M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
David’s Charge to Israel
28 Then David assembled all the commanders of Israel, the commanders of the tribes and the commanders of working groups who served the king, and the commanders of thousands, the commanders of hundreds, and the commanders over all the property of the king and his sons, with the court officials and mighty warriors, and all the mighty warriors of ability, at Jerusalem. 2 And King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I myself wanted[a] to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of Yahweh and the footstool of our God, and I prepared to build. 3 But God said to me, ‘You may not build a house for my name because you are a man of war, and you have shed blood.’ 4 But Yahweh the God of Israel chose me from all of the house of my father to be king over Israel forever, for he chose Judah as leader, and in the house of Judah, the house of my father, and among the sons of my father he took pleasure in me to reign over all Israel. 5 And from all my sons—for Yahweh has given many sons to me—he has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of Yahweh over Israel. 6 And he said to me, ‘Solomon your son, he himself shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him as a son to myself, and I myself will be as a father to him, 7 and I will establish his kingdom forever if he firmly performs[b] my commandments and my judgments as he has to this day.’ 8 So now in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of Yahweh, and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek all the commandments of Yahweh your God so that you may take possession of this good land and bestow it as an inheritance to your children after you forever.”
David’s Charge to Solomon
9 “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and a willing mind, for Yahweh searches all hearts and understands every plan and all thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you abandon him, he will reject you forever. 10 Look now, for Yahweh has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do it!”
11 Then David gave to Solomon his son the plan of the vestibule and of its houses, its treasuries, its upper rooms, its inner chambers, and of the house of the lid of the ark, 12 and the plan of all that he had in mind[c] for the courtyards of the house of Yahweh and for all the surrounding storage rooms, the treasuries of the house of God, and the treasuries for sanctified objects, 13 and for the working groups of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of Yahweh, and for all the vessels for the service of the house of Yahweh, 14 and for the gold, according to the weight of the gold for all the vessels of the service, and the service of all the vessels of silver according to the weight of all the vessels for every kind of service.[d] 15 And the weight of the golden lampstands and the golden lamps, the weight of each lampstand and each lamp,[e] and the silver according to the weight of a lampstand and its lamp, according to the use of each lampstand,[f] 16 and the weight of gold for the tables of the arranged bread, each table,[g] and silver for the tables of silver, 17 and pure gold for the three-pronged meat forks, and the bowls and the pitchers, and for the golden bowls, by weight for each bowl,[h] and for the silver bowls, by weight for each bowl,[i] 18 and for the altar of incense made of refined gold, by weight, and gold for the plan for the chariot—the cherubim with outspread and covering wings over the ark of the covenant of Yahweh. 19 “All this I give you in writing; from the hand of Yahweh he instructed me about all the workings of this plan.”
20 Then David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do this! Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for Yahweh God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you and will not forsake you until all the work of the service of the house of Yahweh is finished. 21 And behold, the working groups of the priests and the Levites for all the service of the house of God; and with you in all the work for all those willing with the skill for every service, and the commanders and all the people for all your commands.”
The Rise and Fall of the False Teachers
2 But there were also false prophets among the people, as there will be false teachers among you also, who will bring in destructive heresies[a], even denying the Master who bought them, thus[b] bringing on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their licentious ways, because of whom the way of truth will be reviled. 3 And in greediness they will exploit you with false words, whose condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but held them captive in Tartarus with chains of darkness and handed them over to be kept for judgment, 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a proclaimer of righteousness, and seven others[c] when he[d] brought a flood on the world of the ungodly, 6 and condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes, having appointed them as an example for those who are going to be ungodly, 7 and rescued righteous Lot, worn down by the way of life of lawless persons in licentiousness 8 (for that righteous man, as he[e] lived among them day after day, was tormenting his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he was seeing and hearing), 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to reserve the unrighteous to be punished at[f] the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who go after the flesh in defiling lust[g] and who despise authority.
Bold and arrogant, they do not tremble in awe as they[h] blaspheme majestic beings, 11 whereas angels, who are greater in strength and power, do not bring against them a demeaning judgment.[i] 12 But these persons, like irrational animals born only with natural instincts for capture and killing, blaspheming about things[j] they do not understand, in their destruction will also be destroyed, 13 being harmed as the wages of unrighteousness. Considering reveling in the daytime a pleasure, they are stains and blemishes, carousing in their deceitful pleasures when they[k] feast together with you, 14 having eyes full of desire for an adulteress and unceasing from sin, enticing unstable persons, and[l] having hearts trained for greediness. Accursed children! 15 By[m] leaving the straight path, they have gone astray, because they[n] followed the way of Balaam the son of Bosor,[o] who loved the wages of unrighteousness, 16 but received a rebuke for his own lawlessness: a speechless donkey, speaking with a human voice, restrained the prophet’s madness[p].
17 These people are waterless springs and mists driven by a hurricane, for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved. 18 For by speaking high-sounding but empty words[q], they entice with desires of the flesh and with licentiousness those who are scarcely escaping from those who live in error, 19 promising them freedom although they[r] themselves are slaves of depravity. For to whatever someone succumbs, by this he is also[s] enslaved. 20 For if, after they[t] have escaped from the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord[u] and Savior Jesus Christ, and they are again entangled in these things and succumb to them, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it, to turn back from the holy commandment that had been delivered to them. 22 The statement of the true proverb has happened to them, “A dog returns to its own vomit,”[v] and “A sow, after[w] washing herself, returns[x] to wallowing in the mud.”[y]
A Ruler from Bethlehem
5 [a] Now muster troops, O daughter of troops;
a siege he puts against us.
They strike the ruler of Israel
with a rod on the cheek.
2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
too small to be among the clans of Judah,
from you one will go out for me,
to be ruler in Israel;
and his origins are from of old,
from ancient days.
3 Therefore he will give them up
until the time of she who is with child has given birth.
And the rest of his brothers will return
to the children of Israel.
4 And he will stand and shepherd his flock
in the strength of Yahweh,
in the majesty of the name of Yahweh his God.
And they will live,
for now he will be great unto the ends of the earth.
5 And this one will be peace.
As for the Assyrian,[b] when he comes into our land
and when he treads on our fortresses,
then we will raise up against him seven shepherds
and eight leaders of men.
6 And they will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
and the land of Nimrod at its entrances.
And he will rescue us from the Assyrian[c]
when he comes into our land,
and when they tread upon our border.
A Remnant Delivered
7 And the remnant of Jacob will be
in the midst of many nations,
like dew from Yahweh,
like showers upon the grass
which does not wait for a man,
nor delays for the children of humankind.
8 And the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,
in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the wild animals of the forest,
like a young lion among the herds of sheep
which, when it passes through and treads down
and tears in pieces, there is none who can deliver.
9 Your hand will be lifted high over your enemies,
and all your foes will be cut off.
10 “And it will happen that in that day,” declares[d] Yahweh,
“then I will cut off your horses from among you,
and I will destroy your chariots.
11 And I will cut off the cities of your land,
and I will demolish all your fortifications.
12 And I will cut off sorceries from your hand,
and you will not have soothsayers.
13 And I will cut off your idols
and your stone pillars from among you,
and you will no longer bow down
to the work of your hands.
14 And I will uproot your Asherahs from among you,
and I will destroy your cities.
15 And in anger and in wrath I will execute vengeance
on the nations who did not obey.”
A Man Suffering from Edema Healed
14 And it happened that when he came to the house of a certain one of the leaders of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat a meal,[a] they were watching him closely. 2 And behold, a certain man was in front of him, suffering from edema. 3 And Jesus answered and[b] said to the legal experts and Pharisees, saying, “Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” 4 But they remained silent. And he took hold of him[c] and[d] healed him, and sent him[e] away. 5 And he said to them, “Who among you, if your[f] son or your ox falls into a well[g] on the day of the Sabbath, will not immediately pull him out?” 6 And they were not able to make a reply to these things.
The Parable of the Guests at the Wedding Feast
7 Now he told a parable to those who had been invited when he[h] noticed how they were choosing for themselves the places of honor, saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast,[i] do not recline at the table in the place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you has been invited by him, 9 and the one who invited you both[j] will come and[k] say to you, ‘Give the place to this person,’ and then with shame you will begin to take the last place. 10 But when you are invited, go and[l] recline at the table in the last place, so that when the one who invited you comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then it will be an honor to you in the presence of all those who are reclining at the table with you. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The Parable of the Great Banquet
12 And he also said to the one who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or wealthy neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and repayment come to you. 13 But whenever you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they are not able to repay you. For it will be paid back to you at the resurrection of the righteous.”
15 Now when[m] one of those reclining at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who[n] will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16 But he said to him, “A certain man was giving a large banquet and invited many. 17 And he sent his slave at the hour of the banquet to say to those who have been invited, ‘Come, because now it is ready!’ 18 And they all alike[o] began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, ‘I have purchased a field, and I must[p] go out to look at it. I ask you, consider me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen, and I am going to examine them. I ask you, consider me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and for this reason I am not able to come.’ 21 And the slave came and[q] reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and[r] said to his slave, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame!’ 22 And the slave said, ‘Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’ 23 And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges and press them[s] to come in, so that my house will be filled! 24 For I say to you that none of those persons who were invited will taste my banquet!’”
The Cost of Discipleship
25 Now large crowds were going along with him, and he turned around and[t] said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and furthermore, even his own life, he cannot be[u] my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow[v] me cannot be[w] my disciple. 28 For which of you, wanting to build a tower, does not first sit down and[x] calculate the cost to see if he has enough[y] to complete it?[z] 29 Otherwise[aa] after[ab] he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish it,[ac] all who see it[ad] will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish!’ 31 Or what king, going out to engage another king in battle, does not sit down first and[ae] deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand. 32 But if not, while[af] the other is still far away, he sends an ambassador and[ag] asks for terms of[ah] peace. 33 In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce all his own possessions cannot be[ai] my disciple.
34 “Now salt is good, but if salt becomes tasteless, with what will it be made salty? 35 It is usable neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it out. The one who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
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