M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Special Box Brought to Jerusalem
15 David built houses for himself in the city of David. He made a place ready for the special box of God. And he set up a tent for it. 2 Then David said, “No one but the Levites may carry the special box of God. For the Lord chose them to carry the special box of the agreement and to serve Him forever.” 3 David gathered all Israel together at Jerusalem, to bring up the special box of the Lord to the place he had made for it. 4 He gathered together the sons of Aaron and the Levites. 5 Uriel became leader of the sons of Kohath, and 120 of his brothers. 6 Asaiah became the leader of the sons of Merari, and 220 of his brothers. 7 Joel became the leader of the sons of Gershom, and 130 of his brothers. 8 Shemaiah became the leader of the sons of Elizaphan, and 200 of his brothers. 9 Eliel became the leader of the sons of Hebron, and 80 of his brothers. 10 Amminadab became the leader of the sons of Uzziel, and 112 of his brothers. 11 Then David called for Zadok and Abiathar the religious leaders. And he called for the Levites, Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab. 12 He said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites. Make yourselves and your brothers holy, that you may bring up the special box of the Lord God of Israel to the place I have made for it. 13 The Lord our God brought trouble upon us because you did not carry it the first time. We did not care for it the way He had told us.” 14 So the religious leaders and the Levites made themselves holy, to bring up the special box of the Lord God of Israel. 15 The sons of the Levites carried the special box of God on their shoulders with the long pieces of wood. They did as Moses had told them by the Word of the Lord.
16 Then David told the heads of the Levites to choose their brothers who sing and play music. They were to play harps and timbrels and make sounds of joy. 17 So the Levites chose Heman the son of Joel. From his brothers they chose Asaph the son of Berechiah. From the sons of Merari their brothers, they chose Ethan the son of Kushaiah. 18 With them they chose their brothers of the second group. These were Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, the gate-keepers. 19 The singers, Heman, Asaph and Ethan were chosen to make sounds of joy with objects of brass. 20 Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah and Benaiah were chosen to play the high sounds on harps. 21 Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel and Azaziah were chosen to lead by playing the deep sounds on different kinds of harps. 22 Chenaniah, head of the Levites, was to lead the singing. He taught the singing because he was able. 23 Berechiah and Elkanah were to watch the gate for the special box. 24 Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah and Eliezer, the religious leaders, were to blow the horns in front of the special box of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah were gate-keepers for the special box of God also.
25 So David, the leaders of Israel and the captains of thousands went to bring up the special box with the Law of the Lord from the house of Obed-edom with joy. 26 God was helping the Levites who were carrying the special box of the agreement of the Lord. So they killed seven bulls and seven rams on the altar in worship. 27 David was dressed in a long piece of clothing of fine linen. So were all the Levites who were carrying the special box of God. And so were the singers and Chenaniah the leader of the singing. David wore a linen vest also. 28 So all Israel brought up the special box with the Law of the Lord. They brought it up with a loud voice, the sound of horns, and with loud-sounding timbrels and harps.
29 When the special box with the Law of the Lord came to the city of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked out of the window. She saw King David dancing and jumping for joy. And she hated him in her heart.
The Rich and the Poor
2 My Christian brothers, our Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord of shining-greatness. Since your trust is in Him, do not look on one person as more important than another. 2 What if a man comes into your church wearing a gold ring and good clothes? And at the same time a poor man comes wearing old clothes. 3 What if you show respect to the man in good clothes and say, “Come and sit in this good place”? But if you say to the poor man, “Stand up over there,” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 are you not thinking that one is more important than the other? This kind of thinking is sinful. 5 Listen, my dear Christian brothers, God has chosen those who are poor in the things of this world to be rich in faith. The holy nation of heaven is theirs. That is what God promised to those who love Him. 6 You have not shown respect to the poor man. Is it not the rich men who make it hard for you and take you to court? 7 They speak against the name of Christ. And it was Christ Who called you. 8 You do well when you obey the Holy Writings which say, “You must love your neighbor as you love yourself.” 9 But if you look on one man as more important than another, you are sinning. And the Law says you are sinning.
Keep the Whole Law
10 If you obey all the Laws but one, you are as guilty as the one who has broken them all. 11 The One Who said, “You must not do any sex sins,” also said, “You must not kill another person.” If you do no sex sins but kill someone, you are guilty of breaking the Law. 12 Keep on talking and acting as people who will be told they are guilty or not by the Law that makes men free. 13 Anyone who shows no loving-kindness will have no loving-kindness shown to him when he is told he is guilty. But if you show loving-kindness, God will show loving-kindness to you when you are told you are guilty.
Faith Without Works Is Dead
14 My Christian brothers, what good does it do if you say you have faith but do not do things that prove you have faith? Can that kind of faith save you from the punishment of sin? 15 What if a Christian does not have clothes or food? 16 And one of you says to him, “Goodbye, keep yourself warm and eat well.” But if you do not give him what he needs, how does that help him? 17 A faith that does not do things is a dead faith.
18 Someone may say, “You have faith, and I do things. Prove to me you have faith when you are doing nothing. I will prove to you I have faith by doing things.” 19 You believe there is one God. That is good! But even the demons believe that, and because they do, they shake.
20 You foolish man! Do I have to prove to you that faith without doing things is of no use? 21 Was not our early father Abraham right with God by what he did? He obeyed God and put his son Isaac on the altar to die. 22 You see his faith working by what he did and his faith was made perfect by what he did. 23 It happened as the Holy Writings said it would happen. They say, “Abraham put his trust in God and he became right with God.” (A) He was called the friend of God. 24 A man becomes right with God by what he does and not by faith only. 25 The same was true with Rahab, the woman who sold the use of her body. She became right with God by what she did in helping the men who had been sent to look through the country and sent them away by another road. 26 The body is dead when there is no spirit in it. It is the same with faith. Faith is dead when nothing is done.
The Lord Judges Israel
9 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said, “Break the tops of the pillars so that the bases shake! Break them to pieces on the heads of all the people! Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword. Not one of them will get away. 2 Even if they dig into the place of the dead, My hand will take them from there. Even if they go up to heaven, I will bring them down from there. 3 Even if they hide on the top of Mount Carmel, I will find them and take them from there. Even if they hide themselves from My eyes on the bottom of the sea, there I will tell the large sea-snake to bite them. 4 Even if they are taken away to a strange land by those who hate them, there I will have the sword kill them. I will set My eyes against them to hurt them, and not to bring good to them.”
5 The Lord God of All is the One Who touches the land and it melts. All those who live in it are filled with sorrow. All of it rises and falls like the Nile River of Egypt. 6 The Lord builds His upper rooms in the heavens and sets His sky over the earth. He calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the earth. The Lord is His name.
7 “Are you not like the Ethiopians to Me, you people of Israel?” says the Lord. “Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? 8 See, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful nation, and I will destroy it from the earth. But I will not destroy all the people of Jacob,” says the Lord.
9 “I will say what must be done. I will shake the people of Jacob among all the nations, as grain is shaken on a fine net. But not the smallest seed will fall to the ground. 10 All the sinners among My people who say, ‘The trouble will not catch up to us or come to us,’ will die by the sword.
Israel to Have New Life
11 “In that day I will build again the tent of David that fell down. Yes, I will build it again from the stones that fell down. I will set it up again as it used to be. 12 And so the people of Israel will own what is left of the land of Edom and all the nations that are called by My name,” says the Lord who does this.
13 “The days are coming,” says the Lord, “when the man who plows will catch up with the man who gathers. The man who crushes the grapes will catch up with the man who plants the seed. The mountains will drip sweet wine, and all the hills will flow with it. 14 And I will return My people Israel to their riches. They will build again the cities that have been destroyed, and live in them. They will plant grape-fields and drink their wine. And they will make gardens and eat their fruit. 15 I will plant My people on their land. And they will never again be pulled up from the land I gave them,” says the Lord your God.
Jesus Was Tempted (A)
4 Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit when He returned from the Jordan River. Then He was led by the Holy Spirit to a desert. 2 He was tempted by the devil for forty days and He ate nothing during that time. After that He was hungry. 3 The devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to be made into bread.” 4 Jesus said to him, “It is written, ‘Man is not to live by bread alone.’” (B) 5 The devil took Jesus up on a high mountain. He had Jesus look at all the nations of the world at one time. 6 The devil said to Jesus, “I will give You all this power and greatness. It has been given to me. I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If You will worship me, all this will be Yours.” 8 Jesus said to the devil, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You must worship the Lord your God. You must obey Him only.’” (C) 9 Then the devil took Jesus up to Jerusalem. He had Jesus stand on the highest part of the house of God. The devil said to Jesus, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. 10 For it is written, ‘He has told His angels to care for You and to keep You. 11 In their hands they will hold You up. Then Your foot will not hit against a stone.’” (D) 12 Jesus said to the devil, “It is written, ‘You must not tempt the Lord your God.’” (E) 13 When the devil finished tempting Jesus in every way, he went away from Jesus for awhile.
Jesus Preaches in Galilee (F)
14 Jesus went back to Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit. People talked about Him so much that He was well-known through all the country. 15 Jesus taught in their places of worship and was honored by all people.
In Nazareth They Do Not Believe in Jesus
16 Jesus came to Nazareth where He had grown up. As He had done before, He went into the Jewish place of worship on the Day of Rest. Then He stood up to read. 17 Someone handed Him the book of the early preacher Isaiah. He opened it and found the place where it was written, 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me. He has put His hand on Me to preach the Good News to poor people. He has sent Me to heal those with a sad heart. He has sent Me to tell those who are being held that they can go free. He has sent Me to make the blind to see and to free those who are held because of trouble. 19 He sent Me to tell of the time when men can receive favor with the Lord.” (G)
20 Jesus closed the book. Then He gave it back to the leader and sat down. All those in the Jewish place of worship kept their eyes on Him. 21 Then He began to say to them, “The Holy Writings you have just heard have been completed today.”
22 They all spoke well of Jesus and agreed with the words He spoke. They said, “Is not this the son of Joseph?” 23 He said to them, “I wonder if you will tell this old saying to Me, ‘Doctor, heal Yourself. What You did in the city of Capernaum, do in Your own country!’” 24 He said, “A man who speaks for God is not respected in his own country. 25 It is true that there were many women whose husbands had died in the Jewish land when Elijah lived. For three and a half years there was no rain and there was very little food in the land. 26 Elijah was sent to none of them, but he was sent to a woman in the city of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. This woman’s husband had died. 27 There were many people in the Jewish land who had a bad skin disease when the early preacher Elisha lived. None of them was healed. But Naaman from the country of Syria was healed.”
28 All those in the Jewish place of worship were angry when they heard His words. 29 They got up and took Jesus out of town to the top of a high hill. They wanted to throw Him over the side. 30 But Jesus got away from among them and went on His way.
Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon (H)
31 Jesus went down to Capernaum in Galilee. He taught them on the Days of Rest. 32 The people were surprised and wondered about His teaching. His words had power. 33 A man in the Jewish place of worship had a demon. He cried with a loud voice, 34 “What do You want of us, Jesus of Nazareth? I know Who You are. You are the Holy One of God.” 35 Jesus spoke sharp words to the demon and said, “Do not talk! Come out of him!” When the demon had thrown the man down, he came out without hurting the man.
36 The people were all surprised. They asked each other, “What kind of word is this? He speaks to the demons with power and they come out!” 37 The news about Jesus went through all the country.
Peter’s Mother-in-Law Healed (I)
38 Jesus went away from the Jewish place of worship and went into Simon’s house. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed, very sick. They asked Jesus to help her. 39 He stood by her and told the disease to leave. It went from her. At once she got up and cared for them.
Jesus Heals in Galilee (J)
40 As the sun went down, the people took all that were sick with many kinds of diseases to Jesus. He put His hands on all of them and they were healed. 41 Also demons came out of many people. The demons cried out and said, “You are Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus spoke strong words to them and would not let them speak. They knew He was the Christ.
Jesus Keeps On Preaching in Galilee (K)
42 In the morning He went out to a desert. The people looked for Him. When they found Him, they were trying to keep Him from going away from them. 43 He said to them, “I must preach about the holy nation of God in other cities also. This is why I was sent.” 44 And He kept on preaching in the Jewish places of worship in Galilee.
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