M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Ark of the Covenant among the Philistines
5 Now the Philistines had captured[a] the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to the temple of Dagon and placed it beside Dagon. 3 When the Ashdodites got up early the next morning, there was[b] Dagon fallen with his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh! So they took Dagon and returned him to his place. 4 When they got up early in the morning the next day, there was[c] Dagon fallen again with his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh! The head of Dagon and the palms of his two hands were cut off, lying at[d] the threshold; only the body[e] of Dagon was left. 5 (Therefore the priests of Dagon and all who come into the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod until this very day.)
6 Now the hand of Yahweh was heavy against the Ashdodites and he destroyed them and struck them with tumors,[f] both in Ashdod and its territories. 7 The men of Ashdod saw that it was so, and they said, “The ark of the God of Israel should not remain with us, because his hand is harsh on us and on Dagon our god!” 8 So they sent and gathered all the rulers of the Philistines to them, and they asked, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” And they said, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around toward Gath.” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel to Gath.
9 After they moved it, the hand of Yahweh was against the city, causing a very great confusion, and he struck the men of the city from the youngest to the oldest,[g] causing tumors[h] to break out on them. 10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. But when the ark of God came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought around the ark of the God of Israel to kill us and our[i] people!” 11 So they sent and gathered all the rulers of the Philistines, and they said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel and let it return to its place, so that it will not kill us and our people.” For a deadly confusion[j] was throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. 12 The men who did not die were struck with the tumors,[k] so that the cry of the city for help went up to heaven.
The Return of the Ark of Covenant
6 Now the ark of Yahweh had been in the territory of the Philistines for seven months, 2 and the Philistines called to the priests and to those who practiced divination, saying, “What should we do with the ark of Yahweh? Inform us how we should send it to its place.” 3 They said, “If you are sending the ark of the God of Israel away, you must not send it away empty, but by all means return it with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and it will become known to you why his hand is not turned aside from you.” 4 And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we should return to him?” They said, “The number of the rulers of the Philistines is five. Therefore send five gold tumors[l] and five gold mice, because one plague was on all of you and all your rulers. 5 You must make images of your tumors[m] and images of your mice that are ravaging the land, and you must give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lighten his hand on you and on your gods and on your land. 6 Why should you harden your hearts like the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their heart? Is it not just like when he dealt with them wantonly so that they sent them away and they left? 7 So then, prepare[n] one new utility cart and two milking cows that have never had a yoke on them, and you must harness the cows to the utility cart and then turn their calves from following them to their stall. 8 And you must take the ark of Yahweh and place it on the utility cart with the gold objects that you are returning to him as a guilt offering. You must place them in the container[o] beside the ark and then send it off so that it goes away. 9 You must watch; if it goes up by the way of its territory to Beth Shemesh, he has caused this great disaster to come on us. But if not, then we will know his hand has not struck us; it was by chance that this happened to us. 10 So the men did so; they took two milking cows and harnessed them to the utility cart, but they shut up their calves in the stall. 11 Then they put the ark of Yahweh on the utility cart with the container[p] holding the gold mice and the images of their tumors. 12 The cows went straight on the way on the road to Beth Shemesh, on the one main road, lowing as they went.[q] They did not turn aside to the right or to the left, and the rulers of the Philistines were walking after them up to the border of Beth Shemesh.
13 Now the people of Beth Shemesh were reaping the wheat harvest in the valley. They lifted their eyes and saw the ark, and they were glad to see it. 14 The utility cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh and stopped there where there was a large stone. They split the wood of the utility cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to Yahweh. 15 Then the Levites took down the ark of Yahweh and the container[r] that was beside it, in which were the gold objects, and they set them on the large stone.[s] Then the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings, and they made[t] sacrifices to Yahweh on that day. 16 The five rulers of the Philistines saw it and returned to Ekron that same day.
17 Now these are the gold tumors which the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to Yahweh: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron. 18 And the gold mice according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines, for their five rulers, from the fortified city to the unwalled village of the open country as far as the great stone, where they set[u] the ark of Yahweh until this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh. 19 He[v] struck seventy men[w] among the men of Beth Shemesh because they looked into the ark of Yahweh. So the people mourned because Yahweh had struck a great blow among the people. 20 Then the men of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand before Yahweh, this holy God? And to whom shall it[x] go up from us?” 21 So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath Jearim saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of Yahweh. Come down and take it up to yourselves.”
Reconciliation with God through Faith in Christ
5 Therefore, because we[a] have been declared righteous by faith, we have[b] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we[c] know that affliction produces patient endurance, 4 and patient endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
6 For while[d] we were still helpless, yet at the proper time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For only rarely will someone die on behalf of a righteous person (for on behalf of a good person possibly someone might even dare to die), 8 but God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while[e] we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Therefore, by much more, because we[f] have been declared righteous now by his blood, we will be saved through him from the wrath. 10 For if, while we[g] were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, by much more, having been reconciled, we will be saved by his life. 11 And not only this, but also we are boasting in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
Death Came through Adam but Life Comes through Christ
12 Because of this, just as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death spread to all people because all sinned. 13 For until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not charged to one’s account when there[h] is no law. 14 But death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who did not sin in the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who is to come. 15 But the gift is not like the trespass[i], for if by the trespass of the one, the many died, by much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, multiply to the many. 16 And the gift is not as through the one who sinned, for on the one hand, judgment from the one sin led to condemnation, but the gift, from many trespasses, led to justification. 17 For if by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through the one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ. 18 Consequently therefore, as through one trespass came condemnation to all people, so also through one righteous deed came justification of life to all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man, the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in as a side issue, in order that the trespass could increase, but where sin increased, grace was present in greater abundance, 21 so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
43 And then,[a] when Jeremiah had finished speaking to all the people all the words of Yahweh their God, for which Yahweh their God had sent him to them with all these words, 2 Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the insolent men spoke,[b] saying to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie! Yahweh our God did not send you, saying,[c] ‘You must not go to Egypt to dwell as aliens there.’ 3 But Baruch the son of Neriah is inciting you against us in order to give us into the hand of the Chaldeans, to kill us and to deport us to Babylon.”
4 So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies, and all the people did not listen[d] to the voice of Yahweh to stay in the land of Judah. 5 But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies took[e] all the remnant of Judah who had returned from all the nations to which they had been scattered to dwell as aliens in the land of Judah— 6 the men, and the women, and the little children, and the daughters of the king, and everyone[f] whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard[g] had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah— 7 and they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh. And they came up to Tahpanhes.
The Throne of Nebuchadnezzar Will be Set Up at Tahpanhes
8 And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, 9 “Take in your hands[h] large stones and bury them in the mortar in the clay floor that is at the entrance of the palace[i] of Pharaoh in Tahpanhes before the eyes of the people[j] of the Judeans, 10 and say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: “Look, I am going to send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden. And he will spread out his canopy over them. 11 And he will come and ravage the land of Egypt, and deliver those who are appointed for the plague, to the plague, and those who are appointed for the captivity, to the captivity, and those who are appointed for the sword, to the sword. 12 Then he will kindle a fire in the temples[k] of the gods of Egypt, and he will burn them and take them captive. And he will wrap up the land of Egypt just as the shepherd wraps up his cloak. And he will go forth from there in peace. 13 And he will break the stone pillars of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt. And he will burn the temples[l] of the gods of Egypt with fire.”’”
Yahweh’s Creation and Law
For the music director. A psalm of David.[a]
19 The heavens are telling the glory of God,
and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands.
2 Every day[b] they pour forth speech,
and every night[c] they tell knowledge.
3 There is no speech and there are no words;
their sound is inaudible.
4 Yet in all the world their line[d] goes out,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them[e] he has pitched a tent for the sun,
5 and it is like a bridegroom
who comes out of his bridal chamber.
It is glad like a strong man
to run its course.
6 Its rising is from one[f] end of the heavens
and its circuit to the other end[g] of them;
and nothing is hidden from its heat.
7 The law of Yahweh is perfect, reviving life.[h]
The testimony of Yahweh is firm, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of Yahweh are right, making the heart rejoice.
The command of Yahweh is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of Yahweh is pure, enduring forever.
The ordinances of Yahweh are true; they are righteous altogether,
10 more desirable than gold, even much fine gold;
and sweeter than honey, even honey in the comb.
11 Moreover, your servant is warned[i] by them;
in keeping them is great reward.
12 Who can perceive his errors?
Acquit me from hidden faults.
13 Also, keep back your servant from arrogant sins;[j]
let them not rule over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
and I shall be innocent of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your presence,
O Yahweh, my rock and my redeemer.
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