M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Saul Defeats the Ammonites
11 Now Nahash the Ammonite went up and encamped against Jabesh Gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us[a] and we will serve you.” 2 But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make a treaty[b] with you, by gouging out the right eye of each of you, so that I can make it a disgrace for all Israel.” 3 So the elders of Jabesh said to him, “Leave us alone for seven days so that we may send messengers in all the territory of Israel, and if there is no deliverer for us, then we will come out to you.” 4 When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, they reported these things to[c] the people. Then all the people lifted up their voices and wept. 5 Just then,[d] Saul was coming from the field behind the cattle. Saul said, “What is the matter with the people, that they are weeping?” So they recounted to him the words of the men of Jabesh.
6 Then the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and he became very angry.[e] 7 So he took a yoke of oxen and cut them into pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messengers, saying, “Whoever is not going out after Saul and after Samuel, so will it be done to his oxen.” Then the fear of Yahweh fell on the people and they went out as one man. 8 He mustered them at Bezek; the Israelites[f] were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah were thirty thousand. 9 They said to the messengers who had come, “Thus you will say to the men of Jabesh Gilead: ‘Tomorrow deliverance for you will come when the sun is hot.’”[g] When the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh, they rejoiced. 10 The men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will come out to you and you may do to us whatever seems good to you.”[h] 11 And the[i] next day Saul placed the people in three divisions. Then they came into the middle of the camp at the early morning watch[j] and struck down the Ammonites[k] until the heat of the day. It happened that the remainder were scattered so that no two among them remained together.[l] 12 Then the people said to Samuel, “Who is the one who asked, ‘Will Saul reign over us?’ Give the men to us that we may kill them.” 13 But Saul said, “No one will be put to death on this day, because today[m] Yahweh has provided deliverance in Israel.”
14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal, and let us renew the kingship there.” 15 So all the people went to Gilgal and they made Saul king there before Yahweh in Gilgal. They sacrificed fellowship offerings there before Yahweh. Then Saul rejoiced there greatly along with all the men of Israel.
Israel’s Rejection
9 I am telling the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears witness to me in the Holy Spirit— 2 that my grief is great and there is constant distress in my heart. 3 For I could wish myself to be accursed from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my fellow countrymen according to the flesh, 4 who are Israelites, to whom belong the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the temple service, and the promises, 5 to whom belong the patriarchs, and from whom is the Christ according to human descent, who is God over all, blessed forever[a]! Amen.
6 But it is not as if the word of God had failed. For not all those who are descended from Israel are truly Israel, 7 nor are they all children because they are descendants of Abraham, but “In Isaac will your descendants be named.”[b] 8 That is, it is not the children by human descent[c] who are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as descendants. 9 For the statement of the promise is this: “At this time I will return and Sarah will have[d] a son.”[e] 10 And not only this, but also when[f] Rebecca conceived children by one man,[g] Isaac our father— 11 for although they[h] had not yet been born, or done anything good or evil, in order that the purpose of God according to election might remain, 12 not by works but by the one who calls—it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger,”[i] 13 just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”[j]
God’s Sovereign Choice to Show Mercy
14 What then shall we say? There is no injustice with God, is there?[k] May it never be! 15 For to Moses he says, “I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I have compassion.”[l] 16 Consequently therefore, it does not depend on the[m] one who wills or on the one who runs, but on God who shows mercy. 17 For the scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very reason I have raised you up, so that I may demonstrate my power in you, and so that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”[n] 18 Consequently therefore, he has mercy on whomever he wishes, and he hardens whomever he wishes.
19 Therefore you will say to me, “Why then does he still find fault? For who has resisted[o] his will? 20 On the contrary, O man, who are you who answers back to God? Will what is molded say to the one who molded it, “Why did you make me like this”?[p] 21 Or does the potter not have authority over the clay, to make from the same lump a vessel that is for honorable use[q] and one that is for ordinary use[r]? 22 And what if God, wanting to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 And he did so[s] in order that he could make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy that he prepared beforehand for glory, 24 us whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 25 As he also says in Hosea,
“I will call those who were not my people, ‘My people,’
and those who were not loved, ‘Loved.’[t]
26 And it will be in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”[u]
27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel,
“Even if the number of the sons of Israel is like the sand of the sea,
the remnant will be saved,
28 for the Lord will execute his sentence thoroughly and decisively[v] upon the earth.”[w]
29 And just as Isaiah foretold,
“If the Lord of hosts had not left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom
and would have resembled Gomorrah.”[x]
30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness—even the righteousness that is by faith. 31 But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, did not attain to the law. 32 Why that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if by works. They stumbled over the stone that causes people to stumble[y], 33 just as it is written,
A Message Concerning Moab
48 Concerning Moab, thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel:
“Woe to Nebo,
for it is devastated.
It is ashamed,
Kiriathaim is captured.
Misgab is ashamed,
and it is filled with terror.
2 The glory of Moab is no longer.
In Heshbon they planned evil against her.
Come and let us cut her off from being a nation.
Also, Madmen, you will be silent.
After you will go the sword.
3 The sound of a cry of distress arises from Horonaim,
devastation and great destruction.
4 Moab is broken,
her little ones make heard[a] a cry for help.
5 For the ascent of Luhith,
in weeping they go weeping,
For on the slope of Horonaim they have heard
the distresses of the cry of distress of the destruction.
6 Flee! Save your life!
For[b] you must not be like the juniper tree in the desert.
7 For because of your trusting in your works and in your treasures,
even you yourselves will be taken,
and Chemosh will go out into the exile,
his priests and his officials together.
8 And the destroyer will come to every town,
and a town will not escape.
And the valley will be destroyed,
and the plain will be destroyed, as Yahweh has spoken.
9 Give salt for Moab,
for certainly she will go to ruin,
and her towns will become as a desolation,
without[c] an inhabitant in them.
10 The one who does the work of Yahweh with slackness is cursed,
and the one who keeps away blood from his sword is cursed.
11 Moab has been at ease from his youth,
and he has been quiet on his dregs,
and he has not been poured out from vessel to vessel,
and he has not gone into exile.
Therefore[d] his taste has remained unchanged,
and his fragrance has not changed.
12 Therefore[e] look, days are coming,” declares[f] Yahweh,
“and I will send to him decanters,[g]
and they will decant him,
and his vessels they will empty out,
and their jars they will smash.
13 Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh,
just as the house of Israel were ashamed of Bethel, their trust.
14 How can you say, ‘we are warriors,
and men of might for the battle.’
15 Moab is destroyed,
and his towns have gone up,
and the choice of his young men have gone down to the slaughtering,”
declares[h] the King, Yahweh of hosts is his name.
16 “The disaster of Moab is near to come,
and his disaster approaches very quickly.[i]
17 Mourn for him, all his surroundings,
and all those who knew his name.
Say, ‘How the staff of might is broken,
the staff of glory.’
18 Come down from glory and sit on the parched ground,
O inhabitant, daughter of Dibon,
for the destroyer of Moab has come up against you,
he has destroyed your fortifications.
19 Stand by the road and watch,
O inhabitant of Aroer.
Ask the man who is fleeing and the woman who is escaping,
say, ‘What has happened?’
20 Moab is ashamed,
for it is filled with terror.
Wail and cry out,
tell it by Arnon that Moab is devastated.
21 Judgment has also come to the land of the plain, to Holon, and to Jahaz, and on Mephaath, 22 and on Dibon, and on Nebo, and on Beth-diblathaim, 23 and on Kiriathaim, and on Beth-gamul, and on Beth-meon, 24 and on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, and on all the towns of the land of Moab, the far and the near. 25 The horn of Moab is cut off and his arm is broken,” declares[j] Yahweh.
26 “Make him drunk,
because he magnified himself against Yahweh,
and let Moab wallow in his vomit.
And he also will become a laughingstock.
27 Now was not Israel the laughingstock to you?
Or was he found among thieves?
For as often as[k] you spoke over him
you shook your head.
28 Leave the towns and dwell on the rock,
O inhabitants of Moab,
and be like the dove,
it nests on the sides of the mouth of a ravine.
29 We have heard of the pride of Moab
—he is very proud—
his height, and his pride, and his arrogance,
and the haughtiness of his heart.
30 I know his insolence,” declares[l] Yahweh,
“and his boastings are false;[m]
they act falsely.[n]
31 Therefore[o] over Moab I wail,
and for all of Moab I cry out,
for the people[p] of Kir-heres I moan.
32 More than the weeping of Jazer
I weep for you, O vine Sibmah.
Your branches cross over the sea,
up to the sea of Jazer they reach.
Upon your summer fruit and upon your vintage
the destroyer has fallen.
33 And joy and rejoicing have been taken away from the fruitful land,
even from the land of Moab.
And the wine from the wine presses
I have caused to disappear.
He will not tread with exuberant shouts.[q]
Exuberant shouts[r] will not be exuberant shouts.[s]
34 From the cry for help of Heshbon, up to Elealeh,
up to Jahaz, they give their voice,
from Zoar up to Horonaim, up to Eglath-shelishiyah,
for even the waters of Nimrim have become as a desolation.
35 And I will cause to disappear for Moab,” declares[t] Yahweh,
“the one who presents a sacrifice at a high place,
and the one who burns a smoke offering to his gods.
36 Therefore[u] my heart moans for Moab like the flute.[v]
It moans for the people[w] of Kir-heres like the flute.[x]
Therefore[y] the wealth they gained has perished.
37 For on every head is baldness,
and every beard is trimmed.
On all the hands, slashes,
and on the loins, sackcloth.
38 On all the roofs of Moab, and in its public squares,
there is wailing everywhere.
For I have broken Moab like a vessel,
there is no delight in it,” declares[z] Yahweh.
39 “How it is filled with terror! How they wail!
How Moab has turned his back! He is disgraced!
So Moab has become as a derision,
and as a terror for all his surrounding peoples.”
40 For thus says Yahweh,
“Look, like an eagle he will swoop down,
and he will spread out his wings against Moab.
41 Kerioth will be taken,
and the strongholds will be conquered,
and the hearts[aa] of the warriors of Moab will be on that day
like the heart of a woman who is in labor.
42 And Moab will be destroyed from being a people,
because against Yahweh he magnified himself.
43 Dread, and pit, and a trapping net are against you,
O inhabitant of Moab,” declares[ab] Yahweh.
44 “He who flees before[ac] the dread
will fall into the pit,
and the one who climbs up from the pit
will be caught in the trapping net,
for I will bring on Moab
the year of their punishment,” declares[ad] Yahweh.
45 “In the shadow of Heshbon
fugitives stand without strength,
for a fire has gone out from Heshbon,
and a flame from Sihon.
And it has eaten the forehead of Moab,
and the skulls[ae] of the people[af] of tumult.
46 Woe to you, Moab!
The people of Chemosh have perished.
For your sons have been taken into captivity,
and your daughters into captivity.
47 Yet I will restore the fortunes[ag] of Moab
in the last of the days,” declares[ah] Yahweh.
Thus far[ai] is the judgment of Moab.
A Prayer for Guidance, Deliverance, and Forgiveness
Of David.[a]
25 To you, O Yahweh, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, I trust you; let me not be put to shame.
Do not let my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, none who wait for you should be put to shame.
Those who betray without cause should be put to shame.
4 Make me know your ways, O Yahweh.
Teach me your paths.
5 Cause me to walk in your truth and teach me,
because you are the God of my salvation.
I await you all day long.[b]
6 Remember your compassion, O Yahweh,
and your acts of loyal love,
because they are from of old.
7 Do not remember
the sins of my youth or my transgressions.
According to your loyal love remember me if you will,
for the sake of your goodness, O Yahweh.
8 Good and right is Yahweh;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He causes the humble to walk in justice,
and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of Yahweh are loyal love and faithfulness
for those who keep his covenant and statutes.[c]
11 Also, for the sake of your name, O Yahweh,
forgive my sin, because it is great.
12 Who is the man fearing Yahweh?
He will instruct him in the way he should choose.
13 His soul will lodge in prosperity,
and his offspring will possess the land.
14 Intimate fellowship with Yahweh is for those who fear him,
and he makes known his covenant to them.
15 My eyes are continually toward Yahweh,
because he will take my feet from the net.
16 Turn to me and have mercy on me
because I am lonely and afflicted.
17 Remove the troubles of my heart;
bring me out from my distresses.
18 Consider my affliction and trouble,
and forgive[d] all my sins.
19 Consider that my enemies are many,
and they hate me with violent hatred.
20 Protect my life and deliver me.
Let me not be put to shame, because I take shelter in you.
21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
because I wait for you.
22 O God, redeem Israel
from all its troubles.
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