M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Hushai and Absalom

17 Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose 12,000 men, and I will leave and go after David tonight. ² I will come upon him while he is tired and weak. I will fill him with fear so that all the people who are with him will run away. Then I will kill the king alone ³ and return all the people to you. All will return if the man you want to kill is dead. Then all the people will be at peace.” ⁴ The plan pleased Absalom and all the leaders of Israel.

⁵ Then Absalom said, “Call Hushai the Archite also. Let us hear what he has to say.” ⁶ When Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom said to him, “Ahithophel has said this. Should we do as he says? If not, tell us.” ⁷ So Hushai said to Absalom, “This time what Ahithophel has said to do is not good.” ⁸ Hushai said, “You know your father and his men. They are powerful and angry, like a bear robbed of her young ones in the field. And your father is a very able man of war. He will not stay with the people during the night. ⁹ He has now hidden himself in one of the caves, or in another place. When some of the people are killed in the first battle, whoever hears it will say, ‘There have been many people killed who follow Absalom.’ ¹⁰ Even the one who has strength of heart like the heart of a lion will be afraid. For all Israel knows that your father is a powerful man, and that those who are with him are men with strength of heart. ¹¹ But I say that all Israel should be gathered to you, from Dan to Beersheba, as much as the sand by the sea. And you yourself should go into battle. ¹² So we will find David wherever he is. We will fall on him like water falls on the ground in the early morning. And not he or any of the men with him will be left. ¹³ If he runs into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city. We will pull it into the valley until not even a small stone is left there.” ¹⁴ Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The words of Hushai the Archite are better than the words of Ahithophel.” In this way the Lord had planned to destroy the good leading of Ahithophel, so He might bring trouble to Absalom.

David Is Told to Leave

¹⁵ Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the religious leaders, “This is what Ahithophel said that Absalom and the leaders of Israel should do. And this is what I have said they should do. ¹⁶ So be quick to send someone to tell David, ‘Do not stay the night in the desert beside the place where the Jordan is crossed. But cross over, or the king and all the people with him will be destroyed.’” ¹⁷ Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at Enrogel. And a woman servant would go and tell them, and they would go and tell King David. For they could not be seen coming into the city. ¹⁸ But a boy saw them, and told Absalom. So the two of them left in a hurry and came to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in the open space in the center of his house. And they went down into it. ¹⁹ Then the woman took the covering and spread it over the well’s mouth, and spread grain on it, so nothing was known of it. ²⁰ Then Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house and said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman answered, “They have crossed the river.” And after looking and not finding them, they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ When they had left, Ahimaaz and Jonathan came up out of the well and went and told King David. They said to David, “Be quick to get ready and cross over the water. For Ahithophel has told them to come against you.” ²² So David and all the people with him got up and crossed the Jordan. By the light of morning, not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan. ²³ When Ahithophel saw that his words were not followed, he got onto his donkey and went home to his city. He told those of his family what they must do, and he hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s grave.

²⁴ Then David came to Mahanaim. Absalom and all the men of Israel with him crossed the Jordan. ²⁵ Absalom made Amasa captain of the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Jithra the Israelite, who went in to Nahash’s daughter Abigal, the sister of Joab’s mother Zeruiah. ²⁶ And Israel and Absalom set up their tents in the land of Gilead.

²⁷ When David had come to Mahanaim, he met Nahash’s son Shobi from Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, Ammiel’s son Machir from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim. ²⁸ They brought him beds, washing pots, dishes, grain, flour, seeds, ²⁹ honey, sour milk, sheep, and cheese from the cattle, for David and his men to eat. For they said, “The people are hungry and tired and thirsty in the desert.”

Paul Proves He Is a Missionary

10 I, Paul, ask you this myself. I do it through Christ Who is so gentle and kind. Some people say that I am gentle and quiet when I am with you, but that I have no fear and that my language is strong when I am away from you. ² Do not make me speak strong words to you when I come. Some people think we want the things of the world because of what we do and say. I have decided to talk to these people if I have to. ³ It is true, we live in a body of flesh. But we do not fight like people of the world. ⁴ We do not use those things to fight with that the world uses. We use the things God gives to fight with and they have power. Those things God gives to fight with destroy the strong-places of the devil. ⁵ We break down every thought and proud thing that puts itself up against the wisdom of God. We take hold of every thought and make it obey Christ. ⁶ We are ready to punish those who will not obey as soon as you obey in everything.

⁷ You are seeing things only as men see them. If anyone feels sure he belongs to Christ, he should remember that we belong to Christ also. ⁸ I am not ashamed if I say this of myself. The Lord gave me the right and the power to help you become stronger, not to break you down. ⁹ I do not want you to think I am trying to make you afraid with my letters. ¹⁰ They say, “His letters are strong and they make us think. When he is here with us, he is weak and he is hard to listen to.” ¹¹ What we say in our letters we will do when we get there. They should understand this. ¹² We do not compare ourselves with those who think they are good. They compare themselves with themselves. They decide what they think is good or bad and compare themselves with those ideas. They are foolish. ¹³ But we will not talk with pride more than God allows us to. We will follow the plan of the work He has given us to do and you are a part of that work. ¹⁴ We did not go farther than we were supposed to go when we came to you. But we did come to you with the Good News of Christ. ¹⁵ We take no pride in the work others have done there. But we hope your faith will keep growing because of help from others. Then we will grow because of you. ¹⁶ We hope to preach the Good News in the countries on the other side of you. Then we would take no pride in work done by another person in another country. ¹⁷ If anyone wants to be proud, he should be proud of what the Lord has done. ¹⁸ It is not what a man thinks and says of himself that is important. It is what God thinks of him.

The Boiling Pot

24 The Word of the Lord came to me on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year, saying, ² “Son of man, put down in writing this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has shut Jerusalem in with his army this very day. ³ And tell a picture-story to these sinful people of Israel. Tell them, ‘The Lord God says, “Put the pot on the fire. Put it on, and pour water in it. ⁴ Put all the good pieces of meat in it, the thigh, the shoulder. And fill it with the best bones. ⁵ Take the best of the flock. Put more and more wood under the pot to make it boil, and boil the bones in it.”

⁶ ’For the Lord God says, “It is bad for the city of blood, for the rusted pot whose rust has not been cleaned out of it! Take the pieces of meat out of it without choosing them. ⁷ For the blood of the city has been poured on the rock. It was not poured on the ground where the dust would cover it. ⁸ I have put the blood on the rock where it could not be covered, so that it would cause anger and punishment.” ⁹ So the Lord God says, “It is bad for the city of blood! I will put much wood on the fire. ¹⁰ Put on more and more wood, and make the fire burn. Boil the meat well. Mix in the spices, and let the bones be burned up. ¹¹ Now set the empty pot on the coals until it becomes hot and its brass becomes bright with the heat. Then what is not clean in it will melt away. Its rust will be destroyed. ¹² But it has been all for nothing. Its rust has not left it, not even by fire. ¹³ It is sin that makes you unclean. I have tried to make you clean, but you would not be made clean from your sins. So you will not be clean again until My anger against you is finished. ¹⁴ I, the Lord, have spoken. The time has come for Me to act. I will not hold back, I will not pity, and I will not be sorry. I will punish you for your ways and for what you have done,” says the Lord God.’”

Ezekiel’s Wife Dies

¹⁵ The Word of the Lord came to me saying, ¹⁶ “Son of man, with one blow I am about to take away from you the desire of your eyes. But do not have sorrow or loud crying or any tears. ¹⁷ Cry inside yourself. Do not show sorrow for the dead. Put your head-covering on. Put your shoes on your feet. Do not cover your face or eat the bread of those in sorrow.” ¹⁸ So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did as I was told. ¹⁹ And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things you are doing mean for us?” ²⁰ So I said to them, “The Word of the Lord came to me saying, ²¹ ’Tell the people of Israel, “The Lord God says, ‘I am about to let sin fill My holy place, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and the happiness of your soul. And your sons and daughters you have left behind will be killed by the sword. ²² Then you will do as I have done. You will not cover your face or eat the bread of those in sorrow. ²³ Your heads will be covered and your shoes will be on your feet. You will not have sorrow or cry. But you will waste away in your sins and cry in pain to one another. ²⁴ So Ezekiel will be something special for you to see. You will do just as he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Lord God.’”

²⁵ ‘Son of man, I will take away their strong-place that was their joy and pride, the desire of their eyes and the things their hearts wanted most. And I will take away their sons and their daughters. ²⁶ On that day, one who gets away will come to you with the news. ²⁷ That same day your mouth will be opened. You will speak with him and no longer be quiet. So you will be something special for them to see, and they will know that I am the Lord.’”

A Prayer for the King

72 O God, make the king right in what he decides. Make the king’s son right with You. ² May he be right when he decides who is right and who is wrong and may he be fair to the poor. ³ Let mountains and hills bring peace to the people through what is right and good. ⁴ May he stand by those who are poor, save the children of those in need, and destroy the bad power over them.

⁵ May all the children-to-come fear You as long as the sun and the moon last. ⁶ May He come down like rain upon the cut grass, like rain that waters the earth. ⁷ In His days may all go well with those who are right and good. And may there be much peace until the moon is no more.

⁸ May he also rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. ⁹ Those who live in the desert will put their faces to the ground before Him. And those who hate Him will kiss the dust. ¹⁰ Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring gifts. Let the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts. ¹¹ Yes, let all kings fall down at His feet, and all nations serve Him.

¹² For He will take out of trouble the one in need when he cries for help, and the poor man who has no one to help. ¹³ He will have loving-pity on the weak and those in need. He will save the lives of those in need. ¹⁴ He will take them from the bad power that is held over them and from being hurt. Their blood will be of much worth in His eyes. ¹⁵ He will live, and the gold of Sheba will be given to Him. Prayer will be given for Him all the time. Let them honor Him all day long.

¹⁶ May there be much grain in the land on top of the mountains. May its fruit grow like the trees of Lebanon. And may those of the city grow like the grass of the earth. ¹⁷ May His name last forever. May His name become bigger as long as the sun shines. And let men respect themselves through Him. Let all nations honor Him.

¹⁸ Honor and thanks be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who alone does great things. ¹⁹ And honor be to His great name forever. May the whole earth be filled with His shining-greatness. Let it be so.

²⁰ The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.