M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
4 1
The Ark of God Captured
In those days the Philistines mustered for war against Israel,[a] and Israel went out to battle against them;[b] they encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek.(A) 2 The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle was joined,[c] Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle. 3 When the troops came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord put us to rout today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, so that he may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.”(B) 4 So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.(C)
5 When the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded.(D) 6 When the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” When they learned that the ark of the Lord had come to the camp,(E) 7 the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “Gods have[d] come into the camp.” They also said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. 8 Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. 9 Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, in order not to become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight.”(F)
10 So the Philistines fought; Israel was defeated, and they fled, everyone to his home. There was a very great slaughter, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers.(G) 11 The ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.(H)
Death of Eli
12 A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn and with earth upon his head.(I) 13 When he arrived, Eli was sitting upon his seat by the road watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man came into the city and told the news, all the city cried out.(J) 14 When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he said, “What is this uproar?” Then the man came quickly and told Eli. 15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were set, so that he could not see.(K) 16 The man said to Eli, “I have just come from the battle; I fled from the battle today.” He said, “How did it go, my son?”(L) 17 The messenger replied, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great slaughter[e] among the troops; your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” 18 When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli[f] fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken, and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.(M)
19 Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, about to give birth. When she heard the news that the ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed and gave birth, for her labor pains overwhelmed her. 20 As she was about to die, the women attending her said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer or give heed.(N) 21 She named the child Ichabod, meaning, “The glory has departed from Israel,” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”(O)
The Example of Abraham
4 What then are we to say was gained by[a] Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.(A) 3 For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed[b] God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”(B) 4 Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due.(C) 5 But to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness. 6 So also David pronounces a blessing on those to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven
and whose sins are covered;(D)
8 blessed is the one against whom the Lord will not reckon sin.”
9 Is this blessing, then, pronounced only on the circumcised or also on the uncircumcised? We say, “Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.” 10 How then was it reckoned to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith[c] while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the ancestor of all who believe[d] without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them,(E) 12 and likewise the ancestor of the circumcised who are not only circumcised but follow the example of the faith that our ancestor Abraham had before he was circumcised.
God’s Promise Realized through Faith
13 For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.(F) 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law, neither is there transgression.(G)
16 For this reason the promise depends on faith, in order that it may rest on grace, so that it may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (who is the father of all of us,(H) 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”), in the presence of the God in whom he believed,[e] who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.(I) 18 Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So shall your descendants be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already[f] as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), and the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.(J) 20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.(K) 22 Therefore “it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 23 Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone(L) 24 but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe[g] in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,(M) 25 who was handed over for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.(N)
Jeremiah Advises Survivors Not to Migrate
42 Then all the commanders of the forces, and Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached(A) 2 the prophet Jeremiah and said, “Be good enough to listen to our plea, and pray to the Lord your God for us—for all this remnant. For there are only a few of us left out of many, as your eyes can see.(B) 3 Let the Lord your God show us where we should go and what we should do.”(C) 4 The prophet Jeremiah said to them, “Very well: I am going to pray to the Lord your God as you request, and whatever the Lord answers you I will tell you; I will keep nothing back from you.”(D) 5 They in their turn said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to everything that the Lord your God sends us through you. 6 Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, in order that it may go well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.”(E)
7 At the end of ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 8 Then he summoned Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces who were with him and all the people from the least to the greatest 9 and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your plea before him: 10 If you will only remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you and not pluck you up, for I am sorry for the disaster that I have brought upon you.(F) 11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, as you have been; do not be afraid of him, says the Lord, for I am with you, to save you and to rescue you from his hand.(G) 12 I will grant you mercy, and he will have mercy on you and restore you to your native soil. 13 But if you continue to say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ thus disobeying the voice of the Lord your God(H) 14 and saying, ‘No, we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or be hungry for bread, and there we will stay,’(I) 15 then hear the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you are determined to enter Egypt and go to settle there,(J) 16 then the sword that you fear shall overtake you there, in the land of Egypt, and the famine that you dread shall follow close after you into Egypt, and there you shall die. 17 All the people who have determined to go to Egypt to settle there shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; they shall have no remnant or survivor from the disaster that I am bringing upon them.(K)
18 “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Just as my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You shall become an object of execration and horror, of cursing and ridicule. You shall see this place no more.(L) 19 The Lord has said to you, ‘O remnant of Judah, Do not go to Egypt.’ Be well aware that I have warned you today(M) 20 that you have made a fatal mistake. For you yourselves sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the Lord our God, and whatever the Lord our God says, tell us, and we will do it.’ 21 So I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God in anything that he sent me to tell you.(N) 22 Be well aware, then, that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go and settle.”(O)
Psalm 18
Royal Thanksgiving for Victory
To the leader. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said:
1 I love you, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,
my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.(A)
3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
so I shall be saved from my enemies.(B)
4 The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of perdition assailed me;(C)
5 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.(D)
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.(E)
7 Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations also of the mountains trembled
and reeled because he was angry.(F)
8 Smoke went up from his nostrils
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
9 He bowed the heavens and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.(G)
10 He rode on a cherub and flew;
he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind.(H)
11 He made darkness his covering around him,
his canopy thick clouds dark with water.(I)
12 Out of the brightness before him
there broke through his clouds
hailstones and coals of fire.(J)
13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
and the Most High uttered his voice.[a](K)
14 And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;
he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.(L)
15 Then the channels of the sea were seen,
and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, O Lord,
at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.(M)
16 He reached down from on high; he took me;
he drew me out of mighty waters.(N)
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy
and from those who hated me,
for they were too mighty for me.(O)
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my support.
19 He brought me out into a broad place;
he delivered me because he delighted in me.(P)
20 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me.(Q)
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord
and have not wickedly departed from my God.(R)
22 For all his ordinances were before me,
and his statutes I did not put away from me.(S)
23 I was blameless before him,
and I kept myself from guilt.
24 Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.(T)
25 With the loyal you show yourself loyal;
with the blameless you show yourself blameless;(U)
26 with the pure you show yourself pure;
and with the crooked you show yourself shrewd.(V)
27 For you deliver a humble people,
but the haughty eyes you bring down.(W)
28 It is you who light my lamp;
the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.(X)
29 By you I can outrun a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.(Y)
30 This God—his way is perfect;
the promise of the Lord proves true;
he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.(Z)
31 For who is God except the Lord?
And who is a rock besides our God?(AA)
32 The God who has girded me with strength
and made my way safe.[b]
33 He made my feet like the feet of a deer
and set me secure on the heights.(AB)
34 He trains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.(AC)
35 You have given me the shield of your salvation,
and your right hand has supported me;
your help[c] has made me great.
36 You gave me a wide place for my steps under me,
and my feet did not slip.
37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them
and did not turn back until they were consumed.(AD)
38 I struck them down so that they were unable to rise;
they fell under my feet.(AE)
39 For you girded me with strength for the battle;
you made my assailants sink under me.(AF)
40 You made my enemies turn their backs to me,
and those who hated me I destroyed.(AG)
41 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them;
they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.(AH)
42 I beat them fine, like dust before the wind;
I cast them out like the mire of the streets.(AI)
43 You delivered me from strife with the peoples;[d]
you made me head of the nations;
people whom I had not known served me.(AJ)
44 As soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me;
foreigners came cringing to me.
45 Foreigners lost heart
and came trembling out of their strongholds.(AK)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.