M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
David’s Instructions for Solomon
2 The days of David came near for him to die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying, 2 “I am about to go the way of all the world. Be strong and be courageous.[a] 3 You shall keep the charge of Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, his judgments, and his testimonies, as are written in the law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all that you do and everywhere you turn, 4 so that Yahweh may establish his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons take heed of their way, to walk before me in faithfulness, with all their heart and with all their soul, no man of yours will be cut off from the throne of Israel.’”
5 “Moreover, you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me when he dealt with the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner son of Ner and to Amasa son of Jether, and he murdered them and put the blood of war in a time of peace. He put the blood of war on the leather belt that was on his waist and on the sandals which were on his feet. 6 You must act according to your wisdom, but you must not let his gray hair go down to Sheol in peace. 7 Regarding the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, you shall do loyal love and let them be among those who eat at your table, because they met me when I fled from Absalom your brother. 8 And look, Shimei the son of Gera the son of the Benjaminite from Bahurim is with you. Now he cursed me severely[b] when I went to Mahanaim, but he came down to meet me at the Jordan, so I swore to him by Yahweh, ‘I surely will not kill you with the sword.’ 9 So then, do not leave him unpunished, for you are a wise man, and you will know what you must do to him. You must bring his grey hair down to Sheol with blood.”
10 Then David slept with his ancestors[c] and was buried in the city of David. 11 The days that David reigned over Israel were forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 12 Then Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.
Adonijah’s Persistence
13 Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, and she said, “Are you coming in peace?”[d] He said, “Peace.” 14 Then he said, “May I have a word with you?”[e] Then she said, “Go on.” 15 He said, “You know that the kingship was mine and that all Israel had set their face toward me as king, but the kingship turned around and became my brother’s, for it was from Yahweh for him to have it. 16 Now one request I am asking from you, and you must not refuse me.”[f] Then she said to him, “Go on.” 17 He said, “Please speak to King Solomon, for he will not refuse you, so that he will give to me Abishag the Shunnamite as wife.” 18 Then Bathsheba said, “Very well, I will speak to the king concerning you.”
Solomon’s Responses to Adonijah, Joab, and Shimei
19 Bathsheba came to King Solomon to speak to him concerning Adonijah, and the king got up to meet her, bowed down to her, and then sat on his throne. Then he set up a throne for the king’s mother, and she sat on his right. 20 She said, “I have one small request I am asking from you. Do not refuse me.”[g] The king said to her, “Ask, my mother, for I will not refuse you.”[h] 21 Then she said, “Let Abishag the Shunnamite be given to Adonijah your brother as wife.” 22 King Solomon answered and said to his mother, “Why are you asking Abishag the Shunnamite for Adonijah? Ask for him also the kingdom, for he is my brother, older than I; and ask for him also Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.” 23 Then King Solomon swore by Yahweh, saying, “Thus may God do to me and thus may he add, if Adonijah hasn’t spoken this thing at the expense of his life. 24 So then, as Yahweh lives,[i] who has established me and seated me on the throne of my father David and who has established for me a dynasty as he promised, then surely Adonijah will be put to death today.” 25 King Solomon sent through the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, so he struck him, and he died.
26 To Abiathar the priest, the king said, “Go to Anathoth, to your field, for you deserve to die,[j] but on this day I will not kill you, for you carried the ark of the Lord Yahweh before David my father, and because you endured hardship in all the hardship that my father endured.” 27 So Solomon banished Abiathar from being priest to Yahweh, thus fulfilling the word which Yahweh had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
28 When the message came to Joab (now Joab had supported[k] Adonijah but had not supported[l] Absalom), he fled to the tent of Yahweh and grasped the horns of the altar. 29 It was told to King Solomon that Joab had fled to the tent of Yahweh and was beside the altar. So Solomon sent word to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go and fall upon him.” 30 So Benaiah went to the tent of Yahweh, and he said to him, “Thus says the king: ‘Come out.’” And he said, “No, for I want to die here.” So Benaiah returned a word to the king, saying, “Thus Joab spoke, and thus he answered me.” 31 Then the king said to him, “Do as he spoke; fall upon him and bury him, and so you shall remove the innocent blood that Joab shed from on me and from on the house of my father. 32 Yahweh will return his blood on his head, because he fell upon two men, more righteous and better than he, and he killed them with the sword, even though my father did not know it; namely Abner son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. 33 And their blood will return on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever, but for David and his descendants and for his house and his throne, there will be peace forever from Yahweh.” 34 So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, and he fell on him and killed him, and he was buried in his house in the wilderness. 35 Then the king appointed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army, and the king appointed Zadok the priest in place of Abiathar.
36 Then the king sent and summoned Shimei, and he said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, but you must not go out anywhere whatsoever[m] from there. 37 It shall happen that on the day you go out and cross over the Wadi[n] Kidron, know for certain that you will surely die.[o] Your blood will be on your head.” 38 Shimei said to the king, “The word is good that my lord the king has spoken to me; thus will your servant do.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.
39 It happened that at the end of three years, two of Shimei’s slaves fled to Achish, son of Maacah, the king of Gath. They told Shimei, saying, “Your slaves are here in Gath.” 40 So Shimei got up and saddled his donkey, and he went to Gath, to Achish, to search for his slaves. So Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath. 41 When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned, 42 the king sent and summoned Shimei, and he said to him, “Did I not make you swear by Yahweh? I warned you, saying, ‘On the day you go out and you go anywhere whatsoever,[p] know for certain that you will surely die.’[q] And you said to me, ‘The word is good; I accept.’ 43 Why have you not kept the oath of Yahweh and the command which I commanded you?” 44 Then the king said to Shimei, “You know all the evil which your heart knows, what you did to David my father. Now Yahweh will return the evil on your head, 45 but King Solomon will be blessed and the throne of David will be established before Yahweh forever.” 46 Then the king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and fell upon him, and he died. So the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.
Carry One Another’s Burdens
6 Brothers, even if a person is caught in some trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a person in a spirit of humility, looking out for yourself, lest you also be tempted. 2 Carry the burdens of one another, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something although he[a] is nothing, he is deceiving himself. 4 But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have a reason for boasting in himself alone, and not in someone else. 5 For each one will carry his own burden.
Do Good to All People
6 Now the one who is taught the word must share in all good things with the one who teaches. 7 Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked, for whatever a person sows, this he will also reap, 8 because the one who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 9 And let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap, if we[b] do not give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the household of faith.
A Final Warning
11 See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. 12 As many as are wanting to make a good showing in the flesh, these are attempting to compel[c] you to be circumcised, only so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For not even those who are circumcised observe the law themselves, but they want you to be circumcised in order that they may boast in your flesh. 14 But as for me, may it never be that I boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 And all those who follow this rule, peace and mercy be on them and on the Israel of God.
Conclusion and Benediction
17 Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I carry on my body the marks of Jesus. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.
Ezekiel Appointed as a Watchman and His Responsibility
33 And the word of Yahweh came[a] to me, saying,[b] 2 “Son of man,[c] speak to your people,[d] and you must say to them, ‘A land, if I bring over it a sword and the people of the land take a man, one from their number, and they appoint him for them as a watchman, 3 and he sees the sword coming against the land, and he blows on the horn and he warns the people, 4 and anyone who listens[e] hears the sound of the horn and he does not take warning[f] and the sword comes and it takes him, his blood will be on his own head. 5 For he heard the sound of the horn and he did not take warning; his blood will be on him. But if he took warning, he saved his life. 6 And as for the watchman, if he sees the sword coming and he does not blow[g] the horn, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and it takes their lives,[h] he will be taken through his guilt, but his blood from the hand of the watchman I will seek.’
7 “And you, son of man,[i] I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; if you hear a word from my mouth, then you must warn them from me. 8 When I say[j] to the wicked, ‘Wicked one, you will certainly die,’ and you did not speak[k] to warn the wicked from his way, he, the wicked, will die by his guilt, but his blood I will seek from your hand. 9 But, you, if you warn the wicked from his way, to turn from it, and he does not turn[l] from his way, he will die by his guilt, and you will have saved your life.
10 “And you, son of man,[m] say to the house of Israel, saying,[n] ‘So you said, saying,[o] “Indeed, our transgressions and our sins are on us, and because of them we are rotting, and how can we live?”’ 11 Say to them, ‘As I live,’[p] declares[q] the Lord Yahweh, ‘Surely I have no delight[r] in the death of the wicked, except[s] in the wicked returning from his way, and he lives. Turn back! Turn back from your ways, O evil ones, for why should you die, house of Israel?’
12 “So[t] you, son of man,[u] say to your people[v] that the righteousness of the righteous shall not save him in the day of his transgression, and the wickedness of the wicked will not cause him to stumble[w] on the day of his returning from his wickedness; and the righteous will not be able to live by it on the day when he returns to his sin. 13 When I say to the righteous, ‘Certainly he will live,’ and he trusted in[x] his righteousness, and he turns and he does injustice, all of his righteousness[y] will not be remembered, and because of his injustice that he did, because of it he will die. 14 And when I say to the wicked, ‘Certainly you will die,’ but[z] he returns from his sin and he does justice and righteousness— 15 for example, the wicked returns a pledge for a loan, he restores stolen property,[aa] he goes in the statutes of life so as not to do injustice—certainly he will live; he will not die. 16 All of his sins that he committed,[ab] they will not be remembered against[ac] him, and he did justice and righteousness; certainly he will live.
17 “Yet[ad] your people[ae] say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair!’ yet their way is not fair. 18 When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, then he will die because of it.[af] 19 And when the wicked turns from his wickedness, and he does justice and righteousness, because of it[ag] he will certainly live![ah] 20 Yet you said, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair!’ I will judge you, house of Israel, each person according to his ways.”
21 And then[ai] it was in the twelfth[aj] year, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month of our exile, a survivor from Jerusalem came to me, saying,[ak] “The city was destroyed!” 22 And the hand of Yahweh was on me on the evening before[al] the coming of the survivor, and he opened my mouth before the survivor came to me in the morning,[am] and my mouth was opened, and I was no longer[an] dumb.[ao] 23 And the word of Yahweh came[ap] to me, saying,[aq] 24 “Son of man,[ar] the inhabitants of these ruins on the soil of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was one man, and he took possession of the land, and we are many; the land has been given for[as] us as a possession.’ 25 Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “You eat blood in your meat, and you raise your eyes to your idols and you pour out blood, and yet you want to take possession of the land?[at] 26 You rely on your sword, you do a detestable thing, and each man defiles[au] the wife of his neighbor, and yet you want to take possession of the land?”’[av]
27 “Thus you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “As I live,[aw] surely[ax] whoever is in the ruins, by the sword they will fall, and whoever is on the surface of the open field, I will give him to the animals[ay] to eat him, and whoever is in the stronghold and in the cave, they will die by the plague. 28 And I will make the land a desolation and a wasteland, and the pride of its strength will come to an end, and the mountains of Israel will be desolate with no one traveling through them.”’[az] 29 And they will know that I am Yahweh when I make my land a desolation and a wasteland, because of all of their detestable things that they have done.
30 “And you, son of man,[ba] your people,[bb] the ones talking together concerning you beside the walls and in the doorways of the houses, each one with his brother saying,[bc] ‘Please come and hear what is the word that is going out from Yahweh.’[bd] 31 And they come to you as people do,[be] and they sit before you,[bf] and my people hear your words, and they do not do them, for they are showing[bg] passion in their mouth, but their heart is going after ill-gotten gain. 32 Now, look! You are to them like a sensual song,[bh] beautiful of voice and played well on an instrument,[bi] and they hear your words, but they are not doing them.[bj] 33 So[bk] when it comes,[bl] look! It is coming! And then they will know that a prophet was in the midst of them.”
An Appeal from God to Israel
For the music director; on the Gittith. Of Asaph.[a]
81 Shout out to God our strength;
shout joyfully to the God of Jacob.
2 Lift up a song and strike[b] the tambourine,
the pleasant lyre, together with the harp.
3 Blow the horn at new moon,
at full moon, for our feast day,
4 because it is a statute for Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 He made it a statute[c] in Joseph
when he went out against the land of Egypt,
where I heard a language I did not know.[d]
6 “I removed his shoulder from a burden.
His hands were freed from the basket.
7 In this[e] trouble you called, and I rescued you.
Within the secret place of thunder I answered you;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 Hear, O my people, and I will admonish you;
O Israel, if you would but listen to me.
9 There shall be no strange god among you,
and you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
10 I am Yahweh your God,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
11 But my people did not listen to my voice,
and Israel did not yield to me.
12 So I let them[f] go in the stubbornness of their heart;
they walked in their counsels.
13 Oh that my people would listen to me;
that Israel would walk in my ways.
14 I would subdue their enemies quickly,
and turn my hand against their adversaries.
15 Those who hate Yahweh would cringe before him,
and their fate[g] would be forever.
16 But he would feed him[h] from the choicest wheat,[i]
and I would satisfy you with honey from a rock.”
God Commands Justice
A psalm of Asaph.[j]
82 God stands in the divine assembly;[k]
he administers judgment in the midst of the gods.[l]
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and show favoritism to the wicked?[m] Selah
3 Judge on behalf of the helpless and the orphan;
provide justice to the afflicted and the poor.
4 Rescue the helpless and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
5 They do not know or consider.[n]
They go about in the darkness,
so that all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I have said,[o] “You are gods,
and sons of the Most High, all of you.
7 However, you will die like men,[p]
and you will fall like one of the princes.”
8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
because you shall inherit[q] all the nations.
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