M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Jonathan he misses especially because Jonathan was his friend, a companion, David says, whose love was greater than any love a woman could have for a man. David and Jonathan shared a relationship built in adversity, and the secret they kept from Saul that preserved David’s life made the relationship stronger than what most will ever experience.
2 After David mourned, he asked the Eternal One a question.
David: Should I go up now to one of the cities of Judah?
The Eternal indicated that he should go.
David: Where should I go?
Eternal One: Hebron.
2 So David went to Hebron, a royal city, with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal from Carmel. 3 David also brought along all his men and their households, and they settled in and around Hebron. 4 Then the people of Judah came and anointed David king over them. They told David how the people of Jabesh-gilead had buried Saul with dignity, 5 so David sent messengers to them.
David’s Message: May you be blessed by the Eternal One for your loyalty to your king Saul by burying him. 6 May the Eternal always love and be faithful to you! I will also reward you for this noble act. 7 Now be strong and mighty, for Saul your king is dead, and the people of Judah have anointed me as their new king.
8 But it was not so simple. Abner, Ner’s son who had commanded Saul’s armies, took Saul’s son Ish-bosheth and brought him to Mahanaim; 9 and there Abner named Ish-bosheth king over Gilead and over the Ashurites, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and all Israel. 10 Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, was 40 years old when he began to rule Israel, and he was king for two years. But the people of Judah followed David, 11 and he was king over them in Hebron for 7½ years.
12 Abner, the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth (the son of Saul) traveled from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 13 David’s general Joab, whose mother was David’s sister Zeruiah, and David’s servants went out to meet them at the pool of Gibeon. Abner’s forces were by one side of the pool, Joab’s forces by the other.
Abner (to Joab): 14 Why don’t we send our young soldiers out to have a contest before us?
Joab: All right. Send them forward.
15 Twelve men came forward to represent the people of Benjamin and Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, and twelve to represent David and his people. 16 They all caught their opponents by the head and thrust their swords into their opponents’ sides, so they all fell down together. That is why this place was called the Field of Adversaries, Helkath-hazzurim in Gibeon.
17 The battle that followed this contest was brutal that day, and Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by the servants of David.
18 All three of Zeruiah’s sons were fighting for David: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Asahel was a swift runner, fast as a gazelle, 19 and he chased after Abner intently. 20 Abner looked behind him.
Abner: Is that you, Asahel?
Asahel: It is.
Abner: 21 Stop pursuing me. Attack one of the soldiers of your own rank, and take his possessions instead.
But Asahel would not stop in his pursuit.
Abner: 22 If you don’t stop pursuing me, I’ll have no choice but to kill you! And how could I show my face in front of your brother Joab if I do such a thing?
23 But Asahel refused to be diverted. Abner didn’t even use the point of his spear. He thrust with the butt of his spear, and the spear struck Asahel in his abdomen and passed all the way through him. He fell, and there he died. And all those who arrived on that spot stopped and just stood there staring in amazement.
24 But Asahel’s brothers, Joab and Abishai, pursued Abner with their forces. As the sun was setting, they reached the hill of Ammah that is in front of Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. 25 The people of Benjamin banded together to protect Abner, and they made their stand on top of a hill.
Abner (calling to Joab): 26 Are we to continue this killing forever? Don’t you see that this will come to a bitter end? How long until you order your forces to stop pursuing their brothers?
Joab: 27 I swear before the living God that if you had not said this, my forces would have pursued their Israelite brothers until morning.
28 Joab blew the trumpet to call off the attack against the men of Israel, and all pursuit and battle stopped. 29 Abner and his men went on, traveling all night across the desert plain.[a] They crossed the Jordan River, and by traveling all morning reached Mahanaim. 30 Joab and his forces, meanwhile, came back together after pursuing Abner. They discovered that in addition to Asahel, 19 of David’s men were missing; 31 but David’s men had killed 360 of the men of Benjamin and the others who served Abner.
32 They brought Asahel’s body back and buried him in Bethlehem in his ancestral tomb. Joab and his men marched all night and arrived home in Hebron at dawn.
Gifts of the Spirit, which are intended to strengthen the church body, often divide the body because members of the church elevate those who possess the more visible gifts over those whose gifts function in the background. In fact, this is the very problem facing the Corinthians. So while talking about the importance and function of these gifts in chapters 12 and 14, Paul shifts his focus to the central role love plays in a believer’s life in chapter 13. Love is essential for the body to be unified and for members to work together. Members of the body that are very different, with little in common, are able to appreciate and even enjoy others because of the love that comes when a life is submitted to God.
13 What if I speak in the most elegant languages of people or in the exotic languages of the heavenly messengers, but I live without love? Well then, anything I say is like the clanging of brass or a crashing cymbal. 2 What if I have the gift of prophecy, am blessed with knowledge and insight to all the mysteries, or what if my faith is strong enough to scoop a mountain from its bedrock, yet I live without love? If so, I am nothing. 3 I could give all that I have to feed the poor, I could surrender my body to be burned as a martyr, but if I do not live in love, I gain nothing by my selfless acts.
Paul boils it all down for the believers in Corinth. Religious people often spend their time practicing rituals, projecting dogma, and going through routines that might look like Christianity on the outside but that lack the essential ingredient that brings all of it together—love! It is a loving God who birthed creation and now pursues a broken people in the most spectacular way. That same love must guide believers, so faith doesn’t appear to be meaningless noise.
4 Love is patient; love is kind. Love isn’t envious, doesn’t boast, brag, or strut about. There’s no arrogance in love; 5 it’s never rude, crude, or indecent—it’s not self-absorbed. Love isn’t easily upset. Love doesn’t tally wrongs 6 or celebrate injustice; but truth—yes, truth—is love’s delight! 7 Love puts up with anything and everything that comes along; it trusts, hopes, and endures no matter what. 8 Love will never become obsolete. Now as for the prophetic gifts, they will not last; unknown languages will become silent, and the gift of knowledge will no longer be needed. 9 Gifts of knowledge and prophecy are partial at best, at least for now, 10 but when the perfection and fullness of God’s kingdom arrive, all the parts will end. 11 When I was a child, I spoke, thought, and reasoned in childlike ways as we all do. But when I became a man, I left my childish ways behind. 12 For now, we can only see a dim and blurry picture of things, as when we stare into polished metal. I realize that everything I know is only part of the big picture. But one day, when Jesus arrives, we will see clearly, face-to-face. In that day, I will fully know just as I have been wholly known by God. 13 But now faith, hope, and love remain; these three virtues must characterize our lives. The greatest of these is love.
11 Then the Spirit lifted me up and transported me to the eastern gate of the Eternal’s house. I saw 25 men standing at the entrance of the gate. I recognized 2 leaders among them—Jaazaniah (Azur’s son) and Pelatiah (Benaiah’s son).
Eternal One: 2 Son of man, these are the ones concocting evil plans and pushing wicked schemes on the city. 3 They say, “This is not a good time to build houses. The city of Jerusalem is like an iron pot, and we are the meat inside it.” 4 Therefore, prophesy against them, son of man; speak My message to them.
5 Then the Spirit of the Eternal came over me and said to me:
Eternal One: Tell them this is what the Eternal has to say: Those may be your secret thoughts, people of Israel, but I know what’s going on in your minds. 6 You have murdered masses of people in this city, and you have filled the streets with dead bodies. 7 The corpses you have scattered in the streets are the meat, and this city is the pot; but I will make sure you are taken out of this city. 8 Since you fear war, that is exactly what I will bring against you.
I, the Eternal Lord, declare that. 9 After I drive you out of the city, I will give you over to the control of foreigners, and they will punish you! 10 You will die in battle, and My judgment will fall on you as you flee for the border of Israel. Then you will know I am the Eternal One. 11 This city will not be a protective pot for you, and you certainly won’t be the meat tended within it. I will execute My judgment against you all the way to the border of Israel, 12 and you will know I am the Eternal One. You have been careless with My laws and disregarded My instructions, mindlessly conforming to the standards of the nations around you.
13 As I was prophesying, Pelatiah (Benaiah’s son) died. Then I fell to the ground, face down, and exclaimed in a loud voice, “Hear me, Eternal Lord! Will You do away completely with the remnant of Israel?”
14 At this, the word of the Eternal came to me:
Eternal One: 15 Son of man, your people in exile—your own relatives, your countrymen, and the whole nation of Israel—are the ones the citizens of Jerusalem have disparaged, saying, “They have been taken far away from the Eternal. This land is ours now. It has been given to us to keep.” But they are mistaken. It is those in exile whom I will redeem. 16 Give the citizens of Jerusalem My message. “Tell them that I, the Eternal Lord, drove them far away from My temple and scattered them among other countries, but I have still been a sanctuary for them during this time in those other lands where they have gone.” 17 Then deliver My message to the exiles. “Tell them that I, the Eternal Lord, will gather you and reassemble you from the places where I scattered you, and I will return your inheritance—the land of Israel—to you because you are My true children.”
Ezekiel may seem like a prophet of doom and gloom, but like most prophets he sees beyond judgment to God’s restoration of His people. The only hope for the Judean exiles is that they be given a new heart and spirit from their Creator. The prophet receives this optimistic message again and again. Although divine punishment is severe, divine rescue will eclipse any tragedy because God will recreate His people.
Eternal One: 18 When they return home, they will demolish all the disgusting idols and remove all the shocking images from the land. 19 I will give them a new will—an undivided heart—and plant a new spirit within them; I will remove their cold, stony heart and replace it with a warm heart of flesh. 20 Then they will follow My commands and uphold My laws and actually do as I say. They will be My people, and I will be their God. 21 As for those who remain dedicated to their disgusting idols and shocking images, the very things they have done will be brought down upon them as judgment.
So said the Eternal Lord.
22 Then the winged guardians[a] stretched out their wings, the wheels moved along with them, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them. 23 The glory of the Eternal arose from the center of the city and began to move east, stopping momentarily above the mountain to its east called the Mount of Olives. 24 The Spirit snatched me up and brought me in a vision given by God’s Spirit to the exiles in the Chaldea. Then the vision left me, 25 and I told the exiles everything the Eternal had revealed to me.
Psalm 50
A song of Asaph.
1 The Mighty God, the Eternal—God of past, present, and future—
has spoken over the world,
calling together all things from sunrise to sunset.
2 From Zion, that perfectly beautiful holy place,
shines the radiance of God.
3 Our God will come, and He will not enter on a whisper.
A fire will devour the earth before Him;
the wind will storm wildly about Him.
4 He calls heaven above and earth below
to assist in bringing judgment on His people.
5 “Gather up those who are aligned with Me; bring them to Me;
bring everyone who belongs to Me who have made covenant sacrifice.”
6 And the heavens shout of His justice,
for He is the True God, an honest judge.
[pause][a]
7 “Listen, My people, I have something to say:
O Israel, My testimony comes against you;
I am God, your God.
8 I am not going to scold you because of your sacrifices;
your burnt offerings are always before Me.
9 I will not accept the best bull from your fields
or goats from your meadow,
10 For they are already Mine, just as the forest beast
and the cattle grazing over a thousand hills are Mine.
11 Every bird flying over the mountains I know;
every animal roaming over the fields belongs to Me.
12 I would not come to you if I were hungry,
for the world and all it contains are Mine.
13 Do you really think I eat bull meat?
Or drink goat’s blood?
14 Set out a sacrifice I can accept: your thankfulness.
Be true to your word to the Most High.
15 When you are in trouble, call for Me.
I will come and rescue you,
and you will honor Me.”
16 But to those acting against Him, God says,
“Who do you think you are?
Listing off My laws,
acting as if your life is in alignment with My ways?
17 For it’s clear that you despise My guidance;
you throw My wise words over your shoulder.
18 You play with thieves,
spend your time with adulterers.
19 Evil runs out of your mouth;
your tongue is wrapped in deceit.
20 You sit back and gossip about your brother;
you slander your mother’s son.
21 While you did these things, I kept silent;
somehow you got the idea that I was like you.
But now My silence ends, and I am going to indict you.
I’ll state the charge against you clearly, face-to-face.
22 All you who have forgotten Me, your God, should think about what I have said,
or I will tear you apart and leave no one to save you.
23 Set out a sacrifice I can accept: your thankfulness.
Do this, and you will honor Me.
Those who straighten up their lives
will know the saving grace of God.”
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.