M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

David and Ziba

16 When David had gone a short way past the mountain top, Mephibosheth’s servant Ziba met him with two donkeys ready for traveling. On them were 200 loaves of bread, 100 vines of dried grapes, 100 summer fruits, and a bottle of wine. ² The king said to Ziba, “Why do you have these?” And Ziba said, “The donkeys are for those of the king’s house to travel on. The bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat. And the wine drink is for whoever is weak in the desert.” ³ Then the king said, “Where is your owner’s son?” And Ziba answered, “He is staying in Jerusalem. For he said, ‘Today the family of Israel will return to me the nation of my father.’” ⁴ So the king said to Ziba, “See, all that belongs to Mephibosheth is yours.” And Ziba said, “I bow down in honor to you. O my lord the king, let me find favor in your eyes!”

David and Shimei

⁵ When King David came to Bahurim, there came out a man of the family of Saul. His name was Shimei, the son of Gera. He did not stop speaking bad things as he came. ⁶ He threw stones at David, and at all the servants of King David. And all the people and all the strong men were at his right and at his left. ⁷ Shimei said as he said bad things, “Get out! Get out, you man of blood, you man of no worth! ⁸ The Lord has punished you for all the blood of the family of Saul, in whose place you have ruled! The Lord has given the nation to your son Absalom! Your trouble is upon you, because you are a man of blood!”

⁹ Zeruiah’s son Abishai said to the king, “Why should this dead dog speak against my lord the king? Let me go now and cut off his head.” ¹⁰ But the king said, “What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah? If he speaks against me, and if the Lord has told him, ‘Speak against David,’ then who should say, ‘Why have you done so?’” ¹¹ Then David said to Abishai and all his servants, “See, my own son wants to kill me. How much more now may this Benjamite? Let him alone and let him speak against me, for the Lord has told him. ¹² It may be that the Lord will look upon my trouble and return good to me instead of his bad words today.” ¹³ So David and his men went on the way. And Shimei went beside him on the hill. He spoke against David as he went, and threw stones and dust at him. ¹⁴ The king and all the people with him were tired when they came to the Jordan. There he rested and received new strength.

Absalom Goes to Jerusalem

¹⁵ Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, came into Jerusalem. And Ahithophel was with him. ¹⁶ When David’s friend Hushai the Archite came to Absalom, Hushai said to him, “Long live the king! Long live the king!” ¹⁷ And Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your kindness to your friend? Why did you not go with your friend?” ¹⁸ Hushai said to Absalom, “No! I will belong to whoever is chosen by the Lord, this people, and all the men of Israel. ¹⁹ And whom should I serve? Should I not serve his son? As I have served your father, so I will serve you.”

²⁰ Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give your wise words. What should we do?” ²¹ Ahithophel answered, “Go in to your father’s women, whom he has left to take care of the house. Then all Israel will hear that you have made yourself hated by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be made stronger.” ²² So they set up a tent for Absalom on the roof. And Absalom went in to his father’s women so that the eyes of all Israel could see. ²³ The words that Ahithophel spoke in those days were as if one had asked for the Word of God. Both David and Absalom thought of Ahithophel’s words in this way.

Giving to Help Other Christians

9 I do not need to write to you about helping those who belong to Christ. ² I know you want to do it. I have told the people in the country of Macedonia that you were ready to send money last year. Your desire has started most of them to give. ³ I am sending these Christian brothers so the words I said about you will prove to be true and you will be ready to help. ⁴ What if some of the people of Macedonia came with me and found you were not ready to send your gift of money? We would all be ashamed since we have talked of you so much. ⁵ That is why I asked these men to go ahead of me. They can see that the gift you promised is ready. In that way, it will be a true gift and not something you were made to do.

⁶ Remember, the man who plants only a few seeds will not have much grain to gather. The man who plants many seeds will have much grain to gather. ⁷ Each man should give as he has decided in his heart. He should not give, wishing he could keep it. Or he should not give if he feels he has to give. God loves a man who gives because he wants to give. ⁸ God can give you all you need. He will give you more than enough. You will have everything you need for yourselves. And you will have enough left over to give when there is a need. ⁹ The Holy Writings say, “He has given much to the poor. His right-standing with God lasts forever.” ^{(A) 10} It is God Who gives seed to the man to plant. He also gives the bread to eat. Then we know He will give you more seed to plant and make it grow so you will have more to give away. ¹¹ God will give you enough so you can always give to others. Then many will give thanks to God for sending gifts through us. ¹² This gift you give not only helps Christians who are in need, but it also helps them give thanks to God. ¹³ You are proving by this act of love what you are. They will give thanks to God for your gift to them and to others. This proves you obey the Good News of Christ. ¹⁴ They will pray for you with great love because God has given you His loving-favor. ¹⁵ Thank God for His great Gift.

Two Sinful Sisters

23 The Word of the Lord came to me saying, ² “Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother. ³ They sold the use of their bodies in Egypt, and did so when they were young. Their breasts were lain upon in that land. Their breasts, which had never before been held by a man, were held. ⁴ The name of the older sister was Oholah, and her younger sister was Oholibah. They became Mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

The Older Sister—Samaria

⁵ “Oholah sold the use of her body while she was Mine. She was full of desire for her lovers, the Assyrians who lived near her ⁶ who were dressed in purple. They were rulers and leaders, all of them good-looking young men who rode on horses. ⁷ She gave her body to them for sex. They were all the best men of Assyria. And she also sinned by worshiping the false gods of all the men she desired. ⁸ She did not turn away from her sex sins she had begun in Egypt. Men had lain with her since she was young. They had held her young breasts and used her to fill their desire. ⁹ So I gave her over to her lovers the Assyrians whom she desired. ¹⁰ They took off her clothes. They took her sons and daughters. But they killed her with the sword. So she became a saying among women, because she was punished.

The Younger Sister—Jerusalem

¹¹ “Her sister Oholibah saw this, but she was more sinful in her desire for sex than Oholah. Her sex sins were worse than those of her sister. ¹² She wanted to have the Assyrians, rulers and leaders, men who were well dressed, those who rode on horses, all those good looking young men. ¹³ And I saw that she was sinful. Both sisters went the same way. ¹⁴ But she did even more sex sins. She saw pictures of men on the wall, pictures of Babylonians drawn in bright red. ¹⁵ They had belts around them, and flowing head-coverings. All of them looked like Babylonian captains who were born in Chaldea. ¹⁶ And when she saw them, she had a desire for sex with them, and sent word to them in Chaldea. ¹⁷ The Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love. They made her sinful with their desire. And after she had had sex with them, she became sick of them. ¹⁸ When she let her sins and her body be seen, I turned away from her in anger, as I had turned from her sister. ¹⁹ Yet she did even more sex sins. She remembered when she was young, when she sold the use of her body in the land of Egypt. ²⁰ She was full of desire for lovers whose flesh was like those of donkeys, and whose flow was like that of horses. ²¹ Oholibah, you were filled with desire for the sex sins you did when you were young, when the Egyptians held your breasts.

Jerusalem Is Judged

²² “So, Oholibah, the Lord God says, ‘I will bring your lovers against you, those you turned away from. I will bring them against you from every side: ²³ Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, good looking young men, all of them rulers, leaders, captains, and men who are well-known, all of them riding on horses. ²⁴ They will come against you from the north, with war-wagons and an army of people. They will come against you on every side with battlecoverings and head-coverings. And I will let them punish you. They will punish you in their own way. ²⁵ Because of My jealous anger, I will let them act toward you in anger. They will cut off your nose and ears, and any people who are left will be killed by the sword. They will take your sons and daughters, and any yet left will be burned in the fire. ²⁶ They will take away your clothes and take away the beautiful objects you wear. ²⁷ So I will put an end to the sex sins you brought from the land of Egypt. You will never again look at these things with desire or remember Egypt.’ ²⁸ For the Lord God says, ‘I will give you over to those you hate, to the men you turned away from. ²⁹ And because they hate you, they will take away everything you own and leave you without clothing. Then your body without clothes will be seen as a sinful woman. ³⁰ These things will be done to you because you have sold the use of your body to the nations, and because you have made yourself sinful with their false gods. ³¹ You have followed the way of your sister, so I will give you the same cup of punishment to drink.’ ³² The Lord God says, ‘You will drink your sister’s cup, which is deep and wide. You will be laughed at and made fun of, for it holds much. ³³ You will become drunk and filled with sorrow, with the cup of fear and waste, with the cup of your sister Samaria. ³⁴ You will drink it until it is empty. Then you will chew its pieces and tear your breasts, for I have spoken,’ says the Lord God. ³⁵ So the Lord God says, ‘Because you have forgotten Me and put Me behind your back, now suffer the punishment of your sex sins.’”

Both Sisters Are Judged

³⁶ The Lord said to me, “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Make them know their sinful acts. ³⁷ For they have not been faithful to Me, and blood is on their hands. They have left Me for their false gods. And they gave their sons to these false gods as burnt gifts, the sons they had given to Me at birth. ³⁸ That is not all they did. At that same time they have not kept My holy place and My Days of Rest holy. ³⁹ When they had killed their children for their false gods, they went into My holy place on the same day to make it unclean. This is what they did within My house. ⁴⁰ They even sent for men who came from far away. And when they came, you washed yourselves, colored your eyes, and put on beautiful objects for them. ⁴¹ You sat on a beautiful seat with a table made ready in front of it on which you had set My special perfume and My oil. ⁴² The sound of a group free of care was around you. Men who drank too much were brought from the desert with men who were not important. They put beautiful objects on the women’s hands and beautiful crowns on their heads. ⁴³ Then I said about the one who was worn out by sex sins, ‘Will they now lie with her when she is this way?’ ⁴⁴ But they went in to her as they would go in to a woman who sells the use of her body. So they went in to Oholah and Oholibah, the sinful women. ⁴⁵ But men who are right and good will punish them as women are punished who do sex sins and kill, because they are sinful women and blood is on their hands.

⁴⁶ “The Lord God says, ‘Bring up a group against them to fill them with fear and to rob them. ⁴⁷ The group will kill them with stones and with swords. They will kill their sons and daughters and burn down their houses. ⁴⁸ So I will put an end to sex sins in the land, that all women will learn of the danger and not sin as you have done. ⁴⁹ You will suffer the penalty for your sex sins and for worshiping your false gods. Then you will know that I am the Lord God.’”

Prayer for Help

70 O God, hurry to take me out of trouble. O Lord, hurry to help me! ² Let those who want to kill me be ashamed and brought low. Let those who want to hurt me be turned away in shame. ³ Let those who say, “O, O!” be turned back because of their shame.

⁴ Let all who look for You be full of joy and be glad in You. And let those who love Your saving power always say, “Let God be honored.” ⁵ But I am poor and in need. Hurry to me, O God! You are my help and the One Who takes me out of trouble. O Lord, do not wait.

A Prayer of an Old Man

71 I have a safe place in you, O Lord. Let me never be ashamed. ² Because You are right and good, take me out of trouble. Turn Your ear to me and save me. ³ Be a rock to me where I live, where I may always come and where I will be safe. For You are my rock and my safe place. ⁴ O my God, take me from the hand of the sinful, from the hand of the wrong-doer and the man without pity. ⁵ For You are my hope, O Lord God. You are my trust since I was young. ⁶ You have kept me safe from birth. It was You Who watched over me from the day I was born. My praise is always of You.

⁷ I have become a wonder and surprise to many. For You are my strong safe place. ⁸ My mouth is filled with Your praise and with Your honor all day long. ⁹ Do not let me fall by the way when I am old. Do not leave me alone when my strength is gone. ¹⁰ For those who hate me talk against me. Those who want to kill make plans together. ¹¹ They say, “God has turned away from him. Run and catch him, for there is no one to take him out of trouble.”

¹² O God, do not be far from me! O my God, hurry to help me! ¹³ Let those who are against me be ashamed and destroyed. Let those who want to hurt me be without honor and covered with shame. ¹⁴ But as for me, I will always have hope and I will praise You more and more. ¹⁵ My mouth will tell about how right and good You are and about Your saving acts all day long. For there are more than I can know. ¹⁶ I will come in the strength of the Lord God. I will tell about how right and good You are, and You alone.

¹⁷ O God, You have taught me from when I was young. And I still tell about Your great works. ¹⁸ Even when I am old and my hair is turning white, O God, do not leave me alone. Let me tell about Your strength to all the people living now, and about Your power to all who are to come. ¹⁹ O God, You are right and good, as the heavens are high. You have done great things, O God. Who is like You? ²⁰ You have shown me many troubles of all kinds. But You will make me strong again. And You will bring me up again from deep in the earth. ²¹ Add to my greatness, and turn to comfort me.

²² O my God, I will praise You with a harp. I will praise Your truth. I will sing praises to You with different kinds of harps, O Holy One of Israel. ²³ My lips will call out for joy when I sing praises to You. You have set my soul free. ²⁴ My tongue will tell about how right and good You are all day long. For those who want to hurt me are ashamed and troubled.