ²⁰ He goes against those who were at peace with him. He has broken his agreement. ²¹ What he says is smoother than butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are raised swords.

²² Give all your cares to the Lord and He will give you strength. He will never let those who are right with Him be shaken. ²³ But You, O God, will bring the sinful down into the hole that destroys. Men who kill and lie will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You.