M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

17 And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, `Let me choose, I pray thee, twelve thousand men, and I arise and pursue after David to-night,

² and come upon him, and he weary and feeble-handed, and I have caused him to tremble, and all the people have fled who [are] with him, and I have smitten the king by himself,

³ and I bring back all the people unto thee -- as the turning back of the whole [is] the man whom thou art seeking -- all the people are peace.

⁴ And the thing is right in the eyes of Absalom, and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.

⁵ And Absalom saith, `Call, I pray thee, also for Hushai the Archite, and we hear what [is] in his mouth -- even he.'

⁶ And Hushai cometh in unto Absalom, and Absalom speaketh unto him, saying, `According to this word hath Ahithophel spoken; do we do his word? if not, thou -- speak thou.'

⁷ And Hushai saith unto Absalom, `Not good [is] the counsel that Ahithophel hath counselled at this time.'

⁸ And Hushai saith, `Thou hast known thy father and his men, that they [are] heroes, and they are bitter in soul as a bereaved bear in a field, and thy father [is] a man of war, and doth not lodge with the people;

⁹ lo, now, he is hidden in one of the pits, or in one of the places, and it hath been, at the falling among them at the commencement, that the hearer hath heard, and said, There hath been a slaughter among the people who [are] after Absalom;

¹⁰ and he also, the son of valour, whose heart [is] as the heart of the lion, doth utterly melt, for all Israel doth know that thy father is a hero, and sons of valour [are] those with him.

¹¹ `So that I have counselled: Let all Israel be diligently gathered unto thee, from Dan even unto Beer-Sheba, as the sand that [is] by the sea for multitude, and thou thyself art going in the midst;

¹² and we have come in unto him in one of the places where he is found, and we [are] upon him as the dew falleth on the ground, and there hath not been left of him and of all the men who [are] with him even one.

¹³ And if unto a city he is gathered, then they have caused all Israel to bear unto that city ropes, and we have drawn it unto the brook till that there hath not been found there even a stone.'

¹⁴ And Absalom saith -- and all the men of Israel -- `Better [is] the counsel of Hushai the Archite than the counsel of Ahithophel;' and Jehovah willed to make void the good counsel of Ahithophel for the sake of Jehovah's bringing unto Absalom the evil.

¹⁵ And Hushai saith unto Zadok and unto Abiathar the priests, `Thus and thus hath Ahithophel counselled Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and thus I have counselled;

¹⁶ and now, send hastily, and declare to David, saying, Lodge not to-night in the plains of the wilderness, and also, certainly pass over, lest there be a swallowing up of the king and of all the people who are with him.'

¹⁷ And Jonathan and Ahimaaz are standing at En-Rogel, and the maid-servant hath gone and declared to them -- and they go and have declared [it] to king David -- for they are not able to be seen to go in to the city.

¹⁸ And a youth seeth them, and declareth to Absalom; and they go on both of them hastily, and come in unto the house of a man in Bahurim, and he hath a well in his court, and they go down there,

¹⁹ and the woman taketh and spreadeth the covering over the face of the well, and spreadeth on it the ground corn, and the thing hath not been known.

²⁰ And the servants of Absalom come in unto the woman to the house, and say, `Where [are] Ahimaaz and Jonathan?' and the woman saith to them, `They passed over the brook of water;' and they seek, and have not found, and turn back to Jerusalem.

²¹ And it cometh to pass, after their going on, that they come up out of the well, and go and declare to king David, and say unto David, `Rise ye, and pass over hastily the waters, for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you.'

²² And David riseth, and all the people who [are] with him, and they pass over the Jordan, till the light of the morning, till one hath not been lacking who hath not passed over the Jordan.

²³ And Ahithophel hath seen that his counsel was not done, and he saddleth the ass, and riseth and goeth unto his house, unto his city, and giveth charge unto his household, and strangleth himself, and dieth, and he is buried in the burying-place of his father.

²⁴ And David came to Mahanaim, and Absalom passed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him;

²⁵ and Amasa hath Absalom set instead of Joab over the host, and Amasa [is] a man's son whose name is Ithra the Israelite who hath gone in unto Abigail, daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, mother of Joab;

²⁶ and Israel encampeth with Absalom [in] the land of Gilead.

²⁷ And it cometh to pass at the coming in of David to Mahanaim, that Shobi, son of Nahash, from Rabbah of the Bene-Ammon, and Machir son of Ammiel, from Lo-Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite, from Rogelim,

²⁸ couch, and basin, and earthen vessel, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and roasted [corn], and beans, and lentiles, and roasted [pulse],

²⁹ and honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, have brought nigh for David, and for the people who [are] with him to eat, for they said, `Thy people [is] hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.'

10 And I, Paul, myself, do call upon you -- through the meekness and gentleness of the Christ -- who in presence, indeed [am] humble among you, and being absent, have courage toward you,

² and I beseech [you], that, being present, I may not have courage, with the confidence with which I reckon to be bold against certain reckoning us as walking according to the flesh;

³ for walking in the flesh, not according to the flesh do we war,

⁴ for the weapons of our warfare [are] not fleshly, but powerful to God for bringing down of strongholds,

⁵ reasonings bringing down, and every high thing lifted up against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of the Christ,

⁶ and being in readiness to avenge every disobedience, whenever your obedience may be fulfilled.

⁷ The things in presence do ye see? if any one hath trusted in himself to be Christ's, this let him reckon again from himself, that according as he is Christ's, so also we [are] Christ's;

⁸ for even if also anything more abundantly I shall boast concerning our authority, that the Lord gave us for building up, and not for casting you down, I shall not be ashamed;

⁹ that I may not seem as if I would terrify you through the letters,

¹⁰ `because the letters indeed -- saith one -- [are] weighty and strong, and the bodily presence weak, and the speech despicable.'

¹¹ This one -- let him reckon thus: that such as we are in word, through letters, being absent, such also, being present, [we are] in deed.

¹² For we do not make bold to rank or to compare ourselves with certain of those commending themselves, but they, among themselves measuring themselves, and comparing themselves with themselves, are not wise,

¹³ and we in regard to the unmeasured things will not boast ourselves, but after the measure of the line that the God of measure did appoint to us -- to reach even unto you;

¹⁴ for not as not reaching to you do we stretch ourselves overmuch, for even unto you did we come in the good news of the Christ,

¹⁵ not boasting of the things not measured, in other men's labours, and having hope -- your faith increasing -- in you to be enlarged, according to our line -- into abundance,

¹⁶ in the [places] beyond you to proclaim good news, not in another's line in regard to the things made ready, to boast;

¹⁷ and he who is boasting -- in the Lord let him boast;

¹⁸ for not he who is commending himself is approved, but he whom the Lord doth commend.

24 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth of the month, saying,

² `Son of man, write for thee the name of the day -- this self-same day leaned hath the king of Babylon toward Jerusalem in this self-same day --

³ and use unto the rebellious house a simile, and thou hast said unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: To set on the pot, to set [it] on, and also to pour into it water,

⁴ To gather its pieces unto it, every good piece, Thigh and shoulder, the choice of the bones to fill in.

⁵ The choice of the flock to take, And also to pile of the bones under it, Boil it thoroughly, yea, cook its bones in its midst.

⁶ Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Wo [to] the city of blood, A pot whose scum [is] in it, And its scum hath not come out of it, By piece of it, by piece of it bring it out, Not fallen on it hath a lot.

⁷ For her blood in her midst hath been, On a clear place of a rock she hath set it, She hath not poured it on the earth, To cover it over with dust.

⁸ To cause fury to come up to take vengeance, I have put her blood on a clear place of a rock -- not to be covered.

⁹ Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Wo [to] the city of blood, yea, I -- I make great the pile.

¹⁰ Make abundant the wood, Kindle the fire, consume the flesh, And make the compound, And let the bones be burnt.

¹¹ And cause it to stand on its coals empty, So that its brass is hot and burning, Melted hath been in its midst its uncleanness, Consumed is its scum.

¹² [With] sorrows she hath wearied herself, And the abundance of her scum goeth not out of her, In the fire [is] her scum.

¹³ In thine uncleanness [is] wickedness, Because I have cleansed thee, And thou hast not been cleansed, From thine uncleanness thou art not cleansed again, Till I have caused My fury to rest on thee.

¹⁴ I, Jehovah, hath spoken, It hath come, and I have done [it], I do not free, nor do I spare, nor do I repent, According to thy ways, and according to thine acts, they have judged thee, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.'

¹⁵ And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

¹⁶ `Son of man, lo, I am taking from thee the desire of thine eyes by a stroke, and thou dost not mourn, nor weep, nor let thy tear come.

¹⁷ Cease to groan, [for] the dead thou dost make no mourning, thy bonnet bind on thee, and thy shoes thou dost put on thy feet, and thou dost not cover over the upper lip, and bread of men thou dost not eat.'

¹⁸ And I speak unto the people in the morning, and my wife dieth in the evening, and I do in the morning as I have been commanded.

¹⁹ And the people say unto me, `Dost thou not declare to us what these [are] to us, that thou art doing?'

²⁰ And I say unto them, `A word of Jehovah hath been unto me, saying:

²¹ Say to the house of Israel: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am polluting My sanctuary, The excellency of your strength, The desire of your eyes, and the pitied of your soul, And your sons and your daughters whom ye have left, by sword they do fall.

²² And ye have done as I have done, On the upper lip ye are not covered, And bread of men ye do not eat.

²³ And your bonnets [are] on your heads, And your shoes [are] on your feet, Ye do not mourn nor do ye weep, And ye have wasted away for your iniquities, And ye have howled one unto another.

²⁴ And Ezekiel hath been to you for a type, According to all that he hath done ye do; In its coming in -- ye have known that I [am] the Lord Jehovah.

²⁵ And thou, son of man, Is it not in the day of My taking from them their strength, The joy of their beauty, the desire of their eyes, And the song of their soul, Their sons and their daughters?

²⁶ In that day come doth the escaped one to thee. To cause the ears to hear.

²⁷ In that day opened is thy mouth with the escaped, And thou speakest, and art not silent any more, And thou hast been to them for a type. And they have known that I [am] Jehovah.'

72 By Solomon. O God, Thy judgments to the king give, And Thy righteousness to the king's son.

² He judgeth Thy people with righteousness, And Thy poor with judgment.

³ The mountains bear peace to the people, And the heights by righteousness.

⁴ He judgeth the poor of the people, Giveth deliverance to the sons of the needy, And bruiseth the oppressor.

⁵ They fear Thee with the sun, and before the moon, Generation -- generations.

⁶ He cometh down as rain on mown grass, As showers -- sprinkling the earth.

⁷ Flourish in his days doth the righteous, And abundance of peace till the moon is not.

⁸ And he ruleth from sea unto sea, And from the river unto the ends of earth.

⁹ Before him bow do the inhabitants of the dry places, And his enemies lick the dust.

¹⁰ Kings of Tarshish and of the isles send back a present. Kings of Sheba and Seba a reward bring near.

¹¹ And all kings do bow themselves to him, All nations do serve him,

¹² For he delivereth the needy who crieth, And the poor when he hath no helper,

¹³ He hath pity on the poor and needy, And the souls of the needy he saveth,

¹⁴ From fraud and from violence he redeemeth their soul, And precious is their blood in his eyes.

¹⁵ And he liveth, and giveth to him of the gold of Sheba, And prayeth for him continually, All the day he doth bless him.

¹⁶ There is a handful of corn in the earth, On the top of mountains, Shake like Lebanon doth its fruit, And they flourish out of the city as the herb of the earth.

¹⁷ His name is to the age, Before the sun is his name continued, And they bless themselves in him, All nations do pronounce him happy.

¹⁸ Blessed is Jehovah God, God of Israel, He alone is doing wonders,

¹⁹ And blessed [is] the Name of His honour to the age, And the whole earth is filled [with] His honour. Amen, and amen!

²⁰ The prayers of David son of Jesse have been ended.