M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

God’s Agreement with David

7 King David lived in his house. The Lord had given him rest from all those around him who hated him. At this time, ² the king said to Nathan, the man who spoke for God, “See now, I live in a house of cedar wood. But the special box of God stays within tent curtains.” ³ Nathan said to the king, “Go and do all that is in your mind. For the Lord is with you.”

⁴ But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, ⁵ “Go and tell My servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says, “Are you the one who should build a house for Me to live in? ⁶ I have not lived in a house since the day I brought the people of Israel from Egypt to this day. But I have been moving about with a tent to live in. ⁷ In all the places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I say anything about this to any of the families of Israel which I told to shepherd My people? Did I say to any of them, ‘Why have you not built a house of cedar wood for Me?’”’ ⁸ So now tell My servant David, ‘This is what the Lord of All says, “I took you from following the sheep in the field to be the ruler of My people Israel. ⁹ I have been with you in all the places you have gone. I have destroyed from in front of you all those who fought against you. I will make you a great name, like the names of the great men who are on the earth. ¹⁰ I will choose a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may live in their own place and not be troubled again. The sinful will not bring trouble to them any more, as they did before ¹¹ since the day I told special people to rule My people Israel. I will give you rest from all those who hate you. And the Lord makes known to you that He will make a house for you. ¹² When your days are done and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your son after you, who will be born from you. And I will build his nation. ¹³ He will build a house for My name, and I will build the throne of his nation to last forever. ¹⁴ I will be a Father to him and he will be a son to Me. When he sins, I will punish him with the stick of men. And I will let the sons of men hit him. ¹⁵ But My loving-kindness will not leave him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I took away from you. ¹⁶ Your house and your nation will be made sure before Me forever. Your throne will be built to last forever.”’” ¹⁷ Nathan said to David all these words of this special dream.

David’s Prayer

¹⁸ Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that You have brought me this far? ¹⁹ Yet this was a small thing in Your eyes, O Lord God. You have spoken of Your servant’s family in the future. And this is the way of man, O Lord God. ²⁰ What more can David say to You? For You know Your servant, O Lord God. ²¹ Because of Your Word and Your own heart, You have done all these great things to let Your servant know. ²² For this reason You are great, O Lord God. There is none like You. And there is no God but You, by all that we have heard with our ears. ²³ What other nation on earth is like Your people Israel. God went to make them free to be His people and to make a name for Himself. You did a great thing for Yourself and great things for Your land. You did them before Your people whom You have made free from Egypt, from nations and their gods. ²⁴ For You have made for Yourself Your people Israel to be Your people forever. O Lord, You have become their God. ²⁵ Now, O Lord God, make sure forever the word which You have spoken about Your servant and his family. Do as You have said. ²⁶ And Your name will be honored forever. It will be said, ‘The Lord of All is God over Israel.’ May the family of Your servant David be made strong before You. ²⁷ For You, O Lord of All, the God of Israel, have shown this to Your servant, saying, ‘I will build a house for you.’ So Your servant has found strength of heart to pray this prayer to You. ²⁸ And now, O Lord God, You are God. Your Words are truth. And You have promised this good thing to Your servant. ²⁹ So now may it please You to bring good to the house of Your servant, that it may last forever before You. For You have spoken, O Lord God. May Your good come to the family of Your servant forever.”

1 This letter is from Paul. I have been chosen by God to be a missionary for Jesus Christ. Timothy is here with me and is writing to you also. We are writing to God’s church in the city of Corinth and to all of God’s people in the country of Greece. ² May you have loving-favor and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³ We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Father Who shows us loving-kindness and our God Who gives us comfort. ⁴ He gives us comfort in all our troubles. Then we can comfort other people who have the same troubles. We give the same kind of comfort God gives us. ⁵ As we have suffered much for Christ and have shared in His pain, we also share His great comfort.

⁶ But if we are in trouble, it is for your good. And it is so you will be saved from the punishment of sin. If God comforts us, it is for your good also. You too will be given strength not to give up when you have the same kind of trouble we have. ⁷ Our hope for you is the same all the time. We know you are sharing our troubles. And so you will share the comfort we receive.

⁸ We want you to know, Christian brothers, of the trouble we had in the countries of Asia. The load was so heavy we did not have the strength to keep going. At times we did not think we could live. ⁹ We thought we would die. This happened so we would not put our trust in ourselves, but in God Who raises the dead. ¹⁰ Yes, God kept us from what looked like sure death and He is keeping us. As we trust Him, He will keep us in the future. ¹¹ You also help us by praying for us. Many people thank God for His favor to us. This is an answer to the prayers of many people.

Paul Wants to Visit Corinth

¹² I am happy to say this. Whatever we did in this world, and for sure when we were with you, we were honest and had pure desires. We did not trust in human wisdom. Our power came from God’s loving-favor. ¹³ We write to you only what we know you can understand. I hope you will understand everything. ¹⁴ When the Lord Jesus comes again, you can be as proud of us as we will be proud of you. Right now you do not understand us real well.

¹⁵ It was because of this, I wanted to visit you first. In that way, you would be helped two times. ¹⁶ I wanted to stop to visit you on my way to the country of Macedonia. I would stop again as I came from there. Then you could help me on my way to the country of Judea. ¹⁷ Yes, I changed my mind. Does that show that I change my mind a lot? Do I plan things as people of the world who say yes when they mean no? You know I am not like that! ¹⁸ As God is true, my yes means yes. I am not the kind of person who says one thing and means another. ¹⁹ Timothy and Silvanus and I have preached to you about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In Him there is no yes and no. In Him is yes. ²⁰ Jesus says yes to all of God’s many promises. It is through Jesus that we say, “Let it be so,” when we give thanks to God. ²¹ God is the One Who makes our faith and your faith strong in Christ. He has set us apart for Himself. ²² He has put His mark on us to show we belong to Him. His Spirit is in our hearts to prove this.

²³ I call on God to look into my heart. The reason I did not come to the city of Corinth was because I did not want my strong words to hurt you. ²⁴ We are not the boss of your faith but we are working with you to make you happy. Your faith is strong.

Jerusalem—a Vine of No Worth

15 Then the Word of the Lord came to me saying, ² “Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any wood of a branch among the trees? ³ Can wood be taken from it to make anything? Or can men take a piece of wood from it on which to hang a pot? ⁴ If it has been put into the fire to burn, and the fire has burned up both of its ends, and the center of it is black from the fire, can it then be used for anything? ⁵ See, if it is not used for anything while it is whole, how much less can it ever be used for anything when the fire has burned it up and it has turned black! ⁶ So the Lord God says, ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees, which I have given to be burned in the fire, so will I give up the people of Jerusalem. ⁷ I will set My face against them. Even if they get away from the fire, the fire will yet destroy them. Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them. ⁸ I will lay waste the land, because they have not been faithful,’” says the Lord God.

Prayer of Trust in God

56 Show me Your loving-kindness, O God, for man has walked on me. All day long the one who tries to keep me down fights with me. ² All day long those who hate me have walked on me. For there are many who fight against me with pride. ³ When I am afraid, I will trust in You. ⁴ I praise the Word of God. I have put my trust in God. I will not be afraid. What can only a man do to me? ⁵ All day long they change my words to say what I did not say. They are always thinking of ways to hurt me. ⁶ They go after me as in a fight. They hide themselves. They watch my steps, as they have waited to take my life. ⁷ Because they are bad, do not let them get away. Bring down the people in Your anger, O God.

⁸ You have seen how many places I have gone. Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book? ⁹ Then those who hate me will turn back when I call. I know that God is for me. ¹⁰ I praise the Word of God. I praise the Word of the Lord. ¹¹ In God I have put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? ¹² I am under an agreement with You, O God. I will give You gifts of thanks. ¹³ For You have set my soul free from death. You have kept my feet from falling, so I may walk with God in the light of life.

Prayer for Help

57 Show me loving-kindness, O God, show me loving-kindness. For my soul goes to You to be safe. And I will be safe in the shadow of Your wings until the trouble has passed. ² I will cry to God Most High, to God Who finishes all things for me. ³ He will send from heaven and save me. He will put to shame him who is breaking me under his feet. God will send His loving-kindness and His truth.

⁴ My soul is among lions. I must lie among the sons of men who breathe fire, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and whose tongues are a sharp sword. ⁵ Be lifted up above the heavens, O God. Let Your shining-greatness be above all the earth. ⁶ They have set a net for my steps. My soul is brought down. They dug a deep hole in front of me. But they themselves have fallen into it.

⁷ My heart will not be moved, O God. My heart cannot be moved. I will sing, yes, I will sing praises! ⁸ Awake, my shining-greatness. Awake, harps. I will awake early in the morning. ⁹ O Lord, I will give thanks to You among the people. I will sing praises to You among the nations. ¹⁰ For Your loving-kindness is great to the heavens, and Your truth to the clouds. ¹¹ Be lifted up above the heavens, O God. Let Your shining-greatness be above all the earth.