M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Samuel Rebukes Israel
12 Then Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have listened to your voice in all you said to me, and have set a king over you. 2 Now here is the king who will go before you, while I am old and gray. Also here are my sons with you. I have gone before you from my youth to this day. 3 Here I am. Witness against me before Adonai and before His anointed. Whose ox have I taken or whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I defrauded or whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I taken a bribe to look the other way? I will restore it to you.”
4 They replied, “You haven’t defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from anyone’s hand.”
5 Then he said to them, “Adonai is then a witness against you, and His anointed is a witness this day that you have not found anything in my hand.”
“He is a witness,” they replied.
6 Then Samuel said to the people, “It is Adonai who appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt. 7 So now, stand still, so that I may plead with you before Adonai concerning all the righteous acts of Adonai, which He did for you and your fathers. 8 When Jacob entered Egypt and your fathers cried out to Adonai, then Adonai sent Moses and Aaron who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. 9 But they forgot Adonai their God, so He gave them over into the hand of Sisera, captain of the army of Hazor, into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, who fought against them. 10 So they cried out to Adonai and said, ‘We have sinned because we have forsaken Adonai and have worshipped the Baalim and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us from the hand of our enemies and we will worship You.’ 11 Then Adonai sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah and Samuel, and delivered you from the hand of your enemies on every side, so that you might live securely. 12 But when you saw Nahash king of the Ammonites marching against you, you said to me, ‘No! But a king must reign over us!’—even though Adonai your God is your king.
13 “Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen and whom you have asked for, and behold, Adonai has set him as king over you. 14 If you fear Adonai and worship Him, and listen to His voice and do not rebel against the command of Adonai, then both you as well as the king who reigns over you will be following Adonai your God. 15 But if you do not listen to the voice of Adonai and rebel against the command of Adonai, then the hand of Adonai will be against you and against your fathers. 16 Now stand by and see this great thing that Adonai will do before your eyes. 17 Is it not wheat harvest season today? I will call to Adonai, that He may send thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of Adonai by asking for yourselves a king.”
18 So Samuel prayed to Adonai, and Adonai sent thunder and rain that day. Then all the people greatly feared Adonai and Samuel, 19 and all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to Adonai your God, that we would not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king.”
20 Samuel said to the people, “Fear not! Indeed you have done all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following Adonai, but worship Adonai with all your heart. 21 Do not turn aside to go after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are futile. 22 For Adonai will not forsake His people for His great Name’s sake,[a] because it has pleased Adonai to make you a people to Himself. 23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against Adonai by ceasing to pray for you! Yet I will keep instructing you in the good and straight way. 24 Only fear Adonai and worship Him in truth with all your heart, considering how magnificently He has dealt with you. 25 But if you persist in acting wickedly, you will be swept away, both you and your king.”
Misdirected Zeal
10 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for Israel is for their salvation. 2 For I testify about them that they have zeal for God—but not based on knowledge. 3 For being ignorant of God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit themselves to the righteousness of God. 4 For Messiah is the goal[a] of the Torah as a means to righteousness for everyone who keeps trusting.
5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on Torah, “The man who does these things shall live by them.” [b] 6 But the righteousness based on faith speaks in this way:
“Do not say in your heart,[c]
‘Who will go up into heaven?’[d]
(that is, to bring Messiah down),
7 or, ‘Who will go down into the abyss?’[e]
(that is, to bring Messiah up from the dead).”
8 But what does it say?
“The word is near you,
in your mouth and in your heart”[f]
—that is, the word of faith
that we are proclaiming:
9 For if you confess with your mouth
that Yeshua is Lord,
and believe in your heart
that God raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved.
10 For with the heart it is believed for righteousness,
and with the mouth it is confessed for salvation.
11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever trusts in Him will not be put to shame.” [g] 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all—richly generous to all who call on Him. 13 For “Everyone who calls upon the name of Adonai shall be saved.”[h]
14 How then shall they call on the One in whom they have not trusted? And how shall they trust in the One they have not heard of? And how shall they hear without someone proclaiming? 15 And how shall they proclaim unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim good news of good things!” [i] 16 But not all heeded the Good News. For Isaiah says, “Adonai, who has believed our report?” [j] 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Messiah.
18 But I say, have they never heard? Indeed they have, for
“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,
and their words to the ends of the world.”[k]
19 But I say, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,
“I will provoke you to jealousy
by those who are not a nation,
with a nation empty of understanding
I will vex you.”[l]
20 And Isaiah is so bold as to say,
“I was found by those who did not seek Me;
I became visible to those who did not ask for Me.”[m]
21 But about Israel He says,
“All day long I stretched forth My hands
to a disobedient and contrary people.”[n]
Against Surrounding Nations
49 About Ammon’s children, thus says Adonai:
“Has Israel no sons?
Has he no heir?
Why then did Malcam dispossess Gad
and his people settled in its towns?
2 Therefore behold, days are coming”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“when I will sound an alarm of war
heard against Rabbah of Ammon!
It will become a mound of ruins.
Her villages will be burned with fire.
Then Israel will dispossess those
who dispossessed him.”
it is a declaration of Adonai.
3 “Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is devastated!
Cry, daughters of Rabbah!
Wear sackcloth, lament,
and run to and fro within the walls,
for Malcam will go into captivity
together with his priests and princes.
4 Why do you brag about valleys—
your flowing valley, faithless daughter?
Trusting in your treasures:
‘Who will come against me?’
5 I am about to bring terror on you”
—a declaration of my Lord Adonai-Tzva’ot—
“from all those around you.
Each of you will be banished headlong,
with no one to gather the fugitives.
6 Yet afterward I will restore Ammon’s children from exile.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
7 About Edom, thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot:
“Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?
Is counsel lost to the prudent?
Has their wisdom vanished?
8 Flee! Turn back!
Stay low, inhabitants of Dedan,
for I will bring Esau’s calamity on him
at the time that I punish him.
9 If grape gatherers came to you,
would they not leave gleanings?
If thieves came at night,
would they not destroy only enough for themselves?
10 But I will strip Esau bare.
I will uncover his hiding places,
so he will not be able to hide himself.
His offspring has been destroyed with his kinsmen and neighbors.
So he is nothing.
11 Leave your orphans—I will keep them alive,
and let your widows trust in Me.”
12 For thus says Adonai:
“Behold, if those who do not deserve to drink the cup must surely drink,
can you go utterly unpunished?
You will not go unpunished,
for you shall surely drink!
13 For I have sworn by Myself”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“that Bozrah will become a horror,
a disgrace, a waste and a curse.
All its towns will be ruins forever.”
14 I heard a message from Adonai.
An ambassador is sent to the nations:
‘Gather together, come against her,
and rise up for war!’
15 For see, I made you least among nations,
despised among men.
16 Your terrorism has deceived you,
so that your heart is arrogant.
You who live in the clefts of the rock,
who occupy the height of the hill.
Though you make your nest as high as an eagle’s,
I will bring you down from there.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
17 “Edom will become a desolation.
Everyone passing by will be appalled
and hiss at all its plagues.
18 Like the overthrow of Sodom, Gomorrah
and their neighbors,” says Adonai,
“no one will live there,
nor any son of man dwell there.
19 Look, it is like a lion coming up from the thickets of the Jordan
to a secure pasture—
for abruptly I will make him run away from it.
I appoint over it whomever I choose.
For who is like Me?
Who will summon me to court?
What shepherd stands up to Me?”
20 Therefore hear the plan that Adonai has drawn up against Edom,
and His strategies that He designed against the inhabitants of Teman.
Surely the least of the flock will be dragged away,
Surely He will make their pasture desolate because of them.
21 The earth will tremble at the noise of their downfall.
The sound of their outcry will be heard at the Sea of Reeds.
22 Behold, he will mount up and swoop down like an eagle,
and spread out his wings against Bozrah.
The hearts of Edom’s warriors in that day
will be like a woman’s heart in her pangs.
23 About Damascus: Hamath and Arpad are ashamed,
for they heard bad news,
They melt away;
in the sea there is trouble that cannot be quiet.
24 Damascus has become feeble.
She turns away to flee,
panic grips her,
anguish and pangs have seized her,
like a woman in travail.
25 How is the city of praise deserted—
the city of my joy?
26 Therefore her young men will fall in her squares—
all the warriors will be silenced in that day.
It is a declaration of Adonai-Tzva’ot.
27 “I will set fire to the wall of Damascus—
it will devour Ben-hadad’s palaces.”
28 About Kedar and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck. Thus says Adonai:
“Arise, go up against Kedar
and devastate the children of the east.
29 They will take away their tents and their flocks.
They will carry away their curtains,
all their gear and their camels.
They will cry out against them,
‘Terror on every side!’
30 Flee! Scatter far!
Stay low, inhabitants of Hazor!”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
“For King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has taken counsel against you,
and devised a plan against you.
31 Arise, go up against a nation at ease,
dwelling securely,” says Adonai.
“They have no gates or bars;
they dwell alone.
32 Their camels will become plunder,
their many cattle a spoil.
I will scatter to all the winds those who shave the edges.
I bring their calamity from every side.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
33 “Hazor will be a lair of jackals,
a desolation forever—
no one will abide there,
nor any son of man dwell there.”
34 The word of Adonai that came to the prophet Jeremiah about Elam, at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, saying, 35 thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot:
“Behold, I will break Elam’s bow—
the source of their might.
36 I will bring upon Elam the four winds
from the four quarters of heaven,
and will scatter them to all those winds.
There will be no nation
where the dispersed of Elam will not go.
37 I will shatter Elam before their enemies
and before those seeking their soul.
I will bring calamity on them—
My burning anger!”
It is a declaration of Adonai,
“I will send the sword after them
until I have consumed them.
38 Then I will put My throne in Elam
and destroy from it king and princes.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
39 “Yet it will be in the end of days,
that I will restore Elam from exile.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
Walking with Integrity
Psalm 26
1 Of David.
Vindicate me, Adonai,
for I have walked in my integrity,
and trusted in Adonai without wavering.
2 Probe me, Adonai, and test me,
refine my mind and my heart.
3 For Your love is before my eyes
and I have walked in Your truth.
4 I have not sat with men of falsehood,
nor do I consort with hypocrites.
5 I detest the company of evildoers,
and do not sit with the wicked.
6 I will wash my hands in innocence,
so I can walk around Your altar, Adonai,
7 hearing the voice of thanksgiving
while proclaiming all Your wonders.
8 Adonai, I love the House where You live,
the place where Your glory dwells.
9 Do not take my soul away with sinners,
nor my life with people of bloodshed—
10 in whose hands are wicked schemes,
whose right hand is full of bribes.
11 But I—I will walk in my integrity.
Redeem me and be gracious to me.
12 My feet stand on level ground.
In congregations I will bless Adonai.
Let Your Heart Take Courage
Psalm 27
1 Of David.
Adonai is my light and my salvation:
whom should I fear?
Adonai is the stronghold of my life:
whom should I dread?
2 When evildoers approached me to devour my flesh
—my adversaries and my foes—they stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army camp besieges me, my heart will not fear.
Though war breaks out against me, even then will I be confident.
4 One thing have I asked of Adonai,
that will I seek:
to dwell in the House of Adonai
all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of Adonai,
and to meditate in His Temple.
5 For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His sukkah,
conceal me in the shelter of His tent,
and set me high upon a rock.
6 Then will my head be high above my enemies around me.
In His Tabernacle I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy.
I will sing, yes, sing praises to Adonai.
7 Hear, Adonai, when I call with my voice,
be gracious to me and answer me.
8 To You my heart says: “Seek My face.”
Your face, Adonai, I seek.
9 Do not hide Your face from me.
Do not turn Your servant away in anger.
You have been my help.
Do not abandon me or forsake me,
O God my salvation.
10 Though my father and my mother
forsake me, Adonai will take me in.
11 Teach me Your way, Adonai,
and lead me on a level path—
because of my enemies.
12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes.
For false witnesses rise up against me,
breathing out violence.
13 Surely I trust that I will see the goodness
of Adonai in the land of the living.
14 Wait for Adonai.
Be strong, let Your heart take courage,
and wait for Adonai.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.