M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Special Box Brought from Kiriath-Jearim

13 Then David spoke with the captains of the thousands and the hundreds and with every leader about what should be done. ² David spoke to all the people of Israel. He said, “If you think it is good, and if it is from the Lord our God, let us send word to our brothers who are staying in all the land of Israel. Let us send word to the religious leaders and Levites who are with them in their cities that have fields. And let us ask them to meet with us. ³ Let us bring the special box with the Law of our God to us. For we did not think of it in the days of Saul.” ⁴ Then all the people said that they would do so. For it was right in the eyes of all the people.

⁵ So David gathered all Israel together, from the Shihor of Egypt to the gate of Hamath, to bring the special box of God from Kiriath-jearim. ⁶ David and all Israel went up to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim which belongs to Judah. They went to bring the special box of God. It is called by the name of the Lord Who sits on His throne above the cherubim. ⁷ They carried the special box of God on a new wagon from the house of Abinadab. And Uzza and Ahio drove the wagon. ⁸ David and all Israel were showing their joy before God with all their strength. They were singing and playing harps and timbrels, and blowing horns.

⁹ When they came to the grain-floor of Chidon, the cattle pulling the wagon tripped. And Uzza put out his hand to hold the special box of God. ¹⁰ Then the anger of the Lord burned against Uzza. So He killed him because Uzza had put out his hand to the special box of God, so before God he died. ¹¹ Then David became angry because the Lord had killed Uzza in His anger. That place is called Perez-uzza to this day. ¹² David was afraid of God that day, saying, “How can I bring the special box of God home to me?” ¹³ So David did not take the special box of God with him to the city of David. He took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. ¹⁴ The special box of God stayed with the family of Obed-edom in his house for three months. The Lord brought good to Obed-edom’s family and all that he had.

David in Jerusalem

14 Now King Hiram of Tyre sent men with cedar trees to David. With them came men who worked with stone and wood. They came to build a house for him. ² David understood that the Lord had made him to be king of Israel. He knew that his nation was very honored because of God’s people Israel.

³ Then David took more wives at Jerusalem. He became the father of more sons and daughters. ⁴ The names of the children born to him in Jerusalem are Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, ⁶ Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, ⁷ Elishama, Beeliada and Eliphelet.

Battle with the Philistines

⁸ The Philistines heard that David had been chosen as king of all Israel. So they went up to look for him. David heard of it and went out against them. ⁹ Now the Philistines had come to fight a surprise battle in the valley of Rephaim. ¹⁰ David asked God, “Should I go fight against the Philistines? Will You give them to me?” And the Lord said to him, “Go, for I will give them to you.” ¹¹ So they came up to Baal-perazim, and David won the battle against them there. David said, “By my hand God has broken through those who hate me, like the breaking through of a flood.” So they gave that place the name Baal-perazim. ¹² The Philistines left their gods there. So David had them burned with fire.

¹³ The Philistines fought another surprise battle in the valley. ¹⁴ So David asked God again what he should do. God said to him, “Do not go after them. Go around behind them, and come upon them in front of the balsam trees. ¹⁵ When you hear the sound of their steps in the tops of the balsam trees, then go out to battle. For God will have gone out before you to destroy the Philistine army.” ¹⁶ David did just as God had told him, and they destroyed the Philistine army from Gibeon as far as Gezer. ¹⁷ Then the name of David became known in all the lands. The Lord brought the fear of him upon all the nations.

1 This letter is from James. I am a servant owned by God and the Lord Jesus Christ. I greet the twelve family groups of the Jewish nation living in many parts of the world.

Take Hope When Tests Come

² My Christian brothers, you should be happy when you have all kinds of tests. ³ You know these prove your faith. It helps you not to give up. ⁴ Learn well how to wait so you will be strong and complete and in need of nothing.

⁵ If you do not have wisdom, ask God for it. He is always ready to give it to you and will never say you are wrong for asking. ⁶ You must have faith as you ask Him. You must not doubt. Anyone who doubts is like a wave which is pushed around by the sea. ⁷ Such a man will get nothing from the Lord. ⁸ The man who has two ways of thinking changes in everything he does.

⁹ A Christian brother who has few riches of this world should be happy for what he has. He is great in the eyes of God. ¹⁰ But a rich man should be happy even if he loses everything. He is like a flower that will die. ¹¹ The sun comes up with burning heat. The grass dries up and the flower falls off. It is no longer beautiful. The rich man will die also and all his riches will be gone. ¹² The man who does not give up when tests come is happy. After the test is over, he will receive the crown of life. God has promised this to those who love Him.

God Does Not Tempt Us

¹³ When you are tempted to do wrong, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God cannot be tempted. He will never tempt anyone. ¹⁴ A man is tempted to do wrong when he lets himself be led by what his bad thoughts tell him to do. ¹⁵ When he does what his bad thoughts tell him to do, he sins. When sin completes its work, it brings death.

¹⁶ My Christian brothers, do not be fooled about this. ¹⁷ Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God. He is the One Who made all light. He does not change. No shadow is made by His turning. ¹⁸ He gave us our new lives through the truth of His Word only because He wanted to. We are the first children in His family.

¹⁹ My Christian brothers, you know everyone should listen much and speak little. He should be slow to become angry. ²⁰ A man’s anger does not allow him to be right with God. ²¹ Put out of your life all that is unclean and wrong. Receive with a gentle spirit the Word that was taught. It has the power to save your souls from the punishment of sin.

²² Obey the Word of God. If you hear only and do not act, you are only fooling yourself. ²³ Anyone who hears the Word of God and does not obey is like a man looking at his face in a mirror. ²⁴ After he sees himself and goes away, he forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But the one who keeps looking into God’s perfect Law and does not forget it will do what it says and be happy as he does it. God’s Word makes men free.

²⁶ If a person thinks he is religious, but does not keep his tongue from speaking bad things, he is fooling himself. His religion is worth nothing. ²⁷ Religion that is pure and good before God the Father is to help children who have no parents and to care for women whose husbands have died who have troubles. Pure religion is also to keep yourself clean from the sinful things of the world.

Special Dream of a Basket of Fruit

8 This is what the Lord God showed me: There was a basket of summer fruit. ² And the Lord said, “What do you see, Amos?” I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel. I will not change My mind again about punishing them. ³ The songs of the king’s house will become loud cries of sorrow on that day,” says the Lord God. “There will be many dead bodies. In every place they will be thrown out without a word.”

⁴ Hear this, you who crush under foot those who are in need, to put an end to the poor of the land. ⁵ You say, “When will the New Moon be over, so that we may buy grain? When will the Day of Rest be over, so that we may open the store and sell grain? Then we will make the basket smaller and the weight bigger, and we will lie about the weight. ⁶ We will buy the poor for money, and those in need for shoes. And we will sell the part of the grain that is of no worth.”

⁷ The Lord has promised by the pride of Jacob, “For sure I will never forget anything they have done. ⁸ Will not the land shake because of this? Will not everyone who lives in it be filled with sorrow? All of it will rise up like the Nile. It will be troubled, and will fall like the Nile River of Egypt. ⁹ On that day,” says the Lord God, “I will make the sun go down at noon. I will make the earth dark in the daytime. ¹⁰ I will turn your special suppers into times of sorrow, and all your songs into songs of sorrow. I will make all of you wear cloth made from hair, and cut all the hair from your heads. I will fill that time with sorrow, as if an only son had died. And the end of it will be like a bitter day.

¹¹ “The days are coming,” says the Lord God, “when I will send a time upon the land when the people will be very hungry. They will not be hungry for bread or thirsty for water, but they will be hungry to hear the Words of the Lord. ¹² People will go from sea to sea, and from the north to the east. They will go from place to place to look for the Word of the Lord, but they will not find it. ¹³ On that day the beautiful, pure, young women and the young men will lose their strength and fall because of thirst. ¹⁴ As for those who swear by the false gods of Samaria, saying, ‘As your god lives, O Dan,’ and ‘As the way of Beersheba lives,’ they will fall and never rise again.”

John the Baptist Makes the Way Ready for Jesus ^(A)

3 Tiberius Caesar had been ruler for fifteen years. Pontius Pilate was ruler of the country of Judea. Herod was the ruler of the country of Galilee. His brother Philip was the ruler of the countries of Ituraea and Trachonitis. Lysanias was the ruler of the country of Abilene. ² Annas and Caiaphas were the head religious leaders.

The Word of God came to John the Baptist, the son of Zacharias. John was in the desert. ³ He went into all the country around the Jordan River. He preached that people should be baptized because they were sorry for their sins and had turned from them, and they would be forgiven. ⁴ The early preacher Isaiah wrote these words: “His voice calls out in the desert. ‘Make the way ready for the Lord. Make the road straight for Him! ⁵ Every valley will be filled and every mountain and hill will be brought down. The turns in the road will be made straight and the rough places will be made smooth. ⁶ And all men will see God saving people from the punishment of their sins.’” ^(B)

⁷ John said to the people who came to be baptized by him, “You family of snakes! Who told you how to keep from the anger of God that is coming? ⁸ Do something to let me see that you have turned from your sins. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you, God can make children for Abraham out of these stones. ⁹ Even now the ax is on the root of the trees. Every tree that does not give good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” ¹⁰ The people asked him, “Then what should we do?” ¹¹ He answered them, “If you have two coats, give one to him who has none. If you have food, you must share some.” ¹² Tax-gatherers came to be baptized also. They asked him, “Teacher, what are we to do?” ¹³ He said to them, “Do not take more money from people than you should.” ¹⁴ Also soldiers asked him, “What are we to do?” He answered them, “Take no money from anyone by using your own strength. Do not lie about anyone. Be happy with the pay you get.”

¹⁵ The people were looking for something to happen. They were thinking in their hearts about John the Baptist. They wondered if he might be the Christ. ¹⁶ But John said to all of them, “I baptize you with water. There is One coming Who is greater than I. I am not good enough to get down and help Him take off His shoes. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹⁷ He comes ready to clean the grain. He will gather the grain and clean it all. He will put the clean grain into a building. But He will burn that which is no good with a fire that cannot be put out.”

John the Baptist Is Put in Prison ^(C)

¹⁸ John spoke much more as he preached the Good News to the people. ¹⁹ He had also spoken sharp words to Herod the ruler because of Herodias. She was his brother Philip’s wife. And John spoke to Herod about all the wrongs he had done. ²⁰ To all these, Herod added another sin by putting John in prison.

The Baptism of Jesus ^(D)

²¹ When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized also. As He prayed, the heaven opened. ²² The Holy Spirit came down on Him in a body like a dove. A voice came from heaven and said, “You are My much-loved Son. I am very happy with You.”

The Family of Jesus through Mary ^(E)

²³ Jesus was about thirty years old when He began His work. People thought Jesus was the son of Joseph, the son of Heli. ²⁴ Heli was the son of Matthat. Matthat was the son of Levi. Levi was the son of Melchi. Melchi was the son of Jannai. Jannai was the son of Joseph. ²⁵ Joseph was the son of Mattathias. Mattathias was the son of Amos. Amos was the son of Nahum. Nahum was the son of Esli. Esli was the son of Naggai. ²⁶ Naggai was the son of Maath. Maath was the son of Mattathias. Mattathias was the son of Semein. Semein was the son of Josech. Josech was the son of Juda. ²⁷ Juda was the son of Johanan. Johanan was the son of Rhesa. Rhesa was the son of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the son of Salathiel. Salathiel was the son of Neri. ²⁸ Neri was the son of Melchi. Melchi was the son of Addi. Addi was the son of Cosam. Cosam was the son of Elmadam. Elmadam was the son of Er. ²⁹ Er was the son of Joshua. Joshua was the son of Eliezer. Eliezer was the son of Jorim. Jorim was the son of Matthat. Matthat was the son of Levi. ³⁰ Levi was the son of Simeon. Simeon was the son of Judah. Judah was the son of Joseph. Joseph was the son of Janam. Janam was the son of Eliakim. ³¹ Eliakim was the son of Melea. Melea was the son of Menna. Menna was the son of Mattatha. Mattatha was the son of Nathan. Nathan was the son of David. ³² David was the son of Jesse. Jesse was the son of Obed. Obed was the son of Boaz. Boaz was the son of Salmon. Salmon was the son of Nahshon. ³³ Nahshon was the son of Amminadab. Amminadab was the son of Admin. Admin was the son of Ram. Ram was the son of Hezron. Hezron was the son of Perez. Perez was the son of Judah. ³⁴ Judah was the son of Jacob. Jacob was the son of Isaac. Isaac was the son of Abraham. Abraham was the son of Terah. Terah was the son of Nahor. ³⁵ Nahor was the son of Serug. Serug was the son of Ragau. Ragau was the son of Peleg. Peleg was the son of Eber. Eber was the son of Shelah. ³⁶ Shelah was the son of Cainan. Cainan was the son of Arphaxad. Arphaxad was the son of Shem. Shem was the son of Noah. Noah was the son of Lamech. ³⁷ Lamech was the son of Methuselah. Methuselah was the son of Enoch. Enoch was the son of Jared. Jared was the son of Mahalaleel. Mahaleel was the son of Cainan. ³⁸ Cainan was the son of Enos. Enos was the son of Seth. Seth was the son of Adam. Adam was the son of God.