M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
David Is Anointed
16 Then Yahweh said to Samuel, “How long[a] will you mourn about Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel! Fill up your horn with oil and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have chosen a king for myself among his sons.” 2 But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears, he will kill me.” Yahweh said, “You must take a heifer from the herd with you,[b] and you must say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh.’ 3 You will invite Jesse to the sacrifice and I will make known to you what you must do. You will anoint for me the one whom I tell you.”
4 So Samuel did what Yahweh said. He came to Bethlehem, and the elders of the city came trembling to meet him. They said, “Have you come in peace?”[c] 5 He said, “I come in peace. I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh. Sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” So he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 When they came,[d] he[e] saw Eliab and said, “Surely his anointed one is before Yahweh!” 7 But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For God does not see what man sees, for a man looks on the outward appearance,[f] but Yahweh looks on the heart.”[g] 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel, and he said, “This one also Yahweh has not chosen.” 9 So Jesse made Shammah pass before Samuel, but he said, “Yahweh also has not chosen this one.” 10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, “Yahweh has not chosen any of these.”
11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?”[h] And he said, “The youngest still remains, but look, he is shepherding the flock.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him, for we cannot sit down[i] until he comes here.” 12 So he sent and brought him. Now he was ruddy with beautiful eyes and of handsome[j] appearance. And Yahweh said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. Then the Spirit of Yahweh rushed upon David from that day on.[k] Then Samuel got up and went to Ramah.
Saul in Torment
14 Now the Spirit of Yahweh departed from Saul and an evil spirit from Yahweh tormented him. 15 So the servants of Saul said to him, “Look please, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Please, let our lord command your servants who are before you! Let them seek a man skilled in playing on the lyre. When[l] the evil spirit from God is upon you, he can play on it[m] and you will feel better.”[n] 17 So Saul said to his servants, “Please select a man who plays a stringed instrument well[o] and bring him to me.”
18 One of the servants answered and said, “Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is skillful in playing a stringed instrument, a brave man, a warrior, prudent in speech, and handsome.[p] And Yahweh is with him.” 19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son who is with the sheep.” 20 And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread and a skin of wine and one young goat[q] and sent them to Saul by the hand of David his son. 21 So David came to Saul and entered his service.[r] He[s] loved him greatly and he became Saul’s armor bearer.[t] 22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me, because he has found favor in my sight.”[u] 23 So whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the stringed instrument and play it with his hand. Then it would bring relief[v] for Saul; he would feel better[w] and the evil spirit would depart from him.
Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another
14 Now receive the one who is weak in faith, but not for quarrels about opinions. 2 One believes he may eat all things, but the one who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats must not despise the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat must not judge the one who eats, because God has accepted him. 4 Who are you, who passes judgment on the domestic slave belonging to someone else? To his own master he stands or falls, and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5 One person[a] prefers one day over another day, and another person regards every day alike. Each one must be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who is intent on the day is intent on it for the Lord, and the one who eats eats for the Lord, because he is thankful to God, and the one who does not eat does not eat for the Lord, and he is thankful to God. 7 For none of us lives for himself and none dies for himself. 8 For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For Christ died and became alive again for this reason, in order that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
10 But why do you judge your brother? Or also, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me,
and every tongue will praise God.”[b]
12 So[c] each one of us will give an account concerning himself.[d]
13 Therefore, let us no longer pass judgment on one another, but rather decide this: not to place a cause for stumbling or a temptation before a brother. 14 I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean of itself, except to the one who considers something to be unclean; to that person it is unclean. 15 For if because of food, your brother is grieved, you are no longer living according to love. Do not destroy by your food that person for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let your good be slandered. 17 For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 For the one who serves Christ in this way is well-pleasing to God and approved by people.
19 So then, let us pursue what promotes peace[e] and what edifies one another[f]. 20 Do not destroy the work of God on account of food. All things are clean, but it is wrong for the person who eats and stumbles in the process[g]. 21 It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine or to do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is weakened.[h] 22 The faith that you have, have with respect to yourself before God. Blessed is the one who does not pass judgment on himself by what he approves. 23 But the one who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not do so from faith, and everything that is not from faith is sin.
The Desolate City
1 How desolate the city sits
that was full of people!
She has become like a widow,
once great among the nations!
Like a woman of nobility in the provinces,
she has become a forced laborer.
2 She weeps bitterly in the night,
her tears are on her cheeks;
she has no comforter
among all her lovers.
All her friends have been unfaithful to her;
they have become her enemies.
3 Judah has gone into exile with misery
and under hard servitude;
she lives among the nations,
she has not found a resting place;
all her pursuers have overtaken her
amidst her distress.
4 The roads of Zion are mourning
because no one comes to the festival.
All her gates are desolate,
her priests groan;
her young women are worried,
and she herself suffers bitterly.
5 Her foes have become her master,[a]
her enemies are at ease;
Yahweh has made her suffer
because of the greatness of her transgressions.
Her children have gone away,
captive before the foe.
6 All her majesty has gone away
from the daughter of Zion;
her princes have become like young stags
that have not found pasture;
they have gone away without strength,
before the pursuer.
7 Jerusalem remembers
the days of her misery and wanderings,
all her treasures
that were from the days of long ago.
When her people fell into the hand of the enemy,
there was no one helping her;
the enemies saw her, they mocked
at her destruction.
8 Jerusalem sinned grievously,
thus she became an objection of derision;
all those who honored her despise her
because they have seen her nakedness.
She herself groans
and turns away.
9 Her uncleanness was in her skirts;
she did not remember her future,
she has descended beyond understanding,
there is no comforter for her.
See, O Yahweh, my persecution!
My enemy has been made great!
10 The enemy has stretched out his hand
over all her treasures;
for she has seen the nations,
they entered her sanctuary,
those whom you commanded not to enter
in your assembly.
11 All her people groan,
they are searching for bread.
They give their treasures for food,
to bring back life.
See, O Yahweh, and look,
how I am despised.
12 Is it nothing to you, all who pass by?[b]
Look and see
if there is sorrow like my sorrow,[c]
which was dealt to me,
which Yahweh inflicted
on the day of his wrath.[d]
13 From heaven he sent fire,
into my bones he let it descend.
He spread out a net for my feet;
he turned me back,
he gave me devastation,
fainting all day.
14 My rebellion was bound as a yoke,
with his hand it was fastened together;
it was put on my neck
and caused my strength to fail.
The Lord gave me into the hands
of those whom I cannot withstand.
15 The Lord has rejected
all my mighty ones in my midst.
He called an assembly against me,
to crush my young men;
like in a wine press,
the Lord has trodden on
the virgin daughter of Judah.
16 For these things, I am weeping,
my eyes flow with tears;[e]
because a comforter is far from me,
one to restore my life.
My sons are desolate
because the enemy has prevailed.
17 Zion stretches out her hands;
there is no one to comfort her.
Yahweh has commanded against Jacob,
that those surrounding him[f] should be his enemies;
Jerusalem has become
a defilement among them.
18 Yahweh is righteous;
I have rebelled against his word.[g]
Please hear, all the nations,
And see my pain;
My young women[h] and young men
went into captivity.
19 I have called to my lovers,
they themselves deceived me;
my priests and elders perished in the city
when they sought food for themselves
to revive their life.[i]
20 See, O Yahweh, that I am in distress;[j]
my stomach[k] is in torment,
my heart has turned inside me
because I have certainly rebelled.
From outside a sword brings bereavement,
inside the house it is like death.
21 They hear that I was groaning;
there is no comforter for me.
All my enemies have heard my misery,
they are pleased that you have done it.
Bring that day that you have proclaimed,[l]
And let them be like me.
22 Let all their evil come before you;
and deal with them
just as you have dealt with me
because of all my crimes;
for my groaning is much and my heart is faint.
Thanksgiving for Forgiveness of Sins
Of David. A maskil.[a]
32 Happy is he whose transgression is taken away,
whose sin is covered.
2 Happy is a person to whom Yahweh does not impute iniquity
and in whose spirit there is not deceit.
3 When I kept silent, my bones were worn out
due to my groaning all the day.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me.
My vigor was changed into the dry heat of summer. Selah
5 I made known my sin to you, and my iniquity I did not cover.
I said, “I will confess concerning my transgressions to Yahweh,”
and you took away the guilt of my sin. Selah
6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
at the time for finding you.
Surely at the flood of many waters they will not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place;
from trouble you preserve me.
With cries of deliverance you surround me. Selah
8 I[b] will instruct you and teach you
in the way that you should go.
I will advise you with my eye upon you.
9 Do not be like a horse or like a mule, without understanding;
that needs his tackle—bridle and rein—for restraint
or he would not come near you.
10 Many are the pains of the wicked,
but for the one who trusts Yahweh
loyal love surrounds him.
11 Be glad in Yahweh and rejoice, you righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright of heart.
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