M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Defeat and Loss of the Ark
4 So it was that the word of Samuel went forth to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines in battle. They camped at Eben-ezer while the Philistines camped in Aphek. 2 The Philistines drew up in battle array to meet Israel, and when the battle was fought, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed 4,000 men on the battlefield.
3 When the people came back to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did Adonai bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let’s fetch the ark of the covenant of Adonai from Shiloh that He may come among us and deliver us from the hand of our enemies.” 4 So the people sent to Shiloh, and from there they carried the ark of the covenant of Adonai-Tzva’ot who sits above the cheruvim. Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5 Now when the ark of the covenant of Adonai entered the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the ground resounded.
6 When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they wondered, “What’s this noise of a great shout in the camp of the Hebrews?” When they realized that the ark of Adonai had come into the camp, 7 the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp.” So they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has ever happened before. 8 Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of this mighty God? This is the God that struck down the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. 9 Be strong, and conduct yourselves like men, O Philistines, or else you will become enslaved to the Hebrews as they have been to you. Be like men and fight!”
10 So the Philistines did fight and Israel was defeated—they fled every man to his tent. The slaughter was very great, as 30,000 of Israel’s foot soldiers fell. 11 Moreover, the ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons Hophni and Phinehas died.
12 Now that same day a man of Benjamin ran from the battlefield and came to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dust on his head. 13 When he arrived, behold, Eli was sitting on his seat by the wayside watching, for his heart was trembling for the ark of God. When the man arrived to announce it in the town, the entire town cried out. 14 And when Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he asked, “What’s this noisy commotion?” So the man rushed and came and told Eli.
15 Now Eli was 98 years old, and his eyes were fixed in a blind stare. 16 Then the man said to Eli, “I am one coming from the battlefield—I escaped from the battlefield today.”
“What is happening, my son?” he asked.
17 And the messenger answered and said, “Israel fled before the Philistines and there has also been a great slaughter among the people. Also your two sons died—Hophni and Phinehas—and the ark of God was captured.” 18 As soon as he mentioned of the ark of God, Eli fell backward from his seat beside the town gate. His neck broke and he died, for he was old and heavy. He had judged Israel 40 years.
19 Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child and about to deliver. When she heard the report that the ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she crouched down and gave birth because she was seized with her labor pains. 20 As she was dying, the women attending her said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you have brought forth a son!” But she did not respond or take it to heart. 21 Then she named the child Ichabod[a] saying, “The glory has departed from Israel”—because of the capture of the ark of God, and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 So she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been taken!”
Abraham Set Right by Faith
4 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2 For if Abraham was set right by works, he has something to boast about—but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” [a] 4 Now to the one who works, the pay is not credited as a gift, but as what is due. 5 But to the one who does not work, but trusts in Him who justifies the ungodly, his trust is credited as righteousness— 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the man whose sin Adonai will never count against him.”[b]
9 Is this blessing then only on the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised? For we say, “trust was credited to Abraham as righteousness.”[c]
10 In what state then was it credited? While circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised! 11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness of the trust he had while he was uncircumcised, so he might be the father of all who are trusting while uncircumcised—that righteousness might be credited to them as well. 12 Also he is the father of the circumcised, to those not only circumcised but also walking in the footsteps of the trust of our father Abraham before his circumcision.[d]
Trusting in the Promise
13 For the promise to Abraham or to his seed—to become heir of the world—was not through law, but through the righteousness based on trust. 14 For if those who are of the Torah are heirs, trust has become empty and the promise is made ineffective. 15 For the Torah brings about wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there a violation.
16 For this reason it depends on trust, so that the promise according to grace might be guaranteed to all the offspring—not only to those of the Torah but also to those of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all 17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”[e]). He is our father in the sight of God in whom he trusted, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence that which does not exist. 18 In hope beyond hope, he trusted that he would become the father of many nations according to what was spoken—“So shall your descendants be.” [f] 19 And without becoming weak in faith, he considered his own body—as good as dead, since he was already a hundred years old—and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 Yet he did not waver in unbelief concerning the promise of God. Rather, he was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. 21 He was fully convinced that what God has promised, He also is able to do. [g] 22 That is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”[h]
23 Now not only for his sake was it written that it was credited to him, 24 but for our sake as well. It is credited to us as those who trust in Him who raised Yeshua our Lord from the dead. 25 He was handed over for our transgressions and raised up for the sake of setting us right.[i]
Warning Against Flight to Egypt
42 Then all the commanders of the forces, Johanan son of Kareah, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, approached 2 and said to the prophet Jeremiah, “Please, let our petition be presented before you, and pray to Adonai your God on our behalf,[a] for all this remnant—for we who are left are but a few out of many, as you are seeing with your own eyes— 3 that Adonai your God may tell us the way we should go and what we should do.”
4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them: “I have heard you. Agreed: I will pray to Adonai your God according to your words, and it will be that every word Adonai will answer you, I will declare it to you—I will not keep a word from you.”
5 Then they said to Jeremiah: “Let Adonai be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accord with every word that Adonai your God sends you to us. 6 Whether it be good or evil, we will obey the voice of Adonai our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us, when we obey the voice of Adonai our God.”
7 Now it was at the end of ten days that the word of Adonai came to Jeremiah. 8 Then he called Johanan son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest, 9 and said to them, “Thus says Adonai, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before Him: 10 ‘If you will still stay in this land, then will I build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you. For I will relent concerning the calamity that I have done to you. 11 Do not be not afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you dread—do not be afraid of him”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“for I am with you to save you, and deliver you from his hand. 12 I will also show you compassion and he will have compassion on you, and restore you to your own soil. 13 But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ so that you do not obey the voice of Adonai your God, 14 saying: ‘No, instead we’ll go into the land of Egypt, where we will see no war or hear the sound of a shofar or hunger for food, and live there’ 15 now therefore hear the word of Adonai, O remnant of Judah, thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: If you really set your faces to enter Egypt, and go to sojourn there, 16 then it will come to pass that the sword, which you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine about which you are anxious will follow hard after you there in Egypt—and there you will die. 17 So will it be for all the people who set their faces to enter Egypt to sojourn there—they will die by the sword, by famine and by plague. So none of them will remain or escape from the calamity that I will bring on them.’”
18 For thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “As My anger and My fury were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so will My fury be poured out on you, if you will enter Egypt. You will be an execration, a horror, a curse, and a disgrace, and you will never see this place again.”
19 Adonai has spoken concerning you, O remnant of Judah: “Do not go to Egypt. Know for sure that I have forewarned you this day! 20 For you have led your own souls in error, since it was you who sent me to Adonai your God, saying: ‘Pray to Adonai our God on our behalf, and in accord with all that Adonai our God will say, so declare to us, and we will do it. 21 So I have this day declared it to you, but you will not obey the voice of Adonai your God in anything for which He has sent me to you. 22 Now therefore know for sure that you will die by the sword, by famine, and by plague, in the place whither you desired to go to sojourn there.”
Adonai lives! Blessed Be My Rock
Psalm 18
1 For the music director: a psalm of David the servant of Adonai. He chanted the words of this song to Adonai on the day Adonai delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.
2 He said, I love You, Adonai my strength!
3 Adonai is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer.
My God is my rock, in Him I take refuge,
my shield, my horn of salvation, my stronghold.
4 I called upon Adonai, worthy of praise,
and I was rescued from my enemies.
5 Cords of death entangled me.
Torrents of Belial overwhelmed me.
6 Cords of Sheol coiled around me.
Snares of death came before me.
7 In my distress I called on Adonai,
and cried to my God for help.
From His Temple He heard my voice,
my cry before Him came into His ears.
8 Then the earth rocked and quaked.
The foundations of mountains trembled.
They reeled because He was angry.
9 Smoke rose from His nostrils
and consuming fire from His mouth.
Coals blazed from Him.
10 He parted the heavens and came down,
with thick darkness under His feet.
11 He rode upon a cheruv and flew.
He soared on the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness His cover,
His sukkah all around Him—
dark waters, thick clouds.
13 Out of the brilliance before Him
passed His thick clouds, hail and fiery coals.
14 Adonai also thundered in the heavens,
and Elyon gave forth His voice, hail and fiery coals.
15 He shot His arrows and scattered them,
hurled lightning bolts and routed them.
16 Then ravines of water appeared.
The foundations of earth were exposed,
at Your rebuke, Adonai,
at a blast of breath from Your nostrils.
17 He reached down from on high
and took hold of me.
He drew me out of mighty waters.
18 He saved me from my powerful enemy,
from those who hated me—
for they were much stronger than me.
19 They came against me in my day of calamity,
but Adonai was my support.
20 He brought me out to a wide-open place.
He rescued me since He delighted in me.
21 Adonai rewarded me for my righteousness.
For the cleanness of my hands He repaid me.
22 For I kept the ways of Adonai,
and did not turn wickedly from my God.
23 For all His judgments are before me.
I do not put His rulings away from me.
24 I also had integrity with Him,
and kept myself from my sin.
25 So Adonai rewarded me for my righteousness,
for the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.
26 With the loyal You deal loyally.
With the blameless You are blameless.
27 With the pure You are pure,
and with the crooked You are shrewd.
28 For You save lowly people,
but haughty eyes You humble.
29 For You light up my lamp.
Adonai my God shines in my darkness.
30 For with You I rush on a troop,
with my God I scale a wall.
31 As for God, His way is perfect.
The word of Adonai is pure.
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
32 For who is God, except Adonai?
And who is a Rock, except our God?
33 God girds me with strength
and makes my way straight.
34 He makes my feet like those of deer
and makes me stand on my heights.
35 He trains my hands for battle,
so my arms can bend a bronze bow.
36 You gave me the shield of Your salvation.
Your right hand upholds me,
Your gentleness makes me great.
37 You broaden my steps beneath me,
so my ankles have not slipped.
38 I pursue my enemies and overtake them,
and will not return till they are wiped out.
39 I will crush them till they cannot rise,
till they fall beneath my feet.
40 For You girded me with strength for battle.
You made those who rose up against me bow down before me.
41 You also made my enemies turn their backs to me.
I cut off those who hate me.
42 They cry out, but there is none to save
—even to Adonai, but He did not answer them.
43 Then I beat them as fine as dust before the wind.
I pour them out like mud in the streets.
44 You free me from strifes of the people.
You set me as head of the nations—
people I did not know are serving me.
45 As soon as they hear, they obey me.
Children of foreigners cringe before me.
46 Children of foreigners lose heart
and come trembling from their hideouts.
47 Adonai lives! And blessed be my Rock!
Exalted be God my salvation!
48 God—He gives me vengeance
and subdues peoples under me.
49 He delivers me from my enemies.
Indeed You lift me up above those who rise up against me.
You deliver me from the violent man.
50 Therefore I praise You among the nations,
Adonai, and sing praises to Your Name.[a]
51 Great victories He gives to His king.
He shows loyal love to His anointed—
to David and his seed, forever.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.