M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Samuel rejects Saul’s dynasty
13 Saul was 30 years old[a] when he became king, and he ruled over Israel forty-two years.[b] 2 Saul selected three thousand men from Israel. Two thousand of those were with Saul at Michmash in the hills near Bethel, and one thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. He sent the remaining men home. 3 Jonathan attacked the Philistine fort at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. So Saul sounded the alarm[c] throughout the land and said, “Hebrews! Listen up!” 4 When all Israel heard that Saul had attacked the Philistine fort and that Israel was hated by the Philistines, the troops were called to Saul’s side at Gilgal. 5 The Philistines also were gathered to fight against Israel. They brought thirty thousand chariots with them, six thousand cavalry, and as many soldiers as there is sand on the seashore to fight Israel.[d] They marched up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven. 6 When the Israelites saw that they were in trouble and that their troops were threatened, they hid in caves, in thickets, among rocks, in tunnels, and in cisterns. 7 Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan River, going into the land of Gad and Gilead.
Saul stayed at Gilgal, and the troops followed him anxiously. 8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel, but Samuel didn’t come to Gilgal, and his troops began to desert. 9 So Saul ordered, “Bring me the entirely burned offering and the well-being sacrifices.” Then he offered the entirely burned offering.
10 The very moment Saul finished offering up the entirely burned offering, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to meet him and welcome him. 11 But Samuel said, “What have you done?”
“I saw that my troops were deserting,” Saul replied. “You hadn’t arrived by the appointed time, and the Philistines were gathering at Michmash. 12 I thought, The Philistines are about to march against me at Gilgal and I haven’t yet sought the Lord’s favor. So I took control of myself[e] and offered the entirely burned offering.”
13 “How stupid of you to have broken the commands the Lord your God gave you!” Samuel told Saul. “The Lord would have established your rule over Israel forever, 14 but now your rule won’t last. The Lord will search for a man following the Lord’s own heart,[f] and the Lord will commission him as leader over God’s people, because you didn’t keep the Lord’s command.”
15 Samuel got up and went on his way from Gilgal, but the rest of the people followed Saul to join the army, and they went from Gilgal[g] to Gibeah in Benjamin. Saul counted about six hundred men still with him. 16 Saul, his son Jonathan, and the people who were with him were staying at Geba in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Michmash. 17 Three raiding parties left the Philistine camp. One took the road to Ophrah toward the territory of Shual. 18 Another took the road to Beth-horon, and the last took the border road that overlooks the Zeboim Valley toward the desert.
Philistine ironworking
19 No metalworker was to be found anywhere in Israelite territory because the Philistines had said, “The Hebrews must not make swords and spears.” 20 So every Israelite had to go down to the Philistines to sharpen their plowshares, mattocks, axes, and sickles. 21 The cost was two-thirds of a shekel[h] for plowshares and mattocks, but one-third of a shekel for sharpening axes and for setting goads. 22 So on the day of the battle, no swords or spears were to be found in the possession of any of the troops with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and his son Jonathan had them.
Jonathan leads Israel to victory
23 Now a group of Philistine soldiers had marched out to the pass at Michmash.
Israel and God’s faithfulness
11 So I ask you, has God rejected his people? Absolutely not! I’m an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God hasn’t rejected his people, whom he knew in advance. Or don’t you know what the scripture says in the case of Elijah, when he pleads with God against Israel? 3 Lord, they have killed your prophets, and they have torn down your altars. I’m the only one left, and they are trying to take my life.[a] 4 But what is God’s reply to him? I have kept for myself seven thousand people who haven’t bowed their knees to Baal.[b] 5 So also in the present time there is a remaining group by the choice of God’s grace. 6 But if it is by grace, it isn’t by what’s done anymore. If it were, God’s grace wouldn’t be grace.
7 So what? Israel didn’t find what it was looking for. Those who were chosen found it, but the others were resistant. 8 As it is written, God gave them a dull spirit, so that their eyes would not see and their ears not hear, right up until the present day.[c] 9 And David says,
Their table should become a pitfall and a trap,
a stumbling block and payback to them for what they have done.
10 Their eyes should be darkened so they can’t see,
and their backs always bent.[d]
11 So I’m asking you: They haven’t stumbled so that they’ve fallen permanently, have they? Absolutely not! But salvation has come to the Gentiles by their failure, in order to make Israel jealous. 12 But if their failure brings riches to the world, and their defeat brings riches to the Gentiles, how much more will come from the completion of their number! 13 I’m speaking to you Gentiles. Considering that I’m an apostle to the Gentiles, I publicize my own ministry 14 in the hope that somehow I might make my own people jealous and save some of them. 15 If their rejection has brought about a close relationship between God and the world, how can their acceptance mean anything less than life from the dead?
16 But if part of a batch of dough is offered to God as holy, the whole batch of dough is holy too. If a root is holy, the branches will be holy too. 17 If some of the branches were broken off, and you were a wild olive branch, and you were grafted in among the other branches and shared the root that produces the rich oil of the olive tree, 18 then don’t brag like you’re better than the other branches. If you do brag, be careful: it’s not you that sustains the root, but it’s the root that sustains you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20 Fine. They were broken off because they weren’t faithful, but you stand only by your faithfulness.[e] So don’t think in a proud way; instead be afraid. 21 If God didn’t spare the natural branches, he won’t spare you either. 22 So look at God’s kindness and harshness. It’s harshness toward those who fell, but it’s God’s kindness for you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise, you could be cut off too. 23 And even those who were cut off will be grafted back in if they don’t continue to be unfaithful, because God is able to graft them in again. 24 If you were naturally part of a wild olive tree and you were cut off from it, and then, contrary to nature, you were grafted into the cultivated olive tree, won’t these natural branches stand an even better chance of being grafted back onto their own olive tree?
All Israel will be saved
25 I don’t want you to be unaware of this secret,[f] brothers and sisters. That way you won’t think too highly of yourselves. A part of Israel has become resistant until the full number of the Gentiles comes in. 26 In this way, all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
The deliverer will come from Zion.
He will remove ungodly behavior from Jacob.
27 This is my covenant with them,
when I take away their sins.[g]
28 According to the gospel, they are enemies for your sake, but according to God’s choice, they are loved for the sake of their ancestors. 29 God’s gifts and calling can’t be taken back. 30 Once you were disobedient to God, but now you have mercy because they were disobedient. 31 In the same way, they have also been disobedient because of the mercy that you received, so now they can receive mercy too. 32 God has locked up all people in disobedience, in order to have mercy on all of them.
33 God’s riches, wisdom, and knowledge are so deep! They are as mysterious as his judgments, and they are as hard to track as his paths!
Prophecy against Babylon
50 This is what the Lord said concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians through the prophet Jeremiah:
2 Tell the nations;
proclaim it far and wide!
Set up a flag;
proclaim it far and wide!
Hold nothing back;
just shout it:
“Babylon is captured;
Bel is shamed;
Marduk is panic-stricken.
Her images are shamed;
her idols are panic-stricken.”
3 A nation from the north
has risen up against her.
It will decimate her land,
and no one will live in it.
Every living thing will flee.
4 In those days and at that time,
declares the Lord,
the people of Israel and Judah
will come out of Babylon[a] together;
with weeping they will leave
as they seek the Lord their God.
5 They will search for Zion,
turning their faces toward it.
They will come[b] and
unite with the Lord,
in an everlasting covenant
that will never be forgotten.
6 My people were lost sheep;
their shepherds led them astray;
they deserted them on the mountains,
where they wandered off among the hills,
forgetting their resting place.
7 All who found them devoured them;
and their attackers said,
“It’s not our fault,
because they have sinned against the Lord,
the true pasture,[c]
the hope of their ancestors—the Lord.”
8 Now wander far from Babylon.
Get out of that country.
Like rams of the flock,
lead the way home.
9 I’m stirring up against Babylon
a coalition of mighty nations.
It will mobilize in the north,
and from there she will be captured.
Their arrows are like those of an expert archer
who does not return empty-handed.
10 Babylon will be defeated;
its attackers will carry off all that they want,
declares the Lord.
11 Sure, you gloat and rejoice,
you plunderers of my possession.
Sure, you dance around like a calf
and neigh like a stallion.
12 But Mother Babylon[d] will be humiliated;
the one who bore you will be disgraced.
She will become the least of the nations:
a wilderness, a desert, and parched land.
13 Because of the Lord’s anger,
no one will live there;
she will be reduced to total ruin.
All who pass by Babylon will be shocked;
they will gasp at all her injuries.
14 Take up your positions around Babylon,
all you archers;
now shoot at her;
save none of your arrows,
because she’s sinned against the Lord.
15 Raise a victory shout against her on every side!
She’s surrendered;
her towers have collapsed;
her walls are destroyed.
This is the Lord’s retribution;
now pay her back:
do to her what she’s done to others!
16 Cut Babylon off from those who plant
and those who harvest the crops,
because of its ruthless sword.[e]
Now return, all of you, to your people;
flee to your homeland!
17 Israelites are scattered sheep,
driven away by lions.
First the king of Assyria devoured them,
and now Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar has ravaged them.[f]
18 Therefore, the Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims:
I’m going to punish the king of Babylon and his land,
just as I punished the king of Assyria.
19 But I will restore Israel to their pasture;
they will graze on Carmel and Bashan;
they will eat their fill
in the highlands of Ephraim and Gilead.
20 In those days and at that time,
declares the Lord,
if one searches for the sin of Israel,
they will find nothing;
if one seeks out the wrongdoing of Judah,
they will look in vain.
I will forgive those I have spared.
21 Attack the land of Merathaim;[g]
crush those living in Pekod.
Ruin and destroy them,
declares the Lord;
do all I have commanded you.
22 There’s the sound of war in the land
and enormous devastation.
23 How the hammer of the whole earth
has been broken and shattered into pieces!
How Babylon has become a wasteland
among the nations!
24 You set a trap for others, Babylon,[h]
but you yourself were caught in it unaware;
you have been found and captured
because you have defied the Lord.
25 The Lord has opened his arsenal
and brought out his brutal weapons.
The Lord God of heavenly forces
has a job to do in the land of the Babylonians.
26 Come against her from every side;
throw open her granaries;
pile her up like stalks of grain;
totally destroy her;
leave nothing intact.
27 Destroy all her bulls;
prepare them for slaughter.
How terrible for them!
Their time has come,
the day of reckoning.
28 A voice of fugitives and refugees,
from the land of Babylon,
declaring in Zion
the retribution of the Lord our God
because of what has been done to his temple.
29 Send the archers against Babylon,
all who draw the bow!
Surround her
and let no one escape.
Pay her back for her deeds;
do to her what she’s done to others.
She has acted arrogantly toward the Lord,
the holy one of Israel!
30 Therefore, her soldiers will fall in the streets;
all her warriors will be silenced on that day,
declares the Lord.
31 I’m against you, you arrogant one!
declares the Lord God of heavenly forces.
Your day has come,
your time of reckoning.
32 The arrogant one will stumble and fall,
and no one will help her up.
I’ll set your cities on fire,
and it will consume all that’s around her.
33 The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
The people of Israel were oppressed,
together with the people of Judah.
Their captors held them
and refused to let them go.
34 Yet their redeemer is strong;
the Lord of heavenly forces is his name.
He will surely defend their cause
and give them rest in the land.
But he will unsettle the people of Babylon.
35 A sword against Babylon and its people,
declares the Lord,
along with its officials and sages.
36 A sword against its diviners
so that they become fools.
A sword against its warriors
so that they are terrified.
37 A sword against its horses and chariots,
and the mercenaries[i] in its midst
so that they lose courage.[j]
A sword against its treasures
so that they are looted.
38 A sword[k] against the water supplies
so that they dry up.
It is truly the land of idols,
idols about which they have gone utterly mad!
39 Therefore, Babylon will become a ghost town,
a place for desert animals,
hyenas, and ravenous birds.[l]
No one will live there again;
no one will make it their home.
40 Just as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors,
declares the Lord,
so no one will live in Babylon
or settle there again.
41 Look! An army is on the move
from the northern regions.
A powerful nation and many kings are coming
from the ends of the earth.
42 Equipped with bow and spear,
they are cruel and show no mercy.
Their horsemen sound like the roaring sea,
arrayed in battle formation against you,
Daughter Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon has heard reports of them
and is panic-stricken;
distress overwhelms him,
pain like that of a woman in labor.
44 Like a lion coming up from
the jungle of the Jordan
to a well-watered meadow,[m]
so I will suddenly chase down Babylon
and single out its choicest of rams.
Who is like me?
Who can direct me?
What shepherd can withstand me?
45 Therefore, listen to the counsel
that the Lord has for Babylon
and the plans he’s devised
against the land of Babylon:
The little ones of the flock
will be dragged off,
as their pasture watches
in utter disbelief.[n]
46 The earth quakes
at the sound of Babylon’s capture;
its screams echo throughout the world.
Psalm 28
Of David.
28 I cry out to you, Lord.
You are my rock; don’t refuse to hear me.
If you won’t talk to me,
I’ll be just like those going down to the pit.
2 Listen to my request for mercy when I cry out to you,
when I lift up my hands to your holy inner sanctuary.
3 Don’t drag me off with the wicked and those who do evil;
the type who talk nice to their friends
while evil thoughts are in their hearts!
4 Pay them back for what they’ve done!
Pay them back for their evil deeds!
Pay them back for their handiwork!
Give back to them exactly what they deserve!
5 Because they have no regard for what the Lord has done,
no regard for his handiwork,
God will tear them down and never rebuild!
6 Bless the Lord
because he has listened to my request for mercy!
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield.
My heart trusts him.
I was helped, my heart rejoiced,
and I thank him with my song.
8 The Lord is his people’s strength;
he is a fortress of protection for his anointed one.
9 Save your people, God!
Bless your possession!
Shepherd them and carry them for all time!
Psalm 29
A psalm of David.
29 You, divine beings! Give to the Lord—
give to the Lord glory and power!
2 Give to the Lord the glory due his name!
Bow down to the Lord in holy splendor!
3 The Lord’s voice is over the waters;
the glorious God thunders;
the Lord is over the mighty waters.
4 The Lord’s voice is strong;
the Lord’s voice is majestic.
5 The Lord’s voice breaks cedar trees—
yes, the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon jump around like a young bull,
makes Sirion jump around like a young wild ox.
7 The Lord’s voice unleashes fiery flames;
8 the Lord’s voice shakes the wilderness—
yes, the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The Lord’s voice convulses the oaks,
strips the forests bare,
but in his temple everyone shouts, “Glory!”
10 The Lord sits enthroned over the floodwaters;
the Lord sits enthroned—king forever!
11 Let the Lord give strength to his people!
Let the Lord bless his people with peace!
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible