M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Nathan’s Picture-Story about David

12 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said, “There were two men in one city. One was rich and the other was poor. ² The rich man had many flocks and cattle. ³ But the poor man had nothing except one little female lamb which he bought and fed. It grew up together with him and his children. It would eat his bread and drink from his cup and lie in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. ⁴ Now a traveler came to the rich man. But the rich man was not willing to take from his own flock or his own cattle, to make food for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s female lamb and made it ready for the man who had come to him.” ⁵ David was very angry at the man, and said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, for sure the man who has done this should die. ⁶ And he must pay four times the worth of the lamb, because he did this thing without pity.”

⁷ Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I chose you to be the king of Israel. I saved you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave you Saul’s family and Saul’s wives into your care. I gave you the nations of Israel and Judah. And if this were too little, I would give you as much more. ⁹ Why have you hated the Word of the Lord by doing what is bad in His eyes? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword. You have taken his wife to be your wife. You have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. ¹⁰ So now some from your family, even in the future, will die by the sword, because you have turned against Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ ¹¹ This is what the Lord says: ‘See, I will bring trouble against you from your own family. I will take your wives in front of your eyes and give them to your neighbor. He will lie with your wives in the light of day. ¹² You did it in secret. But I will do this in front of all Israel, and under the sun.’” ¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to him, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You will not die. ¹⁴ But by this act you have given those who hate the Lord a reason to speak against the Lord. The child that is born to you will die for sure.” ¹⁵ Then Nathan went home.

David’s Son Dies

The Lord sent trouble upon the child of Uriah’s wife and David, so that he was very sick. ¹⁶ David begged God to make the child well. He went without food and lay all night on the ground. ¹⁷ The leaders of his family stood beside him to lift him up from the ground. But David was not willing. He would not eat food with them. ¹⁸ The child died on the seventh day. And David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “See, we spoke to him while the child was still alive, and he did not listen to us. So how can we tell him the child is dead? He might hurt himself.” ¹⁹ But when David saw his servants speaking together in secret, he understood that the child was dead. He asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.” ²⁰ So David got up from the ground, washed, poured oil on himself, and changed his clothes. Then he came into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He returned to his own house and asked for food. So they set food in front of him, and he ate. ²¹ Then his servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? While the child was alive, you went without food and cried. But when the child died, you got up and ate food.” ²² David said, “I went without food and cried while the child was still alive, for I said, ‘Who knows? The Lord might be kind to me and let the child live.’ ²³ But now he has died. Why should I go without food? Can I bring him to life again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

Solomon Is Born

²⁴ Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He went in and lay with her, and she gave birth to a son. He gave him the name Solomon. The Lord loved him, ²⁵ and sent word through Nathan who spoke for God. And Nathan gave him the name Jedidiah because of the Lord.

David Takes Rabbah

²⁶ Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and took the king’s city. ²⁷ Joab sent men to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah. I have taken the city of waters. ²⁸ So gather the rest of the people together. Go against the city and take it, or I will take the city myself and it will be called by my name.” ²⁹ So David gathered all the people and went to Rabbah. He fought against it, and took it. ³⁰ Then he took the very heavy crown from their king’s head. In it were beautiful stones of much worth. The crown was put on David’s head. And he brought a large amount of things out of the city. ³¹ He brought out the people who were in it also. He made them work with saws, sharp iron tools, and iron axes. And he made them work in the heat making building stones. He did this to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

Our Weak Human Bodies

5 Our body is like a house we live in here on earth. When it is destroyed, we know that God has another body for us in heaven. The new one will not be made by human hands as a house is made. This body will last forever. ² Right now we cry inside ourselves because we wish we could have our new body which we will have in heaven. ³ We will not be without a body. We will live in a new body. ⁴ While we are in this body, we cry inside ourselves because things are hard for us. It is not that we want to die. Instead, we want to live in our new bodies. We want this dying body to be changed into a living body that lasts forever. ⁵ It is God Who has made us ready for this change. He has given us His Spirit to show us what He has for us.

⁶ We are sure of this. We know that while we are at home in this body we are not with the Lord. ⁷ Our life is lived by faith. We do not live by what we see in front of us. ⁸ We are sure we will be glad to be free of these bodies. It will be good to be at home with the Lord. ⁹ So if we stay here on earth or go home to Him, we always want to please Him. ¹⁰ For all of us must stand before Christ when He says who is guilty or not guilty. Each one will receive pay for what he has done. He will be paid for the good or the bad done while he lived in this body.

¹¹ Because of this, we know the fear of God. So we try to get men to put their trust in Christ. God knows us. I hope that your hearts know me well also. ¹² We do not want to sound as if we think we are so important. Instead, we are making it easy for you to be proud of us. In that way, you will be able to tell them about us. They always talk about the way people look, but do not care about their hearts. ¹³ Are we crazy to talk like this? It is all because of what God has done. If we are using our minds well, it is for you. ¹⁴ For the love of Christ puts us into action. We are sure that Christ died for everyone. So, because of that, everyone has a part in His death. ¹⁵ Christ died for everyone so that they would live for Him. They should not live to please themselves but for Christ Who died on a cross and was raised from the dead for them.

¹⁶ So from now on, we do not think about what people are like by looking at them. We even thought about Christ that way one time. But we do not think of Him that way anymore. ¹⁷ For if a man belongs to Christ, he is a new person. The old life is gone. New life has begun. ¹⁸ All this comes from God. He is the One Who brought us to Himself when we hated Him. He did this through Christ. Then He gave us the work of bringing others to Him. ¹⁹ God was in Christ. He was working through Christ to bring the whole world back to Himself. God no longer held men’s sins against them. And He gave us the work of telling and showing men this. ²⁰ We are Christ’s missionaries. God is speaking to you through us. We are speaking for Christ and we ask you from our hearts to turn from your sins and come to God. ²¹ Christ never sinned but God put our sin on Him. Then we are made right with God because of what Christ has done for us.

A Song of Sorrow for Israel’s Leaders

19 “As for you, sing a song of sorrow for the leaders of Israel, ² and say: ‘What was your mother? A female lion among lions! She lay down with young lions. She raised her young ones. ³ She brought up one of her little ones, and he became a lion. He learned to catch his food. He ate men. ⁴ The nations heard about him, and he was caught in their trap. And they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt. ⁵ Your mother waited until she saw that her hope was lost. Then she took another of her little ones and made him a young lion. ⁶ He walked up and down among the lions. He became a young lion and learned to catch his food. He ate men. ⁷ He wrecked their strong towers and destroyed their cities. The land and all who were in it were filled with fear because of the loud noise he made. ⁸ Then the nations came against him from their lands all around. They spread their net over him, and he was caught in their trap. ⁹ They put him in a prison with chains and brought him to the king of Babylon. They put him in prison so that his voice would never be heard again on the mountains of Israel.

¹⁰ Your mother was like a vine in your grape-field, planted by the water. It gave much fruit and was full of branches because there was much water. ¹¹ Its branches were strong enough to be made into sticks held by rulers to show their power. It grew as high as the clouds. Everyone saw how high it was and that it had many branches. ¹² But it was pulled up by the roots in anger and thrown down to the ground. The east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branch was torn off so that it dried up. And fire destroyed it. ¹³ Now it is planted in the desert, in a dry and thirsty land. ¹⁴ Fire has spread from its largest branch and has destroyed its young branches and its fruit. No strong branch is left on it to be made into a stick for a ruler.’ This is a song of sorrow, and is to be used as a death song.”

Prayer for a Safe Place

64 O God, hear my voice when I complain. Keep my life safe from the fear of those who hate me. ² Hide me from the secret plans of the sinful and from the noise of those who do bad things. ³ They have made their tongues sharp like a sword. They use poison words like arrows. ⁴ They shoot at the man without blame from their hiding place. They are quick to shoot at him and are not afraid. ⁵ They talk each other into doing sinful things. They talk about setting hidden traps. They say, “Who will see them?” ⁶ They think of ways to do bad things, and say, “We have made a perfect plan!” For the inside thoughts and the heart of a man are deep.

⁷ But God will shoot at them with an arrow. They will be hurt very soon. ⁸ They will be made to trip and fall. Their own tongue is against them. All who see them will shake their heads. ⁹ Then all men will be afraid. They will tell about the work of God. And they will think about what He has done. ¹⁰ The man who is right and good will be glad in the Lord and go to Him to be safe. All those whose hearts are right will give Him praise.

God’s Favor to Earth and Man

65 All will be quiet before You, and praise belongs to You, O God, in Zion. And our promise to You will be kept. ² O You Who hears prayer, to You all men come. ³ My sins are strong against me. But You forgive our sins. ⁴ Happy is the man You choose and bring near to You to live in Your holy place. We will be filled with the good things of Your house, Your holy house.

⁵ O God Who saves us, You answer us in the way that is right and good by Your great works that make people stand in fear. You are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas. ⁶ You have built the mountains by Your strength. You are dressed with power. ⁷ You quiet the storm of the seas, the sound of their waves, and the noise of the people. ⁸ Those who live far away are afraid of Your great works. You make morning and evening call out for joy.

⁹ You visit the earth and water it. You make it very rich. The river of God is full of water. You give the people grain when You have made the earth ready. ¹⁰ You water where the plow has been used. You cover the seeds with earth. You make it soft with rain. And You make the plants grow well. ¹¹ You crown the year with Your good gifts. There is more than enough where You have been. ¹² The fields of the desert are filled with water. And the hills dress themselves with joy. ¹³ The grass lands are covered with birds. And the valleys are covered with grain. They call out for joy and sing.